John 6:61-63 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
Somehow, Jesus knew His disciples were grumbling about His statement about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. At least, I think that is the troubling statement about which they were grumbling. He asked if it caused them to stumble or to be offended, or if they thought it was scandalous. That’s the Greek word used here, from which we get the word scandalous—skandalizo.
The second question follows logically. Let’s remember they have just seen an impossible to forget miracle in the multiplication of fish and bread to feed over 15,000 people and have leftovers. Remember, He had told them quite specifically that He was from heaven. He asked them, if they were to see Him go back into heaven, would it be enough for them to believe and trust Him? By the way, some of them were going to see Him ascend to heaven. The question had a purpose and stressed the point He wanted to make. If they were trying to understand Jesus’ words only from their fleshly perspective, even seeing Jesus ascend to heaven wouldn’t be enough for them to believe and not grumble. The point: the flesh wants signs in the physical world before trusting. The problem with the flesh is that if one sign can talk them into trusting, a sign that causes them to stumble can talk them out of trusting.
The truth that brings us encouragement is clearly stated in verse 63. Only the Holy Spirit can give life. If the Holy Spirit gives understanding and faith to trust in Jesus’ words, then there’s long-lasting benefit and fruit. Jesus words were spirit and life. I think He means that they are the signs from God, from heaven, that bring forth fruit in the spiritual realm. Flesh is bound to the physical realm, therefore the flesh profits nothing in the spiritual realm. Jesus’ words don’t come from this world, they come from heaven, and therefore are spirit and life.
We may be encouraged that as we speak the words of Scripture to others, we are loving with Jesus. We are speaking words that are spirit and life. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will make the words come alive in the hearts of those who have been given by God to Christ. We’ll know the ones given to Christ by their response to those life-giving words. The Spirit will overcome their fleshly limitations and give them faith to believe. He will open the ears of their hearts to hear and understand. Jesus would often say, “He who has ears to hear, let Him hear.” It was His way of calling forth the work of the Father and the Spirit. As we live to love with Jesus, we may expect the Father to draw, and the Holy Spirit to teach as we speak the words of Christ. Let’s remember, always, that the flesh profits nothing—cannot bear fruit for God’s glory. Only the Spirit of God can give life to the words we speak.
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