OUTRAGEOUS FOODS ARE here to stay. We have different weird ones in almost every country: “veggie mite” of the Aussies; “chicken feet” of China; “monkey’s brain” of Hong Kong; some sort of “hippopotamus” meat of South Africa; “ceviche” of Peru; “sushi” dipped in wasabe with soy souce of Japan…(the rest of our readers out there, feel free to share your contri, especially if you’re a fan Andrew Zimmer of Discovery Channel: (‘Bizarre Foods’).
We don’t even have to go far to see some bizarre ones. In the Philippines, we have a lot of those: “Azucena” adobo dog meat of Baguio; fried “cricket” of Tuguegarao; “durian” fruit of Davao; the world famous and I think, Ptr. Steve’s fave, “balut”, a boiled unhatched duck egg of Pateros.
But there is this unique Filipino dish that’s so good to eat with rice cake (puto): “Dinuguan”. Side note, “Sabi nila, pinaglihi daw ako sa puto…kaya lang nahulog sa dinuguan kaya naging ganito ang kulay ko.” It’s pork meat with some mysterious parts mixed with pig’s blood.
I know…I know you are a bit squeamished about the idea. But imagine telling that to the Jewish people!
Well, Jesus mentioned something even more outrageous that “dinuguan”.
John 6:52-55
“Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
But what made this statement so outrageous; being one of the most original hard sayings in the Bible, is not because of the ‘cannibalism’ idea in it; not because they can’t understand the saying; but it is the difficulty of accepting the meaning of it. So hard that many disciples, I mean DISCIPLES, turned there backs and no longer followed Him.
This has become the saddest verse in the entire Scriptures, which is found in, what I call, the ‘666’ verse- John 6.66.
What made Christianity so unique is that it is highly EXPERIENCIAL. He was telling us to feed on Him! And He wasn’t the first one to talk about eating the things of God, though:
Psalms 34:8
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.”
Ezekiel 3:2-3
“So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”
Since the words He used were associated with ritual sacrifice terms, Jesus was here claiming to be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would be offered for the sins of the world.
It is almost like Jesus was telling them, the disciples then, and today, that:
“Only Jesus Satisfies Our Hunger.”
(In a way, I made an illustration about this idea in what we can call ‘Salad Bar’ theology, and the story as I have said it at the end of my message in this podcast.)
With that truth, He must have attached this note: “Re’spondez S’il Vous Plait” (R.S.V.P.)…short for, “Please reply.”
Only few, twelve disciples to be exact, responded well (vv.67-69).
Will you?
If you will, then I say to you…
“Bon Appetit!”
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