John 6:53-70 (NASB) says, “53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58“This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” 59These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
60Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62“What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? 63“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”66As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69“We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” 70Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” 

 

 

In the beginning of this chapter, over 5,000 were fed by Jesus and following Him, but by the end of this chapter, it was back down to the 12, and one of them would be possessed by a devil! Why did this happen? Four reasons the crowd left as a result of this message:

 

(1) They misunderstood the message Jesus taught.

(2) They were not willing to “drink of His blood” and “eat of His flesh” in communion with Him and fellowship with His sufferings.

(3) They became offended because His message “seemed” to have contradicted the Levitical law.

(4) They thought they knew where Jesus came from. 

 

This became one of the most offensives messages Jesus ever preached: to drink of His blood and eat of His flesh, which was the true manna from heaven. Jesus knew from the beginning who would not believe upon Him, and as a result of calling it out, delivering this message on communion, and bringing forth the revelation that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father grants them permission, they left by the masses! People were drawn by the miracles, but they left because of the message. What is right is not always popular, and while God can visit you with healing and miracles, clinging to the truth in obedience will bring eternal life!

 

Here is what God longs for:  relationship! He was giving thousands of people the permission to not only know Him, but to become like Him in the earth, integrating kingdom culture! It is easy to be mesmerized by the miracles, but when it comes to “denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him”, it becomes too chaotic. The church has become intoxicated with organized religion insomuch that they are drowning their sorrows in a self-centered gospel! It is time we surrender what we do not understand to God and become willing to develop a relationship with Him, entering into true fellowship while cancelling out all of the lies and negativity that have distracted us from God’s presence!