[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

[pickledilly]

I also believe Jesus was using hyperbole here to strongly illustrate the requirement to fully receive Him in complete belief of His claims in order to gain true life. Hyperbole is used in other places in the Word. In Matt.10:35-38, Jesus used extreme exaggeration when He said that you must hate your parents and be an enemy of your family in order to follow Him. Paul used such radical overstatement in 1 Cor.13:1-2 when he contrasted the critical importance of love with being able to do supernatural things like speak the language of angels, understand all mysteries and knowledge, or move literal mountains (things that are all unlikely for the LORD to enable man to do). Jesus was illustrating the point of receiving Him as the Bread of Life in the strongest possible way because people were hung up on the physical miracle of the bread given to the five thousand and were blindly missing the spiritual truth revealed in that miracle. Christ came to provide much more than physical food. We must believe in Jesus as the Giver and Sustainer of Eternal Life that is given to us through the flesh and blood of His body. And our spiritual life can only be fed on that belief.

The Twelve struggled to understand Jesus' "hard saying" just like the rest of the people. But when Jesus further explained (John 6:60-65) that the Spirit gives all life, that there is no life in the flesh (which can mean the carnal nature or the human body), and that the words He had spoken to them were spirit and life, I think they maybe began to grasp the truth that He was not talking about literally consuming His flesh and blood. I think they also realized that even when we don't fully understand, we must trust. They already believed, even knew by experience and by the Spirit, that Jesus was the Holy One of God who spoke the words of eternal life; they had no choice but to accept what He said. The crowd of followers who deserted Jesus after this teaching was looking for spectacular events and miracles but they did not know Jesus the Christ in this way. They were unwilling or unable to believe Him, rest in His word, or seek the truth that would release them into the freedom of everlasting life, which Jesus said are the marks of true disciples (8:31-32).

[Helenmm]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

Believing is a life of intimacy with Jesus, not an academic consensus with some philosophical point. Jesus is basically redefining "belief". The people in Noah's day believed that Noah was building a boat all right, but had no connection with it. Noah preached to them for years. They could have helped build the boat and had passage on it during the flood, but none did. In Jesus' day many believed He could heal, but they couldn't get the bigger message, that He was Spirit-of-God conceived and they needed to align everything with Him. He, in fact, is the centre of all creation, of history, the whole pivot point on the roundabout. Those who hold to Him will go with Him to Heaven. Those who don't will get spun off! That is exactly what happened when Jesus told them they needed to eat His flesh - many got spun off, but the disciples held on to the Word of Life! As in the camel through the eye of a needle simile, Jesus is saying that it is a narrow path, a tough road, not for the weak.

I think Peter really got the point when he said "We believe and know..." Faith with him had gone way past the concepts of belief as we generally know it, to certainty, knowledge, faith that infected his whole being at evey step of the way. He just knew, in his bones, who Jesus was, so that he couldn't get away from that. Like we know that we have to eat or die, Peter knew Jesus as the source (Word) of life. The disciples that turned away had not opportunity to know Jesus as the twelve did, neither did they ask themselves the hard questions - although some like Nicodemus did, and remained. In other words, Peter knew 'WHO Jesus was', and what that meant for him. Other people knew 'what Jesus did,' and their value for Him was limited to that knowledge. We have to know not what, but WHO!

When faith amounts to personal obedience to the Word, that is the equivalent of eating and drinking Life which is Jesus' body and blood, because Jesus IS the Word of Life!

True discipleship = true freedom = the ability to discern Truth from lie and live accordingly. Jesus is the physical embodiment of Absolute Truth, the WORD OF LIFE.

[Eudora]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly?

A teacher who taught us to live by faith... Jesus had a way of sorting out His followers as He was teaching. There is scripture where it tells of Him separating the sheep from the goats. I believe that this is how He taught as well. He spoke so that people who loved Him and believed Him, would want to know so much more. Like digging in the scripture to find any piece of silver and finding gold. So He spoke... and folks either rejected His word and left Him, or they stuck around and followed Him, anxiously awaiting to hear more.

To eat of His flesh, is food for the soul. A lasting and sustaining food, unlike manna which they had to go out and find every day to sustain the Israelites and sojourners. This was a daily manna from heaven, but it did not give them or feed to them, eternal life.

The life's saving blood of Jesus Christ and the spiritual edification of the bread, eaten to edify the soul on a daily basis, leads to a fullness and everlasting life.

This passage is about Jesus having "the words of eternal life," that is, the words, which, when believed, result in eternal life. Because He lives we live. If Christ is not present in our lives, life is death.

We, by faith trust in the death of Christ and are baptized into His death spiritually when we partake of the body and blood of Christ. Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Romans 6:3

We take possession of a common benefit of these by faith. Jesus Christ gives life to our repentance, and our love and our joy, and all that we are, all that we have and ever hope to be. We live by faith in Him, as our bodies live by our food.

It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that He speaks to our spirit, and our life, is to our gain.

What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus?

Those who believed by faith and those who did not.

What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

One who remains faithful to study the word of God, believing what it has to say, by that same faith.

(the condition) Continue in His word and (the promise) we shall be His disciple and we will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make us free. AMEN!

[heavenlymann]

I think He emphasized it so strongly to separate those who gave a kind of mental assent from those who deeply believe in the Person of Christ.
As such we see the difference in the twelve. I think if we jump ahead for a moment and look at John 10;26,27 we can see that those who do not belong to Him know not His voice. As peter said in Jn 6;69 the twelve did not understand right away His teaching on the subject but they knew Who said it and believed Him as Who He was; the Christ...the Son of the living God. So it wasn't what He said but Who He was they believed.

[masika]

Without believing in Jesus Christ our faith is nothing .
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual life ; without the work of the Spirit ' we can not even see the need for new life.
all spiritual renewal begins and end s with God .He reveals truth to us , lives within us , and then enables us to respond to that truth.
The difference between the twelve and the crowd " disciples" that turn away from Jesus is that :-
1.They may have realized that He (Jesus) was not going to be the conquering -King they expected.
2. He refused to give in to their self-centered request. 3. he emphasized faith not deed.
4. His teaching were difficult to understand and some of His word were offensive.
As we grow in our faith , we may be tempted to turn away because Jesus ' lessons are difficult - will your response be to give up , ignore certain teachings , or reject Christ. Instead , ask God to show you what the teaching mean and how they apply to your life. Then have the courage to act on God's truth.
-If we remain faithful to Jesus' teaching we are His truly disciples
- Jesus does not give us freedomto do what we want , but freedom to follow God

[Blessed Me]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly?
There is no other way to receive eternal life but by eating the flesh and drinking the blood. Christ is speaking in V63 It is the spirit that quickeneth. He is speaking in the spiritual sense, for eating of the body in itself would not bring eternal life, it is the authoritive words He speaks to mankind, words that come from the Father, there is life found in them. Jesus said, "I am the Word."

What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus?
Disciples are one's who want to learn, but - did they have spritual ears to hear what Jesus was saying? Do we have spritual ears to hear? The words spoken were hard words if we are hearing from the carnal mind. Christ was speaking spiritually, we need to have our spiritual ears on to hear, to understand.
God's path is not an easy road to travel, did they, do we, want to go through the "Narrow Gate?" God has given to each of us a measure of "Faith" to believe. (Believe is to - have faith - entrust ones spiritual well being to Christ. Believe = commit, to put your trust in HIm.) Going through the narrow gate we will find streets of gold, life eternal. Walking the narrow road may seem difficult at times, but we have the Lord walking with us, we have the Holy Spirit with us. I am thankful I chose to go through the "Narrow Gate."

What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The word "disciple" means, "disciplined one." There is life found in the word. Where are our priorities? Are we in the word daily? It is in the word we come to understand, we are "free." We must not just receive His word, but we must walk in it. They say "walking is good for your health" Walking with the Lord, is great for our spiritual health. Excuse me, I need to go for my daily walk.

[JustJeff]

Jesus knows the hearts of His children. On a good day the carnal person may have faith filled moments but when the desire of the flesh arises.... The Lord was so emphatic because it was a time of pruning, to separate the faithless from the faithful, the seekers of the bread for the belly from those desiring the man nu (manna) from heaven.
His disciples were under His annointing. They knew who Jesus was and what He had made available to them, eternal life! That was the difference between the chosen and the called.
We who abide in His word are free. Free from the guilt and pain of this world. Free from the condemnation and death of sin. Free to fight the good fight of faith. Free to walk with the Lord in the light, as He is Light.

[Jezemeg]

I believe that so many of Jesus' follower's turned away after he emphasised it was necessary to 'Eat His Flesh, and drink His Blood' because they wanted the 'show', the miracles etc., but not the responsibilities associated with truly following in His path. Those who turned away wanted to always 'be happy', they weren't interested in more hardship, they wanted all the good things, none of the bad.

Jesus never taught that following Him would be an easy venture, in fact He overemphasised the hardships in many cases using words such as 'hate your family' when at the same time He also taught to love and honour one's parents. What He really meant I believe is that where there is a conflict of interest, one must always choose to follow the narrow path, God's Way, even if that meant you went against the accepted norm.

Many even now find this narrow path to hard to take. When they experience any hardship, when they're requests for healing are not met in the way they expected, they immediately throw up their hands, turn their anger towards God and then in all likelihood turn their backs on Him as well. What they fail to realise is that God doesn't have to give us reasons for the way He acts, He doesn't have to do what we want Him to do, God alone is in possession of the 'big picture'; Jesus even didn't claim the same knowledge that God has. What's important is to remain in the knowledge that despite our expectations, God will never leave us, we are never alone, even when hardships abound. Our perfect life is promised in eternity, not here in this world.

[charity]

I think such a strong expression for believing was to emphasize the active level of commitment one would have to be willing to accept. The religious leaders of the day took great pride in following the Law. The uproar occurred when it appeared that Jesus was teaching the people to go against the Law. This expression on the surface was a tremendous attention-getter. However, those who strictly followed the Law failed to see the death in the Law, thus, they failed to understand the underlying meaning of Jesus’ words, thereby failing to receive the Life attached to the words. Jesus’ life and teachings had continually demonstrated the difference between the Law of Moses and His coming in the flesh as man to fulfill that Law; a demonstration of the lesser to the greater. He was merely continuing this concept and lesson in John 6. This multitude had witnessed a miracle of having been fed with only a boy’s small lunch and the miracle was enough to cause some of them to search even a day later for Jesus. The physical satisfaction for their hunger that they had experienced served as a springboard for Jesus to speak of the spiritual hunger they each unknowingly had and how He would be the one to satisfy that hunger, not only for a multitude, but for the world. Yet, to receive this spiritual food would require many to trust in Him actively with a commitment even when it seemed to go against all they knew to be the truth and it definitely did not promise to win them any popularity.

The difference between the Twelve and the others who turned away was that the Twelve had responded to the Holy Spirit and had yielded themselves to His gentle drawing. Even without full understanding of this interaction of the Father with them, Peter summed up what this interaction meant to them with his response, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” This willingness to experience Jesus’ life daily is to abide in His word, for He is the Word. A true disciple grows in knowledge of the truth of who he is in relation to who Jesus is. As Christ’s righteousness is allowed to overtake our unrighteousness we become free from sin, proving ourselves to be true disciples.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?
Jesus made a point to emphasize the importance of his flesh and blood. He knows that he will pay a high price for us (the world) and we should take it literally. If you aren't a believer than you can't do the Father's Will. Jesus is a believer he believes so much that he paid the ultimate sacrafice. Jesus is the way and he has shown the world the way. Jesus emphasizes this strongly because he knows that everyone that is following him are not true believers and they will fall by the wayside. But he knew his disciples love him and were true followers so this is why he told them:
Jhn 8:31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;
Jhn 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The mark of a true disciple is that they will know the truth and the truth shall make them free because they will follow the teaching of the Lord and do as Jesus has taught them to do.

[charisbarak]

I think Jesus emphasizes this so strongly to show us how we should be hungering & thirsting for Him. As food is necessary for our lives, so much more so He is necessary for our spiritual lives. It requires a definite decision of our wills.

The saying was a hard one. Only those totally committed to Jesus stuck with Him.

Those true disciples continued to believe Jesus, abide in Him & feed on His words. They understood He was the only true bread from heaven.

[steve.c]

Pastor Ralph, on Jun 15 2006, 12:58 PM, said:

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

Jesus emphasises the importance of belief because our belief in Him must be total and unconditional. By eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He lives in us and us in Him. There are no half measures. Jesus knew that being His disciple brought division. A commitment to Jesus may alienate family and friends. It is to be set above any worldly possession or any other relationship or any other ambition or goal. We must deny ourselves and carry our cross to follow Him. The apostles were prepared to make that life-long total commitment. They dropped everything they were doing and followed Jesus. A true disciple follows Jesus's teaching completely. His teaching is the model on which His life is based and directed. His teaching is the truth; the absolute truth that is God's Word. Through that teaching, through Jesus's body and blood, we are set free from sin and death and have life in abundance and eternally. The paradox is that total obedience yields complete liberation. He sets us free through His teaching. That is the wonderful thing.

[haar]

Jesus wanted to stress the importance of believing Him because it was essential for the salvation of mankind. He would not want anyone to perish as this was His purpose for coming to the world and thus He wanted every one to believe. By using strong expression ("hard saying"), he wanted every thing He said to sink in the minds and hearts of His listeners.

The twelve disciples were able to accept the "hard saying" and believed in Jesus. They realised that Jesus really had the Words of eternal life and thus they held on to His teaching and were thus His true disciples. The others went away because they had faint hearts. They were those that would miss the opportunity of having eternal life.

The mark of the true disciples according John 8.31-32; is the ability to hold on to the Lord's teacing. Thus if we do not receive, believe the Word and apply It in our lives, we are NOT His true disciples.

[carroll]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

Jesus emphasizes it strongly because belief is the very essence of acceptance of Jesus Christ as the chosen one as savior of the world. He was acutely aware that many found it difficult to believe it, not just because he is God and knows everything, but he knows human nature which tends to doubt and question anything that is new. He also knew that many also doubted that he could be the one since he was one of them, and that it is seemingly easier for one to accept a stranger as “the chosen one” rather than one of their own. He had no choice but to emphasize it because in the absence of belief they could not inherit the eternal life that he sacrifice would make available.

The Twelve was different from the crowd of disciples because they knew Christ better and therefore already understood and believed that HE was the “Holy One of God”. The crowd were not as convinced of the sayings of Christ, took his words literally and therefore separated themselves by not wanting to be associated by what he was saying.

The mark of a true disciple is to accept Jesus’ teachings, thereby knowing the truth about how to obtain salvation and thereby eternal life.

[PCHRIS]

Q3. (John 6:53-71) If to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood is a strong expression for "to believe," why does Jesus emphasize this so strongly? What was the difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus? What is the mark of true disciples according to John 8:31-32?

Jesus emphasized this so strongly because we need to believe all the way, not just when it suits us or just tag along when the going is good, but to stick it out even when we are challenged/persecuted, as these so called followers were they were challenged and they all said 'argh' and ran away.

Only those who fully believed and trusted Jesus, recognised Who He is stayed with Him.

Hold to His teachings, (not to water it down)
We will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.

[Lion of Grace]

Our faith is everything. It is faith that sustains us. I was led to Romans 5 this week. It is through faith we are justified and have peace through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We gain access BY FAITH into His grace by which we now stand! This is our hope. If we have hope in Him who loves us, we can rejoice in suffering, knowing God is at work in our lives, growing us in everything we need through Him! Hope in Him never dissapoints us because He loves us and we have the Holy Spirit now in us! We are reconciled to Him.
The disciples that turn away do not embrace these truths. They continue in " works" and self striving to make themselves right with God. They take the wider road to what they want. The road with Jesus is much more narrow. Those who embrace the faith know of their freedom in Christ and want to know Him more and more. We remain in Him because we know without Him is to return to " before" and I for one, NEVER want "before" back! To be a disciple means to follow and He daily takes us places in His Word and experiences to know more about Him. We simply follow daily seeking every means to see where He is taking us and revealing to us! Sometimes, just like the original disciples, we don't understand and we need simple teachings and our eyes opened to more spiritual truths. We do this by faith in Jesus and seeking His teachings knowing He is the only way! He does that in multiple ways, but it is HE Himself doing it!
Really, nothing is different than when He was here physically with the twelve. He is still here with us in Spirit and we are walking with Him and learning too. He has called us and He will lead us! He is faithful!
Awesome!

[Don W]

Jesus emphasizes this strong expression “to believe” because this is what the whole passage is about accepting, believing in Him, and abiding in Him is for those who are His true followers or disciples; and the rest of the crowd who are curious but don’t really believe Him will not partake of His body nor His blood shed for us who do believe. This is the difference between the Twelve (and us who are true born-again believers) and the crowd of followers who turned away from Jesus. The mark of true disciples of Jesus is that true believers will know the truth (who is Jesus, according to John 14:6) and then the truth will set them free. In believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus, we are His true disciples and He sets us free in so many ways, some that are: free from our sins and sin having dominion over us; free to praise, worship and thank the Lord for all that He’s done for us as well as all who He is; free to have eternal life with Him in glory; free to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord; and many more freedoms that He gives to us. Amen!

[linda bass]

Jesus strongly emphasized the eating of His 'flesh' and drinking of His 'blood' because He wanted those who are willing to follow Him thru thick and thin, no matter what the cost. In other words, He isn't interested in sunshine Christians who are ready to desert their faith at the first sign of trouble or persecution.

The difference between the Twelve and the crowd of "disciples" that turned away from Jesus is that the 12 disciples believed that Jesus had the words of eternal life. They believed Jesus was the Holy One of God.
The others left because they were faint of heart. They couldn't abide such a hard saying so they walked away.

The mark of a true disciple is one who holds to the teachings of Jesus.
Those who continue to believe, to abide in Him, inspite of persecution or hardship, are true disciples.

[kas]

It is necessary to devour Him in order to become like Him. After all, we are what we eat! (forgive me, I couldn't resist) We cannot serve two masters. If we don't serve God by feasting on Jesus, we're serving someone else. We can't be lukewarm so it's an either/or so it must be strong. The twelve were sincere and really believed in Christ whereas the others did not. Those who fall away were never real to begin with so the mark of a true believer is one who obeys Jesus through good times and bad and doesn't fall away!