In The Word
Read: John 6:41-71
Words to the Jews
41 So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Words to the Disciples
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
60 So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is this offensive to you? 62 What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Peter’s Confession of Faith
66 As a result of this many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him.67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.69 And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In our reading today, Jesus is having a very complex discussion with the people. He included, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.” Even His disciples were now questioning this difficult statement. “Who can listen to this?” As a result, many of His disciples withdrew and walked away. These people were not just bystanders or common folk. They were His disciples. Jesus now looked to the twelve and asked, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” It was Peter who answered, “Where would we go? You hold the keys to eternal life.”
The longer you live this life, there will come instances when you will not understand why you must go through a very difficult situation. It may be a situation that will require all your faith in God to stay in the walk He has called you. I have had a moment like that. It seemed that everything was against me and all hope was lost. I felt that I had been abandoned. I could not understand why God would place me in that situation. I remember asking myself, “What will you do? Are you going to quit? Was it all a lie?” Thank God, I answered as Peter did, “Where would I go? You hold the keys to eternal life.” I may not understand why I have to go through certain circumstances, but I know my Savior lives, and I believe because of Him, I have eternal life. Now many years later, I look back at that situation as a defining moment, the moment I truly believed.