John 5 - 6

Many Disciples Leave Him

In today's reading, Jesus reasserts His relationship to the Father claiming a direct descent.  For the religious leaders, this was blasphemy, even worse than His performing miracles on the Sabbath and having the lame man carry his bed on the Sabbath.  In 5:19- 45 Jesus makes the following statements inextricably associating Himself directly with the Father God:

• 19 - Jesus is totally dependent on the Father doing only what the Father wills.
• 21 & 22 - Jesus magnifies the works of the Father in giving life to whomever He chooses and having divine authority to judge.
• 24 - Jesus' message, when heard and heeded, gives the listener eternal life
• 32 - God testifies of Jesus' power and divinity by allowing His works to be accomplished through Jesus
• 43 - Jesus comes in the name of the Father
• 45 - If the religious leaders truly believed Moses then they would recognize Jesus because Moses prophesied that Jesus would come (Deut 18:1-18)

In chapter 6 the story of feeding the 5000 is told, along with the story of Jesus walking on the water.  The crowds follow Jesus over to Capernaum because of the miracles He performed. Jesus rebukes them in verse 26 for following Him for carnal reasons, i.e. fishes and loaves, and not understanding the He is the true bread of God (a reiteration of the message He gave the disciples in 4:34). 

If verse 53, Jesus brings a new level of spiritual teaching to those following Him, telling them, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you."  This was a radical departure from the miracles they were used to seeing.  Verse 60 explains that many of his followers had difficulty understanding this teaching, and like His other teachings, they were thinking of it only in carnal terms. In verse 66 the Bible states, "At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him." Then Jesus asked the Twelve "Are you also going to go?" This is a question all Christians must answer.

Are we following Jesus only for what He does for us physically (healing) and emotionally (comforting)?  Are we in this only for prosperity and financial blessings?  Or do we accept Him as Lord of hour life, consuming every teaching and incorporating it into our being?

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.