Nowhere Else to Go

Photo by Dylan McLeod

“So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:67–68 NASB).

Let’s be honest: Jesus says some really unsettling things. One example of this can be found in chapter 6 of John’s gospel. In this story, Jesus tells a crowd listening to him that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life and be resurrected on the last day (see John 6:53–56).

Interpreters of the gospel recognize that he was speaking metaphorically about the implications of his impending crucifixion. To eat his flesh and drink his blood signifies the full embrace of Jesus as Israel’s promised messiah and his redemptive work on the cross for the whole creation.

But in the narrative of John, what Jesus says confounds the crowd hearing him, including his disciples. And Jesus, understanding that they have been put off by this claim, asks, “does this offend you?” (John 6:61 NIV).

He doubles down on that question with another challenging claim about him ascending to where he was before (see John 6:62). Here as well, interpreters recognize that John’s gospel begins with the assertion that the one who became incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth was with God from the very beginning and is God. He was the agent responsible for creating all things (see John 1:1–18).

Later, in chapter 3, Jesus will say explicitly that he came from heaven (see John 3:13). Although there is no ascension account in John’s gospel, the broader Christian tradition recorded in the other three gospels and the book of Acts depict Jesus returning to heaven after his resurrection, and thus Jesus’ saying in John 6.

Nevertheless, as the story continues, this last declaration about returning to heaven was the final straw for many of Jesus’ followers. His claims were seemingly too radical for them to handle. So “as a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66 NASB).

Then there were the twelve—Jesus’ core group of disciples. Jesus turns to them and asks, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” (John 6:67). Peter’s response to Jesus’ question has stuck with me for many years now—since I read John’s gospel for the first time.

Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68 NIV).

Much like the crowd in the gospel story, sometimes Jesus’ radical teaching and his unequivocal demand for obedience seems too much for me to handle. In moments of frustration I think to myself things like: “maybe it’s time for me to move on,” “there doesn’t seem to be anything in this for me anymore,” “what good is it, anyway?,” and “I’m tired and have had enough.”  

Yet, in eventual moments of clarity, I remember this one important fact: I have nowhere else to go.

The alternative paths to following Jesus, upon closer scrutiny, lead to a dead end. That is the nature of truth. It is uncompromising. I could no more rationally decide to turn my back on Jesus than I could rationally choose to leap off a building in defiance of the law of gravity.

Now I am fully aware that that level of confidence in the truthfulness of Christianity is not shared by everyone. The prerequisite question one should ask is whether it is indeed true.

And there lies the point. A rational person does not choose falsehood simply because the truth may be uncomfortable.

As for me, I am convinced that Jesus is Lord—and that he is good. What leads from this conclusion is that regardless of how I may feel in any given day about the demands he makes upon my life, I am compelled to follow. After all, there is nowhere else to go.