𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• Recall a time you experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. What happened?

• Do you usually go with the flow or chart your own course? Recall an instance explaining this.

• Who is one person you would follow blindly—no questions asked? Why?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦, “𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭?” 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟲:𝟲𝟲-𝟲𝟵

(Read also 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟲:𝟱𝟯-𝟲𝟭.)

From the very beginning, God designed us for a relationship with Him. This starts by following Jesus, which is the most important decision we can make in our lives. It is also the most difficult decision. In John 6, we see how many people turned their back on Christ, while some stayed. Jesus had just fed the 5,000 and taught them 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 (John 6:60). In our own lives, we are called to follow Jesus, even when it is hard and when others do not. From this passage, what does following Jesus mean?

𝟭. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗺.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵?” 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟲:𝟲𝟬-𝟲𝟭

What did Jesus mean by eating His flesh and drinking His blood? How were His disciples supposed to do this? They had given up easily and concluded that this was a hard saying. Because of this, they left. The truth is, following Jesus does not always make sense given our limited human understanding. Even when we cannot figure out the circumstances behind the teaching of Jesus, we should continue seeking and following Him. What is one teaching of Jesus that is hard for you to accept?

𝟮. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄.

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦, “𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭?” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟲:𝟲𝟲-𝟲𝟳

Not everyone will follow Jesus. Not everyone will keep following Jesus. Not everyone will agree with your decision to follow Jesus. When this happens, will you still follow Him? When everyone else is turning away from Him, may we choose to do what is right, even when it means going against the flow. Why do you think Jesus asked His twelve disciples if they wanted to leave Him as well? Why was it important for Jesus to ask them this?

𝟯. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱.

𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝟲:𝟲𝟴-𝟲𝟵

Simon Peter and the eleven other disciples probably did not understand all that Jesus was teaching, and they could see others turning away from Christ. Yet Simon knew that they had nowhere else to go. They had believed in Jesus and followed Him for who He is. Even when we don’t understand a lot of things in life or our faith, we can trust Jesus who has “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” We believe and follow Him despite confusion, pain, and suffering. Do you feel and think as Simon Peter did? Why?

If the disciples who left only continued to remain with Jesus and seek understanding, they would have known that eating His flesh and drinking His blood meant believing in Him (John 6:27–29, 35, 40, 47). When we encounter difficult teachings and things we don’t understand, let us continue to trust in the person of Jesus and seek Him for guidance.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• Tell us about how and when you decided to follow Jesus. What has it meant for you since?

• In what area of your life is following Jesus difficult? How do you think you will be able to go against the flow?

• Do you believe that Jesus has “the words of eternal life” and is “the Holy One of God”? How will this belief affect your daily life?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for Jesus’ invitation to follow Him. Pray that you would follow Him even when you (or others) don’t understand.

• Declare your trust and faith in Christ as “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” Pray that you would know and love Him more as each day passes.

• Pray for your relatives and friends who don’t know Jesus yet to follow Him, too.