When we read and meditate upon the words of Jesus – indeed, upon the words of Scripture – we receive in a fresh way the very life of God.
Scripture – John 6:68 (NRSV)
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Jesus gives us words of eternal life, words that help us experience the abundant life of God’s future kingdom. When we read and meditate upon the words of Jesus – indeed, upon the words of Scripture – we receive in a fresh way the very life of God.
In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus’s popularity among the people spiked: “A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick” (John 6:2). Many of them wanted to pronounce Jesus as their king (6:15). But Jesus’s teaching was not easy for them to digest (6:41). How could the human being they knew say that he had “come down from heaven”? (6:42). Before long, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him” (6:66).
At this point, Jesus said to the inner circle of his disciples, “Do you also wish to go away?” (6:67). Simon Peter spoke up for the group, saying, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (6:68). Even if Jesus’s teachings were hard, they were, nevertheless, unique in offering access to eternal life, the life of God’s future, the abundant life found through faith in Christ, life as it was meant to be. From Peter’s point of view, it would have been foolish to leave Jesus. (Of course, later on, Peter himself abandoned Jesus for a while. But we’re getting ahead of the story.)
When we hear about Jesus’s “words of eternal life,” we tend to think that these are words that get us into Heaven after we die. There is some truth in this interpretation, though it misses much of what is meant by “eternal life.” Eternal life is not only endless life without death. Rather, eternal life is the life of the age to come, the life of God’s future. Yes, it will be fully experienced in the future. But eternal life is something we can begin to know right now, in this mortal life.
Through faith, through the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, through the community of God’s people, through the life of God in us, we receive a foretaste of eternal life that is to come.
Thus, Jesus’s words offer life, not just after death, but right now. They help us live more abundantly, more meaningfully, more joyfully now . . . even at work, even in the demands of our leadership responsibilities, even when this world is broken, even when we mourn, even when we feel as if death has defeated life.
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