John 6:66-71: a reflection

66At this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. 67Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 70Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 71Now he spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.

After Jesus gives a hard teaching, many of his disciples turn back and no longer follow him. Jesus turns to the twelve and asks, almost poignantly, Do you want to go away as well? And Peter answers with words that have anchored believers ever since: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. When others fell away, Peter stayed, not because faith was easy, but because there was nowhere else to go with such words.

Notice the reasoning in Peter's answer. He does not say, following you is easy, or, I have no doubts. He says, in effect, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life. Peter had weighed the alternatives and found that leaving Jesus would mean leaving the only source of the words of eternal life. Whatever the difficulty of the teaching, whatever others were doing, there was simply nowhere better to go. Christ alone had the words of life.

That is an anchor for the times faith is hard and others are falling away. There are seasons when the teaching is difficult, when doubts press, when many around us drift from the faith, and the pull to go away with them is real. In such times, Peter's question is worth asking: to whom would I go? Where else are the words of eternal life? When you are tempted to drift, weigh the alternatives as Peter did, and you may find, as he did, that there is nowhere else to go with such words. Stay with the Christ who alone has the words of eternal life.

Lord Jesus, when many turned back, Peter stayed, not because faith was easy, but because there was nowhere else to go with the words of eternal life. When faith is hard for me, when doubts press and others drift away, help me ask Peter's question: to whom would I go? Remind me that you alone have the words of eternal life. Anchor me in you when the pull to drift is strong, and hold me with the truth that there is no one better to go to than you.