There was a time when many of Jesus’ disciples left and followed Him no more. Here’s why. First, they had taken offense at the truth He spoke in addressing their selfish desires.
We know from Proverbs 18:19 that, once someone is offended, it’s very difficult to turn their heart back toward their offender. Every time the Lord brings correction to us, we have a critical decision to make. We’ll either resist or cooperate.
The people in the latter half of John 6, who’d been among the five thousand Jesus fed miraculously the day before, followed Jesus vigorously, circumventing the Sea of Galilee in pursuit of Him. Passionately seeking after Jesus seems like a good thing, right?
But their purpose in pursuing Him was that He would provide another meal for them. And that’s the truth that offended them so badly.
Once offended, the people’s hearts were thrown into confusion. And once confused, they were unwilling to receive the words of life He spoke to them.
Confuse means to attach together (con = together; fuse = attach). When two things are fused together, one can no longer tell them apart. The John 6 people couldn’t tell the difference between the message of Jesus and the pagan practice of drinking blood and consuming human flesh. Jesus’ John 6 stated requirement to drink His blood and eat His flesh was confusing to me until I understood what He meant by it.
As Jesus sensed disciples turning away, He asked His twelve if they also wanted to leave Him. Simon Peter, as spokesman for the group, had the right response. He said, in essence, “We may not understand what You said either, but we do understand who You are; You’re the Christ, the Son of God, and we know You have the words of eternal life.”
Perhaps they didn’t fully understand until their last meal with Jesus, during Passover, when He explained – and the next day demonstrated – that the cup and the bread represented the submission of one’s very life to the will of God.
Whenever it was that the twelve really got what Jesus meant by His blood and His flesh, they could tell the difference between His words and the practice of pagans. At that point, they could discern.
Discern means to tell the difference between one thing and another. Discernment is an antonym of confusion.
Simon Peter’s answer to Jesus exemplifies for us the discernment we need in our faith walk with Jesus. We may not understand every single thing along the journey, but we understand the most important thing, that Jesus is God the Son, the Christ worthy of our trust. Whatever we’re yet to understand must not trump our knowledge of who Jesus is. Ultimately, what we really need to remember is that Jesus is who the Bible says He is.
Once we grasp that truth, we cannot relinquish it, regardless of how confusing situational details may appear. Holding on to the correct identity and rightful position of Christ will clarify whatever confusion arises like a strong wind blowing away a dense fog.
We Jesus followers are at a decided advantage in the midst of this culture of confusion. We have a clarity of perspective by virtue of our relationship with Jesus. He clears up all confusion for us.
So let us let us discern through the lens of God’s Word. For we need not be confused.