No Longer Following

05/17/2008 - It sounded like He was advocating cannibalism. What Jesus had just said was so unexpected, so repulsive in its seemingly literal meaning, that ...

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'
"Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.'
"From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." ~ John 6:61-66

Was it literal? Was it hyperbole, exaggeration, symbolism, prophecy, a foreshadowing? They could not have known about a Lord's Supper before He began it. Did He mean to pique their interest so that they would follow Him to learn His meaning? Did He mean to winnow out the ones who could only see reality in literal terms?

He seems to have been angry that some had demanded a sign like manna though He had just fed five thousand; that they grumbled as He sought to explain that He was the true Bread from heaven, the One that gives life without end. So He turned to the ones closest to Him:

" 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve.
"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.' " ~ John 6:67-70

So they kept following.

Even though He said one of them was a devil.

Do we abandon Him when His manner seems harsh or His words abstruse, hard to understand?