To the crowds who followed him, Jesus spoke of the reign of God . He used simple words, parables taken from every day life, and yet his words had a special fascination. The crowds were spellbound at his teaching because he taught with authority and not like their scribes. Likewise when the temple guards who came to arrest him were asked by the chief priest and pharisees why they did not follow orders to bring him in, they replied: “No man ever spoke like that before”.
The Gospel of John also speaks about the light-filled conversations he had with some people, like Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus goes even more in depth with his apostles. He speaks openly of the Father and of the things of Heaven, and with them he no longer speaks in veiled language. His words convince them and they do not draw back even when they do not fully understand them or when they seem to be too demanding.
“This sort of talk is hard to endure” , some of his disciples remarked, when they heard him say that he would give them his body to eat and his blood to drink.
Seeing that many of his disciples were breaking away and did not remain in his company any longer, Jesus said to the Twelve Apostles: “Do you want to leave me too?”
Peter, now bound to him forever, and fascinated by the words he spoke on the day he met him, answered on behalf of everyone:

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.»

Peter had understood that the words his Teacher spoke were different from those of other teachers. Words that go from the earth to the earth, belong to and are destined to the earth. Jesus’ words are spirit and life because they come from Heaven: they are like a light that descends from Above and contains a power that comes from Above. His words have a wealth and depth which other words -whether philosophical, political, or poetic – do not have. They are “words of eternal life” because they contain, express and comunicate the fullness of that life that never ends since it is the very life of God.
Jesus is risen and lives, and his words, although said in the past, are not mere memories, but they are words addressed to all of us today and to every person of every epoch and culture: they are universal, eternal words.
The words of Jesus! They must have been his greatest art, so to say. The Word who speaks in human terms: what content, what intensity, what accent, what a voice!
“One day – recounts Basil the Great, for example – almost like waking up from a long sleep, I saw the marvelous light of the truth contained in the Gospel and discovered the vanity in the wisdom of earthly principles.”
In a letter of May 9, 1897 Therese of Lisiuex writes: “At times, when I read certain spiritual treatises… my poor humble spirit tires easily. I close the scholarly book which breaks my head to pieces and dries up my heart, and take hold of the Sacred Scriptures. Then everything lights up, just one word reveals to my soul infinite horizons and reaching perfection appears to be an easy task”
Yes, divine words fill the spirit, which is made for the infinite; they illuminate interiorly not only the mind, but all of one’s being, because they are light, love and life. They give peace – that which Jesus calls his: “my peace” – also in moments of bewilderment and anguish. They give full joy even in the midst of suffering which at times torments the soul. They give strength, especially in the face of dismay and discouragement. They give a sense of freedom because they open the path to Truth.

«Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.»

The Word of Life this month reminds us that the only Teacher we want to follow is Jesus, even when his words might seem to be hard and too demanding. This means: to be honest at work, to forgive, to put ourselves at the service of the other rather than to think only of ourselves, to remain faithful to our family, to assist a terminally ill person without yielding to the idea of euthanasia…
Many teachers invite us to come up with easy solutions, to make compromises. We want to listen to our Teacher and to follow him, the only one who speaks the truth and who has “words of eternal life”. In this way we too can repeat these words of Peter.
In this Lenten Season in which we are preparing for the big celebration of the Resurrection, we must truly put ourselves at the school of the only Teacher and become his disciples. Also in us an ardent love for the word of God must come to life. Let us be ready to welcome it when it is proclaimed in church, let us read it, study it, meditate on it…
But above all we are called to live it, as Scripture itself teaches: “Act on this word. If all you do is to listen to it, you are deceiving yourselves”. That is why each month we take into consideration one word in particular, allowing it to penetrate into us, to mould us, “to live us”. By living one word of Jesus we live all the Gospel, because in each word of his he gives all of himself, he himself comes to live in us. It is like a divine drop of his wisdom, the wisdom of the Risen One, which slowly penetrates into the depths of our hearts and replaces our way of thinking, wanting, and acting in every circumstance of our life.

Chiara Lubich