No Longer Following Jesus (John 6:60–71)

Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name”Text: John 6:60–71

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: June 11, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

In the last few years, there have been a number of high-profile stories of people walking away from the faith, from former pastors to musicians to other figures. The historic term for that is apostasy. Today, though, the more popular term is deconstructing. The idea is that someone struggling with personal belief mentally (or emotionally) takes apart their faith to see every piece of theology, examining it and deciding whether to keep it. Such individuals are usually spurned on by some event or personal desire, and they often times decide to reject a biblical faith for one of their own making. In other words, the end result usually is a rejection of Christianity, even if the person still claims some nebulous belief in God or Jesus in the end.

Some Christian groups have tried to reach out to those deconstructing their faith, obviously motivated by a desire to see them continue walking with Jesus. Yet, the efforts can range in biblical fidelity. For instance, some Christian ministries use using the term “disentangle” for those coming out of hyper-fundamentalist or cult-like structures; this is good, because they want people to get rid of unbiblical notions and keep with the Christ of the Bible. On the other end of the spectrum, however, some falsely assure people that they can have Jesus and whatever sinful passions or identities they want to embrace.

When someone starts questioning, then, we naturally want to warn people of potential dangers. As 2 Corinthians 5:11 says, knowing “the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” Hebrews 6:4–6 says, “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” We don’t want people to walk away finally and totally from Christ.

While it’s easy to fear the result of someone questioning their faith, we must respond with both grace and truth and trust in the Lord for the results. We don’t know the future, whether they’ll ultimately apostatize, and even then, we don’t know that they won’t come running back to Jesus after wandering in the world for a while. All they will know is if we were open to them and loving while also upholding the beacon of truth. So, even though we also know that there’s a possibility that some loved one will walk away from faith in Christ for good, we should be patiently faithful, praying and believing the best.

So, let’s back up for a moment as we consider a set of Jesus followers who walk away from Him. We’ll see that they reject Him because they reject His word. We’ll also see that those who remain do so because of God’s grace. Let’s consider that latter necessity throughout this sermon, in fact, as we consider how to respond to those who may also seem to depart from the faith.

Rejecting God’s Word leads some disciples to walk away from Christ (vv. 60–66)

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

The ones who walk away are identified in v. 60 as disciples. How is that possible? We need to understand what the word means. It comes from the Greek term mathetes which most simply or generally means a “learner, pupil, disciple.” Such learning or discipleship often involved following a teacher through his travels and taking in the lessons he dispensed along the way, as we see with Jesus. In other words, these were more than casual acquaintances — these were dedicated followers of Jesus.

However, they are false disciples. We know that because Jesus reveals in v. 64 that they do not believe. Oh, they believed from a certain perspective; they believed in His ability to give them stuff. As one commentary notes, “The popular enthusiasm for Jesus as a political Messiah (v. 15) was then over. They saw that He was not going to deliver them from Rome.” Jesus’s teaching shattered their faith when He reoriented them to a different one. Theirs wasn’t a faith in the truth.

One of the most interesting phenomena in dealing with atheists and others who apostatized from the Christian faith is that they will always claim to have been true believers. Yet, they usually mean that they were dedicated followers (they attended services, memorized Scripture, prayed prayers, and sang songs). Their belief, however, was superficial in some manner and unbiblical, never sincere.

The Apostle John would have been there to witness this. Decades later, he would see it happen over again in Christian congregations. He writes in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” False disciples leave, not true ones.

Back in v. 60, we see that it is the words of Christ that troubles them. They say, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” They could be responding to everything that Jesus had taught this day, from the fact that He came from heaven to their need to consume His flesh and blood for eternal life. While they were initially interested, they find His teaching to now be repugnant. The next verse reveals that they were grumbling at His teaching.

Jesus knows when there is a lack of faith and why. Incidentally, as the Reformation Study Bible notes here, this is the first of three instances in this passage of Jesus exercising supernatural knowledge; the other two are in vv. 64 and 70. He asks, “Does this cause you to stumble?” or scandalize. Jesus does not hide the truth just because it offends, not because He enjoys fighting, but because He loves people and drives them to the truth. While Jesus was gentle and mild, He also wasn’t afraid to say a word that might offend when needed.

This might be what drives them away, but people are offended at the wrong things. Jesus said in Matthew 11:6, “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (same word). This is a word that people need to hear today, but unfortunately, many still chose to reject faith in Him.

Yet, He pushes scandal further in v. 62: “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” This question cuts to the heart of His claims, going back to Daniel 7:13–14 —

I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

He applies the title “Son of Man” to Himself once again, and He asks them whether they would be offended if they saw Him take His rightful place at the right hand of God and establish His kingdom there. For those with ears to hear, they will know that He is offering to build the kingdom they so desire to see, though not quite in the way they want it, and they should not be offended by that.

However, the idea of a ruling Jesus Christ over the hearts and minds of the people does cause sinners naturally to stumble. He is the preexistent Christ. Jesus was in existence before His early sojourn. He will then return there glorified (after being also lifted up on the cross). They are yet unconverted, therefore, they cannot fathom His message.

That is the trouble with false disciples and false converts. They are still in their sin and cannot perceive spiritual realities. All they know is what they like and what they don’t, and they don’t like being forced to believe something that rubs them the wrong way. For a while, the Christian faith seems preferable to them, perhaps out of a sense of nostalgia or moral duty, but they still live in the flesh. As 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised;” true conversion must occur to receive the truths of God.

Therefore, a supernatural work is necessary. Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The Legacy Standard Bible translates this, “The Spirit is the One who gives life.” This is known as the doctrine of the regeneration of the Spirit. Natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1–3), like Lazarus in the tomb, and we need the voice of the Lord to call us forth. The new life creates in us a capability to do what the Bible says we can’t (Rom. 9:3–18) — seek God, repent, and exercise faith.

Because they haven’t had a work of God yet, in v. 64, Jesus says, “ ‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.” They are in an ongoing state of disbelief, and He knows this. In fact, He fore–knows it, knowing “from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.” This is the second example of supernatural knowledge in this passage (vv. 61, 64, 70), and it’s an example of something else.

I know it’s unpopular, but it bears repeating that we see the sovereignty of God throughout this passage. In verse 64, we see the foreknowledge of the Lord. In vv. 65–66, we see the election of God the Father. In v. 67, we see the foreknowledge of the Lord again (in knowing they wouldn’t leave). In vv. 68–69, we see the results of His effectual call. Finally, in vv. 70–71, we see the election of the Lord to differing purposes. I was more than a little tempted to call the sermon today, “The Sovereignty of God Revisited,” although it isn’t the most prominent theme to consider.

So, the statement in v. 65 also leads us back to the discussion on the sovereignty of God. Because of their unbelief, He said that they are unable. It is interesting because they ask in v. 60 “who can listen to it?” or “who can hear it?” The answer is no one — with man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). Belief is commanded, but it is also a gift of God!

Though Jesus knew, it must have been heartbreaking to see it unfold, though. People can’t come ultimately because they love their sin so much. We read in v. 66, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” As MacArthur notes, “The language indicates that the abandonment was decisive and final (cf. 1 Pet. 2:6–8; 1 John 2:19).” The word “withdrew” comes from a statement we can literally translate, “departed to the things behind.” Theirs was a complete apostasy, for they went back to their old lives and would have nothing more to do with Jesus.

Note that it isn’t just those who start as enemies of Christ who oppose Him. Some of His opponents are former disciples. This is why some of the most vocal and bombastic atheists and skeptics are those with church backgrounds — once they reject Jesus, they want to tear down everything. For instance, Dan Barker was a professed Christian and minister, preaching and producing Christian music for decades before announcing he was an atheist. He claimed he simply outgrew his faith, but he has devoted the latter half of his life to getting Christianity out of the public square through the Freedom from Religion Foundation. How does someone get there? We could talk about the heterodox Word-Faith environment in which he moved, but the simplest biblical explanation is that he was a false convert all those years.

What do folks like this need? More gospel preaching and Christ more in our churches? More biblical teaching? That’s helpful, but these disciples had Christ and were His disciples and walked away! Rather, they need God’s saving grace. Let’s consider that next.

God’s grace is necessary to keep disciples from leaving (vv. 67–71)

So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.

Of course, the twelve here are disciples, as well. Perhaps even the twelve thought this was a difficult teaching! Still, they remain. As a group, they serve as a witness to true discipleship. They believe.

Let’s consider this. In v. 67, Jesus asks, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” It’s not clear in English, but the question in the original language is framed in such a way to expect a negative response. This means that there was little doubt on Jesus’s part as to the answer they would provide. The question is for their benefit, not His. If there was doubt on His part, then it would contradict everything Jesus said about the sovereignty of God and salvation as well as John saying in v. 64 that Jesus knew who would and would not believe.

Jesus, the Great Shepherd, knows His sheep, and He asks this question to prompt their response. So, Peter (speaking for the group) responds with an early confession about our Lord: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Peter recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, that no one else can provide what Jesus does, and affirms what Jesus said back in v. 63 — that Christ’s words are “are spirit and are life.”

They believe, but that doesn’t mean that they were perfect. There’s some question here as to whether Peter may be speaking with a bit of pride, like he did in Matthew 26:33 — “Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” In the case of his confession here in v. 63, Peter says “And we” (LSB), with the “we” being emphasized. We all have imperfect motives that God will need to change, but we are kept by His grace, not our faithfulness. We should never be proud that we believe while others walk away from Christ.

So, Jesus brings perspective back to the discussion in v. 70. He chose them. He’ll remind them of this in John 15:16 — “You did not choose Me but I chose you.” Three verses later, He says, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you” (v. 19). They believe because He chose them.

Even so, in this group, there is still a false convert. The group may have consented to the same mind, but, as one commentator notes, “except that in Judas there was no sincerity.” Verse 71 names him as Judas Iscariot, meaning “a man of Kerioth,” a town possibly in Judah, meaning he was “the only one of the twelve not a Galilean.” We read he “was going to betray Him” or, as the footnote says, “was intending to” betray Him. Perhaps Judas had a similar disgust to the “hard saying” of Jesus and the Lord’s apparent lack of ability to retain a following, and he was already rejecting the confession that Peter voiced.

Jesus chose him for a different reason, as He says in John 13:18 — “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ” Now, that doesn’t mean Jesus chose Judas to call him to sin; in the words of James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” Judas always had the choice, but he was “carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14–15). His sin caused him to turn away from Christ in the end, too.

It wasn’t just in the end. Judas may have been sympathetic to the crowd in this very moment, and Jesus again wields His supernatural knowledge by saying one of them is already a devil. Incidentally, because of the Greek grammar, this may be better translated “the devil” (NET, HCSB). It’s not that he’s literally a (or the) devil, but his goals align with Satan’s. John later highlights the moral spiral of Judas when he calls him a thief, explaining, “as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it” (John 12:6). Later, Judas is described as having a satanic source for his motivations (13:2, 27).

The Lord does not tempt to sin. In fact, there’s some grace in this moment, if Judas would have allowed himself a moment of reflection before the Lord and repent. He could have come to the Lord with his struggles and asked that he begin honoring the Lord. However, he doesn’t do this, and our Lord will use the sinful choices of people like Judas in a sinless way to bring about His glory.

Conclusion

There are those in our churches who will reject the truth for varying reasons. Perhaps they like the idea of love in general, which the Bible extols, but then they come across statements that seem unloving by modern sensibilities. There are young people who go to public schools or social media, see the colorful pride flags and smiling faces, but then they come to church and hear these things are a sin. Some are even having confusing thoughts and emotions that the world seems to welcome while wrongly fearing that the church would come to hate them rather than lovingly and patiently helping. For them, it’s a hard saying, and they may deconstruct, wrongly thinking either Jesus accepts sin or wrongly rejecting Him.

This is a difficult time for all involved. We want everyone to simply believe. But we can’t force it. We must instead be willing to walk alongside people, faithfully demonstrating the love of Christ while taking opportunities for truth speaking. It’s not easy, especially if the person openly engages in devilish behavior and calling church discipline upon themselves. In everything, though, we operate with grace and understanding. Let us recognize that we had our own sinful natures that God had to save us from and that we are where we are only by the grace of God.