The apostle John wrote how Jesus told the people looking for Him, “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. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum”, and in chapter six and verse sixty of his book, John shared how many of Jesus' disciples said, “this is a hard saying; who can hear it” where we read:
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said,
This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
The verse reads, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, ...”. John began with the words, “many therefore” or “a large number or a lot then, wherefore and these things being so” “of his disciples” which means “of the students, pupils and attendants who followed Jesus”, “when they had heard this” or “at the time and moment Jesus' disciple were endowed with the faculty for hearing, perceived and understood what Jesus said about “eating His flesh and drinking His blood”, “said” which means “uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked” the following question. John shared how a large number of the “disciples” who were following Jesus uttered the following words after they “heard” His speech about being the “bread from Heaven”.
The verse goes on to say, “... This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” John continued with the words, “this is an hard saying” which means “the words Jesus spoke about being the bread from Heaven was a difficult, not easy to be understood, rough, stiff, stern, offensive and intolerable utterance, declaration and proclamation”: “who can hear it” or “what person is able to perceive, understand, notice and discern the saying of Jesus”? John shared how these “many disciples” of Jesus declared Jesus speech to be “difficult and intolerable” to perceive.
When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we learn how “many” of Jesus' “disciples” were affected by His words. Because they were thinking only in the physical world, they could not understand how they could “eat” His flesh and “drink” His blood. They did not perceive that Jesus would give His “flesh and blood” as a sacrifice for their sins, and that anyone who believes and trusts in Jesus as their “Savior and Lord” will be forgiven of their wrongs and receive everlasting life with God. God loves everybody, and He wants them to have the opportunity to receive His Son Jesus into their lives. Those who are wise will understand Jesus' “saying” is not nearly as “hard” as these “disciples” deemed it, and they will yield themselves completely to Him.
Next time John shares how Jesus asked His disciples, “Does this offend you?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment