After this, many of his disciples left him…

Reflection - Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time

Twenty-First Sunday

Photo: Lampos Aritonang on Unsplash

At the end of chapter six in John’s gospel, many of Jesus’ disciples have had enough. They say, ’this is intolerable language’, and they depart from his presence.

He has pushed them too far and implacably refuses to concede any ground. He has asked his followers to believe in him because he comes from ‘above’ and his origins are from God. The implications are clear to them. He is asking them for a giant leap of faith in him. His words give life in a divine way.

It is too far. This dialogue is in the context of the Passover, and all Jews knew that Moses receiving the ten commandments from God was fundamental to their relationship with God. The Torah, the Law, was their way of life. Yet Jesus is demanding the disciples to go beyond the Torah into a new relationship with him! This step is a serious one and a way to get into trouble with the Jewish authorities.

Jesus knows this. No doubt, any leader has a sense of what the loyalty of his followers was like. It is fascinating for John to write that Judas would betray him. How did he know? No doubt, the apostles talked about many things like ‘Judas as a betrayer’.

Another intriguing comment is that which identifies the Father's important role in making disciples. The Father is in some mysterious way involved in the disciple’s response. No one from their own volition comes to Jesus. Their personal surrender involves the Father.

It seems even our personal faith is not our own. In God’s mysterious plan, people are ‘called’, and many respond, yet it leaves us no room for self-congratulations, for being on a par of generosity with God’s grace.

In our present world, many people have stopped going to Church. His word is no longer relevant to our situations, the culture which supported Christianity has disappeared, and there is no benefit from being a follower of Christ in and of itself. But a relationship with God is the Churches’ fundamental purpose in existing.

In response to Jesus’ question asking them if they were quitting, Peter makes a marvellous statement, ‘ Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe, we know, that you are the Holy One of God.’ They believe in the person of Jesus through the actions he performed and by the way he treated people.

They weren’t up to discussions of the Law, they were ignorant on that level of life, but they got the essentials correct by believing in the person of Jesus. Nothing has changed. The Church may have let people down, but Jesus will not. And he will renew the Church.

Columban Fr Gary Walker is currently living at the Columban house in Sandgate, Brisbane.

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Set of Ten Prayer Books

Code : 105

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Set of Ten Columban Prayer Books that includes prayers for those who are struggling with daily life or who have lost a loved one. There is a particular book for those suffering from cancer and a general giving thanks booklet. Making the Sign of the Cross is an excellent gift for baptismal gifts and small children. In the set there are prayers for those who are working as well as prayers for liturgical seasons and the Power of Prayer. 

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