The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

One of my favorite novelists is the 19th century Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky. Although some of his larger works (The Brothers Karamazov) have earned him international acclaim, I cherish some of his short stories, the most famous of which is Notes from the Underground. He also penned a work entitled The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. As I was studying our lectionary passage for this coming Sunday, John 6: 51-58, I thought of this story. This passage of the Bible borders on the ridiculous. And, to my dismay, many commentators refer to this as one of the most difficult passages to preach in all the Bible.

At first glance, this passage appears to have cannabalistic overtones. Over the last few weeks, we have looked at Jesus as the bread of life, and now He is exhorting us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The words in the Greek make his statement even more shocking. In all accounts of the Lord’s Supper his body is referred to as soma, but here Jesus uses the word sarx, or flesh. Rather than use the traditional word for to eat, Jesus says trogan, or to munch, a much coarser word. What is Jesus referring to here? Is there a eucharistic meaning? Or a foreshadowing of his death? Join us this Sunday at 10.30 as we look at the dream of another ridiculous man, Jesus.