Go to the Source

John 6: 41-71, specifically, verse 68, “Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.””

Peter had a way of stating things, of declaring the truth. Just say it like it is. He’s the one who answers Jesus in another account, “You are the Christ…” He’s also the one who first gets up to preach in the book of Acts, as he stakes his claim in the truth of the Word. Yes, Peter is an easy one to associate with when we see him struggle; the challenge from God’s Word to me today was to associate with Peter in his boldness to share that which is true.

Jesus in this chapter is explaining how it is not just an easy task to follow Him. It might even seem confusing at times from our human perspective. And Jesus here explains that He knows some will not follow. That doesn’t make it OK, but He knows it to be reality.

In our Christian lives, the going can certainly get tough. Life is not always “fun”. What Jesus offers is joy, that inner peace and satisfaction that can only come through saving faith in Him. My question is this: when things get really, really tough, where else is there to go but to Jesus, to His Word, to prayer to the Father. Really, what else will help the hurting believer? What else can comfort the hopeless? On the flip side, when life seems grand, and that inner joy expresses itself in what we see as happiness, who else should get the credit but Jesus?

What Jesus is teaching, and He does so over and over, is that when the focus shifts away from Him, the tough times will be overwhelming. When excitement is not grounded in Him, you end up with a superficial happiness. And when we truly associate ourselves with Christ, when we “eat His body, and drink His blood” (not literally, not cannibalism, remember, this is a Jewish audience to begin with), we may suffer heartache, just as He did. We may encounter those who hate this truth, just as he encountered. Yet He gives the believer direct access to God, the source of all comfort and strength.

Come to Jesus, know the Father, and the Spirit gives life eternal. God is the source of all we need for faith and practice. Really, where else could we go?