Study 17: To Whom Shall We Go

Introduction: A Crisis of Discipleship

John 6 began with a crowd eager to receive bread from Jesus and concludes with many disciples withdrawing from Him. The contrast is intentional. The feeding of the multitude demonstrated His power to provide; His discourse explained that the provision ultimately pointed beyond food to His own person and sacrificial mission. The question facing His hearers was whether they would accept Jesus on the terms He disclosed or continue to measure Him against their own expectations. This final scene is therefore not an unrelated episode but the narrative consequence of everything Jesus has said about the bread from heaven.

1. The Historical and Literary Setting (6:60)

Jesus has spoken in the synagogue at Capernaum (6:59), where His language about eating His flesh and drinking His blood provoked dispute. John now reports the reaction of many of His disciples. The term “disciples” here is broader than the Twelve; it describes people who had attached themselves to Jesus as learners or followers. Their complaint that His teaching was difficult should not be reduced to a problem of vocabulary. The Greek adjective sklēros conveys something hard, harsh, or difficult to accept. The question “Who can listen to it?” suggests resistance to the demands of His claims as much as difficulty understanding their imagery. The distinction matters: intellectual confusion may invite further explanation, but offense at the content of Jesus’ revelation calls for a deeper response.

2. Jesus Knows Their Grumbling (6:61)

John says that Jesus knew within Himself that His disciples were grumbling. The verb recalls the murmuring already attributed to the Jewish audience in 6:41 and evokes Israel’s wilderness complaints, a particularly appropriate association in a chapter saturated with manna imagery. The Gospel does not portray Jesus as surprised by the reaction or forced to revise His message. Instead, He confronts the offense directly: “Does this cause you to stumble?” The Greek verb skandalizō can indicate being offended or caused to fall away. His question brings into the open the possibility that hearing His teaching will result not in deeper allegiance but in abandonment.

3. The Son of Man Ascending (6:62)

Jesus asks what His listeners would think if they were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before. The statement directs attention to His heavenly origin, which had been a point of dispute earlier in the discourse. It also anticipates His return to the Father, a theme developed more explicitly later in John. Some interpreters regard the ascension as an even greater challenge to those offended by His claims; others see it as the event that would clarify His origin and identity. Both readings recognize that Jesus places His teaching within a larger movement from the Father into the world and back to the Father. The verse does not invite speculation about the mechanics of the ascension. Its primary concern is the identity of the One speaking.

4. The Spirit Gives Life (6:63)

Jesus declares that it is the Spirit who gives life and that the flesh profits nothing. The contrast must be read in context. John has already affirmed that the Word became flesh (1:14), and Jesus has just spoken of giving His flesh for the life of the world (6:51). Consequently, “flesh profits nothing” cannot mean that His incarnation or sacrificial death is worthless. Here flesh describes human capacity considered apart from the life-giving work of God. Human effort and merely natural perception cannot produce the life Jesus promises. The Spirit grants life, and Jesus’ words are characterized as spirit and life. This does not dissolve the historical reality of His flesh into a purely symbolic religious idea; rather, it explains why His revelation must be received through divine enablement rather than merely human calculation.

5. Words That Are Spirit and Life (6:63)

The description of Jesus’ words as “spirit and life” should be understood in relation to His repeated insistence that He speaks what He has received from the Father. His words are not detached moral advice or esoteric sayings reserved for an intellectual elite. They communicate the revelation through which life is made known. John’s Gospel consistently joins the identity of Jesus to the authority of His speech: the official trusted His word before seeing the healing (4:50), and those who hear and believe pass from death into life (5:24). The present passage advances that pattern by emphasizing the Spirit’s indispensable role in the reception of the Son’s life-giving revelation.

6. Unbelief Among the Followers (6:64)

Jesus observes that some of those listening do not believe. John then supplies an explanatory comment: Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would betray Him. The expression “from the beginning” should be interpreted within the narrator’s immediate concern with Jesus’ knowledge of His followers; the precise temporal scope is not defined here. John distinguishes visible association from authentic belief. People may follow a teacher, witness remarkable events, and participate in a religious movement without embracing the teacher’s true identity. The inclusion of the future betrayer prepares readers for the final reference to Judas and establishes that the coming betrayal will not take Jesus unawares.

7. The Father’s Enabling Grace (6:65)

Jesus returns to His earlier statement that no one can come to Him unless it has been granted by the Father. The wording closely corresponds to the Father’s drawing in 6:44 and the Father’s giving in 6:37. In this setting, the statement explains why the same revelation produces different responses: access to the life offered by the Son is not a human achievement independent of God. Christian theological traditions have developed different accounts of how divine initiative relates to human response. The passage itself clearly asserts the necessity of the Father’s gracious action, while the wider discourse repeatedly calls hearers to come to Jesus and believe. Our exposition should preserve both emphases without assuming that John is answering every question later theological systems would raise.

8. Many Disciples Turn Back (6:66)

John reports that many disciples withdrew and no longer walked with Jesus. This is the visible turning point of the narrative. The Greek description indicates that they went back and ceased accompanying Him. The statement should not be flattened into a generalized claim that every person who struggles with a difficult biblical teaching has rejected Christ. John is describing a particular historical response to Jesus’ claims, not providing an exhaustive diagnosis of all spiritual doubt. Yet the episode does reveal that proximity to Jesus and enthusiasm for His benefits are not equivalent to enduring faith. The multitude had been willing to follow the provider of bread; many were unwilling to remain with the One who declared Himself the bread of life.

9. Jesus Questions the Twelve (6:67)

Jesus now addresses the Twelve: “You do not want to go away also, do you?” The Greek question anticipates a negative answer, though it still invites a genuine confession. This is the first explicit reference to the Twelve in the Fourth Gospel, and John does not pause to recount the formal selection of each member. His concern is not the institutional formation of the apostolic group but its response to the crisis. The question personalizes the issue. It is no longer sufficient to observe the reactions of the crowd or the wider circle of disciples. Those nearest to Jesus must also confront the implications of His teaching.

10. Peter’s Confession: To Whom Shall We Go? (6:68–69)

Simon Peter answers by asking where else they could go, because Jesus has the words of eternal life. The confession does not claim that Peter comprehends every difficult statement Jesus has made. Rather, it identifies the decisive ground of continued discipleship: the person and authority of Jesus Himself. Peter adds that they have believed and have come to know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. The two verbs indicate a settled recognition expressed through belief and knowledge, though the narrative will later reveal how much the disciples still need to learn. The title “Holy One of God” is significant because it identifies Jesus in relation to God’s own holiness and commission. It should not be casually replaced with another Christological title merely because other Gospels preserve different confessional scenes. John’s wording contributes to his distinctive presentation of Jesus.

11. The Text of John 6:69

The Greek textual tradition of verse 69 contains variations, including readings corresponding to “the Holy One of God” and expanded formulations such as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The shorter reading, “the Holy One of God,” has strong early manuscript support and is adopted in modern critical editions. The NASB 1977 follows this reading. The variant is worth noting because readers familiar with Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:16 may assume the two passages have identical wording. They do not. The responsible interpreter allows John’s testimony to stand in its own literary form while recognizing the broader canonical agreement that Jesus’ identity is central to the disciples’ faith.

12. Chosen, Yet One Is a Devil (6:70–71)

Jesus responds that He Himself chose the Twelve, yet one of them is a devil. John identifies the individual as Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, who would betray Him. The expression is severe and must be read as Jesus’ characterization of the betrayer within the narrative, not as an invitation to speculate about Judas’ metaphysical nature. The contrast between Jesus’ choosing of the Twelve and the presence of a betrayer is deliberately unsettling. Selection for proximity and service does not, by itself, establish inward fidelity. Nor does Judas’ future betrayal imply that Jesus misjudged him. John has already emphasized His prior knowledge. The passage ends with this sober qualification because the crisis of faith has not been resolved simply by Peter’s confession; unbelief remains even within the innermost circle.

13. Theological Synthesis: Faith Grounded in Christ

Three related themes emerge from the passage. First, the revelation of Jesus may offend those who approach Him with expectations He has not promised to satisfy. Second, life is received through the Spirit’s work and the Father’s initiative rather than through unaided human capacity. Third, enduring faith is distinguished by its object. Peter does not say that following Jesus has become easy or that every question has been answered. He confesses that there is no alternative source of the life Jesus gives. John therefore directs the reader away from fascination with signs, religious status, or the apparent strength of a movement and toward the unique identity of Christ.

Conclusion: The Question That Remains

The Bread of Life discourse began with physical hunger and miraculous provision, but it concludes by asking what a person will do when Jesus’ words challenge cherished assumptions. Many disciples depart, while Peter speaks for the Twelve in acknowledging that Jesus alone possesses the words of eternal life. Even that confession stands beside the warning that one of the Twelve will betray Him. John refuses to equate outward nearness with inward faith. His final concern is the same one announced in the purpose statement of the Gospel: that readers believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have life in His name. The proper response to this passage is not confidence in one’s ability to explain every mystery, but confidence in the One whose words reveal and communicate eternal life.

Interpretive Notes and Teaching Considerations

The expression “hard saying” in verse 60 concerns a teaching difficult to accept, not necessarily one that is linguistically obscure. Verse 63 must not be used to deny the value of the incarnation or Jesus’ sacrificial death. The ascension reference in verse 62 anticipates the Gospel’s broader presentation of Jesus’ return to the Father. The Father’s granting in verse 65 should be considered alongside both the divine initiative and the summons to believe throughout John 6. Peter’s confession in verse 69 should be quoted according to the selected translation rather than silently harmonized with Matthew 16. Finally, the designation of Judas in verses 70–71 functions as a narrative warning about betrayal and Jesus’ foreknowledge, not as permission to diagnose other people’s spiritual condition from outward appearances.

Scriptural Connections for Further Study

Genesis 16:13 and Psalm 139:1–4 illuminate the biblical theme of divine knowledge; Exodus 16 and Numbers 11 provide background for the wilderness murmuring and manna; Isaiah 54:13 supplies the prophetic setting cited earlier in John 6; John 1:14 safeguards the full significance of the incarnation; John 4:50 and 5:24 illustrate the authority of Jesus’ word; John 6:37–45 frames the Father’s drawing and giving; John 13:18–30 and 17:12 develop the betrayal motif; John 20:30–31 states the Evangelist’s governing purpose.

Scripture references and brief quotations follow the New American Standard Bible, 1977 edition. Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org