Words to Live By - John 6:60-71

How do you handle big moments in your life? Maybe you’re one of these people that handles everything with grace and elegance. Maybe just the idea of a big important moment makes you freak out. Or maybe you’re like me and you’re calm, cool, collected until the thing is literally happening and then you freak out.

I’ll never forget when I proposed to Lauren. One of the biggest moments of my life. For the record, I never had a doubt she was the person I was supposed to marry.

What happens to me is I start to process the seriousness of the moment right before the moment or during the moment. I’ll never forget the day: It was the day I was going to propose to Lauren, I had this whole elaborate day planned out. It involved dinner, lights, I had lights spell out “Will you marry me?”

We had had a great dinner, everything was cool and we got into the car and the next thing on the agenda was the last thing on the agenda: I needed to propose. As we rode in the car together, I was silently processing how my life was about to change for the better of course, when Lauren looked at me, being the perceptive person that she is, asked, “Why are you acting so weird?” I was like, “Am I?”

Anyway, I pulled off the proposal and she said “yes,” it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

All of that pales in comparison to an even more important moment in your life: How you respond to Jesus Christ?

Who is he and what has he done for you? How you answer that question is everything! The destiny of your eternal soul rides on how you answer that question.

In John 6 we’ve seen several different groups of people respond to Jesus: in previous weeks, we’ve seen how the Jews responded to Jesus, and this morning we’re going to look at how his disciples responded to him, and lastly, we’ll look at how they responded.

But embedded particularly within the followers or “disciples” and the Twelve we’re going to see three different responses to Jesus: first, we see that many are offended (vv. 60-65), second, we see that many will walk away (v. 66), but lastly, we’ll see some who will believe (vv. 67-71).

Last week, we looked at Jesus’ sermon that he preached in the synagogue in Capernaum, and our passage this morning is the disciples and the Twelve’s response to that sermon.

If you remember from last week, in verses 48-59 Jesus famously said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…”

“Eat my flesh and drink my blood” is jolting even to our modern ears, but it would have been particularly egregious to his Jewish listeners, because not only were they not permitted to eat things with the blood still in it, but his words sounded cannibalistic!

It’s rather shocking language because on the surface, it sounds cannibalistic! And it would be easy for the Jews to think, “this guy who claims to be one with the Father is encouraging cannibalism? Huh?”

But obviously, the point was not to promote or encourage cannibalism. He was using a shocking metaphor to describe an even more shocking reality. That is, a person must be united to Him, Jesus Christ, by faith in order to be saved. He had come to save the world, by breaking his body and spilling his blood on the cross.

The gospel is a glorious message of hope!

Many will be offended (vv. 60-65)

And yet, people are offended by it. The Jews bristled at his words.

Throughout John 6, the Apostle John draws a parallel between the Jews listening to Jesus and how the Old Testament Israelites grumbled against God as they wandered about in the wilderness. In fact, in verses 41, 42, 60 John uses the word, “grumble” to describe how the Jews discussed and responded to what Jesus was saying. They were perpetually upset.

But the people that were upset with what Jesus was teaching in John 6 didn’t stop with the Jews in general, it extended to his “disciples” as well. What do they say in verse 60? “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?””

The “disciples” described here in verse 60 isn’t a reference to the Twelve disciples. It’s not a reference to Jesus’ tight inner circle. Rather, “disciples” here are “disciples” in the most general sense. They’re followers. They’re groupies. People that find Jesus intriguing or interesting.

And it’s easy to see why Jesus would attract followers: everywhere he went something incredible happened! People want to go where the action is! Where exciting things are happening!

But things are beginning to sour in verse 60, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” You can also translate verse 60 as, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to him?”

Are the disciples offended by Jesus’ message or by Jesus himself? The message is certainly the primary offender here, but they’re starting to dislike the messenger too. Because as we all know, sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish the message from the messenger.

It’s why we say things like, “don’t kill the messenger!” Because it’s easy to believe that the message is coming directly from the messenger. When in reality, the messenger is simply delivering the message.

But more often than not, there is no difference between the message and the messenger. The message and messenger are one in the same. It seems that both the message and its messenger were becoming increasingly offensive to them, because the words from John 6 were a bridge too far.

Normally, the messenger is simply the vessel being used to share a report or information. Because if you notice in our passage, Jesus was both the messenger and the content of his message. His sermon was about himself! “I am the bread of life.” Or in verse 54, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

What offended the disciples or followers wasn’t necessarily one particular point that Jesus made in his sermon, they were offended over it in its entirety. They were offended over his words, his message, the fact that he was giving it. They found all of it offensive.

Notice again in verse 61, how the Apostle John described the disciples: “[the] disciples were grumbling about this..” They’re perpetually dissatisfied like the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus has done great things and made glorious promises making his very own disciples dissatisfied.

How do you normally react when you realize that something you’ve said has offended someone? I guess it really depends on what you’ve said, but often there’s a great temptation to walk it back. To soften your words. To make your message more palatable.

But clearly that’s not what Jesus does. He asks, “Do you take offense at this?” But rather than walking it back, or getting frustrated, Jesus makes a sincere effort to help them understand in verses 62 and 63.

“Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

In verse 62, he’s asking them a rhetorical question: “would you believe if you saw me ascend back to heaven, which would prove that I’ve come down from heaven? Would that validate to you the content of my message?”

And verse 63 should have been very enlightening to his followers, because in verse 63 he’s saying, “stop thinking about my literal flesh and blood. Rather, Jesus is saying to them, as one commentator put it, “It is my spirit, my person, in the act of giving my body to be broken and my blood to be shed, that bestows and sustains life, even everlasting life.”

Jesus makes a real effort to help his followers understand his message. So what’s the deal here? Why the lack of effort on behalf of his followers to understand? Jesus appears to be making a sincere effort but these followers don’t appear to reciprocate.

Jesus gets to the real issue. There is something that lies beneath those that take offense, or are lazy, or indifferent toward Jesus Christ – unbelief.

This is precisely what we learn in verses 64 and 65. “But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Notice the Apostle John’s comment in parenthesis:

“(For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)”

There are those who will not believe and then there is one (Judas) who will betray Jesus. Obviously, this comment is every bit as applicable to his disciples as it was to Judas.

But why do people remain in their unbelief? Because, “no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.””

Unbelief should not surprise us because faith is itself a gift from God. Salvation is all of grace. It’s by grace you have been saved.

If this is our understanding, unbelief should not be shocking.

Many will walk away (vv. 66)

So the followers in their unbelief walk away. Verse 66, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

It’s easy to mentally categorize the faithful Christian and hardened rank unbeliever, but let’s be honest, it’s more difficult to categorize those that appear to be people of faith, but are really living in unbelief.

I’m sure most of us have seen folks that we deeply care about that were a part of the covenant community, the church, just walk away one day. In my brief experience it often happens in one of two ways: either a person simply says, I don’t believe this stuff anymore and just walks away. Or, they said nothing at all and just vanished.

There seems to be a growing popularity of so-called “deconversion stories” over the last few years. To use the biblical word, it’s apostasy. But nevertheless, deconversion seems to be all the rage and it typically involves someone that was actively involved or influential in the church walking away from the faith.

The most famous one was Joshua Harris, he exploded onto the evangelical scene when he wrote the book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” Maybe you’re familiar. He wrote on social media, "By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian."

And just like that, walks away.

What’s difficult to process about Harris is what’s difficult to process about verse 66. How could people that followed Jesus, listened to his teaching, and witnessed his miracles, “turn back and no longer walk with him?”

It’s hard to understand how someone could just up and walk away and return to their old way of life after spending time with Jesus. To honestly believe that a life apart from Christ is superior to a life with him is mind-boggling.

But 1 John 2:19 helps us understand: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Genuine Christians do not up and walk away, genuine Christians faithfully walk and abide in Christ. The Lord preserves Christians. No question, people go through seasons of doubt, struggle, and maybe even walk away from a period of time but the tell-tale sign is do they come back?

But nevertheless, these “disciples” abandon Jesus Christ. And in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a ministry crisis developing in John 6: Jesus is running everyone off!

I mean think about the whole of chapter 6: The chapter begins with Jesus feeding the five thousand, which is probably closer to 20,000 when you include women and children. Then he goes into hiding, gets in a boat, heads to Capernaum, teaches in the synagogue to what seems to be a decently sized crowd of disciples, who now have walked away.

Jesus over the course of John 6 has whittled his megachurch down to twelve. Can you even imagine a 21st century modern church leader walking over to Jesus and saying, “hey friend, you’re doing ministry wrong. You want it to grow… and in order for it to grow - you’re going to need to be less offensive. Maybe put the flesh and blood language on hold for a while…”

Some will believe (vv. 67-71)

Ironically, these followers or disciples walk away and Jesus doesn’t seem to bat an eye. He simply looks at his twelve and asks, ““Do you want to go away as well?”

Jesus is now giving his twelve disciples an opportunity to walk away. This is your chance. If you don’t want to be here, you’re free to go.

And Peter pipes up on behalf of the twelve (except for Judas). Peter is the guy that everytime he starts to talk you’re holding your breath because you don’t know what he’s going to say. It’s either going to be really good or really bad. There’s no middle ground with Peter.

But Peter nails it in verse 68. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

He gives this incredible confession! He repeats back to Jesus what he has said in his sermon. Jesus said earlier in verse 63, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

It’s Peter on behalf of the twelve professing faith in Christ. After all the dissension and grumbling and walking away, we finally see here, a few, eleven (twelve minus Judas) trusting the message of Christ. It is Jesus that is God’s holy and appointed one, who is set apart to carry out his plan of salvation.

There’s a sense of humility and honesty in Peter’s words. Because there is no one else to go to. Apart from Jesus, who can satisfy the desires of your heart and feed your hungry soul?

This is in many ways, the sad part of our text. Where are the disciples that abandoned Jesus going? And Peter recognized that Jesus is their only hope.

Because after all is said and done, the only people left standing with Jesus are the twelve disciples. And we know the rest of the story. We know the book of Acts. We know how the gospel spread all over the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit through these men. To quote the book of Acts, how Christians “turned the world upside down.”

But it had such humble beginnings. Jesus ran off 20,000 and ended with 12 and the world has never been the same.

What a wonderful truth for us to reflect on, that you don’t need a group of 20,000 to make a difference for the kingdom of God. An amphitheater busting at the seams isn’t required.

The Lord can use a faithful few. Praise be to God that in his economy there is no correlation between membership roll and gospel impact! Don’t talk to me about baptisms or professions of faith. Show me men and women who confess Christ when it seems like everyone else has turned their back and walked away.

What an incredible encouragement for us this morning. God can work in and through a small body like ours here to have a gospel impact.

But before we can do anything we must respond to Jesus Christ in faith. We must confess Him as Lord over our life and everything else must be secondary.

Do you, with Peter, look around and say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

You see, that’s the overall point of John 6. Not to confuse you with metaphors and spiritual language, the point that Jesus was trying to drive home to everyone there was that they needed to confess him as their Lord and Savior in order to inherit eternal life.

That was the point! One thing is for certain, if Jesus was preaching in order to draw a crowd, he failed. Everyone is gone. All that’s left is this rag tag group.

Isn’t that exactly what we see? Jesus didn’t come to earth to seize control of Israel and establish himself as a political leader. He wasn’t trying to be another well respected Jewish Rabbi. And He wasn’t just a nice moral teacher who said some good things. Jewish leader simply echoing the words of those that had gone before him. He wasn’t just a moral teacher who said some nice things.

Clearly, that wasn’t the point of his message in John 6. The point of his message is for you and me to do what Peter did, confess him as Lord. To confess Him as the Holy One of Israel. God’s Son who came and died on the cross to take away the sins of the world.

There’s only one appropriate way to respond to Jesus Christ and that’s by putting your faith in Him, by turning yourself over to him.

May each of us confess this day, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Let’s pray together.