The public ministry of Jesus lasted about three and a half years. He began his work in obscurity, but by the end of the first year his popularity had grown considerably. He was extremely popular during the second year of his ministry. He could not go anywhere without crowds of people following him.

       The feeding of the five thousand took place toward the end of that second year (John 6:1-14). It might appear that this was a great success. Once again, a great crowd of people were surrounding Jesus. They at least recognized that he was a prophet, so it might have seemed that this was the beginning of good things to come. In actuality, this is when things began to fall apart, at least from the standpoint of human wisdom. Great crowds of people had been following Jesus around, but not for the right reasons (John 6:26-27). Jesus told them what they needed to hear (John 6:35, 52-58). The crowd did not care for his words, and John tells us, “As a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore” (John 6:66).

      I’m confident the apostles were stunned, not only by the reaction of the crowd but also by the words of Jesus. “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). Jesus gave no explanation for what had just happened. He didn’t say, “I know that this must be disappointing to you, but I want you to know that it is in keeping with God’s plan.” He merely asked them a question: “Do you want to go away as well?” He wasn’t trying to discourage them, but he did want them to make a deliberate choice.

      When Peter earlier confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16), he did so in the midst of what must have seemed to be great success. The large crowds were still following Jesus at that point. But many of his disciples had now left, and things sometimes look different in the midst of difficulties (cf. Matthew 11:2-3). Peter’s response on this occasion was just as noble as his earlier confession: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Things were beginning to get difficult, but Peter recognized that there is no substitute for Jesus.

      When things get difficult for us, or when it seems that things are not working out as we think they should, that’s not the time to give up on the Lord. It’s the time to realize that there is no one else to whom we can go. Jesus has what we need; he has the words of eternal life.