"Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6: 68)
To the crowds that followed him, Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God. He used simple words, parables taken from everyday life, and yet his words had a special fascination. People were impressed by his teaching because he taught with authority, unlike the Scribes. Even the temple guards who went to arrest him, when asked by the chief priests and Pharisees why they had not carried out their orders, replied: "Never has anyone spoken like this!"
John's Gospel also tells of conversations that were full of light which Jesus had with individual people, such as Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus goes even further into depth with his Apostles. He speaks openly of the Father and of heavenly things, no longer speaks in veiled language. His words convince them and they do not draw back even when they do not fully understand or when his words seem too demanding.
"This teaching is difficult," some of his disciples remarked, when they heard him say that he would give them his body to eat and his blood to drink. Seeing that many of his disciples pulled back and were no longer with him, Jesus said to the 12 Apostles: "Do you wish also to go away?"
Peter, who by now was tied to him forever, fascinated by all Jesus had said since the day he met him, replied on behalf of them all:
"Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life"
Peter had understood that the words of his teacher were different from those of other teachers. Words that go from earth to earth, belong to and have the destiny of the earth. Jesus' words are spirit and life because they come from heaven: they are a light that descends from above with a power that comes from above. His words have a quality and depth that other words, whether philosophical, political, or poetic, do not have.
They are 'words of eternal life', because they contain, express and communicate the fullness of the life that never ends, since it is the very life of God. Jesus is risen and lives, and his words, although spoken in the past, are not merely memories, but they are words addressed by him to all of us today and to every person of every epoch and culture: they are universal, eternal words. The words of Jesus! They must have been his greatest art, so to say. The word who speaks in human words: what content, what intensity, what an interesting way of talking, what a voice he must have had!
Basil the Great tells, for example, how "one day, almost like waking up from a long sleep, I saw the marvellous light of the truth contained in the Gospel and discovered the vanity in the wisdom of earthly principles."
And in a letter of May 9, 1897, Therese of Lisieux wrote: "At times, when I read certain spiritual treatises... my poor humble spirit tires easily. I close the scholarly book which tires my head and dries up my heart, and I take hold of the Sacred Scriptures. Then everything lights up, even one word reveals infinite horizons to my soul and perfection seems easy to reach."
Yes, divine words fill the spirit which is made for the infinite; they give inner light not only to the mind, but to the whole of one's being, because they are light, love and life. They give peace - the kind Jesus calls his own: 'my peace' - also in moments of trouble and anguish. They give complete joy, even in the midst of the pain which sometimes torments the soul. They give strength, especially in the face of shock and discouragement. They give a sense of freedom because they open the path to truth.
The Word of Life this month reminds us that the only teacher we want to follow is Jesus, even when his words may seem hard or too demanding. This means to be honest at work to forgive, to be at the service of others rather than think selfishly of ourselves, to remain faithful in our family life, to help a terminally ill person without yielding to the idea of euthanasia.
There are many teachers who invite us to accept easy solutions, to make compromises. We want to listen to the one teacher and to follow him, who alone speaks the truth and who has 'words of eternal life'. In this way we too can repeat these words of Peter.
During Lent, as we prepare for the great celebration of the Resurrection, we must truly learn from the one teacher and become his disciples. We too must develop a passionate love for the word of God. Let us be ready to welcome it when it is proclaimed in church, let us read it, study it, meditate on it...
But above all we are called to live the Word, as Scripture itself teaches: "Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves." That is why each month we take into consideration one word in particular, allowing it to enter us, to mould us, 'to live us'. By living one word of Jesus we live the entire Gospel, because in each word he gives the whole of himself, he himself comes to live in us. It is like a divine drop of his wisdom, the wisdom of the Risen One, which slowly penetrates into the depths of our hearts and replaces our way of thinking, wanting and acting in every circumstance of our life.