Homily

The Gospel passage of this Sunday concludes the "Speech on the bread" that Jesus pronounced in the synagogue of Capernaum. In addition to the disciples, there were many people listening to him. Last Sunday the evangelist already showed us the incredulous reaction of the crowd. Jesus’ words that he "was" the bread and not that he "had" the bread were not welcomed by the crowd, which almost immediately abandoned [or deserted] the synagogue. Now we see the reaction of the disciples, of those who had a certain familiarity with Jesus from following him and hearing him speak many times, besides witnessing many miracles. And yet they too joined the unbelief of the crowd and were not ashamed of saying, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" According to the Greek text, the disciples’ reaction stresses the incomprehensibility of the things Jesus said, as if they were an insult to their intelligence. In truth, the disciples’ criticisms were not about the declarations concerning eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood (the so called Capernaum interpretation, as it was called in the old theology). Their murmuring was about the gist of the speech of Capernaum, that is to say the intimacy with the Lord that was to be reached only through that bread that was Jesus’ true flesh. They were not only words difficult to be accepted or fragments of truth difficult to believe. The problematic issue, but also the central message in the Gospel, was another: the choice of an exclusive intimacy with God through the personal relationship with Jesus. The scandal is always the same: how is it possible that flesh gives eternal life? Or, in even simpler terms, how is it possible that in order to know God one has to pass through Jesus, certainly a good man, but still a man, who, on top of everything else, they have also known since he was a boy? Is it ever possible, as Jesus is saying that friendship with him is direct friendship with God? These questions, which probably were already troubling the disciples’ minds, that day, in front of that Gospel so clear, led to the decision to abandon him.
Without a doubt, Jesus’ speech was pushing his listeners towards a choice. It was a matter of choosing on which side one wanted to be: with Jesus or not. It was a crucial moment for Jesus’ mission. In sum, in the synagogue of Capernaum, what happened to the people of Israel when they reached Schechem, heart of the promised land and seat of a national sanctuary connected to the memory of the patriarchs, was happening again in a different way but with the same radicalism. Joshua called all the tribes and asked them, "choose this day whom you will serve" whether the pagan idols or the God who freed you from the slavery in Egypt. And the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ...therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God." It was a decisive choice for Israel while they were about to take possession of the land that God gave to them. That day they made a good decision. Though it was not the same for Jesus’ disciples in the synagogue of Capernaum. They did not understand that his ‘flesh’ was ‘spirit’, that this man was speaking a heavenly language, nor that He was coming from God and was leading them to God. Intimacy with Him was truly intimacy with God. And yet they considered this an unacceptable proposal, the heart of the Gospel. They would accept a powerful God, but a distant one. They could not accept a God who wished to dwell near them so much that he even became food for humanity. The evangelist notes bitterly, "because of this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him."
For Jesus, the proclamation of that intimacy was the Gospel, that is, the good news to tell everyone, until the end of the earth. And obviously, he could not give it up. This is why he had come, that is, to free men and women from the slavery of Evil and sin, from loneliness and death. If he had not proclaimed this, he would have betrayed the very mission the Father gave Him. We can imagine what kind of thoughts crossed Jesus’ mind in those moments! Maybe he thought about the failure of his work. He turned then to the Twelve (it is the first time that the word appears in the fourth Gospel), with a firm and tender gaze that probably impressed that tiny group, and asked them, "Do you also wish to go away?" This moment is among the gravest of Jesus’ life. He could remain alone despite the exhausting work he did to gather around him the first nucleus of the new people. It would have been a distressing defeat that would have tested his entire mission. We could say that Joshua had better luck. However, Jesus could not deny the heart of his Gospel, and he could not even tame it. There is no alternative to the exclusiveness of a love relationship with God. "No one can serve two masters," says Jesus in another part of the Gospel. Probably in the synagogue everyone left but the Twelve. We do not know their feelings, their fears, or their doubts; certainly they were moved by the passionate speech of this teacher they learned to understand and follow. Peter spoke up and on behalf of everyone he said, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life." He did not say "where," but "to whom" can we go. With his words, Peter highlighted the intimate relationship with Jesus that characterizes the disciple’s faith, or even more his entire life. Jesus, for them, was a point of reference without any comparison; he was superior to any other teacher. Only he had words of eternal life.
On behalf of those who were present, and of those yet to come, Peter answered Jesus that he was their saviour. This is why they will stay with him and follow him. They haven’t understood everything yet, but they perceived Jesus’ uniqueness, and how precious he was. No one had ever spoken like him, no one had loved them with so much involvement, no one had touched them so deeply in the heart, no one had given them the responsibility and energy that Jesus had given them. How could they abandon him? Diverging from the disciples who "no longer went about with him," Peter and the other eleven continued to follow him, to listen to him and to love him as they could. Their pettiness did not disappear. Salvation for those Twelve, as well as for the disciples of every time, is not in being without defects or faults, but is found only in following Jesus. Besides, where could they find a teacher like him? Peter’s answer shows all of Jesus’ attractive strength and the apostles’ affectionate adherence to him. Peter’s words keep all their strength even today. Truly, we too, to whom shall we go to find words of eternal life?