Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” 61 Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? 62 What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” 66 As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. 67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?” 71 He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve.
The Jews whose hearts were hardened against Jesus’ words in the Bread of life discourse (vv. 22-59) remained in their unbelief. Some of Jesus’ disciples took what he said literally, a cannibalistic interpretation, and whispered among themselves. They found what Jesus said very offensive. Jesus asked his disciples if they would accept his word if he were to ascend to heaven and receive the revelation from God as Moses had ascended the mountain to receive his revelation from God. They were using their carnal understanding not spiritual understanding and Jesus’ words communicate spirit and life (v. 63). Jesus knew that some of his disciples would not believe in him and he also knew which disciple would betray him. That is why he told them that no one can come to him unless he was given to him by the Father. Some of Jesus’ disciples stopped following him as a result of their misunderstanding of his words which they said were “hard (v. 60)”. In order to accept Jesus’ teaching, one has to be born of the Spirit. Faith that brings people to Jesus is only possible through God’s grace and those who left Jesus did not truly believe in him.
Jesus asked the apostles if they were also going to leave him and Peter, who with the other apostles was beginning to understand that Jesus was the Messiah, said, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God (vv. 68-69).” Jesus told the disciples who were left that one of them was a devil who would betray him, and John, using his knowledge of past events, named Judas as that disciple.
Almighty God, grant us the gift of faith and the grace to accept it. Grant us the will to truly believe in Your Son and the courage to serve him. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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