John 6:60-69 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
It’s rare that you will hear something like this from the pulpit, but it gives me great pleasure to say that none of you were here last Sunday. The good news is that 731 of us did attend worship across the street. Our new gymnasium was filled to overflowing as we celebrated our Christian unity and dedicated our new educational facility.
The response to last Sunday was overwhelmingly positive. Here are just a few of the comments shared with me: “What a beautiful service!” “It brought a tear to me.” “I wouldn’t have changed a thing.” Last Sunday was a beautiful day, a blessing-filled day, a historic day in the life of our congregation.
The only minor criticism I have (and its not even really a criticism) is that the special readings chosen for Unity Sunday interrupted a series of gospel lessons recorded in John 6. On the three Sundays previous to Unity Sunday, Pastor Leyrer, the vicar and I preached consecutive sermons on verses from this chapter. The gospel lesson for today, the fifth and final of these lessons from John 6, is the conclusion to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse.
Since school is back in session, since students are getting ready for their first round of tests, since these verses provide a good overview of the chapter, and since this text revolves around two questions Jesus asked his disciples, these words could be considered…
A FINAL EXAM ON THE BREAD OF LIFE
DISCOURSE
I. Does this (teaching) offend you?
II. You do not want to leave too, do you?
The event that led Jesus to launch into a sermon about the Bread of Life was a miracle. With only five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus fed five thousand men. What made this miraculous feeding even more miraculous was that the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers after everyone had eaten as much as they wanted.
A meal like that made the people stand up and take
notice. A miracle like that made the
people want to follow Jesus, and they did.
Even when Jesus tried to slip away way at night, the crowds found him
the very next day in
Because of what they had witnessed, because of what they had
seen with their own eyes, you might expect that the people would eat up Jesus’
every word as eagerly as they had eaten the fish and bread. But when Jesus had finished speaking, this is
how they reacted to his message: “On hearing it, many of his disciples said,
‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it’” (60)?
Another translation puts their response this way, “This is more than we can stomach.” What was so hard about Jesus’ teaching? What did Jesus say that was so difficult for them to digest? It wasn’t the miraculous food they ate, so it had to be something else.
Some of the Jews were grumbling about Jesus because he called himself “the bread that came down from heaven”(41). They knew where Jesus came from. They knew who Jesus’ parents were. Where did this carpenter’s son get off claiming to be someone sent from God? And they found what Jesus was telling them very hard to accept.
The Jews began to argue among themselves again when Jesus declared: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (51). They couldn’t understand how Jesus could give them his flesh to eat, and how eating this bread could translate into eternal life. This concept was just too hard for them to believe.
The Jews were very critical of Jesus. That was nothing new. But the ones who called Jesus’ words “a hard
teaching” were not the hard-hearted Jews.
They were his followers. They
were the ones who claimed to be his disciples.
So what was so hard for them to accept?
Jesus promised his hearers eternal life. That doesn’t sound hard at all. That’s sounds pretty easy on the ears. That sounds like a message people want to hear, but what made it difficult to accept was how this life became theirs. Jesus’ teaching is hard for some because it forces people to confront a harsh reality.
“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe’” (61-63).
Jesus knew what his disciples were thinking even before they had a chance to express it. And Jesus knew the answer to his own question even before he asked it. The people were offended. The people were upset. The people were angry because Jesus was not who they wanted him to be. And Jesus added fuel to the fire when he condemned them for not believing who he really was.
“(Jesus) went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him’” (65). The people had no problem accepting Jesus on their terms. The people had a big problem accepting Jesus on his terms. They didn’t want to admit that they were powerless. They didn’t want to acknowledge that they were totally dependent on God. They didn’t want to believe that Jesus’ way was the only way to eternal life, and so they went their own way.
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (66). Because they refused to accept this hard teaching, because they refused to accept the harsh reality of their sin, some decided to take a pass on the Bread of Life.
Imagine that you are sitting in a classroom full of students. It’s the last day of class, just before the teacher hands out the final exam. But before he does he says, “No matter how well you do on this test, no matter how much you have studied, you will not pass this course. Every one of you will fail.”
If you were a student in that class, how would you feel? Would you be angry? Would you be upset? Would you be offended? I think I would be irate, and wouldn’t I have every right to be? The teacher can’t do something like that, not if I did the required work, not if I completed all the assignments. That wouldn’t be fair.
Listen to what God says in Isaiah 64: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” It doesn’t matter how much money you give to charity. It doesn’t matter how much time and energy you devote to helping others. It doesn’t matter how much you do in comparison to others. Even your best efforts are tainted by sin. Even the best you have to offer is like filthy rags. Do you find this offensive?
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” When Paul wrote those words, he wasn’t talking about your neighbor who sleeps in on Sundays or your co-worker who takes shortcuts at work or your friend who can’t pass up an opportunity to take the Lord’s name in vain. When God says that all have sinned and deserved eternal punishment, he is speaking directly to you. Do you find this offensive?
Listen to what James has to say in
You should. The Bible says you should. The sinful mind is hostile to God, and we are sinful people with sinful minds. We hate what God wants and want what God hates. And the last thing sinners like us want to admit is that we are so godless, so worthless, so helpless, that we can’t lift a finger to save ourselves. That’s just not fair.
At the beginning of Jesus’ sermon, a large group of people had crowded around him, but one by one they walked away until all that remained at the end was a small circle of Jesus’ closest friends.
Even in the middle of this sad scene we can find another miracle, a miracle even greater than the feeding of the 5,000. It was a miracle that Jesus’ teaching didn’t drive everyone away. A few followers remained to answer Jesus’ second question: “You do not want to leave too, do you” (67)?
The Greek construction of this question expects a “no” answer. In other words, Jesus expected them to stay. Jesus knew that they would stay. But Jesus wanted to give his followers the opportunity to express their faith. And they did not disappoint him.
On behalf of the other disciples, Peter made this beautiful confession: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (68). In their minds, there was no other choice. No one else was worth following because no one else had what Jesus had. He had the words of eternal life. And he had the power to give them eternal life because of who he was.
“We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (69). A more literal reading of this verse would go like this: “We have been led to believe and still believe and we have been led to know and still know that you are the Holy One of God.” A mass exodus of faithless followers wasn’t enough to change their minds. They didn’t follow Jesus because of what he did. They put their trust in Jesus because of who he was.
The Holy One of God was set apart by God to accomplish God’s plan of salvation. He was the Word who took on human flesh and became one of us. He was the God-Man who lived under the law and obeyed it perfectly in our place. He was the Lamb of God who died on the cross to take away the sin of the world. He was the Great High Priest who sacrificed himself to make you holy and blameless in the eyes of God. He is the King who has risen and ascended and now rules over all creation for the benefit of his church. He is the righteous Judge who will come back and take you to the special place he has reserved for you in heaven.
Make not mistake about it. This day was a tough day in Jesus’ ministry. Many people rejected him. Many people deserted him. But what transpired that day had the opposite effect on a few of Jesus’ faithful followers. Jesus’ words drew them even closer to him. Jesus’ promises strengthened their resolve to follow him. And there is a lesson in this for followers of Jesus today.
Maybe it’s a disease, maybe it’s a death in the family, maybe it’s a relationship on the rocks, maybe it’s a shaky job situation, maybe it’s persecution because of what you believe. From time to time Jesus allows things to come into the lives of the people he loves, and he uses these challenges to call us closer to his side.
Even though he knows the answer, Jesus still asks the question: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Because we know that Jesus passed the test for us, because we know that nothing can separate us from his love, because we know that he will never leave us, because he know that he will come again, we can answer with Peter and all of Jesus’ faithful followers: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Lord, where else can we go? Lord, you have led us to believe and know. You have the words of eternal life.” Amen.