Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (John 6:53-66)
Today's Morsel: What is it about hard sayings that people don't like? Often what I find is that hard sayings hurt if we do not understand their meaning, or if we think that they apply to us. For example, when I joined the army, one day my Drill Instructor called all of us a bunch of yard-birds. Well, being from the south, I thought that he was calling us a bunch of chickens. At first many of us were offended by it, until we learned that the true meaning was to be an "untrained soldier"; which we were at that time.
When Jesus told the people, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day," scripture says that, "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?" From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. They couldn't handle the saying. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, "Will ye also go away? And Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68). I guess those who are chosen by man will be offended at hard sayings and will walk away. While those who are chosen by God will continue on until they gain an understanding of what is truly being said. May I ask, which one are you?
Sing: Trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand, all the ways that God will lead us to that blessed promise land, but He'll guide us with His eye and we'll follow till we die, we will understand it better by and by.
By and by, when the morning comes, and all the saints of God are gathering home, we will tell the story how we've overcome, we will understand it better by and by.
Thought for Today: "If you don't crack the shell, you can't eat the nut." (Persian Proverb)
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