March 28

John 6: 60-71

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day." John 6: 54

“What!?  Are you crazy?”

To completely understand the reason why so many of Jesus’ disciples left him, you have to look at the verses just before this passage.  When I see this passage unfolding in my head, I see the faces of the people listening to Jesus, and their expressions go from shock to astonishment to disbelief, eventually leading them away from following him.  I can almost hear the conversations as they walk away, “What is he thinking, is he crazy?"

The words Jesus spoke on that day were out there, they were outlandish, maybe even a little crazy.  But what was Jesus really asking of them?  We often hear things in our lives that are crazy, don’t make sense, or are impossible.  We dismiss them half-heartedly, shrugging our shoulders, rolling our eyes, and rejecting the possibility of any truth in the statement.  In this case, they actually blame Jesus for their lack of faith. “This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?"

”n this passage there are two sets of disciples.  The twelve chosen by Christ and those who chose to abandon Christ.  When Jesus challenged them, “Does this offend you?” and even the twelve by asking, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” two different responses emerged.  When the teachings get tough, when life doesn’t go your way, when you want to give up, will you continue to turn to Jesus, or will you abandon him?