To
Whom Shall We Go?
Scripture Text: John 6: 68 (Contextual Background,vv25-67)
“At
this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus
turned to the twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter
replied, “Lord to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.
We believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God.”
In
this world where hopelessness, despair and suffering are experiential
realities, to whom shall we go?
In
the Book of John we are given the account where huge crowd of people, even
multitudes of them, follow Jesus wherever he went. They saw the miraculous
signs he did, practically healing every disease which afflicted the people of
Palestine during that time. Not only did he heal people, he spoke like no one
ever spoke and taught with authority, unlike the religious teachers. The people
were greatly overwhelmed by the amazing acts done by the Lord, that multitudes of people, wanting to be healed or to be fed,
were following him. They wanted to hear him,
to receive healing, to witness feats of supernatural power, to be filled
in their needs. Before their eyes he performed the great miracle, where he fed
about five thousand hungry people,
not counting women and children, who
were following him. He miraculously multiplied five loaves of bread and two
fish to feed and satisfy thousands of people. When the people saw this
miraculous sign they exclaimed, “Surely
he is the prophet we have been
expecting.” (v. 14) The crowd followed him even to the other side of the
lake.
The
Lord remarked that this droves of people were following him not for anything
else, but to be fed, just like he did when he multiplied the bread and the fish.
They were following him not because they fully understood the miraculous signs.
The Lord reminded them not to be too much concerned about perishable things
like food, but to be most concerned about seeking eternal life that the Son of
Man can give. (vv.26-27). He said to them to believe in the One whom God sent.
But the crowd demanded for more signs. They demanded, “Show us a miraculous
sign if you want us to believe you”. They were not satisfied with the signs
they had already witnessed. They still had doubts. They wanted to witness more
extraordinary display of power. After all, they said, Moses did the same thing
to their ancestors when Moses fed them in the wilderness. Jesus had to explain
to them it was not Moses who gave bread to their ancestors but God (My Father).
Jesus
said to them I am the Bread of life. He said to this unbelieving people that
now God is offering them the true Bread from Heaven.
The true Bread who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world. And the
people cried, “Give us that bread every
day.” The people still misunderstood him. So Jesus told them, “I am the Bread of Life.” He
explained, clearly to them that their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness but
they died. But anyone who eats the bread from heaven has eternal life and this
bread is his flesh. He further, explained, “that unless they eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood, they cannot have eternal life, but anyone
who eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life.
“I am the Bread of
Life” (John
6:35)
is one of the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus. Jesus used the same phrase “I
AM” in seven declarations about Himself. In all seven, He combines I AM with
tremendous metaphors which express His saving relationship toward the world.
All appear in the book of John. This is a phenomenal
statement! First, by equating Himself with bread, Jesus is saying he is essential
for life. Second, the life Jesus is referring to is not physical life, but
eternal life. Jesus is trying to get the Jews’ thinking off of the physical realm
and into the spiritual realm. He is contrasting what He brings as their Messiah
with the bread He miraculously created the day before. That was physical bread
that perishes. He is spiritual bread that brings eternal life.
Third, and very important, Jesus is making another claim to deity. This statement is the first of the “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. The phrase “I AM” is the covenant name of God (Yahweh, or YHWH), revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The phrase speaks of self-sufficient existence (or what theologians refer to as “aseity”), which is an attribute only God possesses. It is also a phrase the Jews who were listening would have automatically understood as a claim to deity.
Fourth, notice the words “come” and “believe.” This is an invitation for those listening to place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. This invitation to come is found throughout John’s Gospel. Coming to Jesus involves making a choice to forsake the world and follow Him. Believing in Jesus means placing our faith in Him that He is who He says He is, that He will do what He says He will do, and that He is the only one who can.
Third, and very important, Jesus is making another claim to deity. This statement is the first of the “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. The phrase “I AM” is the covenant name of God (Yahweh, or YHWH), revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The phrase speaks of self-sufficient existence (or what theologians refer to as “aseity”), which is an attribute only God possesses. It is also a phrase the Jews who were listening would have automatically understood as a claim to deity.
Fourth, notice the words “come” and “believe.” This is an invitation for those listening to place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. This invitation to come is found throughout John’s Gospel. Coming to Jesus involves making a choice to forsake the world and follow Him. Believing in Jesus means placing our faith in Him that He is who He says He is, that He will do what He says He will do, and that He is the only one who can.
When
the Lord started witnessing to them about the good news of salvation, about
eternal life, many began arguing with each other, what he meant about himself
being the Bread of life. They asked, “How can this man give us
his flesh to eat” Many of the disciples also raised some doubts. They remarked,
“This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” When at this point
the Lord spoke about himself as the living bread who came down from heaven who
would bring them eternal life, they began to lose interest.
The reference Jesus made to
eating his flesh and drinking his blood is a metaphorical way of describing the
person who draws on, claims, or lays hold of the reality of his atoning
sacrifice by putting personal faith in him.
This
message became unpopular to the multitude of people.
The message of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Cross, God’s Son, his death and
resurrection, many found it irrelevant, and uninteresting, because all they
care about was to satisfy their physical, human needs. And so the people even
some of the disciples, started to go away. Then Jesus turned to his inner
circle of disciples, the twelve apostles and asked them, “Are you also going
away?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life.”
The
great Apostle Peter asked, “To whom shall we go?” In this world where many are
offered different ways and different paths , we need to know to whom we should
go, the one who gives us hope of eternal life. God
did not create man to be alone. The Bible declares it is not good man to be
alone. God did not create man to drift aimlessly into the void of meaningless
existence. He needs to be connected, to have fellowship with the only true God
his Creator. If we consider the entire creation, all of God’s creation do not
simply abide alone. They are connected and interrelated to each other, and the
ultimate connection is with their Maker. Many people in this world do not
realize that they are disconnected to God because they do not have a personal
relationship with Christ.
If
we consider this from the level of human relationship, God designed man to have,
what some pyschologists describe, as
emotional support system. Man needs one another for support. No
man is an island. No man stands alone. He needs someone to share his inner most
feelings, joys, sorrow, triumphs, or defeat. God ordained marriage to fulfill
this balance in relationship. God
created families as the nucleus of human relationships, where spouses, parents and children support and
love each other. This is the nucleus of human relationship where we learn and
value friendship, love, caring and sympathy with one another.
Peter
asked the question: “To whom can we go?” We need someone with whom we can be
accepted, secured, loved, and comforted. When the multitudes
started going away because the Lord spoke to them about spiritual things, about eternal life
and eternity, Peter knew he had nowhere to go but with Lord, his Master,
Teacher, Savior and Lord. The people who
came out to follow Jesus were not concerned about heavenly things. All they
cared about was their stomach, their physical satisfaction, and the fulfillment
of worldly desires and needs.
The
people who went away were blind to the truth that what they need was the Lord
Himself. They were asking for bread to satisfy appetite and
hunger, but they refused the living bread that would give them eternal life.
They made the mistake of turning away from the Savior which greatly saddened
the Lord. They made a mistake in turning away from God’s plan.
To
whom shall we go? Peter asked. We need the One with whom we can go with, to
Eternity. The Lord sadly asked the twelve Apostles, are you also
going away? Like the multitude who went away the Apostles might have
entertained the thought of following the crowd. Following the bandwagon.
Following the bandwagon has been known to be a psychological influence on man’s
action. But Peter said, “To whom shall we go?” Then he uttered one of the most
elevating truths about the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, “You have the words of
eternal life. This is a very powerful statement. The Apostles have nowhere to
go but stay and remain with their Master.
The
Lord has demonstrated to them the miraculous sign of feeding five thousand
people out of five loaves of bread and two fish, leaving twelve baskets of left
over, to satisfy physical hunger. Now the Lord was talking
to them that he is the Living Bread who would give them eternal life. They will
not be hungry again in the Spiritual sense. The people did not understand. Some
of the disciples did not understand. “This is a hard thing to accept,” they
said, so they left and no longer walked with the Lord.
Peter
declared to Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus affirms this statement when he said,
“The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (6:68). Peter
was quick to respond before the others could walk out, saying, “To whom shall
we go?” Peter realized they can’t simply walk away from their Master. Wherever
they would look for another Master, friend, teacher, healer, provider, and
Savior, or wherever they look for another leader, philosopher, or any idea,
belief, or view of God, or meaning in life, these would all fail to measure up
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Where
shall we go? Shall we go to the idols of the world? Shall we go to the man made
gods? Shall we go to the ungodly who deny the existence of God ? Can they offer us any hope? Shall we go to
the presidents, kings, governors, rulers, religious leaders? Shall we go to the
deceivers, magicians, false teachers, fortune tellers, new age thinkers,
humanist philosophers who claim to have all the answers but have no power to
forgive sins? Shall we go to the false prophets, sorcerers, and psudo-
scientific thinkers and all sorts of human knowledge this world is full of? The
Apostle Peter saw this. He had no better or worthy alternative. He knew the
Christ was the only Way. He proclaimed, “ We believe and we are sure that thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (John 6:9)
The
crowd who followed Christ turned away when the Lord began presenting to them
the Gospel of Salvation. They were only after worldly concerns:
food to satisfy their human hunger or craving. They were only curious to see
anymore display of supernatural power,
and when none was forthcoming they turned away and lost interest. They went
away looking elsewhere for more signs and wonders and they missed what was
important in their lives. The gift of salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. The
One who said, “My words are spirit and life.”
