John 6:61

But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble?

The omniscience of Jesus, so often referred to in John, is apparent here also. The Lord read the hearts of his disciples and moved at once to help them.

Doth this cause you to stumble ... ? A literal understanding of Jesus' teaching here was never intended; but the glow of the metaphor is seen in the fact that the truth it was designed to convey is no less astounding than the shocking metaphor used to teach it. That the soul's only food and drink leading to eternal life must be Jesus Christ - that truth still causes men to stumble.

HARD SAYINGS OF JESUS

Many of Jesus' plainest teaching must be accounted "hard sayings." His teachings concerning judgment, hell, and eternal condemnation are so hard, in fact, that some reject them. His doctrine concerning the new birth, going the second mile, turning the other cheek, and the forbidding of divorce are hard sayings; and men are still offended by them, even as some disciples were offended then. For the child of faith, the sayings of Christ are received in meekness, whether fully understood or not; because true confidence in the Lord will not permit the setting aside of anything that he taught.