Good day dear friends. May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today in ways that will bless and amaze you; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from John 6: 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." 66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (New Revised Standard Version)
Do you remember when you made a personal decision to have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Was it an easy decision to make, or did it take years? Or, are you still weighing your options? For some, it was an immediate thing; after years of wandering and wondering about your life and needs, it was apparent that for you only Jesus Christ would do, and you said Yes. For others, it was a discernment period and after much reflection and thought, you decided that only Jesus could meet the needs and questions of life. For others, you may have seen how important and real Jesus was for the lives of people important to you and you wanted the same for your life. For others, as I said, you're still wondering and wandering.
Imagine sitting in that hot, dusty synagogue on that Sabbath day when Jesus made the above claim. Jesus said that everyone who ate His body and drank His blood were His. Huh? Excuse me? Are we talking cannibalism? The declaration is shocking, for this is the first revelation, even to His disciples that something was coming that would be unlike anything they had seen to this point. They had seen some pretty unexplainable things, but now they're hearing a teaching that no one else had offered. For them, at that time, the sacrifice of animals was understood, accepted, and practiced, but there was and had been pride in that they were not people who believed in human sacrifice. The sacrificing of animals was an external thing; the animal died, the sin was paid, and life went on; what was this about Jesus "abiding" in us? And what was the talk about eternal life and no death? Even the disciples, those who had already committed to following Jesus, talked about themselves and wondered what to make of these new claims of Jesus. And true to His nature, Jesus knew the discussion was taking place and asks, "Does this offend you? What would you say to seeing me ascending to where I'm from?" Jesus then speaks about the Spirit and how His words are "spirit and life." Jesus knew and declared that there would be some who would not believe unless it was granted to them by God. And in a verse numbered 6:66, we see that "many of His disciples turned back and no longer went about with Him." Your church was not the first to lose members when the teaching and practices of Jesus offended them. Here, Jesus Himself, loses "many" of the people who had committed to Him.
Those who stayed did so because they knew Jesus and believed in Him. It was Peter who said, "Where would we go? You're the one who hold the answers of eternal life. We have come to believe You are the Holy One of God." When given the options of what they had seen and faced; Jesus was still the answer. Given the option of not believing and facing life without Jesus, they chose to believe. They knew that life with Jesus was difficult, but a life without Jesus was impossible. Given all that they knew and all they had seen and all they had heard, the choice was easy - Jesus.
PRAYER: Loving God we have come to know that life brings difficult challenges at times, but with Jesus abiding in us and we in Him, life is still good. Grant us stronger faith and a faith that lives in an inviting way to show others that in Jesus we can have the fullness of life. And Lord, there may be some who have yet to invite You into a personal relationship with You; may this be the day that they open the door of their heart to you and invite you in, asking forgiveness of past sins, and the strength to turn away from destructive and deadly lives. May it be so, as we pray this and all things in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
