Scripture Reading(s)
John 6:60-65
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Reflections
Up until this point, the large crowd that was following Jesus seemed interested in His teaching. The last act that Jesus did before this passage was the feeding of the five thousand. From this miraculous event, he began to teach them a profound lesson. This lesson entailed that He, Jesus Christ, was the true bread of life and that we can only find our true life and satisfaction in Him.
This was a hard lesson for them to hear because they were having a hard time accepting the truth of who Jesus is. Up until now, the disciples had seen many miraculous events that Jesus had done. However, when it came to actually learning the spiritual lessons behind what Jesus did, their faith was easily shaken.
Often times, when we are confronted with the truth of the Gospel and what it means to truly surrender our lives to Christ and find our ultimate satisfaction in Him. The Gospel is not meant to make us feel good about ourselves. It is meant to be offensive because it speaks to the truth of our sin and how lost we are without Christ.
This passage teaches us that the work of Jesus Christ is more then just His miraculous acts. He came to save lost souls and show the world that there is the true meaning of joy, peace and hope that was only accomplished at the work of the cross. The cross extended forgiveness and grace for our sins and offers us a new life.