“I am going to tell you a very important truth, he who believes in me has eternal life. I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, but they all eventually died.
I am the living bread that comes down from heaven and once a man eats it, he will never die but live forever. The bread that I give is my flesh given for the life of the world.”
The Jews began to discuss what these mysterious words meant,
“How can a man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Again, I tell you a very important truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink my blood, you will not have life.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my body is true food and my blood is true drink. The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
I live because the living Father sent me. The same is true for the person who partakes of me, he will live because of me.
This is the true bread that comes down from heaven. Unlike the bread your fathers ate in the wilderness and died, the person who eats this bread will live forever.”
These are the things that Jesus taught in the synagogue while He was in Capernaum.
Many of the followers of Jesus, other than His disciples, were offended when they heard this teaching.
Jesus knew what they were grumbling about and said to them,
“Does this cause you to stumble? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascend to where he came from?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no profit. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
(Jesus knew from the very beginning who didn’t believe and who would reject Him.)
Jesus said to them,
“This is the reason that I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father reveals the truth to him and draws him to me.”
After this, many people went back to their homes and stopped following Him.
Jesus called His twelve disciples together and asked them,
“Do you want to go away, too?”
Simon Peter answered,
“Lord, to whom would we go? You are the one with the words of eternal life. We believe in you and know that you are the holy one of God.”
Jesus answered them,
“Did not I choose all twelve of you, and one of you is a devil? He was speaking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he was the one of the twelve who would betray Jesus.”
