When we analyze the words of Jesus as we hear them in today’s Gospel reading, we sense a special urgency in them, as if what he says to the crowds of Capernaum is a matter of life and death. Is that a rhetorical exaggeration on his part, or is it literally true?

A lot of Christians would say that Jesus exaggerates. They see religion as one element in their life, nothing more. Religion is like the icing on the cake. It gathers the family in church on Sundays, it maintains law and order in society, it provides a nice setting for life’s important events (baptisms, weddings, funerals). But they would not agree with Jesus that religion is a matter of life and death.

The trouble with these Christians, of course, is that they practice their religion, they don’t live it. As a humorist once said, they haven’t tried their religion and found it wanting; they just never tried it. Other voices are often raised which adopt a quite different stand. One of these is C.S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist. He writes, “Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important”

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him.

Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment. Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

Thus Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured. There was great joy in that city.

Jesus said to the crowds, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe.

“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”