HIS WORDS PRODUCE LIFE

“This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things he said in the synagogue . . . Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?” (John 6:58-61).

Note that Christ was speaking to believers here. What was the hard saying they reacted to? It was, “You must eat My flesh and drink My blood, or else you have no life in you. My flesh is meat, and My blood is drink. And eternal life comes only through consuming them.”

Jesus saw that the people were shocked by His words. So He asked them, in essence, “Did I offend you? Are you bothered by My truth-telling?” Then He states, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). He made it crystal clear: “The very thing you’re offended by is what brings life.” How did His followers respond? “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66).

What is Jesus saying about His gospel here? Simply put, He is stating that the message of His blood and His cross is offensive. Even though it is the only gospel that leads to eternal life, some are not going to accept it. “But there are some of you that believe not” (John 6:64).

Jesus’ words here are being borne out in many churches today. Incredibly, some congregations have removed every reference to Christ’s blood from their worship services. Pastors don’t mention it in their sermons, and hymns about the blood have been removed from the church. It’s all considered too offensive.

But Jesus warns, “It doesn’t matter how offensive My words may seem to you. You can’t change them. My words produce life and you have to consume them as you would food and drink, to make them the very fiber of your being. Therefore, you’re not to soften what I’ve said. If you remove the blood and the cross from your preaching, you’re cutting off seekers from their only hope for eternal life.”