St. Peter understood. The Apostles understood (with possibly the exception of the traitor). They did not walk away, but Peter said to Him, “You have the words of eternal life.“ (JOHN 6:68b)
Peter, having been raised as a Jew and studying the Torah, the Psalms and Prophets, was familiar with the words of Scripture:
How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; (Jeremiah 15:16)
Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” (Ezekiel 3:1)
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
These are all metaphors. How can we understand the spiritual things, things that are not seen with physical eyes, unless we compare them with things that are physical? So much in the Scriptures is metaphorical!
So when Christ spoke, the Apostles understood.
“… I AM the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)
That verse is only metaphorical for your physical tummy gets hungry!
So 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. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:53-4 ESV)
That verse is metaphorical, too.
“Few passages of Scripture have been so painfully wrested and perverted as that which we have now read. The Jews are not the only people who have striven about its meaning. A sense has been put upon it, which it was never intended to bear. Fallen man, in interpreting the Bible, has an unhappy aptitude for turning meat into poison. The things that were written for his benefit, he often makes an occasion [of] falling.” – Bishop J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: St. John
Some turned it into poison. Transubstantiation is a poison. See The TRUE BREAD from HEAVEN for an in-depth study of John 6.
WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS CRUCIAL
The word usually seen as a variantion of “believe” is based on this Greek word: G4102 pistis: Faith, belief, trust, confidence, fidelity.
JOHN 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
These quotes are all from JOHN Chapter 6. But there are many more throughout the New Testament!
JOHN 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
JOHN 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
The day before they saw the LORD feed the vast multitude with a few fish and some bread! Yet they saw and some would not believe.
JOHN 6:47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
JOHN 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
So, some people pass by the belief and the only thing they want to point out is that the “host” is what matters, saying “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Yet, this passage in above verse 40, also says the same thing but it is about believing in the Messiah!
Some folks want to scare you into a “literal” bread. They say the host has been changed into the physical flesh of Christ by the priests. They say you won’t have eternal life. But that’s nonsense!
If you truly trust in Yeshua, whose name means “salvation”, the Anointed One, you are saved!
But St. Peter knew that this “Bread of Life” was a metaphor. After all, “eating” had been used in the Scriptures for the Word of God! The true bread of life is the Word. Christ is the Word.
JOHN 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We believe His words to us! Christ said:
JOHN 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
St. Peter soon said, “… You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (JOHN 6:68-69)
Spirit! Life! Eternal Life! These are His blessings to us who believe in His Words!
Trust in Christ today! Believe His Words! Christ is NOT literal “bread”, but He is the spiritual food for life eternal.
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I have been listening to Alistair Begg’s sermons for years on the radio and now on a Podcast. I seldom put another person’s sermons on this website, but I recommend that you listen to these on Bread of Heaven.
https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/bread-heaven/
https://www.truthforlife.org/broadcasts/2025/12/08/bread-of-heaven-part-2-of-2/
Christian music by Carolyn Anne Venable may be heard on Spotify, Pandora, Apple & other music apps.
His Inheritance Ministries 
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