All in All

I love good hymns. There really aren't that many that I look at and say, that is an awesome truth, but this song is one of them. Just figured I'd share it with you.

All in All

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising up again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Sex

Yes the title of this post is sex. This has been a huge topic of conversation in my life as of late. We are talking about it in our Christian home class, we are talking about it in our health ed class, and I just read Song of Solomon. To be honest I have been disappointed with most of the discussion on the topic. I think we have fallen so short of a Biblical perspective on sex. I had a long conversation about all of it tonight with some friends. All of it has made me think back to a teaching that I heard on God and sex by Matt Chandler. I heard this a few months ago on The Village podcast. He gave such a great Biblical picture of not only sex but relationships in general. I'm going to post the link to this lesson.

The Village Church: Studies & Seminars

The message is titled "God and Sex" and was taught on 10.16.09 (It's like halfway down the page). You can download it by right-clicking on the icon on the right, or just listen to it by clicking the icon.

Before any of you listen to this I need some disclaimers. This is an extremely blunt message. Not just kind of... extremely! He does a question and answer session and goes in to all kinds of different things about sex and relationships in general. It is definitely for mature audiences only. (I doubt that I have many ten-year-old readers or anything, I'm just saying) Another thing is that it is almost two hours long. There is an hour of him teaching and then an hour of question and answer. While it is long, it is definitely worth your time. The last disclaimer has to do with the beginning of the message. He starts off with some hypotheses about the first few chapters of Genesis (chapter 3 if I remember right). He says some things about God charging man with cultivating the earth. I didn't get a bunch of it. I'm still processing some of it and trying to figure out if I believe it. The point is that I don't think these have much effect on the message that follows. So just don't get freaked out and turn the thing off.

I think this is a very good, Godly, Biblical picture of marriage and sex. I hope it is helpful for any of you who choose to listen to it. Anyone who wants can message me about it. I think I'll listen to it again on the plane to Easter Island on Saturday.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

The Prosperity Gospel

I know that I have put this up before, but it is worth watching again... and again and again and again. Here's John Piper on the prosperity gospel.

Song of Solomon

Well that was an interesting book. Seriously though, it was very good. There was a lot of good stuff in there about God's intended desire between a husband and wife. That is what jumped out more than anything to me. The desire that the two characters had for each other. There was some graphic imagery in there that I expected from what I'd heard, but really not that much. The book was filled with the two expressing their longing and desire for one another and then their descriptions of each other's body (which I'm sure would make a lot more sense if I lived in a time and place where gazelles and ewes were more prevalent).

It was a good read though. It's a good reminder that sex is not the crap that I have to turn away from on TV all the time. It's not the beer billboards and advertisements everywhere I look. Those are perversions of what sex really is, and it is a gift from God. It is a part of the relationship between a husband and wife. It is not bad. It is good and is a good part of that relationship. Since I am neither married nor an expert on the subject, I am going to stop there. I do appreciate hearing a clear, Biblical view of a man and woman's desire for each other.

Isaiah is next so it will probably be awhile before I post any notes again. Pray for me if you think of it because I already know two things about Isaiah: it is packed with awesome truths about Christ and what He accomplished, and it is ridiculously hard to follow and understand. I'll be praying a lot to ask that God reveals His Word to me the way he intended it in the next several days. Thanks for the encouragement that I get from all of you.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

P.S. Check out my comment for the Ecclesiastes post. I had some friends help me out a bit.

Ecclesiastes

This probably doesn't surprise many of you, but I didn't really understand Ecclesiastes. A lot of the things that the Preacher (Qoheleth) said were really good. He talks about the vanity of life and how we are all a vapor. He also talk about the vanity of wisdom and how it basically makes you realize just how bad things are (1:18). He talks about the vanity of self-indulgence (2:1-11), which is a lot of very true stuff.

But then he says things that I just don't get. The thing that he says the most in the book is that you should eat and drink and find enjoyment in your toil (2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7). That just sounds really weird to me. I may be misinterpreting this. Maybe he means that God has given us things to enjoy and we need to stop worrying if they matter and just enjoy them. That could be it, but I doubt it. It seems like the author is just the most depressed, cynical person in the world. He hits the nail on the head a couple of times with the fear of the Lord (7:18; 8:12; 12:13).

Like I said, I don't really know what to think of what the Preacher is saying. I accept what he says about realizing how vain everything in life is, but don't think I accept his reaction to that (eat and drink and take joy in your toil).

There are some verses in here that I think are very important though. I have seen similar verses in other books so far but none so obvious to the reader. Ecclesiastes 8:11 and 9:3. 8:11b says, "the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil." And 9:3b says, "Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead." I think these are two very clear pictures of total depravity. Man is sinful; man is evil. It's not that everyone is born good and then may mess up or may not. It's not that people are generally good, but there are just some bad ones interspersed. Men are evil. I've seen this many times in the poetic writings so far. All men have sinned. Not one is righteous. I am a firm believer that every single one of us is in desperate need of a savior. Until we realize just how awful, evil, and worthless we are, I don't think we realize just how great God's gift is. That's just something I saw in here and thought I should mention.

Song of Solomon is next so that's going to be interesting. Ecclesiastes is one of those books that I will probably get a commentary for and read alongside that once I finish the Bible through (along with Esther and Psalms so far). If anyone has any advice on Ecclesiastes feel free to send me a message or something. I know that Joe really likes this book so I'd love to hear some advice on it. Thanks guys. Be encouraged and challenged.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Proverbs

Okay now for the good stuff. While I was gone I got to finish Proverbs. We had a lot of really early mornings so it was hard to find time to read, but I did get a lot of time in those last few days in Cusco.

I took a class last semester at Harding called Israelite Poetry. The class mostly centered around Proverbs and I can tell you that I learned more in those seven or eight days reading Proverbs than I did in that entire class. That just speaks to the power of the Holy Spirit revealing scripture when and how He pleases.

The biggest thing that I learned is what Proverbs is not. I always thought that it was a list of sayings that taught you how to gain wisdom and how not to be foolish, but it doesn't read that way at all. The only times in the book that the writer speaks about something that brings wisdom are when he talks about the fear of the Lord and knowledge of the Holy One (1:7; 9:10; 16:6). All the other parts of the book are merely saying what wise men and foolish men look like. That opens up so much more. Now it isn't a how-to book. It's a picture of what your life should look like inside the context of fearing the Lord. It showed me that everything matters. Not just reading my Bible and talking about God, but things as small as being diligent in my work and raising my kids right are important. It makes sense too. God should be glorified in everything I do, even the smallest things (1 Corinthians 10:31). This is the picture of a Christian. One who looks more and more like Christ so that His Name is praised. That's what I saw in Proverbs.

With that said, Proverbs says a whole lot about the character of God. The thing that absolutely jumped out at me was His control. This might be the most telling book when it comes to God's control. 2:6; 3:9-10; 9:11; 10:3, 27; 16:3-4, 9, 11, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1, 30-31; 30:5. All of those are amazing truths about God's sovereignty and control, the ones I want to focus on are 16:3-4, 33; 19:21 and 21:1. These things just blow my mind that they are so blatant here in this book.

First 16:3-4, "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." This ends all debate about Romans 9. In Romans 9 Paul asks all these rhetorical questions about whether God creates some men for destruction. All the arguments I have heard are that Paul never definitely says "yes" to any of these things. Well guess what? The writer of Proverbs definitely says it. "The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble." If you believe that the Bible is true it is very hard for you to get around this passage. God creates men for the purpose of destroying them with His wrath. Plain as day.

Now 16:33, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." God controls physics to do what He wants. Is this really that hard to believe? The Creator of our universe and all of its rules, bends them when He pleases so that His purposes are upheld. He decides what comes up when dice are rolled. That is amazing! Again, there is no way of getting around this. It makes me think of Acts 2, when they cast lots to see who the new twelfth disciple should be. I always thought that was weird, but when you have the knowledge that God decides how the dice fall, it is pretty easy to put that decision in His hands.

19:21, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." Wow. Again. A man will decide that he is going to do something, but if God doesn't want it to happen, it's not going to happen. I'm not sure how much more clear you can get. God is in control over what happens. I'm not trying to argue just for argument's sake. I think this matters. It matters to me what my God is like.

21:1, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever He will." Now this takes all of this a step farther. Before this everything was outside of us, but this has to do with our desires and thoughts. The heart of a king is controlled by the Lord. This is obvious. I'm sure most of you know that in the Hebrew culture (and many other ancient cultures from what I've heard) the heart was the center of everything. There's a reason you don't hear much about the brain in the Old Testament. They believed that everything flowed out from the heart. Not only was it the physical center of your body, but the emotional and intellectual center as well. So if God is holding that in His hand, he is pretty much in control is He not? Again, I am just reading this off the page and trying to put it in simple terms. God directs the hearts of people like a stream. Our desires go where He wants them to go.

All of this is very good. It is good because it is God and we know that He is good. I don't understand all of it, and I probably never will. But I care. I care because I love God and the more I learn about Him, the more I love Him. I am very confused by people who say that doctrine is not important to them because they love God and that's all they care about. A lot of people tell me they are relational people so they have trouble reading the Bible. They'd rather just pray. Let's put this is human terms for a minute.

God: "Let me tell you about this great thing that I did for my people."

Me: "No I'm really not interested. Here I'll just tell you everything I want to be better about my life."

God: "Do you want to know some of the things that make me happy and give me joy?"

Me: "No not really. That would probably take up too much of my time. Here I'll just tell you all my problems for today."

God: "I've got some directions for the way that I want you to live. Will you listen to them?"

Me: "No. Some people might get mad at me for misreading what you say so I just don't want to hear it."

That's what it sounds like to me when people say they don't care about those things that divide. I do care. I care because I love God. I love everything about Him and it makes me happy to learn more about Him. So while you might not agree with the things that I believe about God's character, don't tell me that you don't think that it matters. God's personality, His likes and dislikes, the history of what He has done, they all matter.

There are a lot of other great things in Proverbs. As I said before the fear of the Lord is all over. Joy is everywhere and things that make God and other people happy. There is even some emphasis on scripture and some talk of God's wrath. The most obvious thing though was God's control. That's why I expounded on it so much. Read Proverbs. It's not too long and it's not really hard to follow. There are a few verses that I just didn't understand what they were trying to say. Hopefully some of my work on Greek and Hebrew (obviously Hebrew for Proverbs) will help clarify some of those things. But for now, read and pray that God reveals His Word to you. It all comes from Him. Proverbs 2:6, "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." I hope this was encouraging and challenging. I love you guys. Message me if you want to talk. I can't wait to start Ecclesiastes tomorrow.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Peru

Well this is the part of the blog that I think I like the least, but a lot of people told me they'd like to hear about the stuff that I am doing so I'll go for it.

If you aren't aware, I just spent the last 10 days in Peru. To begin the trip, we flew in to Lima, the capital city. From there we took a smaller plane in to Iquitos (the largest city in the world that is not accessible by road- pop. 400,000). Iquitos was a very weird city, but I liked it. It's right on one of the tributaries into the Amazon and it's just kind of crazy. There are barely any cars. Everyone drives motorcycles around. Even the taxis are just motorcycles with a wagon on them. We were only there for a night though. The next day we got up early and hopped on a boat. We went about 30 minutes downstream to a place called Monkey Island. It is pretty much what it sounds like. A big island with monkeys all over it. We played around with these monkeys for about 20 minutes and then got back on the boat for a three hour trip upstream. After a very long three hours, we arrived at the lodge. It was basically just the frames for a bunch of rooms, up on stilts, covered in mosquito netting. No electricity; no air conditioning. It was kind of crazy but really cool. I can remember two hours during those three days when I was not dripping sweat. That's when it was raining. It was so hot and humid.

When we were there we did all kinds of things. We hiked around some, spent a lot of time on boats, saw a lot of really cool things. The coolest animals we saw were pink dolphins, tarantulas, cayman, piranas, sloths, all kinds of monkeys, and all kinds of birds. So it was pretty fun and pretty cool. The weirdest thing there was our schedule. We were all in bed by ten every night because it was so dark out and we were all up by about five thirty. I liked it a lot. I kind of wish it was always like that, but Thomas Edison kind of ruined that whole thing.

So on Wednesday morning, the 14th, we left the Amazon. We flew from Iquitos to Cusco. In Cusco we jumped straight on a bus that took us to Ollantitambo, a small town with a lot of Incan architecture still standing. We spent the night there and boarded a train the next day for Aguas Calientes (yes that means hot water). We checked into our hotel in Aguas Calientes and got on a bus that took us up to Machu Picchu. After a short guided tour, we were free to roam around Machu Picchu. We had a blast taking pictures and looking at everything up there. The architecture is so cool. I can't believe how advanced the things that they did were. They have these terraces, which I'm sure you have seen in the pictures, that go quite a ways down the mountain. They were supporting walls that solidified the base of the city. Amazing stuff.

The next day was another day at Machu Picchu. We were on our own this day and we took advantage. Ten of us guys decided that we were going to man up and do everything we could that day. We climbed Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, and hiked to the Sun Gate and the Inca Bridge. Eight hours worth of hiking and let me tell you it was hard. So much fun though. I've never climbed a mountain and it is wearing. Fun though. It rained the whole time so we didn't get to see all the famous views, but it was fun nonetheless.

The next three days were spent in Cusco. It was a pretty relaxing time. Pretty much the only thing we did while we were there was shop at the market. We did a lot of bargaining and trying to get things real cheap. It was fun and I got some cool things.

That's basically the trip. Sorry that I didn't give a whole lot of details. It's hard to piece it all together now that I'm back. It was a good trip though and I enjoyed being there with the people that I was with. Look on my facebook page for the pictures. There are plenty of them.

The Psalms

This is going to be a very rough look at the Psalms. Part of the reason for that is I stretched my reading out over about five weeks, and the other part is that I was very confused by a lot of what I read. But by God's grace I will give you a look at what I read.

I loved the Psalms. There were so many great and awesome things that I read about God's control, election, the fear of the Lord, but especially His glory and our joy. So much about His glory and our joy and the intermingling of the two. But honestly, I expected that. I have heard a lot of the Psalms before. I knew that Psalm 63 was one of my favorite pictures of true desire for God in the Bible. I knew that Psalm 73:25-26 said exactly what I've been striving for and even starting to feel lately. I knew that Psalm 119 was really long and about God's law. I had anticipated some of these things to a point (I was however blown away by a lot of things that I read that I wasn't exactly expecting. I'll talk about those in a minute though.) But there were really a lot of confusing chapters in this book that I just wasn't expecting. And for the most part, I just kind of read them and kept going because I didn't get them. The problem is I didn't write them down. So I know the chapters about God not being there, and begging for God's vengeance, and other things kind of similar to that confused me. But I don't really know which ones they are. Remember, I said this was going to be a rough look.

But my joy in my reading far outweighed my confusion. I do believe there is importance in those chapters that I didn't understand. They are just as much the Word of the Lord as the gospels are. But for now I am going to continue. Chapters like Psalm 145 just make my mouth water. It is so awesome to see the praise of God being lifted up so much. Psalm 107 is this back and forth of these little stories with praise to God at the end of each one. Very good to see. There were many verses that I just smiled and nodded when I read. Most of them were verses about hating evil. (101:3-4; 119:53, 127-8, 139:21-2) There are a lot of other verses that I loved in the Psalms that just stuck out to me so much. Psalms about rejoicing (119:74) and Psalms about God's control (115:3), Psalms about understanding (119:98-104) and the Lord's joy (116:15).

What I saw the most in this book though was the intermingling of God's glory and our joy. This is what I have learned from God via John Piper in the last few months. The apex of our joy is extolling God's glory. It is our nature. Our joy is completed in the praising of the things that we love. So praising God and his greatness is not just to make Him feel better about Himself (a ludicrous thought). It is God telling us over and over again to praise His glory because He knows what brings happiness. I have never been happier in my life than when I stood in Phillips arena next to Mark Baur, Tyler Samuel, Kaitlyn Schaefer, Heidi Tabor, Caroline Damron, and 20,000 other college students singing praise to my Savior. I promise you. No time in my life has even come close to that joy. The things that I read in the Psalms are true. When the Psalmist couples singing praises to God with joy and pleasure, he is not trying to fool us. This is not some ploy by God to get people to talk good about Him and satisfy His ego. It is the greatest joy this is. I am not just saying this from reading these words. I am saying this from experiencing that joy. I can't explain it. It's weird. It's like you are in the middle of it and you start thinking, "Why am I so happy? This seems weird. No one is looking at me or talking about me. I am not being made much of. I shouldn't be this happy. I thought it was all about me and feeling good about myself." Then after thinking all those things you start to realize something. It is not all about me. Not only is it all about me, but some of my worst feelings in life are when people compliment me. Because I know that I do not deserve their compliments. I could go on for pages and pages, but I won't. I'll leave my summary with this. Psalm 111:2 "Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." This is the reason that I am studying the Bible. I delight in knowing the works of the Lord.

I hope this was encouraging and challenging. That's is always my aim, pointing you toward God. Not because I get bonus points for referrals. I point you to God because the joy that you gain in Christ makes my joy complete. I am happy knowing that you are happy with something that lasts and satisfies.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

A Long Absence

I will try to get up a summary of the Psalms tomorrow morning. I should finish it by then. But seeing as how things don't always work out like I think they will, I'll leave you with a little update on life.

My reading has been awesome lately. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I've enjoyed my mornings learning about God so much lately. Keep the prayers coming though. Since Peru is coming up it will throw off my schedule again and there's always a problem with time on trips. I'm looking forward to reading Proverbs in the wee hours of the morning in the Amazon though, with no electricity. That should be something else.

That kind of brings up my Peru trip. I'm sure I've told some of you, but for those who don't know, I won't have any internet access while I'm in Peru. We were told we shouldn't bring our laptops so I'm not going to. It will be a nice feeling but at the same time I am going to miss the communication that I have with so many people. Example: I've never gone more than two days without talking to my mom and dad. This will be twelve. Super weird. On the bright side, it should make for some good opportunities to get closer to some of the people that I'm here with. Since no one is going to have contact with anyone else we will kind of be forced together. I hope anyway. I've spent a lot of time in the past week studying, and while it's necessary and I like it, it is still taking away from some time building relationships. I shouldn't have that distraction in Peru. With that in mind, please just pray for me. Pray that I wake up and focus on the Word of God. Proverbs is not light stuff. I'm going to need to be awake for that stuff. I love it, but at the same time my flesh is weak. Also, pray for me along with the rest of my group. Pray that this isn't just another week of seeing cool stuff for us. Pray that it all points to Christ and that we come back with a greater love for and understanding of Him. I know that is probably a lot to ask, but I know that God can do immeasurably more than all I can ask or imagine.

I'm excited to finish the Psalms and get into a few of the smaller books just to get that big picture focus of the story of God in redemptive history back. The Psalms have been great but extremely long. I'm ready to start in on the books to come. Thank you again for all the prayers and encouragement. By the time I get back, hopefully I have been taught some things that will encourage and challenge you too. Love you guys.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

Psalm 119

Yesterday I got to Psalm 119 in my reading. I had kind of been looking forward to this chapter for awhile. All I knew about it was that it is the longest chapter in the Bible and that it has to do with God's law. I think I heard Mr. Webster reference it one time. What I got was a lot more than a long chapter.

If you haven't read Psalm 119 go read it sometime today. It is well worth the 15-20 minutes that it would take (it shouldn't take less than that). The book is an acrostic, which means that each section has a heading which is one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and they go in order. The verses under each heading all being with that Hebrew letter. Kind of cool, but not at all the reason that I like the chapter.

From beginning to end the writer echoes so many things that I have been feeling lately: "Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. (v. 24)" "Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it as my reward. (v. 33)" "Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! (36)" "I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. (47)" "This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (50)" And just all over the place I see these verses of praise to God that I just want to echo.

There's more though. The writer talks about feelings that I have been having and have no really been sure about. Just listen and you'll understand what I mean: "Hot indignation (anger provoked by something perceived as unfair or unrighteous) seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. (53)" "Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (104)" "I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments. (131)" "My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. (136)"

I have noticed a lot lately that I want to do the right thing. It's this weird feeling of hating sin. I feel like Paul so often now in Romans 7 when he talks about doing what he does not want to do and not doing what he so desperately wants to do. God has shown me the joy of His law. I heard Mr. Webster say one time that obedience to God's law requires no blessing because obedience is a blessing in itself. That is so true. I rejoice in the law of God because in it I see His love for me. It is good not to lie. It is good not to hate people. It is good not to lust. I'm not saying that I have these things purged from my life because I don't. But my hatred for them is growing deeper and deeper thanks to the grace of my Father.

Along with that come the tears. The tears come from seeing other people disregard His statutes and do what they want to do. The tears and pain aren't because people are choosing pleasure over God. I've tried to get this point across time and time again. The tears come because I'm watching people that I love play in a mud puddle while I'm sitting over here in the ocean of God's joy. I used to play in that puddle. I thought it was fun. But then I got to the ocean and I see what I was playing in. Do you get what I am saying? Infinite joy is offered to us in the person of Christ and fellowship with Him. After I experience that, I never want to go back to my sin again. That is what Psalm 119 is saying. The writer is rejoicing in the life that God and His Word and His law bring. It is a life that is truly fulfilling. So when I step outside of that pleasure again, or when I see someone else living outside that pleasure, it hurts. It hurts so bad that I'm confused. I don't know how to show them (or even sometimes show myself) how great this life is. I guess all I can do is enjoy it. "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

I know this was all over the place... again. I don't really have a whole lot of time to collect my thoughts here. When I do they go in my journal. Thank you all for reading this and encouraging me so often. I'm praying for a lot of you. Please keep praying for me here. Pray that God shows me how my enjoyment of Him should manifest while I'm here. Thanks again.

All for His glory,

Mitchell

John 6

One of the spanish pastors read from John 6:22-71 a couple weeks ago. I couldn't understand him so I have no idea what he was saying about it. But I haven't been able to stop reading it since then. Read it. I'm not going to comment on it. I'm just going to ask you to read it. Here I'll just post it verses 22-71

John 6:22-71

²²On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" ²⁶Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." ²⁸Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" ²⁹Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." ³⁰So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" ³²Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." ³⁴They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." ⁴²They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" ⁴³Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." ⁵⁹Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life;^{CQ)" style=" line-height: 0.5em; ">(} the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." ⁷¹He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.