From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave, too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
This conversation took place after Jesus had made another one of the “I am” statements which we will go into tomorrow and before his audacious claim to be “the way and the truth and the life”. What Jesus had revealed to the large crowd that had been following him up to this point had been shocking to them. Many had difficulty accepting and understanding his words and meaning so they began to fall away. Jesus turned to his closest friends, the twelve men who would become apostles minus Judas. He asked them a direct question which would cause them to examine their hearts.
Jesus is asking you the very same question. Do you want to leave him? Do you want to go your own way because following Jesus can seem difficult to understand sometimes? I encourage you to take heed to Peter’s response, examine your own heart and ask yourself, to whom shall you go?
There are many thoughts and ideas in this world about what seems good and will bring a person to what they hope is a good result. But as Jesus declared and Peter recognized, Jesus alone is our hope. Come to believe and know just as the disciples did and trust that Jesus will give you truth and life and he will carry you all the way to an eternity of peace and joy.
