John 6:43–71

⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ⁸“Do not murmur among yourselves. ^44kNo one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^ldraws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ^m‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ ⁿTherefore everyone who ⁹has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ^46oNot that anyone has seen the Father, ^pexcept He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, ^qhe who believes ¹in Me has everlasting life. ^48rI am the bread of life. ^49sYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ^50tThis is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread ^uwhich came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and ^vthe bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

⁵²The Jews therefore ^wquarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless ^xyou eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ^54yWhoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For My flesh is ²food indeed, and My blood is ³drink indeed. ⁵⁶He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^zabides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ^58aThis is the bread which came down from heaven—not ^bas your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Rejection by Many Followers

^60cTherefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a ⁴hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples ⁵complained about this, He said to them, “Does this ⁶offend you? ^62dWhat then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ^63eIt is the Spirit who gives life; the ^fflesh profits nothing. The ^gwords that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴But ^hthere are some of you who do not believe.” For ⁱJesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵And He said, “Therefore ^jI have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

^66kFrom that time many of His disciples went ⁷back and walked with Him no more.

Confession by Peter

⁶⁷Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

⁶⁸But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^lthe words of eternal life. ^69mAlso we have come to believe and know that You are the ⁸Christ, the Son of the living God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, ⁿ“Did I not choose you, the twelve, ^oand one of you is a devil?” ⁷¹He spoke of ^pJudas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would ^qbetray Him, being one of the twelve.