EAT IT ALL

Jim Marsh, Jr. wrote, “A forever life is offered in this gospel passage by the young rebel rabbi. He calls himself “The Bread of Life,” saying, “The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.” The people around him are taken aback, to put it mildly, and then question the cannibalistic nature of his offer. He doubles down: “By eating my flesh and drinking my blood, we enter into each other.”

This is the most provocative thing I’ve ever heard, yet I’ve been repeating these words at every single communion service, mantra-like, for decades, not stopping long enough to consider how strange and intimate this is. Eating him? An all consuming and wild invitation! A rich and vibrant life arrives by the enveloping, fully partaking…the breathtaking deep dive. Eating life with one’s trembling hands like it’s a meal that came when you thought you’d never have one again. Things can’t be known by standing ankle deep in the mystery. Climb all they way in! Don’t just taste it, eat it all!”

(See Gospel of John chapter 6)

“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Jesus