Remaining with Jesus

Most faithful, practicing Catholics are familiar with the section of John’s Gospel known as “The Bread of Life Discourse.” We reference John chapter 6 when defending our teaching on the Eucharist. And, rightly so, Jesus is quite adamant about our need to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,” (John 6:53) in order to have life, the life that comes from the true bread that came down from heaven. The sixth chapter of John is full of startling truths, boldly proclaimed by Jesus, and it is a treasure trove for those seeking to understand how it is that Jesus continues to nourish us even today.

In addition to the Eucharistic dimension, there is something else happening in this chapter that strikes me as, if not quite as miraculous, still quite remarkable. At the end of this discourse, we get a glimpse of the faith of St. Peter and the other Apostles and it is both awe inspiring and worthy of imitation. Jesus’ preaching had caused the crowd, which included many disciples, to grumble and ultimately to depart. His words were too hard for them, they could not understand and therefore could not accept what he was offering to them. Once the crowd left, Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked if they too would leave him.  Simon Peter responds, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68) What I find remarkable about this response is that Peter and the other Apostles choose to stay with Jesus, not because they understand what he is teaching any better than the rest of the crowd, but because they have come to believe in Him. Peter does not say, “Why would we leave, we understand fully everything you are saying and therefore believe it to be true.” They are not going to understand this particular teaching until after the Last Supper, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. That is a long, dark, painful path to understanding. It does not matter. They do not need to understand because they have already come to know and to believe the truth of who Jesus is and they know that he is their life, their only hope of life.

It is often the same for us. We don’t always understand what Jesus is teaching us or what he is doing in our lives at a particular time. Sometimes the path that leads to understanding is long, dark, and painful, leading us through the cross to the glory of new life. The new life is without doubt worth the pain of the path but remaining faithful while struggling along the way is still challenging. It takes hope, the sort of real, deep, grounded hope, that can only come from knowing and believing who Jesus is. We must remember and choose to hold fast to the truth that Jesus is our Lord, our Beloved, our defender, that He is, as St. Peter proclaimed, “the Holy One of God,” who remains our only hope for life. When we do not understand what God is telling us, or what he is asking of us we do not need to despair. We do not need to sort it all out or make sense of it, tempting though that is. We only need to do one thing. Me must remain with Jesus. Remaining with Jesus, we will receive the words that lead to everlasting life.