Posted on 04/19/2016 7:13:24 AM PDT by marshmallow
Jesus told the group there were some who didn't believe. Believe in what? Bear in mind they have been following Him for a time now.
Bear in mind this was not the first, nor the last, encounter with the Jews who did not believe.
22At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. 24The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
27“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
(btw...that's the promise of eternal security....Jesus doesn't kick out His sheep)
29“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30“I and the Father are one.”
31The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? 35“If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. John 10:22-39
To your earlier questions. If Christ was speaking metaphorically, why did they leave Him?
If they simply misunderstood His words, then why didn't Christ call them back to explain what He really meant?
Why did He walk away from this crowd? He certainly had the ability to keep the crowd from harming Him in any way.
At some point a person has to choose to believe or reject Christ. This group of Jews, like the ones in John 6 were not willing to believe in Him no matter what He did.
If you read John in context you will find the word believe is used by John in at least 50 different places in regards to faith in Christ.
Jesus made it clear it was about belief in Him.
12“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:12-14
Is this literal water Jesus is speaking about?
What does the context tell us?
39From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41Many more believed because of His word; 42and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:39-42
The people came to faith in Christ through belief. There is no mention of eating flesh and blood in order to have life.
If the catholic position is correct, then Jesus has lied to these people.
18For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:18-24
Jesus is again speaking with unbelieving Jews as He did in John 6.
What message does He tell them?
Belief in Him leads to eternal life. No mention of eating flesh and blood.
37Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
38“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
39But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39
Jesus returns to the water imagery He used in John 4.
But the message continues to be about belief in Him....as it is in John 6 and the whole NT.
Not that He is a water fountain or that we are actual physical "rivers of living water".
However, to follow the catholic position on this we would have to say we become literal rivers and that Jesus somehow transforms Himself into a water fountain from which we drink.
I don't think anyone would say that.
Why does the catholic ignore these passages and not take them as literal as they do John 6?
It's a lack of context and understanding how Jesus speaks to the people using images and stories they would understand.
No. You've already been shown (on this very thread) that Christ sometimes speaks in metaphor, or in parable - and sometimes He speaks literal truth.
And you've already been shown reasons why Christ can only be speaking literally when He offers His Body and Blood.
a)His disciples understood that He was speaking literally - which is why they left Him.
b)Christ's institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, and corroborating passages about the Eucharist by St Paul.
Why does the catholic ignore these passages and not take them as literal as they do John 6?
Where in Scripture does Jesus institute a sacrament of drinking living water?
Is there an example in Scripture of other people's horrified reactions to Jesus proposing to give them His living water to drink?
The people came to faith in Christ through belief. There is no mention of eating flesh and blood in order to have life.
Except for all the passages about eating Christ's Body and drinking His Blood in order to have life, you mean.
For instance: Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
The disciples who stayed with Christ stayed because they believed in Him.
Christ - whom you believe in - is literally offering you His very self as food. Will you believe His words?
Jesus, lead us into all truth. Amen.
Although these passages of scripture make it clear that Christ literally offers us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, these passages of scripture are not why the Church celebrates the Mass.
How could they be? The Apostles and the early Church were celebrating Mass well before the Gospels were written.
The Apostles didn't laboriously pick through scripture and put together what we now know as the Sacrament of the Eucharist. They received it directly from Christ. And they passed it on to us who come after.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.