So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon
Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life." (vv. 67-68)
FILL US WITH FAITH
It has never been easy to
be a Christian – not when Jesus first taught humans what he expected
and hoped for, and not now, so long after his presence, when we cling
to hope and faith in a bewildering and dangerous world. As in the
theme hymn, we are human, naked in mind, body and spirit. We need to
be filled with his body and blood to achieve the eternal life God
wants for us.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tried to teach his disciples that only
through the acceptance of his spiritual body and blood could they receive these
gifts. It was difficult to understand this, and many left him. They wanted
literal and factual statements, physical truth and deeds -- and he taught them
about things of the spirit. He tells us that though he has ascended to heaven
and his body is beyond this earth, we can still share in his spirit through
Communion in his body and blood. Only then can we gain salvation.
Simon Peter answered then for all the believers of all times:
We have believed, and have come to know,
that you are the Holy One of God.
And Jesus confirmed that they were chosen, but yet one
of them was to betray him. He thus reminded us that our actions do not
make us Christians, but may lose for us the privilege!
So we come as he bid us, we come and ask him to fill us with
faith and his blessings, to do God’s work in his name.
Lord God, may your spirit fill and guide us on your path
forever, for we pray in the name of Jesus, the Christ.
Steen Mortensen
