Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” vs60

There's nothing wrong with a statement being difficult and hard to understand. What's wrong is rejecting Christ, because we are carnal. Refusing His rest and continuing in disobedience is suicide to the soul. It's playing with fire, and we'll be burned!

We must yield our thinking to the teaching of scripture, giving up our own thoughts, because His are higher [Isa 55:7]. He will save us and have mercy. He'll give us grace and peace. Heb 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” The glorious rest WILL BE PROVIDED, and we'll experience Christ in the soul. We'll be enlightened, and the scriptures will open, if we heed the counsel, and show ourselves approved. He'll show us why He commanded us, if we obey, and we'll receive assurance that He is good [Gen 22:15-18].

Let's cast aside human reasoning and our high IQ. Let's acknowledge that God is our teacher, rest and abide in Christ, and feast on Him. You'll know why later!

Secondly, the flesh will never understand God. vs61-63

But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.

We speak the hidden things of God in a mystery, and it is the Spirit that gives life [1 Cor 2:7-13]. Therefore, do not seek the flesh, please the flesh, or aim at the flesh. Get the gospel as SPIRITUAL LIFE to you, then communicate it. 1 Cor 2:13, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, examining spiritual things with spiritual people.”

No one can see, unless they are taught by God. We can’t reveal spiritual things to the flesh. We simply teach what God’s taught us with power! This is the sword of the Lord and Gideon [Judges 7:18]! We’ve got the gospel for ourselves - tasted, seen, and heard. Therefore, we speak as people who are convinced.

You’ve got to receive the gospel, and then you’ll speak it. 2 Cor 4:13, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak.” Taste and see, and you will tell what you know. Don’t rely on human reasoning. Preach the gospel in all its glory! Experience its power, and speak what you know.

Thirdly, there’s a price to pay for preaching the gospel. vs64-66

But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

The message is spiritual, and those who receive it must be born again, drawn by the Father, and chosen. They cannot comprehend any other way! Therefore, we must surrender our ministry unto the Father, please Him, and watch Him work. We can plead with God, because He uses prayer [Matt 15:22]. We can come saying, “Have mercy on me. They perish!”

This is a God-honoring ministry: It gives God glory by relying on Him, no matter what. It is NOT COUNTING NUMBERS and holding onto the crowd; it is being faithful. This is far different from man-pleasing; it is the joy and peace of obedience. Our rewarder is our God!

Finally, there are others, however, who are glued to Jesus. vs67-69

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

They can’t get away. They believe with their heart. They have faults, bruises, and many scars, but they persevere in faithfulness. They’ve seen His power and tasted it [Ps 34:8]. They’ve eaten and been filled. Jesus is all they need, and He satisfies their longing soul. They have forgiveness and power over sins. They live uprightly by the Spirit, and they experience the gospel. These blessed souls are called, faithful, and chosen [Rev 17:14]. They are in the Lamb’s Book, and they will not perish! They love a God-glorifying ministry. You can’t run them off by the gospel!