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Saturday, March 28th
John 6:60- 7:1
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?' But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, 'Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Creator.' Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'* Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.' He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot,* for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him. After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish* to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him.
Just prior to the last few passages we've been studying, Jesus fed the 5000. What a miracle that was. Sensational! We love sensation, excitement and drama. Then Jesus used that miracle of feeding to draw the analogy that he had come to be the bread of life, to do more than feed us physically, but to feed us spiritually. This teaching was difficult for the crowd to grasp. They wanted the excitement to continue. They wanted a physical kingdom to be built in the natural world, not necessarily to think about and understand spiritual truths. How much are we like those followers? We shout with joy over the excitement, the wonders, and beauty when all is going our way and we are having a good time! But when the teaching gets hard...do we struggle through it? Do we sit still, listen to voice of God, and pray for openness to understand the spiritual truth God is trying to reveal to us? These are the times when many of us look for something else to capture our attention; a new sensation to wet our fleshly appetite for drama and excitement. These are the times when I suspect we may miss the most important truth that we desperately need to carry us through the next phase of our journey.
When many had left, Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter, what a blessing he was! He spoke the simplest and most basic truth of all when he answered, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God". Oh, that we might take this truth and plant it deeply into our hearts. There is no one else to whom we can go! When we are tempted to turn to other things, to people, to obsessions, to the latest craze in hopes of finding the abundant life, may we remember this simple truth. May we stop and reflect on these things, knowing that Jesus is the one to whom we can go to find peace, love, and comfort for our souls, both now and forever. Amen kdd
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