Some of HIS messages, and instructions were difficult for the people, and the Disciples to grasp, in which case they would either discuss it among themselves, or directly ask HIM: there was LOTS of grumbling, and frustration, especially for those who considered themselves experts of THE LAW...
To this very day, there is difficulty in embracing fully the SCRIPTURES, and yet, often, it is because we move away from the messages which stump us, instead of poring over them, time and again, that they begin to bud within!!!
One HAS to WANT to take HIM into the depths of the being, and to meld with HIS WISDOM, no matter how perplexing, or tough it might be! In DOING so, a whole new outlook, and existence IS waiting for us! As we get through these lessons, and take them to heart, we cannot help but begin to SHINE OF HIM, for HE IS now preeminent within, just as HE HAS ALWAYS been, and ever will be...
It SEEMS grueling at times to decipher, and fathom the HOLY sense of HIS teachings, and yet, it IS within our reach, and ability, because for one thing, HE IS WORKING IN US, THROUGH US, and AROUND US, IN ORDER FOR HIS WILL to BE FULFILLED, and HIS GLORY!!!
25+++When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26+++Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
27+++Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28+++Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29+++Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30+++So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
31+++Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
32+++Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33+++For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34+++“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
36+++But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
37+++All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38+++For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39+++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.
40+++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.”
41+++At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42+++They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
44+++“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
45+++It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.
46+++No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
47+++Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
48+++I am the bread of life.
49+++Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
50+++But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.
51+++I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52+++Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
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?”
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 Spirite 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.”
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.”
70+++Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”
71+++(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Constant exercise of faith in Christ, is the most important and difficult part of the obedience required from us, as sinners seeking salvation. When by his grace we are enabled to live a life of faith in the Son of God, holy tempers follow, and acceptable services may be done. God, even his Father, who gave their fathers that food from heaven to support their natural lives, now gave them the true Bread for the salvation of their souls. Coming to Jesus, and believing on him, signify the same. Christ shows that he is the true Bread; he is to the soul what bread is to the body, nourishes and supports the spiritual life. He is the Bread of God. Bread which the Father gives, which he has made to be the food of our souls. Bread nourishes only by the powers of a living body; but Christ is himself living Bread, and nourishes by his own power.
The doctrine of Christ crucified is now as strengthening and comforting to a believer as ever it was. He is the Bread which came down from heaven. It denotes the Divinity of Christ's person and his authority; also, the Divine origin of all the good which flows to us through him. May we with understanding and earnestness say, Lord, evermore give us this Bread.
The discovery of their guilt, danger, and remedy, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, makes men willing and glad to come, and to give up every thing which hinders applying to him for salvation. The Father's will is, that not one of those who were given to the Son, should be rejected or lost by him. No one will come, till Divine grace has subdued, and in part changed his heart; therefore no one who comes will ever be cast out. The gospel finds none willing to be saved in the humbling, holy manner, made known therein; but God draws with his word and the Holy Ghost; and man's duty is to hear and learn; that is to say, to receive the grace offered, and consent to the promise. None had seen the Father but his beloved Son; and the Jews must expect to be taught by his inward power upon their minds, and by his word, and the ministers whom he sent among them.
The advantage of the manna was small, it only referred to this life; but the living Bread is so excellent, that the man who feedeth on it shall never die. This bread is Christ's human nature, which he took to present to the Father, as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; to purchase all things pertaining to life and godliness, for sinners of every nation, who repent and believe in him.
The flesh and blood of the Son of man, denote the Redeemer in the nature of man; Christ and him crucified, and the redemption wrought out by him, with all the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. These are called the flesh and blood of Christ, because they are purchased by the breaking his body, and the shedding of his blood. Also, because they are meat and drink to our souls. Eating this flesh and drinking this blood mean believing in Christ.
The human nature of Christ had not before been in heaven, but being God and man, that wondrous Person was truly said to have come down from heaven. The Messiah's kingdom was not of this world; and they were to understand by faith, what he had said of a spiritual living upon him, and his fullness. As without the soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are dead and worthless. He who made this provision for our souls, alone can teach us these things, and draw us unto Christ, that we may live by faith in him. Let us apply to Christ, thankful that it is declared that every one who is willing to come unto him shall be made welcome.
When we admit into our minds hard thoughts of the words and works of Jesus, we enter into temptation, which, if the Lord in mercy prevent not, will end in drawing back. The corrupt and wicked heart of man often makes that an occasion for offense, which is matter of the greatest comfort. Our Lord had, in the foregoing discourse, promised eternal life to his followers; the disciples fastened on that plain saying, and resolved to cleave to him, when others fastened on hard sayings, and forsook him.
Christ's doctrine is the word of eternal life, therefore we must live and die by it. If we forsake Christ, we forsake our own mercies.
They believed that this Jesus was the Messiah promised to their fathers, the Son of the living God. When we are tempted to backslide or turn away, it is good to remember first principles, and to keep to them. And let us ever remember our Lord's searching question; Shall we go away and forsake our Redeemer? To whom can we go?
He alone can give salvation by the forgiveness of sins. And this alone brings confidence, comfort, and joy, and bids fear and despondency flee away. It gains the only solid happiness in this world, and opens a way to the happiness of the next.
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