courage for fickle times

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2412

John 6:66-71

Joh 6:66 From that moment many of his disciples went away and no longer walked with him.
Joh 6:67 That was why Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to leave too, do you?”
Joh 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, whom would we go away to? You have the words of permanent life.
Joh 6:69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One from God.”
Joh 6:70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I select you, the Twelve? Yet one from you is a devil.”
Joh 6:71 He was referring to Judas, from Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, because he was going to hand him over.

courage for fickle times

Peter’s confession at this moment in John 6 is profoundly significant. When many disciples were turning away, unsettled by Jesus’ hard words, Peter anchored his loyalty in a single, unshakable truth: Jesus possesses the ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου—the words of permanent life. It was not the miracles, not the crowds, not the excitement of ministry that kept Peter close. It was the hope of resurrection, the promise of a life that death cannot touch. That promise outweighed confusion, cultural pressure, and the shifting opinions of the crowd.

Peter lived in a world as fickle as ours. Public admiration could turn into hostility overnight. One moment, society celebrated spiritual leaders; the next, it condemned them. Peter understood that the only secure place to stand in such a world is beside the One who offers permanent life. Even when Jesus’ teachings were difficult, even when the path of discipleship was costly, Peter recognized that no alternative could offer what Christ offered. To walk away from Jesus was to walk away from life itself.

That same clarity is needed today. The world still shifts. Approval rises and falls. Faithfulness is sometimes applauded and sometimes mocked. But the hope Jesus gives—the hope of resurrection, the hope of permanent life—remains steady. It is worth holding onto when others let go. It is worth standing for when others fall away. Christ’s words do not change with the times; they anchor us through them.

LORD, give us the courage to stand by you, even while others around us are falling away.