John 6:51–69

⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ⁵² At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have 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 real food, and my blood is real 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, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers ate and died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. ⁶⁰ When they heard it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith? ⁶² What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.” ⁶⁶ After this, many of his disciples turned back and were not walking with him anymore. ⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”   (EHV)

“This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Did you think those same thoughts as you heard Jesus’ words in our Gospel this morning? John 6 is an amazing chapter. Jesus’ sermon is amazing. You can spend a lifetime studying it. Because of His challenging wording, you could use it as a test of those who say they’re Christians. Try it sometime. Ask someone to tell you what they think of these words. Are they embarrassed by them? Do they want to walk away from them as did so many in Capernaum? That day so many turned away that Jesus felt compelled to ask even His Twelve Apostles, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” But Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”   

 A Hard Teaching

“This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Just what was so hard about what Jesus was teaching that day? Was it harder than what He taught on other days? Or did He just phrase it harder? If so, why did He do that? Did He want people to leave? Was this His way of “separating the men from the boys”—the believers from the “hangers-on”?

There are individual teachings in the Bible that we might classify as hard teachings—ones we’d leave out if we were designing our own religion to ‘Win Friends and Influence People’ like Dale Carnegie. For example, almost no one objects to the Bible saying, “Love God.” Most will go along with “Love your neighbor as yourself.” A few more will turn away, though, when Jesus adds “Love your enemies.” Some teachings are perhaps “harder” than others. They’re harder in the sense that fewer people believe them, even among those who call themselves Christians. ‘Close’ or ‘closed’ communion certainly comes to mind. So does six-day creation. And every year that list gets longer as generations come and go that have almost no familiarity with Christianity.

Truth is, without the Holy Spirit, it’s impossible for the world to accept any of Jesus Christ’s teachings. In our text Jesus speaks to just that point. He says, “The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.”

If you believe in Jesus, if you trust Him fully, it is only because the Spirit brought you to life spiritually, and if He did that, then He is also the One who gives you the spiritual life to believe all the things Jesus teaches. The big hump to get over is the Gospel itself. If you have faith in the Gospel, then you love Jesus enough to listen to everything He says and not just stick around for free food and medical care like the people of Capernaum. That’s why Jesus doubled down on the heart of the Gospel in such strong, thought-provoking words. If people don’t know and believe the central doctrine of the whole Bible, namely that Jesus is the Bread of Life—the One and Only Bread of Life—then there’s no point in discussing “side issues.” So, Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have 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 real food, and my blood is real 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, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers ate and died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” Jesus was saying you have to swallow Him whole—not just bits and pieces of Him. (He wasn’t talking about communion, here, because He hadn’t yet instituted it.)

Now, if the Holy Spirit leads you to believe in Him completely, then He is both your Savior and your Lord and Master Teacher. Then you will listen to everything Jesus and His Apostles say. The flipside is also true, of course. If someone rejects what Jesus says in His Word out of hand because it’s ‘hard’ or uncomfortable, then they’re actually rejecting Jesus and the Gospel. Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples” (John 8:31).

Hard times and hard teachings challenge our faith. The devil would like nothing more than to round us up and push us into the crowd at Capernaum, so we too walk away, shake our heads, and grumble, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?” Pastors can tell so many sad stories of those who walked away, because some ‘hard’ Bible truth stepped on their toes and conflicted with their favorite pet sin or false notion. When people do that, they think they’re just leaving an individual congregation, but in reality, they’re leaving Jesus, who said, “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples.”

Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith? ⁶² What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.”

When I disagree with God’s Word, I am placing my soul up for grabs and the devil is all too eager and able to snatch it away. It’s then that Jesus seriously asks us what He asked the twelve: “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

The Words of Eternal Life

Speaking for the 12, Peter gives the only right answer: “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Like Peter, we believe and know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. We know that He has the Words of eternal life. The Holy Spirit lit His Word on fire in our hearts. We know it. Like Peter, we can’t walk away because “Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life.” In “Amazing Grace,” John Newton wrote, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.” We cannot unsee what we’ve seen. We know life. God has given us the power to see and live forever, even to rise from the dead.

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 real food, and my blood is real 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, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Jesus offered His critics proof that He will give us eternal life by promising to rise from the dead and ascend into heaven Himself. “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith?” He asked them. “What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” He hadn’t yet ascended when He spoke those words, but He promised He would: “Just you watch!” Only God could make and keep such a promise. And He did: Jesus is God and He ascended back into heaven before their eyes.

Jesus, God’s own Son, came down from heaven to be our brother, live in our sinful world as our sinless Substitute, and then offer His holy life as full payment for the sins of the world. His ascension proves He was welcomed back in heaven, that He was successful in His mission, and that even now He’s keeping His promise to prepare a place for all who believe in Him—all who “eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.”

Since all that is true, is it really such a ‘hard’ teaching? Only to those who refuse to believe, who say “No” to His offer of life eternal.

John Lennon once sang, “Imagine no religion, it’s easy if you try.” Okay, try that! Imagine there’s no heaven. Imagine Jesus didn’t die for your sins. Imagine we’re just the offspring of slime hit by lightning in a swamp billions of years ago. Imagine we have no purpose, no hope, and no future. Imagine life has no meaning. Is that an easier teaching?!

When Peter spoke up and answered for the 12, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life,” he was confessing from the heart the eternal life Jesus had already given Him through faith. Before Peter met Jesus, he was just another fisherman, hoping that there might be something more—’God may be merciful, it would be nice if there’s a heaven, hopefully I’ll make it.’ But then He ate the Bread of Life and his eyes were opened and his heart swelled with joy. ‘There is a heaven and now I know I will get there. Jesus is the way!’ Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life. I have heard them with my own ears and believed! Where else can I go? I can’t leave! None of us can!’

Isn’t it true for you too? There is nothing in this world like the Word of Jesus, because Jesus is not from this world! He is God, who came down from heaven and spoke. He, who calls out to you, is the One who created you. He formed your body and soul in your mother’s womb. Like a child given up for adoption at birth meeting her mother for the first time at age 50, you recognize where you came from! You see it in the eyes, notice it in the mannerisms, hear it in the voice. “This is the real thing. God is my Father! Jesus is my brother!”

God is our Father and Jesus is our brother. That’s who is talking to you in His Word, and you can tell! And as you hear and believe His Words, they actually start you on your flight to paradise! You begin to rise up. His Word is literally the wind beneath your wings. Christ’s Words Are Spirit and They Are Life. And so, we answer Jesus’ question, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  Amen.