Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

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This is the Gospel selection to be read aloud by a priest on the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 16], Year B, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. This reading will be preceded by one of two pairs of Old Testament and Psalm readings, where the reading from First Kings tells of Solomon dedicating his temple in Jerusalem. The alternate reading comes from Joshua, when the Tabernacle was established in Shechem and all the Israelite leaders were told to choose what elohim they would serve afterwards. Joshua said he would be a Yahweh elohim and the rest of the leaders said they would do the same. The Psalms are songs of praise to the dwelling place of Yahweh and the protection the righteous have. The Epistle reading that will accompany them all comes from Ephesians, when Paul told the true Christians of Ephesus to wear the full armor of God.

The last time this reading came up in the lectionary cycle (2018), I wrote my comments and published them on my website. That article can be viewed by searching this site. I stand behind what I wrote then and I welcome all to read that commentary and compare that to this production of additional views. Because the text has not changed, the same things I saw three years ago are pertinent today.

In my observations of 2018, I made it clear that when the Jews in the synagogue in Capernaum heard Jesus talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, their saying, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” was a sign that they were not inspired by the Spirit of Yahweh to understand divine language. Thus, Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life,” as an affirmation of that his words of the Father were indeed divine language.

For the past twenty years I have been learning to speak divine language. I was led to understand it by first realizing Nostradamus was a modern prophet of Yahweh, whose work The Prophecies [Les Propheties] was in fact divine language. No one has been able to read Nostradamus and make sense of it, because to understand divine language one has to be assisted by the divine. I did not solve how to make sense of what Nostradamus wrote. I was divinely guided to see the truth; and, just as the followers of Jesus to the synagogue in Capernaum said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” the Christians I have encountered over the past fifteen years have said the same thing to me [as they pick up the stones of destruction, preparing to smash my head for thinking such things].

By spending several years of my life being totally devoted to following the voice of Yahweh as He led me further and further towards understanding divine language, I produced a book I entitled “The Systems of Nostradamus: Instructions for Making Sense of The Prophecies.” I was led to write a book that lists the syntax of divine language, which could be applied to what Nostradamus wrote. But then, I began going to an Episcopal Church and reading the selected readings they printed on a handout, listening to the public reading of those Scriptural verses; and, my mind was opened to understanding those words, because I had been led to understand Nostradamus.

The same methods for understanding Nostradamus made understanding Holy Scripture clear. I read and understood, to the point of investigating insights and asking questions about meaning. However, no priest I ever heard give a sermon presented the truth of the meaning I saw, meaning no priests I ever heard had a clue about understanding divine language.

Christians today have been led away from a personal commitment to Yahweh [they do not even know the name of their God, taught to call Him “Lord”], because of being fed spiritual food by the likes of Judas Iscariot reincarnated in Christian vestments. The priests I have heard have been little more than hired hands. When I have attended Bible Studies led by priests and church deacons, I have had Bible Studies suddenly go on hiatus and teachers tell me to stop raising question that no one can answer [other than scholars making hypotheses]. Because of this false teaching model, Christians gleefully memorize Bible quotes that are English mistranslations, when few can explain what their memorizations mean [they sure do sound pretty, however].

Because I did an acceptable job explaining this message in this reading, back in 2018, I will not beat that bush any further today. What I will do is give a syntactical explanation of what John wrote, about what Jesus said. It should be noted that John wrote his Gospel many years after the fact; but faith says John did not write from memory, as he wrote by divine guidance, which he willingly followed. Thus, every stroke of John’s pen [in Greek] must be seen as divinely chosen by Yahweh and given to John to write, because each specific word bears the meaning Yahweh intended. At no point did John offer opinions that were not divinely led. At no point did he stray from the truth.

In verse 56, the Greek text written [transliterated] is this: “Ho trōgōn mou tēn sarka kai pinōn mou to haima , en emoi menei , kagō en autō .” This verse has been translated into English by the NRSV [New Revised Standard Version] to say, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”

The standard translation of the Greek into English must be realized as being according to the rules of language [syntax], such that the differences in Greek and English are resolved, so the intent stated in Greek is transposed into a statement of the same intent in English. This result becomes a paraphrase, which should be seen as a step away from the truth. Realizing there is problem with this means one then comes with the task of grasping how Jesus most likely was not speaking Greek, as he was most probably speaking Aramaic. John heard and understood the Aramaic, but did not write his Gospel [as did none of the New Testament writers] in Aramaic.

This makes Greek be a language chosen by Yahweh, both because John was fluent in that language and John understood the intent behind Yahweh selecting exact replacement words in Greek, which would divinely reflect what was said in Aramaic. Anyone who does not have faith that Scripture is the Word of Yahweh [call Him “God” if you want], written by a devoted vehicle [a servant in ministry], needs not read here any further, because such people will always say, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

In that regard, I once made a comment in a lectionary class, one that was reading the account of Pentecost Sunday, from Acts 2. At that time I said the English translation of “raised,” where Peter stood and with a “raised voice” spoke, that English translation should not be understood simply as meaning, “Peter yelled out to the crowd.” I said the word written in Greek means he spoke in an “uplifted” manner, better meaning that Peter spoke divinely [perhaps even while yelling]. After I made that [in my opinion basic] clarification, one woman blurted out angrily, “Then why doesn’t it say that?!?!” – as if the English translation saying “raised voice” could not be understood any way other than “Peter shouted.” I mention this as one example [of others], where it is much easier for Christians [those calling themselves that] to say, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

As for the Greek written by John that I have posted above, a literal translation can state, “He partaking of a meal of me this body kai imbibing of me this blood , in me waits , kai ego
in soul .” In this there are four words that place focus on the ego, where “mou” is the genitive or possessive statement of “egṓ,” such that “of me” is a possession relative to “I.” The Greek word “emoi” is the Dative singular form of “egṓ,” such that “me” is again a statement about “I.” Finally, the contracted words “kai and egṓ” create “kagō,” where the use of “kai” is always a marker word denoting importance to follow, with that importance then being placed directly on the state of being that is “I.” That repetition must not be seen so much as the ego of Jesus being stated; but instead, the repetition of “I” must be seen as Yahweh speaking through the Son to all who would forevermore read the words of John and realize “I” becomes a statement of each individual who is resurrected as the Son.

Relative to “trōgōn” being “partaking of a meal,” rather than “eating” [or “eater”], this has to be seen in the context of Jesus having set this up by saying, “I am the bread of life,” followed by his saying, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” This says Jesus is not a man, as much as Jesus is a soul that has been sent by Yahweh in the form of a man. While Jesus appears to be a man of flesh and blood, he had just told those in a Jewish synagogue that the reality was he stood before them as bread from heaven, which offers life. That makes Jesus be spiritual food; and, spiritual food is as unseen as are words spoken and Greek written with deeper than surface meanings.

The scary word that is so hard to take is “flesh.” Hearing Jesus say “eat my flesh” turns one’s mind away from the truth. The Greek word written by John, “sarka,” can mean “flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.” (Strong’s Usage) According to HELPS Word-studies, the word implies “of human origin or empowerment,” such that the “body” of Jesus, which came down from heaven, was the Spirit of Yahweh within his being [his “I”]. The “body” of Jesus that we know comes from the four written accounts of his life on earth, which is what needs to be “consumed,” in order for one to even begin to think “I am a Christian.”

In the first series of words in verse 56 is the presence of the word “kai,” which [again] marks importance that follows. That marker word follows the use of “body” [“sarka”], which means the consumption of the body of Christ is the preliminary step towards the greater transformation which is [marked by “kai”] “imbibing this blood.” Here, the use of “imbibe” brings about the essence of the definition that is “to absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge).” [Google, Oxford Languages] Following the consumption of a body of knowledge, to absorb that knowledge into one’s own self being [a reborn “I”] means to have the same flow of “life” as did Jesus. When “life” equates to the presence of a “soul” in a body of flesh, then to have absorbed the “bread of life” means one has had one’s soul joined by the soul of Jesus. This equates to a divine possession.

The acceptance of that meaning means the “blood” of Jesus is one’s own “blood,” which becomes grounds for claiming a relationship, through divine lineage. The assimilation of the “blood of Jesus” means one has also become the Son of Yahweh, in the flesh of a human. It is the foundation block of true Christianity, where all who truthfully make that claim have become resurrections of the soul of Jesus, so each has married their souls to Yahweh, so He has brought about that divine rebirth. This becomes the truth of “in me waits [or abides]

, kai I upon soul.”

The element of followers of Jesus no longer being able to follow him, is seen through John writing, “Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe” and “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” This prophesied people like that woman who angrily challenged a simple explanation of language as something her belief system cannot survive. By being told, “You must be in Jesus and Jesus one with you,” the fair weather Christians will leave in droves. They have all been promised the moon for doing nothing, with all sins washed away by the rhetoric of hired hands. They have been told, “Jesus died for your sins,” which refuses to explain that Jesus died in the flesh to release his soul to join with yours; so now, the addition has to say [but isn’t preached], “You have to die of self ego and be reborn as Jesus, because of your sins.”

The aspect of Jesus saying, “no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father” means the first step to receiving the bread from heaven to consume is for one’s soul to accept the marriage proposal from Yahweh [you need to learn His name in order to marry His Spirit] and become a bride of Yahweh. If one’s soul does not marry Yahweh, one cannot “eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood,” becoming his brother in Christ [regardless of human gender]. The problem so many denominations of Christianity have is they sweep aside Yahweh, going straight to the Son, seeing Jesus as an equal to God, which forbids them from ever gaining eternal life. The marriage vows [the Covenant, or Commandments] are between the soul and Yahweh. One has to commit to serving Yahweh eternally, before the idea of Jesus comes. There are no shortcuts here.

In regards to the truth that was said by the followers of Jesus being, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” there is nothing about Holy Scripture [All Testaments] that can be understood by 2-hour a week believers. Before there was any written texts to memorize, the children of Yahweh – the true Israelites, who all “Retained God” – were taken away from the glare of the big city, into the wilderness, where for forty years they lived being children of Yahweh. Anyone who does not have the time to look up the Hebrew and Greek texts and figure out the depth of meaning the words written contain, that soul does not want to submit to Yahweh and be His wife. Scripture is meant to be hard to interpret, because the only ones who can accept it are those brides whose lamps never run out of oil.

As the Gospel reading selection to be read aloud by a priest on the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, when one’s own personal ministry to Yahweh should already be well underway, the lesson is clear. Either you are a pretender or you are a contender. Pretenders run away from the hard work. They want everything handed to them on a silver platter. The souls who are willing to submit to the Will of God and do all the servitude He demands – willingly, out of love and devotion – they will find all the work that servitude demands will become a joy to behold. Ministry can only be truth when a soul has married Yahweh and then consumed His spiritual bread, which means being His Jesus reborn.