Read John 6:60-69

No Alternative

Jesus said some things that were difficult to understand, and some lost interest in Him because of that. There are things that Jesus teaches that are offensive to those who want to live their lives as they please without any guilt. He claimed, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and said, “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” (John 6:53). He was not teaching cannibalism, but complete submission to His commands. The hard-hearted people who wanted to continue living in sin could not do what Jesus was asking.

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). Initially, they wanted to learn from Him, and they wanted to be blessed by Him, but when they realized it was an “all or nothing” proposition—that they could no longer hold on to their selfish behaviors and desires—they “went back and walked with Him no more.”

At this point, Jesus asked His apostles, “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67). Can you hear the heartbreak in the Savior’s words? Rejected by so many, would He now be rejected by those closest to Him as well?

Peter spoke up. He stepped forward and answered on behalf of the group, “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” (John 6:68-69).

Peter recognized that there was no alternative to following Jesus. The ways of the Pharisees were hypocritical and led nowhere. The polytheistic religions of the Greeks and Romans were nothing more than fanciful fiction. But Jesus was the real deal. He taught “the words of eternal life” because He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

A superficial belief in Jesus will eventually result in departure when a “hard saying” comes along. Develop a faith like Peter’s, rooted in the foundational truth of Jesus’ identity.