Many of Jesus' disciples who were listening said,
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?"
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them, "Does this shock you?
It had been Judeans who had been arguing with Jesus throughout his discourse on the bread of life. But it they were not the only ones who had difficulty with it. Even from among his disciples many were shocked and found it difficult. Even they murmured like the Israelites had murmured against God and Moses during the Exodus. At that time, the desert had a looked to them look a death sentence. The people refused to place their trust in God to provide for them and chose instead to allow their circumstances to define the situation. It didn't matter that they had already seen so many miraculous things and mighty deeds in Egypt. The disciples of Jesus had similarly seen much that ought to have led them to faith. But when they hit the wall of a difficult teaching they fell back to the level of flesh and blood, limited human rationality, and did not choose to allow themselves to be led by the Spirit in the darkness of faith.
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
Clearly Jesus had just been explaining that his own Spirit filled flesh availed much for salvation and eternal life. But flesh apart from that Spirit was too limited for the terrain where Jesus now desired to lead them. His words themselves were filled with this Spirit and were an invitation for those operating at the level of the flesh to receive the Spirit and come to understand, since this was the only way in which such words could be received.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual (see First Corinthians 2:13).
It was as though the disciples had been walking with an admixture of flesh and faith to this point and had now reached a boundary where they would need to go all in or be left behind. In a sense, he was now asking them to do metaphorically what Peter did when he walked on water. There was only one way that could be done without drowning.
But there are some of you who do not believe."
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe
and the one who would betray him.
It was not that Jesus did not want them all to believe him, or as though he were writing them off as destined for damnation. But he would not force the unwilling to have faith. There was no getting beyond this in any other way. He implied that their coming to him had not been granted by the Father. But this was because it pleased the Father to bring to Jesus only those who would let themselves be drawn. Distinct from such people were these ones who murmured and created mental obstacles and barriers to the pull of divine love. Like anyone at any point in the journey of this life they were always free to turn away. But we can imagine sadness in the voice of Jesus as he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father".
That he was moved with sadness was even more evident when, looking at the Twelve, he said, "Do you also want to leave?". It was as though his heart was already preparing him for the time when all, even the Twelve, would abandon him, during the darkest hour of his greatest need (see Mark 14:50). But at this moment there was still some consolation for the heart of Jesus to be found in the answer Peter gave on behalf of the Twelve.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.
This was like the time when Peter said, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (see Matthew 16:16). Both times it was not something revealed by flesh and blood but by Jesus' Father in heaven. He had received the truth Jesus was teaching by the grace of the Spirit. Not, of course, that he had any real understanding of what it meant. But at that point he was at least certain enough that he knew the one in whom he believed enough to trust him even when he did not understand.
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me (see Second Timothy 1:12).
The Lord longs to allow us to be drawn to him in such a way that he can lead us even when his plans go beyond what we can understand. As Augustine taught, we must first believe in order to understand. God has many gifts that he wants to give us that are in fact better than all we can ask our imagine (see Ephesians 3:20). So let us make a habit of trusting him, making it our determined purpose to say, like Joshua, "As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD".
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