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.
See also:
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?