Cultures from 1000s of years ago have had the notion that people could live forever after they died. I don't really know where they got the idea. Egyptian tombs are the most representative of the old world's idea of living forever, but it existed before them. Why the Jews didn't believe in an after life is beyond me. I suppose that they were literalists and their idea of following the Talmud didn't include providing for an after life. It seems that as the years of the monarchy went by that some of the Jews, at least, had developed the idea that they lived forever through their posterity.
When the Son of Man walks on the earth's stage and has a conversation with some of his fellow Jews, as he did in John 6, it's no wonder, then, that they are shocked. They wanted to follow him for his miracles of healing and multiplying food, but when he started saying that he was bread from heaven and partaking of his bread would lead to the afterlife, he lost the crowd. They wanted to see a few more miracles before fully trusting that what he was saying about himself was true.
Maybe it's just me, but having the option of an afterlife sounds pretty inviting. The present life is what we make of it all right, but it's rife with disappointment and sadness. An afterlife with the Maker of Life sounds much better. If the Son of Man's bread is all I have partake of to get this life, I'm there. Of course, some would say that it's easier said than done to trust that what he said and did was straight from heaven and to follow his teachings. I don't know about "hard," but following His teachings is counter-cultural at times. That's just the process of making decisions, though. And humans are pretty good at making decisions that favor them. So, I'm thinking that eating bread and gaining the afterlife is a good deal. I can decide in favor of the counter-cultural when the odds are so much in my favor.
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