Based on John 6:41-71 (New King James Version)
“The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ And they said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?’ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Medraws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’ The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.’ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.’ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”
The majority of people believe in something or in someone. Almost no one has a problem with accepting that there is something that exists beyond us, or in something above us. In the US, and according to a survey done by Pew Religious Landscape in 2014, approximately 3.1% of the population say they are atheist, and 4% say they are agnostic. The balance says they believe in a God or in a being. I have been able to more or less experience this data personally with the majority of people I have shared a conversation with through the years, even with those in foreign countries where I have visited or lived in, that almost everyone has told me that they believe in someone, and that it is not hard for them to believe in a god. Just the other day I was speaking with a young person who is a recovering alcoholic that has been clean for over 10 years, that he was taught in Alcoholics Anonymous to cling on to a higher power, and that this faith had helped him move forward. But, there was a problem in the conversation. We didn’t have any issues in talking about a higher power, or even being able to concentrate that higher power in God. The problem surged when we started talking about Jesus, and how Jesus needs to be believed in. Everything was fine until that point.
Here is where the problem with faith occurs in many people, when we start talking about Jesus and who Jesus is. Many have this issue, and the large percentage of believers that the statistics give start to change. According to Pew Research Center, approximately 67% of the US population say they are Christians. It can still be thought of as a considerable majority in the US (although it’s much less in the rest of the world), but things start to change. So then, and just as it happened with this young man, a large majority of people believe in someone, but not necessarily in Jesus.
Now, within those that say they are Christians, how exactly do they believe in Jesus? There are many that do say they believe, but the differences start emerging in “how” they believe in Him. The majority see Him as a Savior. And yes, of course He is the Savior of the world. But, how many do believe in Him as the Bible teaches, as the Lord and God He is? And many say that they believe in Him in that manner also, but is it a reality? Do they believe and follow Jesus as we are taught? Is He the everything in our lives, the reason for our existence, the One that dictates the course of our daily life? And here is where everything changes, and that large percentage turns into a very small number. How can I say that? Easy! At least here in the US, if we say that there are so many believers in Christ, how can there be so much sin (not that God expects anyone to be perfect)? How can there be so much wrong, starting with those that say that they are not only believers, but also, even ministers and preachers of the Word of God? And here is where today’s passage comes into focus.
The Bible teaches us that we should believe in Jesus as Lord, as God, and as the Savior; as the only begotten Son of God. And not only accept and believe in Him as such, but also, so that it can be something complete, we need to make ourselves one with Him. This is what eating His flesh and drinking His blood means. We need to get to such an intimate relationship with Him that not only does He come inside of our lives, but through the work of the Holy Spirit and His Word, He needs to become part of everything in us, just like food. When we eat and drink something, those substances go into our mouth, are digested in our stomachs, and its elements transform and travel through our entire body, to every cell within our being, giving us nutrition and life. Food and liquids sustain us. They also help repair what is damaged. Without these things, no one can live to see tomorrow. It should be the same with the Lord in our lives. We see in the Bible that many were able to come to believe in Him in some manner, and even follow Him, but the majority of people could not deal with this, and they left Him. Only the twelve remained along with some women, and even one of the twelve was not be trusted because he would come to sell the Lord. The same thing happens today. The majority look for the Lord to solve their problems, for a number of different reasons, but not to make themselves one with Him, and so that He can become the center of their lives. And the problem with that is that you cannot get to have the life that God talks about unless Christ becomes your sustenance. If people do not eat or drink from the Lord, there is no life; just like if we left food to the side. We would die sooner or later. So then, do you accept Jesus as you need to so that you can have the life He desires so much to give you? Lord bless! John