To Whom Shall We Go?

Recently, I was reading from John’s Gospel, chapter 6. It is an action-packed portions of Scripture.

To kick things off, Jesus feeds a group of at least 5,000 people by dividing up 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The people are so eager after Jesus’ miraculous feeding that they are ready to start a revolution and make him king.

But much to their surprise Jesus resists their urging toward revolution, instead going up to the mountain to converse with His Father in prayer. His disciples head off across the lake in their boats and face a powerful storm. Gripped by fear and dread, they assume this is the end of their days. Instead, Jesus does the impossible, walking on water to meet up with them, then calming the storm.

The people don’t give up in seeking Jesus because they are hungry for more bread and hope that He will revolutionize their poor lives. In the midst of their hunger for physical bread, Jesus directs their attention to the bread that will deeply satisfy their souls.

What is this bread, they ask? It is Him. With arresting power, Jesus speaks the shocking words that He is the bread of life they are really searching for. In fact, He says, they will need to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have life. He is pointing toward His coming physical crucifixion and the metaphorical sense that He is the sustenance that we all most need. It is difficult to hear these words, and so the people respond by grumbling.

They argue over His words. In the end, they walk away from Him. He is not a miracle worker at their beck and call. He is asking something more challenging of them.

Even many of His disciples walk away from Him. As the chapter closes, you get the idea that the only ones left with Jesus are the twelve apostles, and perhaps a few other close followers. Jesus asks them a penetrating question:

You do not want to leave too, do you? (John 6:67)

What might our response to Jesus have been?As Jesus points out the truth of who God is, who He is, and what the people really need, most of the people were disappointed. He brushes past the people’s religious sensibilities. He shocks them with His offensive metaphors. He claims things that on the surface seem ridiculous.

Representing the apostles, Peter’s response to Jesus at the end of the chapter is powerful:

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.

Did Peter understand everything Jesus had said? I doubt it. But he had come to understand who this person was before him.

In the midst of our everyday lives right now, with ups and downs, what is our response to Jesus?