John 6:60
“Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Many of his followers call his teaching hard and incomprehensible, expressing their struggle to accept it.
Context
The crowd of disciples (not the Twelve, but the broader group following him) reacts with offense to the Bread of Life discourse.
What Does John 6:60 Mean?
The Greek word for 'hard' (skleros) can mean difficult, harsh, even cruel. To these ears, what Jesus has just said sounds like cruelty. It sounds unreasonable. A hard saying is not merely difficult to understand intellectually. It is a saying that grates against us, that offends, that pushes against what we want to be true. And they are right that it is hard. Jesus is not offering comfort. He is offering himself. He is asking not for our approval but for our surrender. Many cannot make that move. They will not. And so they say, 'This is too much. Who can hear this? Who could accept this?' It is a moment of judgment. Some will stay, some will go.
We often want a savior who makes us feel better, who affirms our choices, who asks little of us. But the Jesus of Scripture is harder than that. His love is not sentimental. His call is not easy. And that very hardness is part of what proves he is real.
In the Original Language
skleros (Greek), 'hard' -- harsh, difficult, severe, rough; a saying that cuts against natural inclination.
Application
When we first encounter the claims of Jesus in their full weight, they may sound harsh or impossible. That is not a sign we should dismiss him. It may be a sign we are truly hearing him. What hard saying of Jesus are we still wrestling with?