A study of John's Gospel. Pt. 36 Words of Life and Walking by Faith as We live for His glory.

Good morning to all of you on this day that the Lord has made for us. May we use this day wisely and be actively engaged with His kingdom business.

I ask that you all specifically pray for brothers and sisters in certain parts of Asia to remain strong in the faith as they are experiencing turmoil and disruption in their lives because of the ongoing political changes being implemented. 

The Jews did not like the teaching of Jesus Christ. 

John 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 

The word "disciples" in this text is not referring to the 12 men that Jesus called for His ministry. Rather, He is referring to the multitude of the Jews that followed Him to the synagogue at Capernaum. 

The question "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" is rooted in their inability to think in spiritual terms. The word translated "hard" is a word that means they thought Jesus' words were harsh, stern, offensive and intolerable. 

What sayings of Jesus offended them? 

• Jesus said He and His Father were one, thus making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). 

• Jesus pointed out that they needed an internal transformation of their hearts in order to be rightly related to God (John 3:3-21). 

• Jesus said there was only one path to God and that was through Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 6:40).

• Jesus said the Father gave Him all power over the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation (John 5:19-29).

• Jesus said that they were not of God because they did not hear His voice (John 5:37-38).

They were offended at Jesus' teachings.

John 6:61-62  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62) What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 

Again, we see the deity of Christ on display as He "knew" that those who were grumbling and complaining disciples were offended by His teaching on the Bread of Life. Jesus asked about what offended them. The word translated "offend" is found in the word "scandalized" which implies the religious Jews viewed Christ's words as heresy or blasphemy. 

Jesus asked them what they would do if they saw Him ascend to heaven where He previously existed? The people were operating from a physical viewpoint and disregarded what Jesus told them about where He came from. 

All His efforts to explain about eating His flesh and drinking His blood remind us that a crucified Messiah was a major stumblingblock to the Jews (1 Corinthians 1:23). They were looking for a military ruler who would throw off the shackles of Rome and liberate their homeland.

Words of life are met with resistance.

John 6:63-64  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64) But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 

Jesus gets to the heart of this matter. He told them plainly that their flesh does not profit for anything, but rather that the Spirit of God quickens the human soul. He makes us alive through the regenerating work of the new birth. 

The very words that offended the Jews so that they struggled to understand are declared to be "spirit" and "life"in the sense that it is verbally inspired truth capable of making a dead heart alive unto God. 

Jesus also spoke frankly with them and reminded them that their problem was one of refusal to believe on Him whom the Father sent. 

Unbelieving disciples depart from Jesus.

John 6:65-66  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66) From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 

Jesus concluded speaking with the Jews by reminding them that no one will come to Jesus unless the Father calls them based on His foreknowledge. They refused to believe. 

Notice what the text says. Many of those disciples said "We are done with this" and walked away from the ministry of Christ. 

This reminds us of the four kinds of soil in the Parable of the Seed and Sower in Matthew 13. Each soil type represents how human hearts respond to the Word of God. 

Matthew 13:20-21  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 

21) Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

It is the second of those four soil types that I would like to call your attention to because it accurately describes how the Jews respond to Christ's words. 

The soil received into stony places represents hearts that take in the word and it begins to grow within them and they have temporary joy. Then, when trouble arises or persecution starts, these people are offended and walk away. This type of person was offended and stopped following Christ.

Faithful men stayed with Christ all the way.

John 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68) Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69) And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Jesus watched the multitude disappear and then He turned to His own disciples and asked if they too, were going to leave. Peter spoke for them all when he said that there was no where else for them to go because Jesus had

 the words of life."And we believe and are sure...." is a profound declaration that the 11 (Judas Iscariot was not a believer) disciples were completely convinced as to who Jesus was and were firmly committed to following their Master. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

There are some exclusive things that Jesus taught that the Jews could not accept. The points I highlighted above are those places where we can expect resistance when we share the gospel with others. 

People tend to believe that all religious views can lead to heaven whereas, Jesus said no man comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). People seem to think that if they can do enough good works then they can be right with God. If that were true, God would not have needed to slay His own Son on the cross for us.

I think we can learn a bit about ministry as well. It is popular to judge how successful a ministry is by the number of people who attend a church. Yet, Jesus said that we must enter the straight gate and walk on the narrow way that leads to eternal life, and there are few people that are willing to follow Christ with their whole heart (Matthew 7:14). 

The end of John 6 shows us that ministry success is not defined by how many people go to a church. Rather, it is defined by those who see Christ, hear Christ's words and believe on Him.

The faithful disciples stayed with Jesus all the way. The same ought to be true of us. 

Proverbs 20:6  Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? 

Let us choose to pursue Jesus Christ vigorously no matter what our circumstances may be. Let us keep walking by faith every day and seeking to honor Christ with our lives as we seek to tell others about Him. 

Bob