Saturday July 27, 2024

John 6:68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life”

It was the German economist and philosopher Karl Marx who wrote, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” Marx viewed religion (specifically, in his day, Christianity) as a sedative for people who lived without hope in anything else.

One wonders if Marx had considered the words of the apostle Peter. When some of Jesus’ followers turned away from Him, He asked the Twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” And with unpredictable insight, Peter spoke for the group: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter was saying that even those who left Jesus would turn to something else. Everyone turns to something—even Karl Marx, who turned to the philosophy of man (but didn’t live long enough to see it crumble as a system). Peter went on to say, “We . . . know that You are the Christ.” Could you have taken Peter’s place and spoken those words?

Jesus is the only person in history who provides hope beyond this life—hope in the resurrection from the dead and life in the world to come.

The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope
is nothing else but the constancy of faith.
JOHN CALVIN

David Jeremiah, Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions (Tyndale, 2014)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.