20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B | John 6:51-58
You have probably heard the myth about the fountain of youth. It has been told in various forms for over two and a half thousands years. The myth relates that somewhere in the world there exists a special fountain. Anyone who bathes in this fountain, the story goes, will be restored to their youth. As a result, anyone with access to this fountain would never die. In short, the fountain of youth could rightly be called a cure for death. It is a guarantee of immortality.
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| The Fountain of Youth, Lucas Cranach (1546) [source] |
In Jewish tradition, there was an ancient expectation that one day there would be a remedy for death. We all probably remember what happened to Adam and Eve after they gave in to the serpent’s temptation and ate the fruit that God forbade them to eat. One of the results of their sin was that they were expelled from Eden and no longer had access to the tree of life (Gen 3:24). As a result of their sin, they and their descendants would die. Before Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, God told the serpent that there will be an ongoing conflict the serpent's offspring and the descendants of Eve. God said that the woman’s descendants would strike at the head of the serpent and that the serpent's offspring would strike at their heal (Gen 3:15). In some ancient Jewish texts (e.g. Targum Jonathan and Targum Neofiti, Aramaic translations/paraphrases of the Bible), we find an insertion after this line, which expresses a particular interpretation of this passage of scripture. These texts expand God’s speech to the serpent. After stating that the descendants of the woman and the serpent would be caught in a battle, harming one another, God says that for the woman’s descendants there would be a “cure”, whereas for the snake's offspring there would be no “cure”. This cure was to come in the days of the messiah. It seems, therefore that the author of these texts expected that there would, at the time of the messiah, come a cure for the effects of sin and temptation. In other words, there would be a remedy for death, the terrible consequence of sin.
In the Gospel today (John 6:51-58), Jesus presents himself as the cure for death. Jesus, the Messiah, says to the people, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day”. Here, the flesh and blood that we are invited to eat and drink is the Eucharist, which is Jesus himself. For this reason, Ignatius of Antioch (died 107) called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality”. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. Since Jesus destroys sin, he has conquered death (cf. 1 Cor 15:55-57). Therefore, the Eucharist, which is the very flesh and blood of Jesus, is the cure for death.
It takes faith to believe that Jesus is the medicine of immortality. Even though we receive the Eucharist, we will still eventually die. How can we believe Jesus’ promise that he will raise us up on the last day? What prevents us from thinking that what Jesus offers is no better than the mythical fountain of youth? To my mind, there is only one answer: faith in the resurrection of Jesus. If we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then we can believe that he will be true to his word and raise us up as well. Speaking personally, believing in the resurrection can be a difficult thing. Sometimes it is extremely difficult. Yet, I continue to believe. I believe because of the testimony of the apostles who claimed to witness the risen Jesus. Peter and the others - who were so afraid when Jesus was crucified that they all fled - gave their lives for the message that Jesus rose from the dead. I believe because of the holiness of the saints. Recently, with the revelations of terrible sexual abuse and coverup within the Church, we have seen once again that some people who call themselves Christians have committed horrendous crimes. Yet, there are still Christians who have lived and continue to live lives of extraordinary service and love. These saints (whether they be the famous ones or those who live their lives in obscurity) give me hope. They fill me with faith that the Risen Christ lives in them. I believe because I have experienced some small part of the life Jesus comes to bring. I have experienced his forgiveness and love. I have been inspired by his words I read in the Gospel. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus is not easy, but there are reasons to believe. If we have faith in the resurrection, then we can believe in Jesus’ words that if we eat his flesh and drink his blood we will live forever.
At every Mass, we have the opportunity to reaffirm our faith that Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist, is the medicine of immortality, the cure for death. When we receive the Eucharist, we say “amen”, a word that means “I believe” or “I trust”. What do we believe? Who do we trust? Let us think about what we are saying. When we say “amen”, let us make it an act of trust in Jesus, showing that we believe his words: “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day”.
