John 6:60 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"

NIV: On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

NASB: So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, 'This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?'

CSB: Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, "This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?"

NLT: Many of his disciples said, 'This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?'

KJV: Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

NKJV: Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

The term "disciples" is sometimes used generally, and other times in reference to a particular group of men. The Greek term is mathētōn, which simply means a student. Any person who had been following Jesus and learning from Him would at this point be considered a disciple. This is different from "the Twelve" disciples: the core group of men Jesus would be with at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17–20). The crowd of people who came to see Jesus' miracles (John 6:2) is already deeply offended at His recent teachings (John 6:52). Most of them seem to assume a shallow, crass meaning behind Jesus' description of Himself as the "Bread of Life." Others, including those who have been listening to Jesus' other teachings, recognize that He is speaking in a symbolic way. And yet, as this verse shows, this is still a difficult message to accept.

Part of the difficulty in Jesus' recent teaching is in the symbolism of flesh and blood and of bread from heaven. The other difficulty is in the idea of Messiah being anything other than a conquering, military-political king. Speaking of His role as the "Bread of Life" in terms of being consumed suggests sacrifice, not conquest. Even the most fervent Jewish follower of Jesus would have been bothered by the idea that the Promised One was not meant to be another Joshua or David.

The phrase "hard saying" here comes across in English with much less force than it does in Greek. The teachings of Jesus are being described here as sklēros, which means "offensive or intolerable." To these people, Jesus' words are not merely "difficult," they are "unacceptable."

John 6:60–71 shows the drastic impact of Jesus' teaching on the crowd: most walk away. When confronted with spiritual needs and a spiritual message, most people will turn it down. What society wants is spectacle, material things, and a political savior. The more Jesus insists on being the means to eternal life, the angrier the crowd becomes, until the vast majority simply abandon Him. The twelve disciples, on the other hand, seem willing to follow Jesus, though they are also struggling to accept His recent claims. Peter's declaration will be the third of John's seven witnesses to Jesus' divinity.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.