John 6:60-71

HIGHLIGHTED PASSAGE John 6:60-71 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.   COMMENTARY As mentioned previously, Exodus 16 forms striking parallels with the events that unfold in this chapter. There are two primary themes revealed through this parallelism. One theme concerns the identity of Jesus as one with Yahweh, the one who gives life to those who follow Him. We can call this the theme of God's self-revelation. In both Exodus 16 and John 6, the miracles involving food are intended to reveal and confirm to the people the identity of God. The second theme concerns the grumbling of the people toward God, which is recorded in both Exodus 16 and in John's gospel. We can call this the theme of unbelief. In Exodus 16, the grumbling of the people prompts God to provide the quail and the manna. For this reason, He makes it clear that this provision is also a test.   "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not'," (Exodus 16:4).   John 6 says that people grumbled at Jesus' words three times (verses 41, 43, and 61). Many of the disciples walk away as a result (verse 61). The parallelism is unmistakable. Just as many who were delivered from slavery in Egypt by Yahweh have hard hearts that never love Him or believe in Him, and so they are cast out, many who come to Jesus do, in fact, turn away. In both cases, hearts that grumble when God doesn't give them what they want reveals people's unbelief in Yahweh. By the end of John 6, we see that the feeding of the crowd, though an act of grace, serves as a test. Will the people trust in Jesus as their Savior, through whom they receive eternal life? In the end, the test causes many of his disciples to turn back. Jesus' opening words in Capernaum to the crowd reveal his intention. When the people greet him, Jesus immediately questions their motive for seeking him. Jesus intends the sign, pointing to his divine identity, to both test and expose the quality of faith among those who follow Him. Peter's confession in verse 68 models the confession of one who has been tested by Yahweh and demonstrated that their hope is truly in Him and Him alone.   QUESTIONS 1. What do you make of the fact that there were disciples who did not believe in Jesus, and that Jesus knew who they were (verse 64)?    2. According to verse 65, what causes one to believe in Jesus? How can we use this verse to explain the unbelief of some disciples?   3. In light of the testing the disciples face, what makes Peter's words in verse 68 significant?