In John 6, (and see verses 60-71), many of Jesus’ disciples left Him, for His statement about His body being life-giving food and His blood being life-giving drink, because they heard Him with natural hearing rather than spiritual hearing (1 Corinthians 2:14). Hearing naturally rather than spiritually meant they did not believe Jesus; they did not have faith in Him or trust Him (Galatians 3:1-5), and this is the same way many do today—they will eagerly believe people but not God, His word, or His Spirit that speaks to them.
But 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 fully explains why many of Jesus’ disciples left Him, in John 6, and why in verses 60-71, multitudes today do not love, believe, obey, trust, and worship Jesus, for they do not have a solid, immovable trust through Jesus Christ toward God, so they trust in their human knowledge and wisdom instead of in God, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit.
But, in John 6:67-69, after Jesus asked His 12 disciples if they also wanted to leave Him, Simon Peter spoke eternal truth, when he asked to whom could they go, for Jesus alone had words of eternal life, and they had come to believe Jesus was truly God’s Son.
Precious friends, our Christianity will always be shaky, uncertain, and imbalanced until 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 becomes our daily lifestyle, 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Trying to live the Bible letter by letter, detail by detail, is what the people in John 6 that heard Jesus’ words but did not understand them, were doing, because they did not believe He was God in the flesh; but living in the Spirit gives life, for we believe God’s word, have the Godhead living in us and us living in Him; thus, “We have such trust through Christ toward God”, and are so imbedded in the Godhead and the Godhead so imbedded in us, there is no pulling us apart (Romans 8:31-39), even though satanic inspired people and situations constantly try.
Jesus, who is Truth (John 1:17; 14:6), spoke truth, in John 16:33, when He, our Peace (Ephesians 2:13-14), told the disciples in Him they MAY have peace, but in the world, they WILL have tribulation, yet for them to be cheerful, since He had already overcome the world.
If “we have such trust through Christ toward God” so we refuse to allow the world’s already overcome problems to become our traumatic problems; knowing Christ is our Peace, then we are free to trust everything to Him, because He already has it all worked out.
Since there are only two ways to believe and live: 1) allow the world’s problems to traumatize us, or 2) allow Christ Jesus to be our Peace in a world He has already overcome; then we must decide which of the two will command our unmovable loyalty.
Choose steadfastness in Christ Jesus and let Him be our Peace and Truth!
Jim Nabors
