Words of life

At the end of the sixth chapter of John, we may locate ourselves within the scene: among the crowd, among the wider group of disciples, or among the Twelve closest followers of Jesus. The teaching is demanding. As many recognise, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’  (John 6:60). Indeed, the passage bears the depth of reflection of the early Church, already living from the mystery of the Eucharist. Yet, whatever its historical development, Christians trust that Scripture is truly the Word of God, communicated through human witnesses under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Word?

 

The Word is Jesus the Christ who was made flesh for us.  He gave us himself – body, blood, soul and divinity.  In the Eucharist he gives us Himself both in his Body and in his Word. True, the words of scripture were composed by human beings but they were directly inspired to write and their writings became over time authoritative in the church and were, eventually, entered into the ‘canon’ of the New Testament.