In John chapter 6, we see that many of Jesus' so called disciples complained and were offended (verses 60-61) about what Jesus said in verses 51-59. These are the very so called "disciples" who Jesus says “do not believe” (John 6:64). They also walked with Him no more.
So apparently, these alleged disciples of Jesus set out to be learners and followers of Him (based on their own expectations) of Jesus, then as soon as Jesus said something that was hard for them to understand and did not line up with their expectations, they left Him.
There are “FEW THERE BE THAT FIND IT” because there are few who genuinely trust in Jesus Christ as the ALL-sufficient means of their salvation.
John 6 KJV
“53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you (instead of softening or modifying this seemingly harsh Doctrine, He instead intensified it by declaring it indispensable to Salvation), Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you have no life in you (this terminology addresses the Cross; Christ would give Himself on the Cross for the Salvation of mankind; to fully believe in Him and what He did for us is what He means here; however, this Verse tells us the degree of believing that is required; it refers to the Cross being the total Object of one’s belief; failing that, there is no Life in you).
54 Whoso eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood, has Eternal Life (once again, Christ reiterates the fact that if the Cross is the total Object of one’s Faith, such a person has “Eternal Life”); and I will raise him up at the last day (constitutes the fourth time this is spoken by Christ; consequently, the Believer has a fourfold assurance of the Resurrection).
“55 For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed (the idea is that one must continue eating and drinking even on a daily basis, which speaks of bearing the Cross daily [Lk. 9:23]).
56 He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood, dwells in Me, and I in him (the only way that one can dwell in Christ and Christ in him, which guarantees a victorious, overcoming life, is for the Cross to ever be the Object of Faith and, as stated, on a daily basis).
57 As the Living Father has sent Me (“Life-giving Father”), and I live by the Father (speaks of the Incarnation): so he who eats Me, even he shall Live by Me (proclaims the Truth that as Jesus did not live an independent life apart from the Father, so the Believer does not, and in fact cannot, live an independent life apart from Christ; we obtain and maintain this “Life” by ever looking to the Cross; the Believer never departs from the Cross; to do so is to invite spiritual wreckage [Gal. 2:20]).
“58 This is that Bread which came down from Heaven (once again points to Himself, and extols the outsized superiority over the Law, etc.): not as your fathers did eat Manna, and are dead (makes the comparison between that bread, a mere symbol of the True Bread which was to come, and the True Bread which now has come): he who eats of this Bread shall live for ever (He Alone, as the True Bread of Life, could give Eternal Life, but one had to “eat of this Bread” in order to have this Life, which means to accept Him as for Who He is and What He would do, which speaks of Calvary).
59 These things said He in the Synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of His Disciples, when they had heard this (spoke of those other than the Twelve), said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (They were unwilling to accept the bloody death of their Messiah, or to entrust themselves to a Divine Personality Whose most distinctive act would be His Sacrifice of Himself. This was the gross and terrible offence which made the Cross a stumblingblock to the “to the Jews [Mat. 16:21; I Cor. 1:23; Gal. 5:11].)
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His Disciples murmured at it (registered unbelief), He said unto them, Does this offend you? (In fact, the Cross is an offence to the entirety of the world, and regrettably even most of the Church [Gal. 5:11].)
62 What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before? (Jesus points out that if His Death were a stumblingblock to them, how much more would be His Resurrection? But would not that prove the reality and value of His Death, and the depth of their unbelief?)
“63 It is the Spirit Who quickens (the Holy Spirit); the flesh profits nothing (in effect, says, “If you could literally eat My Flesh, and drink My Blood, it would not save your souls”; the word “flesh” as it is used here speaks of man’s efforts, whatever they might be, apart from Christ and the Cross): the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are Life (of the Holy Spirit, Who gives Life by and through the Finished Work of Christ).
64 But there are some of you who believe not (they did not believe what He said about Himself, which referred to the Cross; millions presently in the Church fall into the same category). For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who believed not (not the individuals per se, but rather that which would occasion their unbelief), and who should betray Him (it is speaking here of Judas Iscariot and the occasion of his betrayal, which was the Cross).”
“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 (the invitation is to “whosoever will”; however, if the person rejects the Cross, the Father Commands the Holy Spirit to bar all entrance [Eph. 2:18]).
66 From that time many of His Disciples went back, and walked no more with Him (the claims of Christ were so profoundly different from what they anticipated that they now refused to accept Him at all!).”
JSM
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