This was a difficult chapter for me to unravel, with many
truths from Jesus hard to understand and hard to accept.
It was the day after Jesus fed the five thousand, which
caused many to follow him and seek him out. Jesus told them he knew they only
came, not because they cared about him, but because they’d eaten the bread. He warned
them not to strive only after physical goods, which will not last, but for what
will last for eternity.
Jesus told them he is the bread of life, and that he would
give his life for the world. He said that those who eat his flesh and drink his
blood are the only ones who will have eternal life.
After a long time to study this, and with the help of the
Holy Spirit, we know that Jesus is talking about spiritual things. But at that
time, people grumbled against him, and many of his followers left him.
It seems that Jesus showed his human feelings then, asking
if his close disciples would leave him too, and Peter gives one of his great
statements:
Verses 68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to
know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Some of this chapter is hard to understand, but some things
are easy, and I cling to these.
Verses 28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to
do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to
believe in the one he has sent.”
Verses 37-40 All those the Father gives me will come to
me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from
heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this
is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has
given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and
I will raise them up at the last day.”