The Words of Yeshua - Too Hard to Receive

Will You Also Leave? (AI generated image)

In the gospel of John, we are invited into one of the most profound, yet unsettling teachings, that Yeshua ever gave. Chapter 6 begins with the miraculous feeding of the 5000 but the chapter ends with mass departure. Many who had followed Him for the free provisions of bread soon walked away when confronted with the deeper truth behind it.

Yeshua multiplied bread and fish which satisfied physical hunger. The crowd was surely amazed. They pursued Him, not for who He was, but for what He gave.

“Yes, indeed! I tell you people are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the bread and had all you wanted.” (John 6:26, CJB)

He tries to redirect them from temporary provision to eternal sustenance:

“Don’t work for the food which passes away but for the food that stays on into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you…” (John 6:27, CJB)

“It wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven…” (John 6:32, CJB)

Then comes the declaration that was about to change everything:

“I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35, CJB)

After this point - He begins to press deeper:

“Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.” (John 6:53, CJB)

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life—that is, I will raise him up on the Last Day.” (John 6:54, CJB)

Wow, wait a minute! Imagine the thoughts going through that crowd:

“What did he just say?”

“Did you hear what he just said?”

“Did I hear him correctly?”

“What in the world is he talking about?”

“Has he lost his mind?”

For a Jewish audience, this language had to be deeply offensive. Torah forbids the consumption of blood (Leviticus 17:10–12). What Yeshua was saying sounded not only strange, but totally dangerous.

Many could not reconcile His words with their understanding of Torah.

Their reply:

“This is a hard word—who can bear to listen to it?” (John 6:60, CJB)

Yeshua responds not by retracting His statement, but by clarifying its spiritual nature:

“It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life.” (John 6:63, CJB)

Unlike what it may have sounded like to the hearer that day, He was not calling them to cannibalism, or some weird ritual, but He was calling them to total participation, surrender, and communion in Him. To “eat His flesh” and “drink His blood” is to fully receive His sacrifice, to internalize His life, and to trust completely in what He would accomplish. He was not just asking for admiration.

Then comes the saddest part of all:

“From this time on, many of his talmidim turned back and no longer traveled around with him.”(John 6:66, CJB)

Think about it! They had followed Him for miracles, and ‘what’s in it for me?’, but not for hard truth.

Yeshua turns to the Twelve and asks:

“Don’t you want to leave too?” (John 6:67, CJB)

Shim‘on Kefa (Peter) answers with clarity:

“Lord, to whom would we go? You have the word of eternal life.” (John 6:68, CJB)

This passage forces every believer to wrestle with a question:

Will we follow Yeshua only when His words are easy or also when they are difficult?

To partake of Him is to accept the fullness of His work. With that fullness comes: suffering, sacrifice, set-apart, holy living. It is His life mirrored in ours. He never promised us a rose garden without the thorns. It is a call to die to self and live by and in - Him, and Him alone.

Many walked away because the message was too costly. But those who remained understood something deeper: there is nowhere else to go.

His question to the disciples was “will you also leave?” Will we turn away when the truth is hard, when the way is rugged and the path dim, or will we stay, and truly partake of the Bread of Life?

We are in the middle of Passover week as I write this article. Now is the season to think deeply about the life that was laid down - the price paid for our redemption and salvation. It cost Him everything. Are we as willing to give it all?

Leisa