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Do You Take Offense at This? (John 6:60-71)

 There were two parts of what Jesus had just said that were offensive: first, he invited people to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which would be a violation of the law of Moses in several respects. Second, Jesus talks about God the Father in a way that no one would do. It sounds like blasphemy, to call God your own father.

He knew they were offended, on both counts. He essentially asked them, "Do you want me to leave?" Then he says the Holy Spirit is empowering everything that he is saying. Even if the idea of Jesus being God is a bridge too far, people have enough information from the Old Testament Scriptures to know that the Spirit of God can be trusted. Nobody could quite have known that He would be given to all kinds of people, but Jesus is saying, "If you don't believe me, believe Him, and the works that He does." And again, Jesus says that everything that is happening is according to the Father's will. We cannot believe anything concerning the Father, Jesus the Son, or the Holy Spirit, without a power given to us by the Father.

It must have really made Jesus sad, to see so many of the people who had begun to follow him start to go away. Then again, he knows who will leave, and who will stay, even as he asks. This gives Peter one of his many opportunities to confess his faith in Jesus, which is a big reason why St. John records this for us. There is a mystery in the fact that Jesus calls one of his closest disciples, the apostle Judas Iscariot, knowing that he is the one who will betray him. Why did Jesus do this? If you find a good answer, feel free to let me know. One thing he does want us to know is that everyone can choose. Nothing is inevitable, even if it seems like we can't avoid doing the bad things we want to do. Sin is never the best option, or even a good one, as tempting as it often is.

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