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<DIV><FONT size=4>In verse 53, however, Jesus switches to a less common word,
<I>trogo</I>, a rather onomatopoetic word that has a connotation closer to
"munch" or "gnaw." It is a graphic word of noisy eating, the sort of eating an
animal does. The audibility of the eating, however, is not the important point;
this is eating that is urgent, even desperate. It is eating as though life
depends on it, because it does.<BR><BR>Just what this "gnawing" means, however,
is not easy to discern. In fact, verses 51-58 make up one of the most widely and
hotly disputed passages in John's Gospel. At the heart of the debate is whether
or not these statements refer to the eating and drinking of the Eucharist, a
question only compounded by the absence of Jesus' words regarding his body and
blood at the last supper in John. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=5><></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...the early church (for example, Ignatius and Justin Martyr)
did speak about the "flesh" of Jesus in the Eucharist. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>this text is at one level a meditation on the Eucharist...
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=8/16/2009&tab=4"><FONT
size=4>http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=8/16/2009&tab=4</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Peterson,Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary<BR>Columbia, SC </FONT></DIV>- - - - - </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...to <EM>eat someone’s flesh</EM> was a Semitic figure of
speech for to <EM>slander</EM> did not make Jesus’ statement easier to
understand!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr20m.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr20m.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John uses the word “flesh” (Greek: <EM>sarx</EM>) while the
synoptic gospels and Paul use the word “body” (Greek: <EM>soma</EM>).
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><EM>Verse 53</EM>: The separation of blood from flesh
emphasize the reality of Jesus’ death. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>This passage speaks of salvation many times, sometimes in the
present (a present reality) (in vv. </FONT><FONT size=4>53a</FONT><FONT size=4>,
</FONT><FONT size=4>54a</FONT><FONT size=4>) and sometimes in the future (in vv.
</FONT><FONT size=4>54b</FONT><FONT size=4>, </FONT><FONT size=4>57b</FONT><FONT
size=4>, </FONT><FONT size=4>58b</FONT><FONT size=4>). Salvation through
participating in the </FONT><FONT size=4>Eucharist</FONT><FONT size=4> is
happening now, and will happen in the future. While this is obvious in John, it
can also be found in Matthew.</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr20l.shtml"><FONT
size=4>http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/bpr20l.shtml</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>As the text stands which has been passed on to us, we see that
the eucharist is clearly being understood as a means of opening oneself to this
life. It would be a mistake, however, to isolate it as though it were the only
means and especially to isolate its elements as having a power which exists
independently of the Son and are somehow at our disposal, like medicine.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MkPentecost11.htm">http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MkPentecost11.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in
Australia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>How frequently does one need to eat and drink in order to have
this life? Martin Luther writes: "You have to worry that whoever does not desire
or receive the sacrament at the very least around four times a year despises the
sacrament and is no Christian, just as anyone who does not listen to or believe
the gospel is no Christian" ["Preface to the Small Catechism," <I>Book of
Concord</I>, Kolb & Wengert, ed., p. 250]</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<P align=justify>And a little later: "... you do not have to make any law
concerning this.... Only emphasize clearly the benefit and the harm, the need
and the blessing, the danger and the salvation in this sacrament. Then they will
doubtless come on their own without any compulsion. If they do not come, give up
on them and tell them that those who do not pay attention to or feel their great
need and God's gracious help belong to the devil" ["Preface to the Small
Catechism," <I>Book of Concord</I>, Kolb & Wengert, ed., p.
251]</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P align=justify><FONT size=4>Besides the word "flesh" (<I>sarx,</I>) being
distinctively Johannine in regards to the eucharist feast, John is also unique
in using the word <I>trogo</I> for "to eat" (vv. 54, 56, 57, 58). (He also uses
the more common <I>esthio</I> -- vv. 5, 23, 26, 31, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 58.)
<I>Trogo</I> is a cruder term, sometimes translated: "to chew" or "to gnaw" or
"to eat audibly". BAGD says: "John uses it, in order to offset any Docetic
tendencies to 'spiritualize' the concept so that nothing physical remains in it,
in what many hold to be the language of the Lord's Supper."</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john6x51.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john6x51.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>