Why Don’t You Leave?

Michiel Peeters - We have arrived at the final section of the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel—the episode of the “bread of life”—which “interrupted” the reading of the Gospel of Mark this Summer.

In Capernaum, where the crowd, enthusiastic after the multiplication of loaves, found Him, Jesus began to speak to them about the bread of life: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which [I] will give you.” Then he declared: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Then he“invented” the Eucharist: “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my fleshand drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

At that point, “many of his disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’”All found it a strange way of speaking. Several said: so it cannot be true. He must be foolish. And theyleft. Almost everyone left him, from the great multitude that had followed him: “As a result of this,many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” Then wecome to the very last, most dramatic moment of the whole episode. Jesus is sitting there, in a corner of the synagogue of Capernaum, with just his twelve closest friends, those who have followed him for months, years. And he doesn’t say to them: at least you stay… “Jesus then said to the Twelve, ‘Do youalso want to leave?’” Do you want to leave me, too, like the vast majority of my followers? The Lord wants them to stay with Him freely, that there is nothing automatic or taken-for-granted in their following Him. You are free to stay or to go. You may go, just like the others. In challenging them thus, He “forces” them to detect the reasons for their staying or leaving. What are those reasons?

How do I know if my parents care about me? By what I have experienced with them, because of what I have seen of them in the various circumstances of life. What are the disciples’ reasons for staying orgoing? What they experienced with him.

Then Peter formulates the realization of the twelve: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Master, where should we go? Also we do not understand what you have just said, about the bread of lifeand eating your flesh and your blood. But because of what we have experienced with you, this cannot be an objection. We will understand one day. Because only you have words that explain life, that givemeaning to life. I know that, we know that because we have experienced it. “We have come to believe and are convinced”, because of what we have seen, that what you say is true. That is why we stay with you. Not out of habit, not because of the masses. Because of what we have experienced and are experiencing with you.

The Lord wants us free: “Do you also want to leave?”

Download. This translation of the article has not been revised by the author. Fr Michiel Peeters, Tilburg University Chaplaincy.