"From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the Twelve, 'Do you want to leave too?' Simon Peter replied, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" John 6:66-69
As it was during Jesus' earthly ministry, so it is today. Many are glad to follow Jesus in the hope of receiving some earthly benefit -- to be healed, to be helped or to be blessed with earthly riches. But, when they hear that they must repent of their sinful ways and place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and atoning sacrifice for the sins of all -- they turn away and go their own way.
At times, Jesus' own disciples may be filled with doubts and fears. Their faith in Jesus and His words is challenged; it becomes weak. They, too, may be tempted to turn away from Jesus and go back to their worldly ways and lives, perhaps to seek another way, an easier way with less resistance.
Jesus' question could be asked of us as well: "Do you want to leave, too?"
Simon Peter's answer is fitting and instructive: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
To whom would we turn? What other religion or teacher offers the truth and life Jesus offers? They all direct us back to our own lives and works, to our own attempts to please God, whether it be by our deeds, our lives or our forms of worship, and they all fail and come up short.
It is as Peter confessed to Jesus: "You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (John 6:68-69; cf. Matt. 16:16-17). Jesus is "the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through" Him (John 14:6).
As Peter professed of Jesus in Acts 4:12: "Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Don't turn away from Him! Look to Him and partake of His atoning sacrifice in faith that you may have eternal life!
Editor's note: Scripture is quoted from the Majority Standard Bible, freely available at www.biblehub.com. Devotion is by Randy Moll. Moll may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Views expressed are those of the author.