The Life of Christ

• Those who were really with Him would bear with Him, despite the confusion; the others would be weeded out.

• In our walk of faith, we can expect occasional demands that seem unreasonable at first.

• In time, however, we will come to discover the unreasonableness was only the result of our misunderstanding or shortsightedness.

Jn. 6:65-66 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

The followers of Jesus have just gone through their first major purging.

• After seasons of extended blessings, it is not uncommon to undergo a season of serious testing. How we endure the test determines if we will advance or withdraw in our walk with the Lord.

• We remember similar purgings found in the Old Testament. In each case, people’s devotion to God and their leaders was put to the test:

• In Ex. 32:26, following the golden calf incident, Moses asked who was on the Lord’s side and willing to slay the 3000 offenders; only the Levites responded.

• In Judges 7:7, Gideon’s army dropped from 22,000 to 300 men.

• In 2 Sam. 15, during the treason of Absalom, the number of those who remained with David dropped significantly, including many of his key supporters.

Jn. 6:67 Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”

The Greek construction of the verse indicates that Jesus also expected them to leave as well.

• Many Christians have at some time entertained the notion of giving up their faith. What usually prevents following through is the realization that only Jesus has the words of life.

Jn. 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

Peter speaks for all of us when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

• Even though Peter and the disciples didn’t understand all the talk about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, they were willing to put that aside. In time, at the communion table, the disciples would discover how reasonable it was and the necessity of doing so. Jn. 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.

Those few words placed a suspicion and uneasiness with the twelve that would go unresolved until the final hour.

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