In John 6, we see Jesus performing a miraculous feeding of the five thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. This event led many people to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Savior they had been waiting for.
However, as the chapter progresses, we see that many of Jesus’ disciples start to leave Him. The question arises – why did this happen?
One reason for this can be found in the words of Jesus Himself. In John 6:53-58, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you..For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
This statement was difficult for many of His followers to accept. They were not able to understand what He meant by these words and found them disturbing.
Another reason for their departure could be attributed to their expectations from the Messiah. The Jews were expecting a political leader who would overthrow the Roman rule and establish a new kingdom on earth.
However, Jesus came as a spiritual leader who preached about love and salvation rather than political power. This contrast between their expectations and reality could have been too much for some of His followers to bear.
Furthermore, it’s important to note that following Jesus was not an easy path. In John 6:60-66, we see that many disciples said “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
and decided to leave Him. It’s possible that they were not ready to make sacrifices or face persecution for following Him.
In conclusion, there were several reasons why many disciples left Jesus in John 6 – they could not understand His teachings or reconcile them with their expectations from the Messiah; following Him was not an easy path; and they may have been afraid of persecution or making sacrifices for Him. However, despite all this, there were still some who remained faithful to Him, showing us that sometimes it takes courage and faith to follow the path of Jesus.