Why did so many of the disciples that were following Jesus get offended at this saying in (Jn 6:48-66)...
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Mt 26:26-31
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
(v.56)...
56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
1Cor 1:23
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Lk 9:22-24
22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
There comes a time when every believer must eat His flesh and drink His blood. The plan of God will make sure that this happens and if His flesh and blood is not taken up by the believer, he will be offended and will stop following the Lord Jesus Christ through the new covenant. He will profess His name and believe upon Him for salvation, but will come short of taking up the cross to lose his life for Christ's sake and the gospel's (1Cor 4:10, Mk 8:35). These disciples that were mentioned thought it was a hard saying being difficult to exercise themselves in. The Jews could exercise themselves in keeping the law but to take up the cross and eat the flesh of Yeshua and to drink His blood, they could not do that.
This is where their identification with the cross and with Christ ceased. They walked away and FOLLOWED HIM NO MORE! They believed upon Him as the Messiah and continued to follow the law, but did not follow Him through eating His flesh and drinking His blood because they were offended by it. Circumcision and the law came first and this new testament flesh and blood thing was too much for them to grasp and cleave onto. It was too subjective and not something they could do to justify themselves. They could keep the law and be justified because that was expected and practiced and accepted as something very tangible and upright, but to eat His flesh and drink His blood, that was over the top and not something they were willing to do.
To do this they would have to 'back seat' the law and the other commandments and make this new commandment a priority that would result in losing their life. Keeping the law was far better because they would not have to lose their life but instead they could define their life through keeping it. They would rather have the righteousness associated with keeping the law then finding the righteousness and everlasting life of God through losing their life by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
We can't follow the Lord and have his everlasting life revealed within by keeping the law, we must follow Christ by taking up the cross of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. This is how we find the resurrected and ascended life of Yeshua and how we know that we have passed from death onto life having a love for the brethren that comes forth out of death.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Mt 26:26-31
26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
(v.56)...
56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
1Cor 1:23
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Lk 9:22-24
22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
There comes a time when every believer must eat His flesh and drink His blood. The plan of God will make sure that this happens and if His flesh and blood is not taken up by the believer, he will be offended and will stop following the Lord Jesus Christ through the new covenant. He will profess His name and believe upon Him for salvation, but will come short of taking up the cross to lose his life for Christ's sake and the gospel's (1Cor 4:10, Mk 8:35). These disciples that were mentioned thought it was a hard saying being difficult to exercise themselves in. The Jews could exercise themselves in keeping the law but to take up the cross and eat the flesh of Yeshua and to drink His blood, they could not do that.
This is where their identification with the cross and with Christ ceased. They walked away and FOLLOWED HIM NO MORE! They believed upon Him as the Messiah and continued to follow the law, but did not follow Him through eating His flesh and drinking His blood because they were offended by it. Circumcision and the law came first and this new testament flesh and blood thing was too much for them to grasp and cleave onto. It was too subjective and not something they could do to justify themselves. They could keep the law and be justified because that was expected and practiced and accepted as something very tangible and upright, but to eat His flesh and drink His blood, that was over the top and not something they were willing to do.
To do this they would have to 'back seat' the law and the other commandments and make this new commandment a priority that would result in losing their life. Keeping the law was far better because they would not have to lose their life but instead they could define their life through keeping it. They would rather have the righteousness associated with keeping the law then finding the righteousness and everlasting life of God through losing their life by eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
We can't follow the Lord and have his everlasting life revealed within by keeping the law, we must follow Christ by taking up the cross of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. This is how we find the resurrected and ascended life of Yeshua and how we know that we have passed from death onto life having a love for the brethren that comes forth out of death.
