John 6:52-59
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. [1]
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Jesus sure didn’t back down from being provocative when He wanted to make a point. Taken at face value, he sounds like he is encouraging cannibalism and blood drinking. These words would have been profoundly repulsive to his hearers. They were already having a hard enough time with Jesus identifying himself as the Bread of Life, claiming to be superior to both Moses and manna, and the source of eternal life. Now he is connecting the gift of that eternal life with what appears to be cannibalism and blood-drinking. (Cannibalism is mentioned in the OT only as a sign of depravity; drinking of blood was explicitly forbidden by the Mosaic law.)
Now, a daily devotion isn’t the space for a lengthy presentation on whether Jesus was referring to the Lord’s Supper here. Scholars have wrangled over that for centuries. (If you want to talk about this contact me, and I’ll be happy to dialogue about it. It’s actually quite fascinating.) Besides, these devotions are about what strikes me today, and through that what I believe God is calling me to pray about.
And the thing that struck me is how provocative Jesus is. He is always respectful, but He doesn’t back down from making people feel uncomfortable if He has a spiritual point to make. I’m thinking about this in terms of witnessing and sharing our faith. Please don’t hear me advocating being needlessly provocative and offensive. (Hey buddy, do you believe in Jesus? No? Well, good luck in hell.) But rather when the time is appropriate, not being afraid of saying the truth that needs to be said.
There are many aspects of the Christian message that are uncomfortable for many people today, and that some find simply offensive. When we assert that there is absolute truth and that is proclaimed in the Bible, that Jesus is true God, that He is the way the truth and the life, that He has died for the sins of the world, that He is the answer to the brokenness and death of the world – some find these things offensive, repulsive, and as weird as if we were advocating cannibalism and blood drinking.
But still we speak the truth. I try to keep in mind 1 Peter 3:15 – “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (Notice that Peter isn’t advocating being our neighbors’ moral police, but rather confessing the hope that is in Jesus.)
So I’m praying today that I might be appropriately provocative. Respectfully offensive. That I might not back down from opportunities to speak of the hope that is in Jesus just because some might find it weird. But I pray that I may do so with gentleness, respect and love so that any objection is not toward my behavior but toward Jesus.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 6:52–59). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
