Really Only One Choice (Aug. 25, 2024) John 6.56-69

Have you ever been really tired of a certain food? I mean a food that you have had over and over to the point that just seeing it makes you lose your appetite. It could even be a favorite food (or former favorite) that you loved dearly and always thought that you would want to eat. But now, now that is not true. The food now leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and you hope that you never see it again, or at least for a long time. My dad had that reaction when he and my mom got married. His was not a favorite food, but one that was served over and over to him. He told my mom that he did not want pinto beans and corn bread until he asked for them because it was a meal that his family had all the time because they were not financially well off enough to have great variety in their diet. Mom told us that it was indeed a long time before he asked for beans and cornbread.

We have been speaking of bread for the past few weeks now. I promise that this is the last sermon on John 6and bread. But this section is important, not because it speaks of bread and flesh, but because it speaks of the disciples of Jesus and their reaction to what was said by their teacher.

Our text for today backs up and begins with verse 56 where Jesus is speaking of those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will abide in him and he in them. Let me read it to you one more time, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”[1]Jesus is telling those who are listening that again he is the living bread and that those who believe will live forever. And he is telling this as he teaches in the synagogue in Capernaum where his base of ministry was. This tells us that Jesus was respected as a rabbi, or teacher. Now, it is interesting to note that the Jews who opposed Jesus were ready to fight about what he was telling them. It is interesting because rabbis were (and are) known for arguing vehemently for different views on Hebrew scripture and then going out and having dinner together. That these Jews were ready to fight and were offended meant that Jesus was telling them something new that had never been addressed before this. They were hearing something that angered them to the point that they were willing to come to blows with the one teaching those words.

And now we come to the point of the text for today. There are disciples of Jesus who say that the teaching that the one who is here claiming that he is the bread of heaven, and they have to eat his flesh is…difficult. I believe that the word chosen here is not strong enough to convey what they were saying. The Greek means hard or harsh. This is not a saying that is hard to do, but rather one that is hard to accept. Those listening are to accept that this man, this human, one that they know from his days growing up, is the Son of Man, the Bread of Heaven, one who came down from heaven? Surely not! This is a teaching that will not do. Tell them morals and ethics and they will do them. That is what a good prophet is supposed to do: call the people out for things that they have done or are doing that are wrong. But here is a man saying he comes from heaven. And eating his flesh and drinking his blood is just…wrong!

And so, they tell Jesus that his teaching is hard for them to accept. Jesus replies by asking them if they are offended by this teaching. Again, the word offended does not convey the power of the word in the Greek. The REB uses the word “shocked” which is closer to the meaning. The word is skandelizo which means to cause one to stumble or sin. It is from where we get our word scandal or scandalize. Jesus is asking those complaining if they are scandalized by what he is saying, though the question is most likely rhetorical. He knows that they are by the complaint that they give.

Jesus then states that if they are scandalized by the Son of Man coming down from heaven, then what will they do when he ascends to where he was before he came down to earth?

He states that the spirit is the one who gives life, and the flesh is useless. Now what is he talking about here? Did he not just say that his flesh gives eternal life to those who eat it? But Jesus is saying that it is not the flesh, the literal flesh that brings life, but the spirit. And he has spoken the words of the spirit and life. These words are the words that must be heard and followed if one is to live forever.

Then Jesus speaks some more harsh words, “But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.”[2]There were those who did not believe the words that he spoke. Again, they were fine when he spoke words that were ethical and moral. They were fine, more than fine actually, when he did miracles such as the multiplying of the bread. These were what they expected him to say and do. But this teaching was too much. And Jesus knew that there were those who would not believe. He even knew that one would betray him. Knowing this allows Jesus to take command of the scene. He states that no one can come to him unless it is granted by the Father. In other words, faith is given to those who believe. Calvin states that those who believe are given faith first and then conversion, not the other way around. This faith is given by God to those whom God calls.

This was finally too much for those listening. Many of the disciples decided that this teaching, that this man, was too much for them to listen to and to follow. They were not about to give themselves wholeheartedly to one who spoke such words and who gave such hard teachings. They would return to their homes and await the one who would fit their idea of a Messiah. This also shows us that there were more disciples of Jesus than just the twelve whom we all know. There were many who followed, but only a few who gave themselves wholly to his teachings.

And to these twelve Jesus asks if they are also going to leave. He asks this with the intent of receiving a negative answer which Simon Peter, always the one who speaks up, gives, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”[3] This is along the lines of the answer that Peter gives in the Synoptic Gospels where he says that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah. Here he says that Jesus is the holy one of God, the one for whom they have all been looking to come and deliver them. This small number believe and are ready to take the next step to show their belief, though when trouble comes, they take the cowardly way out. But even when they do this, Jesus calls them back and restores them to the mission that he has for them to do.

G. K. Chesterton once said that “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” He meant that there are those who say they are Christians, but when the rubber meets the road, when the call to action comes, those are the ones who fall away because the teaching is hard or harsh. They do not want the difficulties that accompany Jesus’ teachings. Is he a good moral teacher, a miracle worker even? Sure! But is he the Son of God, God incarnate, the bread of heaven that when eaten allows us to live forever? Not so sure anymore.

And when Jesus asks us who remain if we are going to leave as well, what is our response? Will we be like Peter and Joshua who claim that they will follow the one who give the words of life? Will we be like the Israelites who stated that they would follow the one who delivered them? Will we say that he is the Holy One of God? There is really only one choice. That choice is to accept what we have been told, what we have been given and follow and be true disciples. Philosopher and Christian teacher Dallas Willard said that being a disciple was not just for “super Christians,” but was for the ordinary ones who accept the hard teachings and go out and live those teachings. The choice is offered. What will we choose? Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.