An Uncomfortable Truth

John 6:25–35 & John 6:60–66

I have an uncomfortable truth to share with you. There’s a phrase I’ve been thinking about all week: Jesus is comfort, but He is not a cozy blanket and hot cocoa. And He is truth—but not your truth, not my truth—THE truth.

That distinction matters, because in John 6 we see a crowd of people who love the idea of Jesus but want Him on their own terms. They want comfort without commitment, blessing without obedience, and a Savior who makes life easier instead of truer.

And Jesus doesn’t play along.

An Uncomfortable Truth: Not Your Comfort

John 6:25–35

When the crowd finds Jesus on the other side of the lake, they ask, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” But Jesus sees right through it:

“You are looking for me… because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” (v. 26)

The word “had your fill” is chortazó—to gorge, to eat in abundance. They weren’t coming for truth; they were coming for another free meal. A quick fix. A momentary solution. Something to make life easier now, even if nothing changed forever.

We do this too.

Sometimes we come to Jesus the way we go to someone for quick advice… or quick permission. We want Him to amaze us or appease us—whichever is easier. We want the spiritual equivalent of fast food: something warm, easy, comforting, immediate.

But Jesus warns them—and us—about “food that spoils.”The word He uses, apollumi, means to destroy fully, to perish, to die with ruin. He’s saying:

“You’re chasing what makes you comfortable right now—but it cannot save you.”

We want comfort now.Jesus wants freedom forever.

One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes captures this:

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth… only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

If we chase comfort, we lose both comfort and truth.But if we chase truth—we find comfort thrown in.

So here’s the question Scripture presses on us:

What are you filling up on? Truth or comfort? Content or the Creator?

An Uncomfortable Truth: Not Your Truth

John 6:60–66

When Jesus keeps teaching, the tone of the whole crowd changes. At first, they were eager. Now they're offended.

“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (v. 60)

And many walk away.

Not because Jesus stopped being good—but because His truth stopped being convenient.

This still happens today.We want comfort without commitment.We want Jesus to affirm us but never confront us.We want to follow Him right up until it costs something.

Sometimes obedience feels like the Lydia challenge—when your child hears your voice but pretends not to. Or like when a doctor gives instructions we don’t fully understand but we trust them anyway. Following Jesus requires trust beyond convenience.

Jesus says:

“No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” (v. 65)

That word enabled—didomi—means to grant, to commit, to give the ability.God isn’t just calling us to truth; He’s empowering us to walk in it.

So here are the questions this text puts before us:

Will you walk away or work to obey?

What’s more valuable to you: God’s truth or your truth?

The Bread of Life

At the heart of all of this is one stunning, simple declaration:

“I am the bread of life.” (v. 35)

Jesus isn’t offering a product.He’s offering Himself.

He isn’t promising we’ll always feel full or always feel comfortable.He’s promising something better:

You will never go spiritually hungry. You will never go spiritually thirsty.

When we take communion, we remember that Jesus is not just the giver of bread—He is the Bread.

Comfort won’t save you. “Your truth” won’t save you. Quick fixes won’t save you.

But Jesus—the true Bread from heaven—gives life to the world.

And when we build our lives on His truth, we find a comfort deeper, stronger, and more enduring than anything we could have created for ourselves.