Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?

Day 131: John 6:43-71

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”' - John 6:66-69 ESV

As Jesus finished his difficult-to-understand teaching on eating His flesh and drinking His blood, it was too much for many of those who had started to follow Him. It turns out that when the multiplication of bread ends up being an illustration of Jesus' eventual sacrifice for sins, it doesn't scale as well.

He wasn't a new Moses. He wasn't offering new manna. Jesus actually had something great in mind, which for the Jews seemed like an impossibility. Greater than Moses? I mean, come on.

By Jesus offering Himself on the cross for the sins of many and then raising on the third day, He was going to enact change that had never been seen before.

Yet, none of this crowd got that from His message on this particular day. Even the 12 were bewildered by it. But when Peter really thought about it, though he may not have understood, he was convinced that only Jesus was speaking eternal life. Peter just assumed, correctly, that it was over his head.

Is there something in the Bible that has you confused? Do you assume it is wrong, or do you work with the preconception that you just can't (yet) wrap your mind around it?

Know this today: Jesus can be trusted. He gave His life as proof and rose again to further solidify His love for you and the entire world.

"There are different ways a teaching can be hard. It may be hard to understand, or it may be difficult to accept even when understood. That these people did not fully understand Jesus is evident. There was more to it, however. They were reluctant to go in the direction He was leading. He said the flesh counts for nothing, but the Spirit gives life." - Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 80)