October 2 / John 6:41-71

John 6:41-71

Dear RTB’ers,

Jesus is speaking to the Jews (and to His disciples) in the synagogue in Capernaum: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. (v. 51) And His listeners (including His disciples) are confused: The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” When many of His disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (vv. 52, 60) When I put myself back into this first-century setting, I am in substantial agreement with the Jews and His disciples – Jesus’ words would be completely confusing to me! Eating someone’s body? What is He talking about?? His flesh?? Strange!!

Although His words are strange to this first-century crowd, Peter gets beyond his confusion and speaks words that have been quoted probably billions of times over the years: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (v. 68b) When I quote this verse, I tend to insert the word “alone”, as in You [alone] have words of eternal life. It doesn’t change the meaning at all, but it does make it stronger for me and anyone with whom I am speaking. Yes, Jesus, alone, speaks words of eternal life. Today, tomorrow, forever!!

Blessings.


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1 Comment

  1. If, as Peter says, Jesus has the words of eternal life, ought we not listen attentively to those words? What priority are you giving, today, to what Jesus says?

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