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God's Questions
Will You Also Go Away?
Message Notes
John 6:53-69 (NIV)
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
V. 53 “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
Many followed Jesus because of what He provided. Now He invites his followers to something deeper. The miracle was never the point, it was a sign pointing to the true Bread of Life.
“Jesus is looking for people who want the Giver more than the gifts, the Savior more than the miracles, the Bread of Life more than another meal.” Eugene Peterson
V. 60 “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
The Greek word sklẽros means harsh, offensive, or difficult to accept. Notice they don’t say, “We don’t understand.” They say, “Who can accept it?” The problem isn’t misunderstanding, it is that they don’t like what Jesus is saying.
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” G.K. Chesterton
V. 66 “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
This is one of the saddest verses in Scripture. Jesus does not change His message to keep the crowd. In one sermon, many who had been following Him walk away, revealing that they wanted what He could do for them more than they wanted Him.
V. 67 “will you also go away?”
Jesus does not chase the crowd. He does not lower the standard. Instead, He turns to the Twelve and asks a deeply personal question.
The Greek construction expects a negative answer and could be paraphrased, “You aren’t planning to leave too... are you?”
