The Table: The Most Offensive Invitation

For 2,000 years followers of Jesus have gathered around a table, not to repeat a ritual, but to participate in a mystery. In this message from Robyn Elliott, we explore Jesus’ shocking words and discover that Communion is more than symbolism; it’s an invitation. At this table, heaven and earth meet, the ordinary becomes sacred, and we are transformed as we participate in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Discussion Questions: 1. When you think about Communion, what emotions or assumptions immediately come to mind? Where do those come from? Did they change after hearing this message? 2. What does it mean to you that Communion is participation, not just remembrance? 3. Jesus challenges the crowd for being fans rather than followers. Where might you be tempted to want something from Jesus more than wanting Jesus himself? 4. Why do you think Jesus used such shocking language (eat my flesh, drink my blood) to describe following him? 5. How does the idea of physically eating and drinking as a way of encountering Jesus reshape your understanding of what is real? 6. In what ways is gathering at the table socially disruptive, especially in a divided or screen-saturated world? 7. How does Communion speak to inclusion, belonging, and even loving our enemies? 8. What might it look like for you to “take in” the life of Jesus this week in a tangible, embodied way? 9. If this table is where heaven and earth meet, how should that shape the way we approach it? 10. John 6 shifts from the Greek word phagein (“to eat”) to trogein (“to chew/gnaw”) later in the passage. Do you think this intensification suggests a move toward literalism, or is John deliberately heightening the metaphor to force decision and offense? What might that tell us about how John understands participation in Christ?