Today we finish our series of readings from Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, in which he sets out the centrality of the Eucharist in our relationship with Jesus (Jn 6:60-69). Next week we return to Mark’s Gospel. We might expect at this point that John would finish with a flourish – maybe the Father speaking from the clouds, or some major miracle to cement the importance of what has been revealed. If they had fireworks in those times, surely there would have been fireworks!
There is nothing like that. Rather, at least to me, the mood is rather downbeat. Many of Jesus’s followers find this all too much to take and go back to their previous lives. Even the 12 Apostles seem to carry on more for lack of options than with great enthusiasm. Jesus understands their sense of bewilderment and uncertainty – “Do you also want to leave?” he asks. Peter speaks for them and declares their faith in Jesus, but it does sound more like “what other choice do we have” than “hey, you really knocked that one out of the park, are you kidding!” They still have a long way to go, including running away when things get really tough. We’ll have to wait for Pentecost to see them go all in on this Jesus thing. And that is important for us – we naturally tend to think it must have been easier for those who knew Jesus in the flesh, who walked with him, to believe, to accept what he was telling them. But John makes it clear that was not true. It was only after Jesus left them that things became clear. We are in the same position as those Apostles. We don’t see Jesus and yet we believe.
So this final chapter of this story as John tells it, takes us back to where he started. We are again confronted with the challenge of faith. Faith that changes everything, but the change is not in great events and a world that is unrecognizable – no, not even fireworks. What changes is inside us. Maybe someone else wouldn’t even see any difference in us. The apostles walked with Jesus. The most important part of that walk was after he was no longer on earth with them – except that they understood that he was – he left them his body and blood.
We are still on our journey from birth to death. We are not promised that our life will somehow be easier or more successful if we believe. We are promised that our God travels with us and keeps us fed. And then we will stay with him forever. So we can also say with Peter: “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.” With or without the fireworks, whether of not we feel upbeat about it, that belief changes everything.