John 6:60-65 – Difficult Sayings
To some Christ’s sayings are hard to understand. To others, they are hard to believe and harder still to obey. As long as the heart is naturally proud, worldly, unbelieving, self-centred, and sinful, there is no lack of people who say about Christianity, “This is too hard.” We need humility. We need grace to understand. We need a new heart and a new desire that drives us to God when we come up against something we can’t get our head round. We need to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to make things clear to us and to give us the ability to obey even when we don’t understand.
We must be careful not to put an earthly meaning on spiritual words. Jesus is teaching that the Holy Spirit gives new life and new hearts to men and women and then sustains and keeps up that life. If the Jews think He means that man can have spiritual life by bodily eating or drinking they are greatly mistaken. Neither Jesus’ flesh nor any other flesh, literally eaten, can do good to the soul. Spiritual benefit comes not through the mouth, but through the heart. The soul is not a material thing, and can’t be fed by material food. Christ’s words and teachings, applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, are the true means of bringing spiritual life.
Christ has a perfect knowledge of the hearts of men. He knows the sorrow and humiliation ahead of Him and the way He is going to die. He knows the unbelief and treachery of some who claim to be His closest friends. We can’t deceive Christ. It’s foolish to be a hypocrite. Jesus sees us, knows us, and will call us to account for ourselves on the last day. But besides the hypocrisy of some, Christ also sees the faithfulness of others. No matter how ignored or misunderstood we are, Christ does not forget us, and He sees all we do for Him.
Questions
- What should we do when we come across something in the Bible we don’t understand?
- Where does eternal life come from?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of His people.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.