TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

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.

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.”