"Will Ye Also Go Away?": What Peter Teaches Us About Faith
There's a story in John 6 that I can't stop thinking about.
It's often referred to as the Bread of Life discourse. A famous story, and a great one! But recently, I've been pondering how that story ends and what Jesus and Peter teach us about faith.
It starts with the multitudes seeking Jesus, searching all around the Sea of Galilee before they finally found Him.
Jesus said:
John 6:26 - "Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."
The multitude had been part of the 5,000 people who were fed miraculously in the beginning of John 6.
They wanted more and said to Him:
"What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
"32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
"34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
"35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
This seems to confuse them more. The conversation goes back and forth before Jesus reiterates those famous words:
48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."
Stop for a moment and picture yourself sitting in that crowd.
Jesus has just taught that unless you eat His flesh and drink His blood, you can't have eternal life.
That sounds a lot like...
...cannibalism.
Right?
Can you picture hearing this for the first time? "My flesh is meat...my blood is drink indeed."
In verse 60, the disciples said,
"This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
Note: it was disciples who said that, not just random crowd members. Jesus' followers were struggling with His teaching.
For us today, we can easily understand that He's referring, at least in part, to the emblems of the sacrament that He would introduce at the Last Supper, emblems which would represent His body and blood that He would shed for us. When we partake of those emblems, we remember Him and His sacrifice. We can have eternal life.
Flesh and blood. Symbolic.
Completely makes sense. At least now.
But back then?
You're standing in that crowd.
Jesus hasn't introduced the sacrament yet. He's just asked you to eat His flesh and drink His blood. At best, it's disturbing. At worst, it's criminal.
So here's the thought I can't leave alone.
WHY?
Why did Jesus teach the people that way? He could have explained exactly what He meant.
But He didn't.
Here's how John 6 continues:
"61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not....
66 ¶ From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Some of His followers got up, walked away, and never returned.
Why didn't He stop those disciples before they walked away and say, "Wait, wait, wait, this is what I meant." Maybe then they would have stayed.
Instead, He turned to the apostles:
"67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?"
Can you hear the pain in that five-word question?
He could have easily praised them and said, "Thank you for staying. Here's what I mean about my flesh and blood."
He didn't do that.
He let them sit with their questions and instead asked: "Will ye also go away?"
WHAT IS FAITH?
I believe Jesus lets us sit with our questions—sometimes for a while.
Why?
Perhaps faith requires us to trust Him when we don't fully understand.
Will we walk away before we completely understand something--or worse, when we completely misunderstand something?
Will we leave before we find answers?
Some people are going through a "faith crisis" today. Some have questions or concerns that have not been answered.
Sadly, too many today are walking away from their faith, maybe disturbed about the latest thing they've heard or read online, thinking:
"This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
Why haven't we been given answers to some of the hard faith questions?
Why doesn't archeology always match the scriptures?
Why do some church history events seem disturbing?
If answers have been given, why are they sometimes hard to find?
Why does following Jesus take so much faith?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
If I choose to believe without the answers to questions, does that make me a blind follower?
Yet maybe Jesus is asking us a different question in return:
"Will ye also go away?"
In other words, will you give up before I can teach you?
Obviously, He doesn't want us to give up.
But sometimes, maybe even often, He makes us wait.
PETER'S EXAMPLE:
Which is why I love Peter so much.
When Jesus asked the apostles if they were also going to walk away, Peter said:
68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."
Peter didn't say, "Don't worry, Lord. I understand exactly what you meant." Because I don't think he did.
At all.
Instead, Peter held tight to what he did know.
"Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."
Did Jesus explain to him at that point?
"Hey, Peter, this is what I meant when I said to eat my flesh and drink my blood."
No.
The Last Supper didn't happen until later. Peter's understanding probably came later. The Lord let Him sit in his lack of knowledge. And instead of walking away, Peter held on to what he did know and let that pull him through.
THAT IS FAITH.
Alma 32:21 says:
"Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."
There are those today who will tell you that you can't believe something until you have all the answers. In fact, I've had people tell ME that.
BUT THAT'S JUST NOT HOW JESUS WORKS.
And that's why Peter is my hero. I love Peter's pure faith.
This is the same Peter who (right before this Bread of Life discourse) jumped out of a boat and walked to Christ on the water.
This is the same Peter who (soon after this Bread of Life discourse) was promised the keys of the kingdom.
No wonder why.
When you don't have all the answers, be like Peter.
Hold on to your faith.
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