No better place to be (John 6:56-69; Ephesians 6:10-20)
The disciples remember every miracle that Jesus did, every truth that he proclaimed.
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Earlier in John 6, a large crowd wanted to make Jesus king after he miraculously satiated their physical hunger. Now, in verses 56-69, many people stop following him because they do not agree with his teachings. Whether or not the two episodes involve the same people, they demonstrate a common human behavioral pattern: We tend to exalt those with whom we agree and who can benefit us in some way. And we tend to reject those with whom we don’t agree and who do not have anything “good” to offer us. It is either good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable.