When we consider John chapter 6, it is important to realize that John is not recording a series of unrelated anecdotes, but is presenting one cohesive account that reveals Jesus’ teaching about Who He is and how He rules: as He will state later, His kingdom is not of this world.
The chapter begins with a miracle which pleased everyone, but ends with spiritual teaching that pleased almost no one. As John begins his account, Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee to spend some time with His disciples. But instead of enjoying a wilderness retreat, they were greeted by a large crowd of people who wanted more of Jesus. Jesus saw they were like sheep without a Shepherd, and so He taught them.
It was late afternoon, and there was no place in this deserted area where people could get food, but Jesus took one small lunch, gave thanks and then distributed this food and fed five thousand hungry people.
There is no doubt that a miracle occurred: vv. 14-15 tell us that the people wanted to make Jesus their king! But Jesus did not come to this world to physically feed people – because this is not our greatest need. Anyone who is alive today has somehow managed to find enough food to sustain life! But what Jesus came to give us is spiritual life – joy, fulfillment, peace and satisfaction.
Jesus did not allow the crowd to make Him a political ruler. He sent His disciples back across the lake while He Himself slipped through the crowd and went to the mountainside to pray. Later that night, when a storm came up, Jesus , God and Creator, came down from the mountain and walked across the water to join them. At His command, the storm suddenly stopped.
Our Creator came to live among us – but who ever would have imagined that He would be so completely human and so completely humble! When we understand that Jesus is God, we realize that everything man did to Jesus, man did to God; and all the things Jesus did and said to humanity were the very words and actions of God!
The complete humanity of our sovereign God, is the “flesh” we must eat; and God’s willingness to die for us is the “blood” we must drink in order to have spiritual life – the confidence that our God completely understands us and loves us more deeply than we can ever understand or claim to deserve!
The crowd followed Jesus. Of course, they wanted Jesus to feed them miraculously again “so they could believe in Him”. Did the people of Jesus’ day completely understand His message? It seems that they preferred food which they could eat, to faith in a God Who was suspiciously human! When they understood that Jesus did not intend to give them free food, nor did He intend to rule as an earthly governor, many lost interest in following Him.
Today, we look at the final portion of the chapter were Jesus asks His closest disciples whether they too wished to leave…
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(John 6:60-71) can be viewed online at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206&version=NIV.)
1) (Vv. 35, 51, 53-54) By way of review, we see Jesus made some challenging statements:
“35 Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.’”
“51 ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’”
“53 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’”
– In v. 35, Jesus begins with the least specific statement, which echoes the teaching about living water, given in the account of the Samaritan woman at the well. When we realize that our Creator loves us, we no longer need to live as though we are all alone in a hostile and impersonal world.
– … And I think we must also understand that Jesus specifies that people must believe in Him. They must believe that He speaks with absolute authority regarding the intentions of the sovereign Ruler of all reality – Who is none other than He Himself.
– In v. 51, Jesus is even more specific: He states, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…”
– If heaven is the realm where everything fulfills God’s perfect plan, we understand that Jesus is claiming that, before coming to earth He had experienced that place of perfection.
–… But of course, the Jews knew better than anyone that Jesus had been physically born to Mary and had grown up among them like anyone else.
To them, everything was the result of a physical cause – but they were oblivious to the fact that all physical “causes” have their origin in the will and purpose of the sovereign Creator.
– They balked at the idea that Jesus could have any special knowledge or experience regarding the true God or His purposes.
– Although Jesus had just miraculously fed five thousand people, somehow they refused to acknowledge that this indicated supernatural affirmation of Him or His message.
– And of course, and vv. 53-54, Jesus describes the spiritual process of belief using such graphic physical terms that His listeners were shocked: He said they must “eat His flesh” and “drink His blood”!
We must acknowledge that our God did indeed live among us in human form – and that we indeed rejected Him and put Him to death.
– Even in this time before the crucifixion, however, although He had not physically died, He had certainly lived in humility and submitted to unkindness and rejection… never objecting or retaliating.
2) (Vv. 60-63) That God would be the humble Jesus and that He would have all the power in the universe at His disposal, yet refuse to use it for personal advantage was not a message that appealed to those who desired worldly power, prestige, or wealth:
“60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’
61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before!
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.’”
– That God is Jesus is not an easy message to accept today! …Yet, we must accept God for Who He is.
– Mankind has never lacked the ability to conjure up images of deities we claim to worship, and we have always been able to devise ideas of how to succeed in life. But things we make up are not true gods – they have no power, nor have they ever been able to save us.
– In v. 62, Jesus seems to be implying that, since He chose to come down from heaven, He could certainly choose to return… And this would put an end to any doubt. Indeed, He would do this very thing after His work here had been completed.
– In v. 63, Jesus makes a very powerful statement which every believer should remind themselves of daily: what matters is our spirit – our attitude, the ability to live in peace and joy. The details of our circumstances have no real power, nor should we rely on circumstances for our happiness!
To rely on circumstances is to enslave ourselves to a world system, a system which has never fulfilled its promises of happiness or security.
3) (Vv. 64-65) John, of course, is writing this gospel many years after Jesus lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven. John certainly remembered all the events that had led to Jesus’ crucifixion… But as he recalls Jesus’ words, he notes that Jesus had indeed known everything – including His betrayal and crucifixion – all along:
64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. 65 He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled them.”
– As we read the gospel accounts, it is obvious that then, as now, not everyone believes in Jesus.
– And of course, what is most inconceivable to us is that a disciple who had been close to Jesus, seen all the miracles, heard all the teachings, and observed every detail Jesus’ daily life would fail to believe!
– Jesus makes a very interesting statement, and one that should be a great comfort: even a creature’s belief in our Creator is in the hands that Creator.
– God certainly understands everything we understand and everything we think – and He alone knows how to enable people to understand the truth and believe in Him.
– Creator God is sovereign over all things – physical and spiritual, material and intellectual. We each respond according to our own understanding – and no one can “manufacture conviction”. It is the work of our wise Creator to present us with experiences which lead us to understanding.
4) (v. 66) At this point, many of the crowd realized that this was not the kind of salvation they were looking for!
“66 From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.”
– Today, we must realize that many people simply want a God who will override the laws of nature and change their circumstances – but this is not the gospel Jesus preached!
–… And if this is the gospel we preach, we are preaching a false gospel which will not save!
5) (Vv. 67-69) The gospel of good circumstances will not save, but the gospel of joy which transcends our circumstances, offered by Jesus, is the way to eternal life:
“67 ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.’”
– The circumstances of this world cannot give us any true security or confidence. The sooner we stop looking for salvation in circumstances; the sooner we can come to truth – that we are safe in the hands of our Creator.
– It is as Simon Peter says: Jesus is altogether pure and holy – character demonstrated by no one who is merely human. Jesus has the answers to life; Jesus is God.
6) (Vv. 70-71) Peter had become convinced that Jesus was God, but Judas Iscariot, presented with the same experiences, would later betray Jesus:
70 Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him.)
– The fact that Judas Iscariot did not believe once again shows that circumstances do not even determine our salvation!
– What we believe and when we believe it – spiritual birth – is a miracle of God. We can’t describe it and we can’t manufacture it.
– If we have come to that blessed belief that there is a God and that He loves us and cares for us, our only response to be very thankful for His work in our lives!
– And surely we can trust and pray that God will do His miraculous work in the lives of those we love.
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Jesus is God – and God is Jesus! Salvation comes from trusting our good Creator and knowing how humble He is, and how sacrificial and tender His love for us is. Believing in any other kind of god cannot save us – that is why Jesus said that we must believe that God would live among His creatures and even give His life for us!
Until next post,
Peace
“Illum oportet crescere – He must increase”
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adaffodil 