Daily Scripture Reading John 6:52 - 7:5
There is a tendency in modern Christianity to water down the truths of the Bible in order to make Christianity appealing to as many people as possible. If anyone is offended by the truth, we tend to backtrack. We try to rephrase the truth in a way that is not offensive. We often ignore teachings we know our society does not want to hear.
Today, as we finish reading John chapter 6, we will see that Jesus made some difficult statements. Some of His disciples were offended and left Him. The response of Jesus to the defections is a lesson for us on how to handle people who reject the truth of the Bible.
Jesus was in Capernaum. He taught the Jews to pursue food that has eternal value, not just physical food. Then Jesus began using metaphors to teach about Himself. He metaphorically claimed to be bread out of heaven. He said if anyone eats Him, the living bread, he will live forever.
John 6:52 ¶ Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
The Jews did not understand the metaphor Jesus was using. When Jesus said He is bread out of heaven, He meant that anyone who learns from Him and believes in Him will have fulfillment and eternal life.
John 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
This is a metaphor. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man means believing in Jesus and consuming His teachings. Just as people who don’t consume physical food and drink will die, so too people who don’t consume the truths and teachings of Jesus are spiritually dead.
John 6:54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
Notice the word “true”. Physical food and drink are real and necessary for life here on earth. However, life on earth is a small part of our total existence. In order to have eternal life in heaven after life here on earth, we need to consume the truths and teachings of and about Jesus.
John 6:56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
John 6:57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
John 6:58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
The manna in the wilderness only provided temporal sustenance on earth. Jesus, the true bread out of heaven, provides eternal life in heaven.
John 6:59 ¶ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
This verse simply reminds us that Jesus was in Capernaum at this time. Capernaum was a city in the region of Galilee.
John 6:60 ¶ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
Many of the people listening to Jesus were not grasping His metaphor; therefore, they thought He was saying they had to eat His physical flesh and drink His physical blood. That was understandably gross and difficult to hear.
Using metaphors to teach was very similar to using parables to teach. Just as many people did not understand His parables, so too many people did not understand the metaphors Jesus used.
John 6:61 But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble?
John 6:62 What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?
John 6:63 The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
John 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
John 6:65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
John 6:66 ¶ As a result of this many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore.
The teachings of Jesus were so difficult that some of His disciples left Him. Notice what Jesus did not do. Jesus did not go after them and try to win them back. He allowed them to leave.
There is a tendency in modern Christianity to water down the difficult truths of Christianity in order to make Christianity appealing to as many people as possible. Some of the truths that are watered down are the Biblical statements that marriage is between one man and one woman only, and that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Our society does not want to hear those truths, but we should not water them down. Even if people reject Christianity because of those truths, we need to hold to them and teach them because they are the truth. Jesus did not apologize for speaking difficult truths. Neither should we. If we water down the truth to gain converts, we may end up with people in our churches who are not actually saved.
John 6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go?”
John 6:68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
John 6:69 And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Peter is often condemned for being impetuous, and sometimes the criticism is justified, but on this occasion it was Peter who grasped and articulated the truth.
Today, we know that eventually most of the disciples sacrificed their lives to proclaim the truth about Jesus. One of the reasons Jesus spoke hard truths was to weed out those who were not completely committed to Him.
We can do the same today. If we bluntly proclaim all the truth in the Bible, even the truths most people don’t want to hear, most of the people who remain will be true Christians who are fully committed to serving Jesus.
John 6:70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”
John 6:71 Now He was speaking of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
John 7:1 ¶ And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
Jerusalem was in Judea, so the center of Jewish life was in Judea. Most of the religious leaders would have been in Judea. For those reasons, there was less risk to Jesus if He stayed in Galilee, away from the center of power in Jerusalem. It was approximately 75 miles / 120 km from Judea to Galilee. That would have been at least a three day journey.
John 7:2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.
John 7:3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.
At first glance this statement seems strange. The disciples of Jesus were in Galilee. They were seeing His works.
John 7:4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself publicly to the world.”
This also is an odd statement. Jesus was not doing things in secret. He had already shown Himself publicly to the world.
John 7:5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
Based on this verse, we know the brothers of Jesus were goading Him. The implication was if He didn’t go to Judea and publicly show Himself, then He wasn’t really who He was claiming to be.
Christians have a tendency to water down or ignore truths that society doesn’t want to hear. We do that to gain as large a following as possible. Jesus did the opposite. He used hard truths to weed out disciples who didn’t belong with Him.
What are some truths that modern Christianity waters down because our society doesn’t want to hear about them?
What are the consequences of watering down those truths?
What are the benefits of imitating Jesus and boldly proclaiming the truths our society has rejected?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”