John 6:51-69 Unfollow

John 6:51-69 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

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I.

John 6:51-52

51I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Up until now, their expectations had been doing nothing but growing. They had followed. They had listened. They had watched. They had hoped.

There had been miracles. Not just the feeding of more than 5,000, but lots of people had been healed. These kinds of miracles seemed to fit the bill of what they—and their ancestors—had been looking for for centuries. Messiah would have to be an incredible figure to be the King of the Jews. Watching his miracles, perhaps he could be even greater than they had first expected. He could be even greater than Moses with the manna in the wilderness.

They had listened to his words. Jesus had proven to be a great Teacher, even a Rabbi, to be held in great esteem for the wisdom of his teaching.

Eventually Jesus had turned them off a little bit. He talked about the “food that endures.” At first they had been willing to do some kind of work to get that kind of food—things that don’t spoil or depreciate. But then, Jesus had said that getting that “food that endures” is actually the work of God; it couldn’t be—and can’t be—done by the individual.

Well, they thought, after all the time they had already invested in listening to Jesus, maybe a little more wouldn’t hurt. They stayed. They listened some more. They had certain expectations for the commitment they had made.

But then...he had said this about his flesh being the bread he would give for the life of the world. That was starting to get a little too weird. Did he want them to become a bunch of cannibals? Was “his flesh” the “food that endures” that Jesus had spoken of earlier? If so, maybe they didn’t want it as much as they had initially thought. What were they to make of his statement? Things were getting a bit shaky.

II.

John 6:53-54

53So Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day.

Biblical hindsight later made some people think Jesus was talking about the Lord’s Supper. After all, he spoke here about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. But at the Lord’s Supper he pointed out specific elements—bread and wine—and said “this is my body,” and “this is my blood.” That was a sacrament, meant to strengthen faith in a believer’s heart.

Here Jesus said that without him—without this Bread of Life he had been speaking of—a person doesn’t have real life. Life outside of Jesus is no life at all. Life inside Jesus, as a part of Jesus, means having eternal life. Such a person will be raised up by Jesus at the last day.

The first time Jesus says “eat the flesh” in these two verses, the word for eat is a fairly normal word. The second time it was more of a munching, crunching kind of eating—the loud eating that animals do. Animals tie into the food dish with a single-minded intensity. Could Jesus have wanted us to have the same intensity as we devour his Word to grow in our faith?

III.

John 6:55-58

55For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers ate and died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Real food. Real drink. If there isn’t enough physical food to eat, a person will starve to death. It will take a while, and it won’t be pleasant; but a person can live without food for some time. Without water, on the other hand, death will come quickly. The body can’t last for long without food and water.

Jesus applies this same logic to faith. Without spiritual food and spiritual drink, faith won’t last very long. How are you nourishing yourself? It’s so enticing and so natural to go to the candy aisle and the chips aisle and the snack cake aisle. Spiritual junk food is eye-catching. The junk food that appeals most to each of us is different.

Jesus as an example is junk food. Trying to do what Jesus would do will not earn you any points before the Father’s throne. Jesus as a spiritual vending machine is junk food. Thinking that God ought to immediately address whatever want or supposed need is at the top of your mind this very moment does not bring nourishment.

Nutritional spiritual food and drink are far more important. At the cross Jesus offered his flesh and blood to pay for the sins of the world. All the false expectations we had for a Savior were paid for there. All the demands we made of God were paid for there. All the times we thought some of what Jesus had to say was a little bit weird were paid for by our Savior on the cross.

Eat and drink deeply of the Word of the gospel. Jesus came down from heaven to bring real life. Eating and drinking the gospel—the Good News—about Jesus is so much better than the manna from heaven which God sent through Moses. Those who eat and drink deeply of the gospel of Jesus will live forever.

IV.

John 6:59-60

59He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60When they heard it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?”

Some of these people had been following Jesus for quite some time. Not just around the lake and across the lake and back again, but they had followed for a while now. It wasn’t just a literal following as in tracking him down, but following what he said: listening and watching and absorbing. It had been quite an investment of time and energy, to their way of thinking.

But at a certain point you just have to cut your losses and move on. You know how it is.

This flesh and blood thing was just too weird. It was appalling. What were they to make of it? What did Jesus mean? Was this weirdness the thing Jesus had meant earlier by the “food that endures”?

“This is a hard teaching!” It wasn’t really all that hard to understand. They got it. They knew what he was saying; his words just weren’t really palatable.

“Who can listen to it?” They didn’t like what they heard. They really didn’t want to listen to this any longer. They would cut their losses.

V.

John 6:61

61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith?”

Trip you up. Appall you. Offend you. All of these are perfectly valid synonyms to speak about what Jesus said when he said: “Cause you to stumble.”

Jesus knew what many were thinking in this large group of disciples who had been tracking him across the lake and around the lake and back again.

Jesus’ discussion of the Bread of Life was so offensive that they would abandon everything he had said. They would push him out in unbelief and move on. They would stay in the spiritual junk food aisle and completely abandon proper nutrition. And without that proper nutrition, they would be back into the spiritual death that is the natural human condition.

True teachings about Jesus are offensive, aren’t they? I’ve had catechism students who were offended by God, but all backwards. It was appalling and offensive that God would require thousands and thousands of animal sacrifices every year when those sacrifices didn’t actually deal with sin. They took for granted God’s sacrifice of his own Son, Jesus, on the cross for sin. And they forgot to be appalled at their sin and the sin of countless millions that put Jesus on that cross in the first place.

VI.

John 6:62-65

62 “What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.”

Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse had been trying to teach them that no person can choose God or ask God into his/her life. Only the Holy Spirit gives real life. The flesh can’t help in any way.

The words Jesus has spoken have the Holy Spirit working in them. Those words are life. They grant people the real life God wants them to have.

“But there are some of you who do not believe.” Even with God the Holy Spirit working through the words of Jesus, some were actively pushing the Spirit away. When they heard things that didn’t meet their pre-conceived ideas, they no longer wanted anything to do with him.

“This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.” Jesus had said it before. He repeats it again. Even the desire to come to Jesus can only be worked in a person by God, himself.

VII.

John 6:66

66After this, many of his disciples turned back and were not walking with him anymore.

Unfollow. This had all been too much for many of those who had previously called themselves “disciples” of Jesus. These days we would call them Christians. They had been Christians, but now they turned away.

Their other concerns and desires—their wants and perceived needs—became their gods. If Jesus wouldn’t give them what they wanted, they would look elsewhere.

Many still do the same. The message of salvation in Jesus isn’t really what many want. They want things. They want earthly happiness. They want health and wealth. When Jesus doesn’t deliver, they turn back and don’t walk with him anymore.

VIII.

John 6:67-69

67So Jesus asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Some disciples hadn’t turned back, predominantly the Twelve—the close disciples of Jesus. They, too, had heard the whole Bread of Life sermon.

“So, you close disciples, what do you think? Do you want to leave, too? Will you also click the ‘unfollow’ button?”

Peter answers with a question. His question seems to indicate that he had thought about it. The teaching of Jesus was hard, as some of the other disciples had said. His teaching meant that they would have to reevaluate all the things they had been taught from childhood. It meant that they would have to realize that all their ideas about the Messiah were at least a little bit off.

“Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.” That really says it all, doesn’t it? Those who look beyond the pleasures and the things of this world realize how much more there really is. There is no other place to find it.

By the grace of God—by the power of the Holy Spirit working faith in you—by God doing the work, you are a follower. The “unfollow” button isn’t really the answer. Since you are a follower by God’s grace, follow with all your heart and soul and mind. Believe in the Holy One of God who has given his all for you. “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Amen.