John 6:59-62 - This is a hard teaching

6:59,60

This teaching was taking place in the synagogue at Capernaum. Jesus never tried to be popular, indeed he was very wary of being popular, and He certainly succeeded in that goal here. Many of His disciples said the teaching was too hard. They do not mean it was too hard to intellectually comprehend, its meaning was quite plai, but the impact and meaning was too difficult to accept. We should note the use of the word “disciple” here. Here it is not referring to committed followers, but people who were following at that time. Verses 66 and 67 contrast disciples with the twelve. 

6:61,62

Jesus knew that the disciples were grumbling. He asks them” do you take offence at this?” He asks this not in order to placate their concerns. Jesus' attitude to “offence” is quite different from the ridiculous approach we have today, where offence seems to be a major crime. The people’s attitudes needed to change, not Jesus’ teaching. Jesus then adds “then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” Jesus has said that He has come from heaven, which has caused all sorts of offence, how would they react if they saw Him return to heaven. Once again, Jesus is making the offence “worse”. For He is not just here now, having come from heaven, later He will ascend back to heaven.