Title: Teaching Cannibalism
Author: Christopher Harbin
Text: John 6:51-58
In last Sunday's gospel text, Jesus appeared to be teaching some form of cannibalism in regard to his own body, though that could have made no sense to his audience. Jesus being accused of breaking the Sabbath would have been small beans in comparison to promoting cannibalism. He began tying the idea of living bread both to his body, as well as to the manna eaten in the wanderings between Egypt and the promised land. How do we make sense out of his words that seem to push the idea of cannibalizing his body for access to the life of the age?
A major principle of good Biblical interpretation is that if our interpretation could not be understood by the original audience or speakers, we are most likely off track. Oh, sure, we can apply the meaning of a text to circumstances and issues they would not have understood, but if our understanding of the text does not fit their context, it is invalid. The context may be that of the character, the writer, the audience to which it was addressed, or some combination thereof. Jesus might apply Jonah's story to a context Jonah could never have considered, but Jesus' words would need to make some sort of sense to Jesus, the gospel writer, Jesus' contemporaries, or the people the gospel writer was addressing.
If Jesus' words in last Sunday's text were baffling, today's passage clarifies nothing. At first glance, it would seem that Jesus is continuing to speak about cannibalizing his body and feeding on his blood like some form of ritual vampirism. Those concepts would have been absurd to all contemporaries of his and his disciples, as well as contemporaries of the gospel writers. Jews went to great lengths to drain an animal of its blood prior to cooking the meat. That was part of the process of making food kosher, or halal in Muslim tradition. An animal killed for food could neither be strangled nor unbled. Both were protections against fertility c ...
Author: Christopher Harbin
Text: John 6:51-58
In last Sunday's gospel text, Jesus appeared to be teaching some form of cannibalism in regard to his own body, though that could have made no sense to his audience. Jesus being accused of breaking the Sabbath would have been small beans in comparison to promoting cannibalism. He began tying the idea of living bread both to his body, as well as to the manna eaten in the wanderings between Egypt and the promised land. How do we make sense out of his words that seem to push the idea of cannibalizing his body for access to the life of the age?
A major principle of good Biblical interpretation is that if our interpretation could not be understood by the original audience or speakers, we are most likely off track. Oh, sure, we can apply the meaning of a text to circumstances and issues they would not have understood, but if our understanding of the text does not fit their context, it is invalid. The context may be that of the character, the writer, the audience to which it was addressed, or some combination thereof. Jesus might apply Jonah's story to a context Jonah could never have considered, but Jesus' words would need to make some sort of sense to Jesus, the gospel writer, Jesus' contemporaries, or the people the gospel writer was addressing.
If Jesus' words in last Sunday's text were baffling, today's passage clarifies nothing. At first glance, it would seem that Jesus is continuing to speak about cannibalizing his body and feeding on his blood like some form of ritual vampirism. Those concepts would have been absurd to all contemporaries of his and his disciples, as well as contemporaries of the gospel writers. Jews went to great lengths to drain an animal of its blood prior to cooking the meat. That was part of the process of making food kosher, or halal in Muslim tradition. An animal killed for food could neither be strangled nor unbled. Both were protections against fertility c ...
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