Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
After many followers turned back and stopped walking with him because they were offended by his hard teaching that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life in him, he turned sorrowfully to the twelve to ask whether they too would leave him. His question puts a personal choice before them and tests whether their faith is genuine when truth is difficult to receive. He does not argue with those who reject him but lets the test reveal their hearts and lets them go. Peter answers for the twelve that they remain because they have nowhere else to go, for he alone has the words of eternal life and is the Christ, the Son of the living God. To eat and drink means to receive his words into mind and life by believing, obeying, and abiding in him, so when trials tempt believers to leave they must give Peter's answer and hold to him to the end.
Setting and Wording
Many disciples turned back and no longer walked with him after rejecting his hard teaching and taking offense at it, and then he turned to the Twelve to ask whether they too would leave. Their departure followed rejection of his truth and rebuke, and their response to his question stands in contrast to the criticism and disbelief of those who would no longer follow, with Peter answering that they had nowhere else to go because he had the words of eternal life. The falling away came after his declaration that they must eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood to have life in them, to dwell in him and he in them, to live by him, to live forever, and to be raised at the last day, which they called a hard saying. They willingly misunderstood because they missed its spiritual meaning, stumbling at what was spoken as a parable in which he represented himself under the similitude of heavenly bread, where eating and drinking means true earnest belief, receiving his word which is spirit and life so that true receivers never hunger and believers never thirst for higher food, and where all truly converted draw spiritual vitality from him as a living branch from the vine. Those not living by his teachings may misunderstand that spiritual meaning and turn from him when his words challenge them, while his question gave the remaining Twelve the choice to leave as well and made clear that following required receiving truth even when difficult.
The account belongs with feeding the multitude, walking on the water, and teaching that he is the bread of life, after which some disciples turned away. It stands at a turning point when many who had followed for hopes of an earthly kingdom would turn away, as his teaching ruled out worldly rewards and demanded spiritual understanding. He asked with sorrow and grief, because faith in his name and mission is humanity's only hope. His question expressed longing for fellowship and sympathy and for people to honor God's gift by believing and praising him, with yearning for his disciples to come into sacred relationship with himself and to understand him. He did not argue them back or try to prevent or stop those who rejected him, but let the test reveal their choice and let those leaving go.
Those who left chose religious forms without the spirit of truth, revealing pride and offense at purifying truth. His plain presentation exposed questioning, resistance, and apostasy, confronting hearers until truths led them to reveal real feelings and decide for or against him. The question therefore distinguished steadfast believers from half-hearted followers, since some offended by his teaching stopped identifying publicly with him, and those not wholly with him would oppose him at his trial. It brought the choice of the Twelve into view before they could mistake the meaning of the falling away, and the experience strengthened them while those who left did not return. The Twelve could not fully understand his words at the time because of moral darkness, but their understanding would become clear after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, when the Holy Spirit would bring his words to remembrance and those words would sustain his followers after he no longer walked with them.
In the meantime he comforted them with many mansions in his Father's house and his return to receive them to himself, even while foreseeing that every beloved disciple would be severely tested in the hour of temptation. Loyalty among the Twelve did not mean all were faithful, for though he chose the Twelve, one of them is a devil, Judas Iscariot son of Simon, who would betray him. The question touched the disciples' hearts except Judas, whose chief concerns were money and greatness, and the experience strengthened the Twelve except Judas. Peter's answer affirmed that they remained because he has the words of eternal life and is the Christ, yet the warning about Judas stood alongside that confession.
Testing Loyalty by Choice
The question tests the commitment and loyalty of the twelve when the teaching is difficult and offensive, exposing whether their faith is genuine. It comes after many turn away because they willingly misunderstand, and it makes clear that following requires receiving the truth even when it is hard. Those who believe do not turn away but desire to remain because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Their understanding will become clear after crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and receiving his words means studying and obeying them until they shape a Christlike character and sustain faith through trial and temptation to eternal life for those faithful to the end.
It puts a personal choice before them to remain with him or go away with the others. The choice is brought into the open before they mistake the meaning of the falling away, confronting them whether they too will leave. Paired with Peter's answer that Christ has the words of eternal life, it serves as a text for appeal that brings serious reflection and tears. Choosing what draws the heart from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction and no room for wholehearted service, so the call is for spiritual hunger for Christ.
It distinguishes steadfast believers from half-hearted followers and unbelievers, separating those who believe from those who do not. It sets the answer of the twelve against the criticism, disbelief, murmuring, mocking, insult, and offense of those who will no longer follow. Some are offended by purifying truth and stop identifying publicly with him, revealing pride and showing that professed faith is tested when soul-purifying truth is presented. His plain teaching reveals real feelings for or against him, and those not wholly with him would oppose him at his trial.
It confronts them with the need for conversion and a life transformed by receiving and practicing his words, with eating his flesh and drinking his blood as a real spiritual experience. Those displeased by his words may turn away. The experience strengthens the faithful who remain, except Judas, while those who leave do not return, having chosen religious forms without the spirit of truth. It also tests loyalty before he leaves them and prepares the remaining disciples for the trial of seeing others reject him.
Why Disciples Remain
Peter answered for the twelve that they had nowhere else to go, because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. His question tested their response when His teaching was difficult and offensive, exposing whether they had genuine faith and would remain with Him, and the experience strengthened those who stayed, except Judas, while those who left did not return. Receiving His words means studying and obeying them, allowing them to shape a Christlike character and sustain faith through trials and temptation, and those faithful to the truth to the end gain eternal life. Remaining rests on recognizing and believing that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Son of God. Their faith rests on Him as the Christ whose words give eternal life, and without Him as Saviour they would be without hope.
The question draws out Peter's confession of Christ's divinity in contrast with those who forsake Him, and draws out the warning that though He chose the twelve one of them is a devil, Judas Iscariot son of Simon who would betray Him. Leaving Jesus would mean turning from His teaching of love and mercy to unbelief and the world's wickedness. It would mean returning to religious teachers bound by formalism, divided by contention, and marked by self-seeking, to the formalists, scribes and Pharisees, the tradition of the elders, and lifeless formalism that teaches for doctrine the commandments of men. To believe in Him is more than mere sentiment, it is living faith in a personal Saviour who can and will ransom from sin.
The disciples had found greater peace and joy with Christ than before, knew Him as the Messiah and the anchor of their souls, and feared losing Him. Without a Saviour they would be without hope, adrift in fear and superstition like people adrift on a dark, stormy sea. Peter's later failure under trial shows that his confession needed to be lived out by seeking Christ's help, surrendering his own will, and revealing Christ's steadfast, self-denying character, by which Christ could have kept him loyal and resisting temptation.
Bread of Life Teaching
John 6 presents Christ as the living bread come down from heaven, whose flesh is given for the life of the world, and whose words are spirit and life. Those who receive him have eternal life and will be raised at the last day, and though they die his life is in them, hidden with him for this life and for eternity. The whole chapter is most precious and instructive yet only faintly understood, expressing what is needed for salvation and what Jesus is to each person and what advantage comes from eating his words as the great center of life. Its teaching addresses heart and will and not understanding alone, calling for obedience to God and warning that receiving his words in faith and obedience leads to eternal life while rejecting truth for deceptive theories brings spiritual danger.
The teaching about eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking his blood was spoken as a parable in which Christ represents himself under the similitude of heavenly bread. Eating and drinking means true, earnest belief in him and receiving his word, which is spirit and life. All true receivers never hunger, and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.
To eat is to take the bread into the mind, to understand and practice it, to keep its precepts and make Christ's words part of daily life. It is to hold to its precepts, bring its truths into daily experience, and receive and assimilate his words until they become part of the whole life. All who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ in this way, as a living branch draws nourishment from the vine, dwelling in him and he in them, living by him, living forever and raised at the last day. To comprehend and appreciate the truth as it is in Jesus is to be taught daily in his school, bringing truth into daily experience.
Eating his flesh and drinking his blood means being doers of God's Word, obeying his Word, having his commandments and keeping them, and so dwelling in him and abiding in his love and staying in harmony with the Redeemer. The Bible is to stand as the great educating book above all other books, showing that the way to heaven is by faith in the One whom God sent and then by working the works of God. The lesson calls for love in return for Calvary, shown by keeping his sayings.
This eating and drinking also means continual growth in grace, praying to God for this and for all other blessings, being taught daily in the school of Christ, and thereby truly knowing Christ and living as a Christian.
The sixth chapter refers especially to the spirituality of the Word, so that eating the bread of life means reading the Word of God and appropriating it as the living bread which came down from heaven, an exalted experience open to all yet understood by few. The living oracles are the flesh and blood of the Son of God, even though he had not yet been crucified, and his work as substitute for all sin was the only hope of ancient Israel. The directions given by Christ as the invisible Leader of Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures are full of richness, marrow and fatness, so that no soul who takes those words and eats them will suffer spiritual hunger. After God's plan was fulfilled in the death of Christ, the New Testament was written by holy men moved by the Spirit not to cast aside the Old but to reflect light back upon past ages, give meaning and significance to the whole Jewish economy, and press its plain directions for practical holiness and practical obedience into the life of everyone who claims to be a Christian.
Call to Present Faithfulness
The whole sixth chapter, where this question stands, is to be read, studied, prayed over, brought into daily experience and made a part of life, for its instruction is the mystery of godliness. Studied in this way alone it gives the knowledge that enables distinguishing the true from the false in days of peril. Outward connection with a church does not save, but personal faith in a personal Saviour brings the soul into spiritual union with Christ. That believing is more than mere sentiment; it is living faith in one who can and will ransom from sin.
God's people must walk and work as accountable to God, depending on Him by creation and by redemption for strength, power, wisdom and guidance and not on any human being. They are to make the Word of the living God their guide, look to Jesus Christ alone as the true Light, and receive Him by faith as sanctification, righteousness and exceeding great reward, since depending on human beings brings bondage and spiritual weakness. The same chapter defines the righteousness of Christ that must be accepted to have on the wedding garment. That garment is the standard of character each must reach to be counted a fit guest at the wedding, which is the marriage of humanity with divinity, and taking a firm stand requires surrendering to God what is already His, refusing to continue in sin or to measure character by human ideas, lest presumption over eternal interests result in loss of the soul.
The chapter contains the most precious and important lessons for all being educated in schools, giving an education that endures through time and eternity when its wonderful truths are brought into practical life. It teaches what Jesus is to each person individually and what advantage comes from eating His words, realizing He Himself is the great center of life, for His words are spirit and life. It is the kind of education children and youth and men and women need in order to become workers together with God, meaning youth must above all be taught the law of Jehovah and the penalty of transgression, and that God accepts the ransom made by the Saviour in behalf of each child and youth who is obedient to the law of Jehovah. Bringing this exchange between Jesus and the twelve into classroom teaching in schools and institutions, recognizing Christ as the only Leader to whom people belong by creation and redemption, allows the Holy Spirit to work on minds and hearts.
Every worker in Christ's service should comprehend its lessons by understanding it through experience, for the evangelization of the world is Christ's work. Workers must follow His example so they make no mistakes, ask and receive blessing from on high, have His guidance at every step, and move guardedly, because without Him nothing can be done. Receiving Christ's words means studying and obeying them, allowing them to shape a Christlike character and sustaining faith through trials and temptation, and those who remain faithful to the truth to the end gain eternal life. The chapter calls for spiritual hunger for Christ, showing that spiritual hunger and the life He gives depend on what a person chooses to receive.
Choosing what draws the heart away from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction and no room for wholehearted service. Feeding the mind on things that draw it from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction, the choice is one of life or death, and a divided heart cannot serve God or enjoy spiritual peace, joy and hope. Receiving His words in faith and obedience leads to eternal life, for He is the living bread from heaven whose flesh is given for the life of the world, and His words are spirit and life. Rejecting the truth for deceptive theories, disregarding light and warning, or taking offense at truth so as to turn from the Master places people in spiritual danger, as some disciples left Jesus.
When trying circumstances tempt believers to leave, they must give Peter's answer and refuse to go away, holding to Him because He alone has the words of eternal life. Looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith and fighting lawfully for the immortal crown means refusing to make shipwreck of faith, and the faithful follower will not draw back to ruin but will follow Christ, whom to know truly is eternal life. Christ's word of counsel or reproof recovers His disciples as often as they fall into error and peril, but every neglected counsel places the human agent in distrust and suspicion, and without thorough reform of defects of character and death to self separates farther and farther from righteousness and truth. The question calls for love to God in return for Calvary, shown by keeping His sayings, having His commandments and keeping them, and so dwelling in Him, abiding in His love and staying in harmony with the Redeemer.
Those who urge men to put whole trust in Christ who gave His own life to save souls should not be surprised or complain when men disbelieve, murmur, are offended, insult and mock, as Jesus faced disbelief and falling away when many went back and walked no more with Him. Paired with Peter's answer that He has the words of eternal life, the question presents the choice between turning away and remaining with Christ and serves as a text for appeal that brings serious reflection and tears.
After many followers turned back and stopped walking with him because they were offended by his hard teaching that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life in him, he turned sorrowfully to the twelve to ask whether they too would leave him. His question puts a personal choice before them and tests whether their faith is genuine when truth is difficult to receive. He does not argue with those who reject him but lets the test reveal their hearts and lets them go. Peter answers for the twelve that they remain because they have nowhere else to go, for he alone has the words of eternal life and is the Christ, the Son of the living God. To eat and drink means to receive his words into mind and life by believing, obeying, and abiding in him, so when trials tempt believers to leave they must give Peter's answer and hold to him to the end.
Setting and Wording
Many disciples turned back and no longer walked with him after rejecting his hard teaching and taking offense at it, and then he turned to the Twelve to ask whether they too would leave. Their departure followed rejection of his truth and rebuke, and their response to his question stands in contrast to the criticism and disbelief of those who would no longer follow, with Peter answering that they had nowhere else to go because he had the words of eternal life. The falling away came after his declaration that they must eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood to have life in them, to dwell in him and he in them, to live by him, to live forever, and to be raised at the last day, which they called a hard saying. They willingly misunderstood because they missed its spiritual meaning, stumbling at what was spoken as a parable in which he represented himself under the similitude of heavenly bread, where eating and drinking means true earnest belief, receiving his word which is spirit and life so that true receivers never hunger and believers never thirst for higher food, and where all truly converted draw spiritual vitality from him as a living branch from the vine. Those not living by his teachings may misunderstand that spiritual meaning and turn from him when his words challenge them, while his question gave the remaining Twelve the choice to leave as well and made clear that following required receiving truth even when difficult.
The account belongs with feeding the multitude, walking on the water, and teaching that he is the bread of life, after which some disciples turned away. It stands at a turning point when many who had followed for hopes of an earthly kingdom would turn away, as his teaching ruled out worldly rewards and demanded spiritual understanding. He asked with sorrow and grief, because faith in his name and mission is humanity's only hope. His question expressed longing for fellowship and sympathy and for people to honor God's gift by believing and praising him, with yearning for his disciples to come into sacred relationship with himself and to understand him. He did not argue them back or try to prevent or stop those who rejected him, but let the test reveal their choice and let those leaving go.
Those who left chose religious forms without the spirit of truth, revealing pride and offense at purifying truth. His plain presentation exposed questioning, resistance, and apostasy, confronting hearers until truths led them to reveal real feelings and decide for or against him. The question therefore distinguished steadfast believers from half-hearted followers, since some offended by his teaching stopped identifying publicly with him, and those not wholly with him would oppose him at his trial. It brought the choice of the Twelve into view before they could mistake the meaning of the falling away, and the experience strengthened them while those who left did not return. The Twelve could not fully understand his words at the time because of moral darkness, but their understanding would become clear after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, when the Holy Spirit would bring his words to remembrance and those words would sustain his followers after he no longer walked with them.
In the meantime he comforted them with many mansions in his Father's house and his return to receive them to himself, even while foreseeing that every beloved disciple would be severely tested in the hour of temptation. Loyalty among the Twelve did not mean all were faithful, for though he chose the Twelve, one of them is a devil, Judas Iscariot son of Simon, who would betray him. The question touched the disciples' hearts except Judas, whose chief concerns were money and greatness, and the experience strengthened the Twelve except Judas. Peter's answer affirmed that they remained because he has the words of eternal life and is the Christ, yet the warning about Judas stood alongside that confession.
Testing Loyalty by Choice
The question tests the commitment and loyalty of the twelve when the teaching is difficult and offensive, exposing whether their faith is genuine. It comes after many turn away because they willingly misunderstand, and it makes clear that following requires receiving the truth even when it is hard. Those who believe do not turn away but desire to remain because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Their understanding will become clear after crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, and receiving his words means studying and obeying them until they shape a Christlike character and sustain faith through trial and temptation to eternal life for those faithful to the end.
It puts a personal choice before them to remain with him or go away with the others. The choice is brought into the open before they mistake the meaning of the falling away, confronting them whether they too will leave. Paired with Peter's answer that Christ has the words of eternal life, it serves as a text for appeal that brings serious reflection and tears. Choosing what draws the heart from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction and no room for wholehearted service, so the call is for spiritual hunger for Christ.
It distinguishes steadfast believers from half-hearted followers and unbelievers, separating those who believe from those who do not. It sets the answer of the twelve against the criticism, disbelief, murmuring, mocking, insult, and offense of those who will no longer follow. Some are offended by purifying truth and stop identifying publicly with him, revealing pride and showing that professed faith is tested when soul-purifying truth is presented. His plain teaching reveals real feelings for or against him, and those not wholly with him would oppose him at his trial.
It confronts them with the need for conversion and a life transformed by receiving and practicing his words, with eating his flesh and drinking his blood as a real spiritual experience. Those displeased by his words may turn away. The experience strengthens the faithful who remain, except Judas, while those who leave do not return, having chosen religious forms without the spirit of truth. It also tests loyalty before he leaves them and prepares the remaining disciples for the trial of seeing others reject him.
Why Disciples Remain
Peter answered for the twelve that they had nowhere else to go, because Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. His question tested their response when His teaching was difficult and offensive, exposing whether they had genuine faith and would remain with Him, and the experience strengthened those who stayed, except Judas, while those who left did not return. Receiving His words means studying and obeying them, allowing them to shape a Christlike character and sustain faith through trials and temptation, and those faithful to the truth to the end gain eternal life. Remaining rests on recognizing and believing that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Son of God. Their faith rests on Him as the Christ whose words give eternal life, and without Him as Saviour they would be without hope.
The question draws out Peter's confession of Christ's divinity in contrast with those who forsake Him, and draws out the warning that though He chose the twelve one of them is a devil, Judas Iscariot son of Simon who would betray Him. Leaving Jesus would mean turning from His teaching of love and mercy to unbelief and the world's wickedness. It would mean returning to religious teachers bound by formalism, divided by contention, and marked by self-seeking, to the formalists, scribes and Pharisees, the tradition of the elders, and lifeless formalism that teaches for doctrine the commandments of men. To believe in Him is more than mere sentiment, it is living faith in a personal Saviour who can and will ransom from sin.
The disciples had found greater peace and joy with Christ than before, knew Him as the Messiah and the anchor of their souls, and feared losing Him. Without a Saviour they would be without hope, adrift in fear and superstition like people adrift on a dark, stormy sea. Peter's later failure under trial shows that his confession needed to be lived out by seeking Christ's help, surrendering his own will, and revealing Christ's steadfast, self-denying character, by which Christ could have kept him loyal and resisting temptation.
Bread of Life Teaching
John 6 presents Christ as the living bread come down from heaven, whose flesh is given for the life of the world, and whose words are spirit and life. Those who receive him have eternal life and will be raised at the last day, and though they die his life is in them, hidden with him for this life and for eternity. The whole chapter is most precious and instructive yet only faintly understood, expressing what is needed for salvation and what Jesus is to each person and what advantage comes from eating his words as the great center of life. Its teaching addresses heart and will and not understanding alone, calling for obedience to God and warning that receiving his words in faith and obedience leads to eternal life while rejecting truth for deceptive theories brings spiritual danger.
The teaching about eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking his blood was spoken as a parable in which Christ represents himself under the similitude of heavenly bread. Eating and drinking means true, earnest belief in him and receiving his word, which is spirit and life. All true receivers never hunger, and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.
To eat is to take the bread into the mind, to understand and practice it, to keep its precepts and make Christ's words part of daily life. It is to hold to its precepts, bring its truths into daily experience, and receive and assimilate his words until they become part of the whole life. All who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ in this way, as a living branch draws nourishment from the vine, dwelling in him and he in them, living by him, living forever and raised at the last day. To comprehend and appreciate the truth as it is in Jesus is to be taught daily in his school, bringing truth into daily experience.
Eating his flesh and drinking his blood means being doers of God's Word, obeying his Word, having his commandments and keeping them, and so dwelling in him and abiding in his love and staying in harmony with the Redeemer. The Bible is to stand as the great educating book above all other books, showing that the way to heaven is by faith in the One whom God sent and then by working the works of God. The lesson calls for love in return for Calvary, shown by keeping his sayings.
This eating and drinking also means continual growth in grace, praying to God for this and for all other blessings, being taught daily in the school of Christ, and thereby truly knowing Christ and living as a Christian.
The sixth chapter refers especially to the spirituality of the Word, so that eating the bread of life means reading the Word of God and appropriating it as the living bread which came down from heaven, an exalted experience open to all yet understood by few. The living oracles are the flesh and blood of the Son of God, even though he had not yet been crucified, and his work as substitute for all sin was the only hope of ancient Israel. The directions given by Christ as the invisible Leader of Israel in the Old Testament Scriptures are full of richness, marrow and fatness, so that no soul who takes those words and eats them will suffer spiritual hunger. After God's plan was fulfilled in the death of Christ, the New Testament was written by holy men moved by the Spirit not to cast aside the Old but to reflect light back upon past ages, give meaning and significance to the whole Jewish economy, and press its plain directions for practical holiness and practical obedience into the life of everyone who claims to be a Christian.
Call to Present Faithfulness
The whole sixth chapter, where this question stands, is to be read, studied, prayed over, brought into daily experience and made a part of life, for its instruction is the mystery of godliness. Studied in this way alone it gives the knowledge that enables distinguishing the true from the false in days of peril. Outward connection with a church does not save, but personal faith in a personal Saviour brings the soul into spiritual union with Christ. That believing is more than mere sentiment; it is living faith in one who can and will ransom from sin.
God's people must walk and work as accountable to God, depending on Him by creation and by redemption for strength, power, wisdom and guidance and not on any human being. They are to make the Word of the living God their guide, look to Jesus Christ alone as the true Light, and receive Him by faith as sanctification, righteousness and exceeding great reward, since depending on human beings brings bondage and spiritual weakness. The same chapter defines the righteousness of Christ that must be accepted to have on the wedding garment. That garment is the standard of character each must reach to be counted a fit guest at the wedding, which is the marriage of humanity with divinity, and taking a firm stand requires surrendering to God what is already His, refusing to continue in sin or to measure character by human ideas, lest presumption over eternal interests result in loss of the soul.
The chapter contains the most precious and important lessons for all being educated in schools, giving an education that endures through time and eternity when its wonderful truths are brought into practical life. It teaches what Jesus is to each person individually and what advantage comes from eating His words, realizing He Himself is the great center of life, for His words are spirit and life. It is the kind of education children and youth and men and women need in order to become workers together with God, meaning youth must above all be taught the law of Jehovah and the penalty of transgression, and that God accepts the ransom made by the Saviour in behalf of each child and youth who is obedient to the law of Jehovah. Bringing this exchange between Jesus and the twelve into classroom teaching in schools and institutions, recognizing Christ as the only Leader to whom people belong by creation and redemption, allows the Holy Spirit to work on minds and hearts.
Every worker in Christ's service should comprehend its lessons by understanding it through experience, for the evangelization of the world is Christ's work. Workers must follow His example so they make no mistakes, ask and receive blessing from on high, have His guidance at every step, and move guardedly, because without Him nothing can be done. Receiving Christ's words means studying and obeying them, allowing them to shape a Christlike character and sustaining faith through trials and temptation, and those who remain faithful to the truth to the end gain eternal life. The chapter calls for spiritual hunger for Christ, showing that spiritual hunger and the life He gives depend on what a person chooses to receive.
Choosing what draws the heart away from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction and no room for wholehearted service. Feeding the mind on things that draw it from God leaves no appetite for heavenly instruction, the choice is one of life or death, and a divided heart cannot serve God or enjoy spiritual peace, joy and hope. Receiving His words in faith and obedience leads to eternal life, for He is the living bread from heaven whose flesh is given for the life of the world, and His words are spirit and life. Rejecting the truth for deceptive theories, disregarding light and warning, or taking offense at truth so as to turn from the Master places people in spiritual danger, as some disciples left Jesus.
When trying circumstances tempt believers to leave, they must give Peter's answer and refuse to go away, holding to Him because He alone has the words of eternal life. Looking to Jesus as Author and Finisher of faith and fighting lawfully for the immortal crown means refusing to make shipwreck of faith, and the faithful follower will not draw back to ruin but will follow Christ, whom to know truly is eternal life. Christ's word of counsel or reproof recovers His disciples as often as they fall into error and peril, but every neglected counsel places the human agent in distrust and suspicion, and without thorough reform of defects of character and death to self separates farther and farther from righteousness and truth. The question calls for love to God in return for Calvary, shown by keeping His sayings, having His commandments and keeping them, and so dwelling in Him, abiding in His love and staying in harmony with the Redeemer.
Those who urge men to put whole trust in Christ who gave His own life to save souls should not be surprised or complain when men disbelieve, murmur, are offended, insult and mock, as Jesus faced disbelief and falling away when many went back and walked no more with Him. Paired with Peter's answer that He has the words of eternal life, the question presents the choice between turning away and remaining with Christ and serves as a text for appeal that brings serious reflection and tears.