“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.”

John 6:66 is both striking and tragic.

The verse immediately follows Jesus’ “Bread of Life” discourse (John 6:22-71) in which the Lord told the crowd: “I am the bread of life.” (v35)

Jesus is the bread who came down from Heaven. Unlike their ancestors who ate manna and died, Christ teaches His followers that “whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in them.” (John 6:54-56)

In telling His followers that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, Jesus makes discipleship radically demanding – so much so that many found this teaching incomprehensible, if not outright offensive. More than a few walked away.

Not all of the Lord’s teaching is so difficult to digest (pardon the pun). Love your neighbor is pretty straightforward. Feed the hungry. Care for the vulnerable. Be humble. Tell the truth. Forgive. Got it?

Unfortunately, many don’t “get it.” Instead, they have decided that the hungry do not need to be fed; the sick do not need to be healed. They have become the enablers of the great hater – their demigod POTUS who is neither humble, merciful nor truthful. The Lord’s teaching has become too radically demanding for them. They empower the one who eschews love and compassion for hate and retribution.

I pose the same question Jesus asked of those who were skeptical of His teaching:

“Does this offend you?” (John 6:61)

The Bread of Life discourse is about conditional faith. It demands that we love Jesus on His terms, not our own. His teaching should challenge our politics, our prejudices, our compassion towards others, our relationship with money and our desire for power. The question we must each ask of ourselves is this: Must I change my understanding of Jesus so that He agrees with me…or do I change my understanding of the truth to follow Him?

Scripture puts the correct answer right in front of us. If we trust the Apostle Paul’s teaching that all Scripture is “God-breathed,” the truth is abundantly evident: Jesus is “the Way, the Truth and the Life.” He teaches that we must love even our enemies and trust Him to judge them – and us – righteously. He instructs us to be humble – that pride is at the root of all sin. He commands us to be merciful and truthful. There is no ambiguity. There are no degrees of acceptance. Faithful Christians follow His teaching without redefining it.

But if you enable, empower or encourage hate, know that your understanding of the Gospel is misguided. And if you have changed your understanding of Jesus so that you think He agrees with you, know this:

He doesn’t.