NOTES for Joh 6:56-69

Christ’s words about Himself as the Bread from Heaven, given by the Father, are so incredible that even some of the disciples choose to leave the Teacher. There is nothing surprising in this: if we look at ourselves and at the history of humanity, we will see that we very often turn away from Christ precisely because His Word surpasses our understanding. Learning to remain faithful to God, whose ways and thoughts infinitely surpass our ways and thoughts, is far from easy.

This is why the words of the apostle Peter at the end of today’s passage sound like such a victory, such a bright flash of truth: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed and come to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We might have preferred a God who was more comprehensible, rational, and, I dare say, primitive, but there is no other. Thus our choice is the one the Lord Himself spoke of in the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy: “I have set before you today life and death, blessing and curse.” It is important, however, that without these mysterious and difficult words of Christ, we would have had no choice at all, only the curse.