Lord, This is a Hard Teaching

Read & Study John 6: 43-68

The challenge of a faithful disciple is to follow even when following is "difficult." In John 6:43-68 we see Jesus present His followers with the idea that He is the Bread of Life. He is telling them that He is the nourishment for their souls that has come down from Heaven. Shortly before this, Jesus had fed thousands with earthly bread that He multiplied to accomodate their hunger. In this case, He is offering nourishment to their starving souls.

These words of Christ admonishing to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood refer to a "spiritual eating" of Christ by faith. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to acknowledge that Christ came in flesh and blood (completely human though also completely deity) and was really man. His flesh was to be given for the life of his people, and his blood was to be shed for their sins. His sacrifice made possible for the believer such blesssings of the faith as redemption, pardon, peace, justification, etc.& This "feeding" on Him should be done daily, just as we do with earthly food. We wouldn't consider going days without food and water, so why should it be any different with Christ and spending time in Him. This is how we maintain a healthy spiritual life; regualr, consistent, and deep contact with the Lord.

Many who follow today find this to be a "difficult teaching," and are unwilling to commit to the Lord in this way. The challenge for us this week is to make the commitment to the Lord to daily "eat of Him," and to pray that He would give us a craving for Him as we do food. May we feast on Him and grow in a strong and healthy relationship with Him, not turning away from the challenge of committing to Christ in this way, but acknowledging Him as Lord and understanding as Peter states in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Choose to follow even thought the way is often difficult, for Christ is the ONLY one that can state that He is the Bread of Life from Heaven that can nourish our weary souls.


Eat up, fellow disciples!