Jesus Words are Spirit and Life, Come in and Heal!

 

TUE EP Reflection 082520 (Acts 9: 32-43; John 6: 60-71)

“It is the Spirit that gives life.” John 6:63. Jesus said: My words are Spirit and life. This made me remember what Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit will make them remember his words. But he told them: “Some of you do not believe.” John added that Jesus knew who did not believe and who would eventually betray him. This is frightening because, we can fit easily in these two categories especially when deep down we don’t believe or have hardened our hearts, protecting our egos, our staunch opinions and resisting the gentle challenge of the Gospel of Christ. John is not saying that Jesus is judging anyone here, but he is saying that the people there, were at different places in their walk towards belief. Sometimes we choose to resist, and remain untransformed, unchallenged even if we know deep down that we need to change. That’s why we need the power of God to soften, the hardest parts of our hearts and minds so we can believe.

Yes, Jesus did say that the Spirit gives life and the flesh is useless. This may surprise a few people, but what did Jesus mean? Jesus is talking about the flesh in relation to the life of the Spirit/ the life of our souls/ our inner lives. Our inner lives can either be built up or dwarfed depending on someone’s focus. When our focus is totally taken over by earthly/fleshly preoccupations, we become blind to the spiritual life in our inner self. 1 Cor. 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” When the Bible talks about the “tree of life”; the “bread of life”, those are concepts to be understood with faith. Biblical stories are told with concepts, we can relate to. For e.g. the tree of life is a powerful symbol, representing both our pristine pre-fall condition and Christ’s cross. Pope Francis has said: “What counts is being permeated with Christ’s love, allowing oneself to be led by the Holy Spirit, and grafting one’s own existence onto the tree of life, which is the Cross of the Lord…” These are great imagery that evoke God’s redemption of his own people.

Jesus tells us that his words are Spirit and Life because he knows, they are our lifeline. In contrast, our unbelief may be because we are so attached to our physical world in such a way that we become unaware of how the spiritual world affect the physical world., These two impact each other. The story of Job is a perfect example. The more attached to this world and its logic, the harder it is, for us to understand the workings of the spiritual world. Jesus had an interesting discussion with his disciples concerning Holy Communion: “Eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.” Who wouldn’t find it repulsive? John reports that the disciples had a hard time with this, and so are the people surrounding the early church. They thought Christians were practicing cannibalism.

Jesus often spoke figuratively to express realities of the Kingdom of God. Our minds/ understanding are so limited to concepts which we can understand. It appears that concepts of the Kingdom of God are easier to understand for those seeking God with faith, those who want to know deeply the things of God; the message of the cross. What did Jesus mean? Taking in the life of God in us, so we can open our spiritual eyes to perceive the things of God, to experience divine healing. This can only happen by the hidden power of the Spirit of God.

In Acts 9, Peter said to a paralyzed man of 8 years: “Get up and make your bed”. If we Christian believers were to function as God intended, our world would surely change. No knee replacements or open-heart surgery, no chemotherapy, all the progress in medicine could never beat what Peter did that day! We would all use the words of life &Spirit and let Christ heal us. Peter also raises Tabitha to life: He used Jesus words: “Get up!” There is an unusual authority Paul uses there. He did not say breathe again. Peter ignored the physical state of deadness with a strong belief that Tabitha could listen to him, even though she had died. Jesus did the same with Lazarus, he said: “Lazarus, come out!” For someone who was in the grave for three days is the end in the physical realm because all we see, is that the body is decomposing. But the power of God is beyond that kind of physical limitation. Our souls are capable of listening to the voice of God even beyond the grave/ our souls can listen to the voice of true believers who are completely immersed in the life of God.

May we know deeply that Jesus’ words are Spirit and Life so we can be immersed in them!

Amen.

Be blessed today and forever.