The Offense of the Gospel

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John 6:60–71 “60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?” 61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.” 66 From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One o…”

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Pilgrims Progress

The Offense of The Word

John 6:59–60 “59 He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?””

I think we could all agree this has been a deep and in depth chapter

we have covered things in these past few weeks that unless you preach the entirety of the bible

you probably wont hear on Sunday mornings

I think we could also agree that these tough teaching of Christ about things like

predestination

election

about our salvation coming from God and not from us

all of us this can be hard for many to hear

I mean last week we talked about the fact that we must eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ

now we know was symbolic but still

some very tough things have come out of this chapter

yet, you are all still here

and that is more than we can say about many of the crowd that heard this in first person

See as 59 concluded Jesus finished up his sermon on the bread of life last week

and V60 starts with the aftershock we could say

you know how we all gather after the sermon and talk as we are leaving and visit

well this is similar to what is happening now

Jesus’ sermon is over

they crowd is dissipating

most are walking away mad

many have already left

others are talking behind his back in the parking lot

….

yet some stuck around

Notice V60 says his disciples

we are no longer seeing the crowd

they are gone

these things he said that we covered last week drove away

those that had already made up their mind

and what is left are those that are on the fence

those that have been following him

The word disciple here doesn’t refer to the 12, we will see that later

this refers to those in general that are interested in Jesus

those that could be considered his students but were still trying to get a feel for what he had to say

to these, these things he was teaching were hard

and I don’t want to water it down with our English

the greek here seems to mean more than just hard

see these, these ones that were left understood what he was saying

so it wasn’t hard in the fact they didn’t understand it

it was hard in the fact that they were having a hard time accepting it

the greek word for hard here is skleros

which means offensive, unacceptable, intolerable

See for these remaining it wasn’t a head issue

it was a heart issue

The things Jesus said literally offended them

and it is still that way today

many today understand the gospel

but wont accept it

because it is offensive

See Jesus said things like

John 14:6 “6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

there is no other way to salvation or heaven except through Jesus Christ

this exclusive claim is so offensive in regards to todays relativism

and the all paths lead the heaven

no, there are only 2 paths

and one leads to heaven and one leads to hell

Luke 6:27–28 “27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

these words of Jesus goes against everything our human instincts demand

instead of revenge, resentment

we are called to radically love and forgive

Matthew 16:24–25 “24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”

this offends those that love their self centeredness and comfort

because instead He calls for self-denial and sacrifice

Mark 10:25 “25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.””

we love our wealth and materialism

especially here in the great USA

and while wealth and possessions in and of themselves are not bad

the challenge comes with their allure

our innate sense to want want want

to long for the things of the world

to acquire riches and to make them our gods…

Yet the words of Christ warn against the

prioritization of wealth and possessions

because they can quickly squander

our view and prioritization of the things of the Kingdom

Matthew 10:34 “34 Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

now these words of Jesus are interesting

doesn’t Jesus bring peace

yes he does

But his message of peace is a message that many dont want to hear

and it’s within his message that conflict and divisiveness can occur

just as it did for these folks

They were deeply offended by the words of Jesus

And again, the words of Christ

The words of Scripture should cut us to the core

And there are many that will hear the words of Christ

hear the gospel and turn from it

many will reject it

many will mock it

Yet for some

The words of Christ and

Even the hard sayings of Christ

the offensive sayings of Christ

sound like music to our ears

and while they convict us

while they show us who we truly are

we know that those words

are words of forgiveness

of reconciliation and healing

words of salvation and eternal life for those that believe

offering us hope

purpose

meaning beyond this world

they are words of comfort in times of trouble

when we are suffering

when we are burdened

we we need rest

his words provide that strength we need to persevere

we know that ultimately his words are words or Truth

and words of Love

and that truth and love was displayed upon that Cross

which unfortunately,

many find offensive as well

which brings us to our next point

The offense of the Cross

John 6:61 “61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?”

Jesus knew what was bothering them

he knew why they were grumbling

at the heart of these hard sayings was the blood and the messiah

See the difficulty in his words were due to teaching and symbolism found in the idea of

his flesh and blood

of him being the bread of life

and of him not being the messiah they expected and tried to make king back at the beginning of the chapter

See each and every one of these things

blood

messiahship

life

foreshadowed his work on the cross

See His work on the cross is offensive to many

the blood shed on the cross is offensive to many

because it represents the blood

the shame

the death of Jesus

Many think how can I worship a God that sent his son to die a criminals death

with all that blood and gore

what kind of grotesque God would do something like that

why should I believe in a God that would torture someone

let alone his son

Why should I follow a God who’s symbol is a Cross

A cross that brought so much death to so many

That cross which is a symbol of suffering and sacrifice

That cross is offensive!

But what we really should ask is

is that cross offensive because of what occured on it

or is it offensive because of what it says to the world

See the root of the issue about the offense of the cross isn’t the shape or the history

what many find offensive about the cross is the fact that is says to the world

you are a sinner

we are sinners

See many do not want to come to terms with the fact that it was our sin that caused Christ to be nailed to that tree

it was our sin that caused his side to be pierced

it was our sin that sent a perfect innocent man to suffer in our place

People didn’t want to hear that then

and they sure don’t now

But for those that embrace the cross

embrace the fact that the blood had to be spilled

embrace the fact that the innocent one died on our place

embrace the fact that it was His death that causes our life

To us the cross is

Offended By The Exaltation

John 6:62 “62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”

Do not believe that Jesus was God

Offended By The Spirit

John 6:63–64 “63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.)”

Offended By The Drawing

John 6:65 “65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.””

The Response

John 6:66–71 “66 From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray him.”