Proper 15B (Pentecost 13 2024)

Text: “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 16:68).

“But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:64a).

This is one of the really interesting details of John 6. It is one of the most amazing messages that Jesus preached. “35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). “48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:48–51). And how does the chapter end? With unbelief. With a huge number of people walking away from Jesus and with one of the apostles, themselves, not believing. Right and left through this chapter— one verse after another— He’s offering eternal life again and again and again, teaching them that they can find that eternal life in Him, promising it to them in no uncertain terms. And they walked away. That one verse sums up the chapter fairly well: But I know that there are some of you who do not believe. Now, that is more than an observation about this chapter of the Bible that you may or may not find as interesting as I do. It is important. It is important because those words need to be brought back into our vocabulary today.

I know that there are some of you who do not believe.

A fair number of people are offended at that statement. They will storm out in a self-righteous rage— just like the crowds who turned their backs on Jesus. The fact that there are those who are offended by that statement does not make it any less true, does it?

Those who are offended will still object: “But Pastor, I understand that Jesus said that. He gets to make that judgment. He can say that with some authority. But you’re not Jesus.”

You are correct. I am most certainly not Jesus. I would suggest to you, though, that Jesus did not necessarily need His divine nature to see who did not believe. He knew it when they turned their backs on Him and walked away. He knew which of the apostles did not believe when he betrayed Jesus. Yes, Jesus knew before those things happened, but those actions made it visible to everyone that they did not believe.

Now there are still some who will dig their heels in and insist, “How dare you try to tell me that I don’t believe? I know what’s in my heart.”

Let’s deal with that, too. I’ll even agree with you. You believe— something. No one is questioning that. Jesus was not saying that the people in front of Him literally had no faith in anything. But they did not believe in Him. They would not accept that He was the One who had come down from the Father for the purpose of suffering and dying for the sins of humanity. They believed in something. But they did not believe in that. So they walked away from Him and betrayed Him. So yes, you believe in something. And there is no question that you are completely sincere in what you believe. But what? What is it that you believe, exactly? Believe in Jesus as the Holy One of God? Believe in Jesus as your Savior— as the One who suffered and died for you? No. That you clearly do not believe.

You have made that clear by your actions. You have made it clear by your priorities and values. You have made it clear by your decisions. ‘Believing’ means more than just “I grew up in that church. I went to that school.” ‘Believing’ means more than just “my parents and grandparents were members there.” ‘Believing’ means more than simply, “that place feels like home.” There are many who have that sort of faith and have shown it by walking away from Jesus.

You can not say that you believe that Jesus Christ is the bread of life and not think that it is important to eat of that bread and drink of that wine regularly. That’s why Martin Luther pointed out that, if a person does not receive the Lord’s Supper at least 4 times a year it is to be feared that he or she is no longer a Christian. It’s not because Jesus made a rule that you have to take Holy Communion so many times a year to be in His club. It’s because believing in Jesus means clinging to Him as the source of life. Saying that you’re just not prepared mentally to receive communion on a particular Sunday is one thing. That’s perfectly fine. But to stay away from the Sacrament of the Altar for months and months at a time— is to turn your back on Jesus; to turn your back on the life that He offers you here.

You know that He has promised that, wherever even two or three are gathered in His name, He is there with them. And yet you turn your back on Him by considering it unimportant to gather for worship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Repent. Turn back to Jesus.

You can not say that you believe in Jesus and then betray Him by willfully persisting in sin. You know, for example, that He has commanded that marriage be held in honor by all and the marriage bed be undefiled, that He will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. The end of these things is death (Romans 6:21). You know it and yet you persist in your sin. Repent and turn back to Jesus.

We don’t need some sort of divine ability to peer into your heart to know what you believe. You show us what you truly believe by your priorities, by your decisions, and by your actions. It is clear: there are some of you who do not believe. Repent and turn back to Jesus.

The words that Jesus spoke then; the Word that He has placed into your hands in Holy Scripture; the Word that is still read, taught, and preached here it is spirit and life. His words are the words of eternal life. He is the Holy One of God who came down from the Father to give His life for the life of the world.

No one can come to Him unless it is granted him by the Father (John 6:65). So He was lifted up on the cross in order to draw all people to Himself (John 12:32).

For as often as we criticize St. Peter for his foolishness, we have to give him complete credit here. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). That really is the whole thing. That sums up the life of a believer: clinging to the life-giving words of Jesus Christ and confessing that He is the Holy One of God.

Here, gathered with your brothers and sisters in Christ, you hear the words of eternal life. Those words declare to you: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Those are the words with which you are born again to a new, eternal life.

Those words declare to you: “I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The life given to you in Holy Baptism is renewed and restored.

Those words command and invite you: “Take and eat… take and drink” the body and blood that were given and shed for you. Eat and drink of the bread of life that He gives from this altar. “Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:58b).

Life may, very well, pull you away from this area. When that happens, will you cling to a place that is special to you or will you cling to Jesus and His Word? Whether you move away or spend you entire life here, will you hold Him and His Word sacred and gladly hear and learn it, or will you allow other things to take priority over Him? Will you strive to lead a holy life according to His Word or will you give yourself back over to the shameful things which lead to death?

Believe in Christ. Cling to Him. Make Peter’s confession your own— both in your words and in your actions: “68 Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68).