John 6:66

Lent Day 15

“As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”

— John 6:66—

There comes a point in one’s journey into the Catholic Church where they move from “describing” Catholic doctrines to defending them. This is what a friend told me when I described a situation I had at work with another co-worker who was an Evangelical Protestant.

I was an Anglican Protestant, and I had not really been fully committed to investigating the Catholic Church at this time. I may have recently come across some arguments for the Eucharist and John 6 at this point, but I was definitely not in the camp of Transubstantiation yet — that is the doctrine that states the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

My colleague started to explain the reasons that he rejected the Catholic doctrine, and I noticed that his arguments boiled down to the same things that the disciples and Pharisees said when they heard Jesus say, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will liver forever…” (Jn. 6:51).

Upon hearing this the Jewish leaders “quarreled among themselves” (Jn. 52), and said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” After Jesus doubles down, we see the disciples echo the same question, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (Jn. 6:60).

Shortly after this, we read in that ironically cataloged verse, John 6:66, that the disciples “…no longer accompanied” Jesus. This is the scariest part of the passage. But to make matters worse, Jesus asks the rhetorical question, “Is not one of you a devil?” (Jn. 6:70). He says this in regards to Judas, the one follower who remains only to betray our Lord later.

Both the rejection of the teaching and the betrayal by Judas should be a warning to both Catholics and Protestants. Protestants should be wary of their interpretation of these passages as they are betting that they are not disobeying their Lord when the plain reading of the text seems to indicate they are. For Catholics, they have the truth, but that doesn’t mean they will persevere. We must revere Christ’s words, and avoid interpretations that justify people’s decision to abandon Christ.

For the Protestant, are your arguments motivated by the same doubts that the Pharisees and disciples have? Are you not basically saying,

“There’s no way Jesus literally meant to eat his body and drink his blood. If he did, I would either have to walk away from the faith or become Catholic. I mean, how would Jesus even do this?”

Regardless of your tradition, if you ultimately read these passages and your interpretation justifies the Pharisees’ and disciples’ decision to abandon Jesus, I would invite you to reevaluate your position. Our greatest Christian minds like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Paul all affirmed that the Eucharist was not merely a symbol, but the actual participation in the divine.

Similarly, if you’re a Catholic and you believe that you’re fine just taking it easy, showing up to Mass when you can, and being flippant about the fact that our altars are graced with the Son of God, then you must realize that even Judas remained but abandoned Christ at the end.

Being a Christian is not easy. Christ knew that what he was calling us to be and do was difficult. He also knew that there was nothing in our own power that would preserve us to the end. This is why he offers us his very body, blood, soul, and divinity on this pilgrimage. He does not want us to carry our cross alone, and it is in the Eucharist that we find the divine help to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow him.

— DR

For those with even more doubts, here is a great video from Matt Fradd on the unique evidence for the Catholic faith.