A hard saying by the Lord Jesus


19 April 2020

A hard saying by the Lord Jesus (John 6: 51-71)


We have considered the wonderful sixth chapter of John’s Gospel in the Church’s blog over several weeks. The chapter ended with a hard saying of the Lord, resulting in the departure of many disciples
John 6: 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Humanly or naturally, we would not make difficult statements in a concluding section of a speech or message. In this present age of progression of everything in the world like sales targets, educational success statistics, etc., the world would love more and more progressions.

Churches are not spared of this tendency. It is a common question for churchgoers to ask, “How many people are attending your church?” When the Lord Jesus was speaking to the crowd that gathered to hear Him, He declared that the ‘bread’ He gives is His flesh and blood. The Lord then continued to teach about the necessity of eating His flesh and blood. This was indeed a highly contentious statement as the Jews in Deuteronomy 12:23 were expressly prohibited to eat flesh with blood. It is therefore of no surprise that many of His disciples left Him (Jn 6: 66).

In the concluding verses of this chapter, we are taught an important spiritual lesson. Having many members in an assembly is good, but not important. It is better to have a small number in church than a large crowd who come with a different motive. In the Bible passage, the large majority of people in the crowd were apparently more interested in the ‘physical’ bread than the ‘spiritual’ bread as explained in John 6:26. No pretender can hide from the presence of the omniscient God. Thus, when the Lord made the statement that the bread is His flesh and blood, it is indeed a statement of truth which cannot be understood by those who only seek Him for ‘physical’ (or worldly) things.

This concluding passage points out a cardinal principle. Those who sincerely seek Him will be given more understanding of His teachings while those that come with earthly intentions only will not be enlightened. As the teaching in Matthew 13:12 states, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”

There are numerous examples in the Bible to illustrate the above principle and I will only highlight two occasions. Pharoah’s heart was hardened despite the signs Moses performed through the power of God. Herod’s heart was similarly hardened despite being told by the wise men about the birth of the King (i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ). Instead of welcoming the birth of the Lord, Herod deliberately went ahead to kill the babies.

The teaching of the Lord Jesus on His flesh and blood will be plain to those who sincerely seek Him. The Lord was telling the crowd to believe Him in faith as He will be offering His flesh and blood as a perfect sacrifice to atone for their sins. Therefore, we must believe in the Lord Jesus and accept Him as our ‘living bread’. We must also be reminded at this juncture, which He also taught in Matthew 4:4, that man shall not live by bread alone (i.e. the physical bread) but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (i.e. the spiritual bread). I trust that this teaching will encourage us to put our faith and trust in all His words – even if some of the Lord’s teachings are not acceptable to the mores of this world.
With God’s blessings,
CL

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