Tough Teaching (part 1)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In our passage last week we ended with verse 27.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
This morning we want to pick up where we left off. So if you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, turn with me to John chapter 6, and we’ll begin reading with verse 28.
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
The People’s Response
The People’s Response
There is now a dialogue between Jesus and the people who have found him, and would like him to feed them again.
What kind of works does God require? (v. 28) Or in other words, what do we have to do to please God?
This is a great question that all of us should be asking. Yet the truth many in our world today really don’t care about what kind of “works” God requires!
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Jesus’ Answer
Jesus’ Answer
It is really pretty simple--the work that God requires is to believe in the one he sent! The word believe (Gk. believe, to trust in, to entrust, to have faith in, to have confidence in, to think/consider) (cf. 1 Jn 3:23; Jn 1:12).
So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
They Want Proof!
They Want Proof!
First, they ask for a sign so they can see it and believe in him! (v. 30a)
Second, what sign will Jesus give (v. 30b).
They want this proof, because they believe Moses proved his leadership through the miracle of the manna (v. 31b).
They even quote Scripture, look at verse 31 (Ex. 16:4; Neh. 9:15).
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Jesus response
Jesus response
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
KEY--Moses didn’t give the children of Israel mana! (v. 32a)
Jesus says that the mana was “bread from heaven” (v. 32b)
And more importantly it came from “my Father” (v. 32c).
God the Father is the one who gives the “true bread from heaven” (v. 32d).
For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
The bread of God (Jesus--the Messiah) comes from heaven (v. 33a).
This “One” gives life to the world (cf. Phil. 2) (v. 33b).
The People’s Response
The People’s Response
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
They want to experience this bread (v 34).
The Declaration of Jesus
The Declaration of Jesus
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus gives an “I am. . .” This time He says he is the bread of life (v. 35a).
Jesus says whoever comes (responds) to Him will never go hun
And whoever believes in Jesus will never be thirsty (cf. Jn. 4:14) (v. 35c).
The Problem
The Problem
But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
They have seen (Gk. seen, noticed, experienced, observed, understood, learned about) Jesus but they still do not believe (Gk. pisteuo--same word used back in verses 35. It means believe, trust, put your faith in, rely on, be confident about, commit to) (v. 36).
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
KEY--everyone that the Father (God the s, He will NEVER drive away (v. 37b).
His Reason for Coming
His Reason for Coming
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Jesus says he came down from heaven (cf Phil. 2) in order to do the will of the one (God) who sent him (v. 38).
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Here’s the “will of him who sent” him:
That Jesus would not lose any of those God the Father gave him (v. 39a).
Instead they will all be raised up by Jesus at the last day (v. 39b).
The Father’s Ultimate Will
The Father’s Ultimate Will
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
His will is that everyone who looks to the Son (Jesus) and believes in him will have eternal life (v. 40a).
And that Jesus will raise them up in the last day (v. 40b).
The People Grumbled
The People Grumbled
At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
They grumbled because Jesus said he was the bread of life (v. 41a).
They grumbled because Jesus said he came down from heaven (v. 41b).
They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
They grumbled because they were familiar with him (v. 42):
Isn’t he the son of Joseph?
Don’t we know his family?
How can he say he’s from heaven? We know his entire family!
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.
Jesus tells the people to stop grumbling (v. 43).
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
No one can respond to the message of Jesus, unless God the Father draws them (v. 44a).
Jesus promises that those who are drawn to him, will be raised up at/on/in the last days (v. 44b).
It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.
The prophets wrote that God would teach His people (cf. Is. 54:13) (v. 45a).
Thus, everyone who has heard from the Father has learned from the Father (v. 45b).
And everyone who has learned from the Father responds to Jesus (comes to me) (v. 45c).
No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
KEY--No one has see God the Father (v. 46a).
No one, EXCEPT the one who came from God (v. 46b).
The One who came from the Father has seen the Father (v. 46c). This statement makes Jesus superior to those who were listening and should have prepared them for His next statement.
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
Anyone who believes what Jesus has been saying, has eternal life! (v. 47)
I am the bread of life.
Jesus declares that He IS the bread of life (v. 48)!
Jesus Explains
Jesus Explains
Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
Your ancestors ate mana in the wilderness--but they still died (v. 49). Mana kept them alive for their life span, but no longer.
But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.
Jesus says, “Here is the bread that comes down from heaven” talking about himself (v. 50a).
Anyone who eats of this bread (still talking about himself) will not die (v. 50b).
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Jesus gets even more obvious and clear, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” There was NO doubt what Jesus was saying (cf. v. 52) (v. 51a).
REPEAT--whoever eats this bread will live forever (v. 51b).
Even more plain-- “This bread is my flesh. . .” (v. 51c). That must have been an incredibly tough statement for those listening to understand and/or accept.
Jesus tells them that he is going to give his life for the world (cf. Heb. 10:10) (v. 51d).
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Those listening heard exactly what Jesus was saying, but to them it sounded like cannibalism (v. 52a).
In fact, it caused a harsh debate between some of them (v. 52b).
Notice their question, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” To them, Jesus was asking them to become cannibals--which was forbidden in the Old Testament Law (cf. Lev. 26:29) (v. 52c).
Confusing Words From Jesus
Confusing Words From Jesus
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Jesus continues with this confusing language:
He restates that unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man they won’t have eternal life (v. 53a). Again cannibalism was forbidden by the Mosaic Law (Lev. 26:29).
Now Jesus expands the command and says they also need to drink his blood (v. 53b). This practice was also forbidden by the Mosaic Law (Lev. 17:10-14, cf. Gen. 9:4; Deut. 12:23-25).
This must have sounded like heresy to those who were hearing it for the first time, but Jesus doesn’t stop there!
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
He now says that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life--and they will be raised up in the last days (v. 54).
For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
He compares his flesh to real food (v. 55a).
And he compares his blood to real drink (v. 55b).
It gets more confusing!
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
Jesus now moves from using figurative language (which his listeners were taking literally) to exposing the figurative nature of his speech (v. 56a).
He tells us that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood are abiding (remaining) in him (v. 56b)! Abiding is a two way street. I abide in Christ and He abides in me (cf. Jn. 15:4-7).
Comparison
Comparison
Just 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.
Jesus compares his relationship to the Father with our relationship with him (v. 57a).
Jesus was sent by the living Father so that Jesus, himself lives (v. 57b).
Likewise the won feeds (on going/continual) on him will live (or gains his/her life or existence from) him (v. 57c).
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
By definition--this is the bread that came down from heaven (v. 58a).
Their ancestors (coming out of Egypt) ate manna. And they still died (v. 58b)!
But the ones who continually feed on this bread (on Jesus) will live forever (v. 58c).
Location Marker
Location Marker
He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
John tells us that Jesus said all of this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Can you imagine hearing this message?
I presume that there were teachers of the Law of God sitting there.
I presume that they knew what the Levitical Law said about eating flesh and drinking blood!
I presume that this message was more than shocking.
And I presume that they didn’t understand the symbolic meaning of the message.
So why would Jesus make such an outlandish statement such as this?
Perhaps it was for the same reason he spoke in parables instead of speaking plainly.
Perhaps it was to challenge the people of his day to think.
Perhaps it was calling them to believe the difficult.
Perhaps he was calling them to the incomprehensible.
Perhaps he was calling them to the difficult.
So What
So What
As Jesus teaches, the people have a hard time understanding and accepting what he is saying.
You see, to them it doesn’t make sense.
To them it sounds preposterous or outrageous.
In fact, to them it sounds like a violation of the Levitical Law!
For many of them it was more than they were willing to do! Look at verse 60:
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
When we study God’s Word and learn from it how we should live, many would agree with verse 60.
They would join the disciples in saying, “This is a hard teaching.”
When we hear Jesus’ teaching on loving our enemies, caring for the poor and less fortunate, or living counter culturally—these are hard teachings!
When we see that God’s Word tells us to stop conforming to the ways of the world—it’s a hard teaching!
When we are told to love and serve God with our entire being—it’s a hard teaching!
When we are told to live as Christ lived—it’s a hard teaching!
When all that the world has to offer and it is FUN, but we are told that it separates us from God’s love because it is “sin”—it’s a hard saying!
Difficult teachings have driven more people than I can count away from relating to God the Father!
Difficult teachings have kept more people than I can count away from God’s love!
And difficult teachings have kept countless people out of God’s eternal home called heaven.
Remember, what Jesus said in verse 44?
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
My prayer for each of us is that we will see that difficult teachings help us grow in our faith.
Difficult teachings help us become like Jesus in how we live and act.
And my prayer is that we will embrace the difficult teachings of Jesus so that those around us will see Jesus in you and they’ll see Jesus in me!
