This coming Sunday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”

The “Jews” themselves make the first direct statement about eating Jesus’ flesh, as they combine Jesus’ words in v.51 into one statement. What shocks the crowd is that until Jesus’ words in v. 51, Jesus’ language has focused on the metaphor of the bread of life, but now the metaphor shifts. The content of the crowd’s protest in v.52 makes clear that the sticking point is the language about “flesh”—namely, its use to refer to Jesus himself.

The quarrel is not limited to those who heard the words from Jesus. The quarrel has continued, especially in the age during and since the protestant reformations of the 16th century and following. The language about “flesh” is a contentious point in Johannine scholarship and vv.51-58 are undoubtedly the most contentious verses in the Fourth Gospel. Here is a sample of what I think are representative positions of noted biblical scholars (list developed by Gail O’Day, 605):

• Rudolf Bultman “maintains that the eucharistic references in these verses were imported into the text of the Fourth Gospel by a later editor in order to correct the anti-sacramental tendencies of the Fourth Evangelist.” This understanding of the whole of the Gospel of John and it sacramental theology is also held by many other German Protestant scholars – but note that it does hold some sacramental understanding.
• A German evangelical scholar Ernst Haenchen maintains that any inclusion of the sacraments contradicts “the heart of [the Evangelist’s] proclamation” This is also the view of  D. A. Carson, a North American evangelical scholar who agrees because he holds that the Fourth Gospel is in no  way sacramental in any aspect.
• Lagrange, a French Catholic scholar, maintains that the allusion to the eucharist is evident in v. 51 and “could not be missed by anyone, except for Protestants who misconstrue the terms.”
• The preeminent Johannine scholar, Fr. Raymond Brown adopts a middle-of-the-road position. He holds that vv. 51–58 are the sacramental doublet of the more teaching-revelation oriented bread of life discourse that occurs in vv. 35–50. Brown holds that b vv. 35–50 and vv. 51–58 preserve authentic Johannine traditions. He maintains that the doublet within the bread of life discourse complement each other along the lines of word and sacrament in the liturgy of the mass.

You will note the clear Protestant/Reformer – Catholic divide in our sample. Why do I present a snapshot of the scholarly debate over John 6:51–58? Because it is important to every reader of the Gospel of John in that it reveals the presuppositions and assumptions out of which every interpreter works and how those assumptions affect interpretation. Fr. Gerald Sloyan, a Catholic scholar, has wisely observed this discussion: “Some applaud the move to the sacramental plateau, others deplore it—but both seem to do so more on the basis of a Catholic or Reformation heritage than of hard data provided by the Fourth Gospel.” I think this is true for many (or most) internet-found discussions. Catholic and non-Catholic apologists simply assert their positions, recycle their rehearsed arguments, and do not often engage readers or interlocutors.

Image credit: The Feeding of the Five Thousand by William Hole (1846-1917) | Edinburgh University Library | PD-US