John 14:6-7
Jesus is the Way, the Life, and is Truth
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 6:25-71
Jesus the Bread of Life
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God. ’Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Matthew 16:13-20
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
John 17:3
Eternal Life is Both Knowing God and Jesus
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Even though I have read many of Jesus verses over and over, I think (even after repeated readings of what He spoke) that He said some of the strangest things during His life on earth...Strange, yet True...But not only are they strange, they are so telling and powerful and so interesting -all these things at the same time...To stand up and say the definition of eternal life is to know God, who by the way is My Father in heaven, but to also know Me...If that is true, then it must be possible our very purpose in life is to get to know Jesus and His Father...Yet, how serious do we take His words...
What kind of Man stands up and says He is Truth?...What kind of Man would say, He is the Only Way to God?...Jesus said He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life...There is a Jesus Way, He makes that clear...And He also said He is the Bread of Life...And that whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and He will raise them up at the last day...For His flesh is real food and His blood is real drink...The food and drink for eternal life is a commitment to Him...Whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood remains in Him, and He in them...Just as the living Father sent Him and He lives because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Him will live because of Him...This (He) is the bread that came down from heaven...Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever...
I think that those following Him would have found some of the things He said strange, maybe very strange...And we are told that many of His followers and disciples quit following Him, when He said He was this Bread of Life...Many wondered how could He give them His flesh to eat...Was these things being said by Him both strange and hard for His listeners during His time and when they were face to face with Him?...What was He truly trying to tell them?...He often spoke this way, His Way so one in His time on earth and even today would have to make a decision on who we think He is...Just in the way He spoke, does make us ask, who is this Man...Or to put it in the form of a question, like He did to His Twelve Disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”...The way He went around doing things and His speaking alone makes Him quite unique, as well as uniquely brilliant and wise...
Can it be true that He is Absolute Truth, that life in the flesh is lacking, and that the real life -is life in the Spirit?...Life on earth goes by in a blink...But the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing...The words Jesus spoke —they are full of the Spirit and life...Yet there are some people today who do not believe what He said...They believe life on earth is all there is...For Jesus knows even today and from the beginning, which of us do or do not believe in Him...Jesus went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled them.”...God has given us a soul to believe in Him, and the soul makes us believe He or Something is out there -Something Infinite, Something Eternal...And through the soul, we either find faith or we do not...God gives us a choice to believe in Him or not to believe...It is a matter of faith...Jesus talked like He did draw us near Him, by the very words He spoke and the Way He spoke them...He teaches us to live more of our days on faith...Jesus teaches us this faith so that we can come to Him...
And today that nagging question remains, Who is He...And it seems some people left Him during His time, who were His followers, because of not only what He said, but of the commitment He wants from us (to Him)...And these things He said do not focus on the present moment at all...The things He talks about, focus on eternal life, and how He sees eternity and eternal life...Jesus teaches us the eternities...And as one follows Him, we quickly see that He believes that He and His Father are the only True Ones that can give us eternal life...It is important that we know Him...