Following Jesus All the Way
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and iwe have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
We Must Know Jesus
Following Jesus all the way. What a theme. As I wrestled with this theme I thought that in order to follow Jesus we must first get to know Him. We must first accept Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. We must first recognize who he is. In this 6th chapter of John around the 25 verse after Jesus has already fed the 5 thousand He sends the twelve disciples to the other side of the sea. The crowd of people who were fed with two fish and 5 loaves of bread saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with the twelve and when they couldn’t find Him they got in boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, h“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 kDo not labor for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.”[1]
This is important because it shows us that God wants us to seek Him for who He is. It’s not enough just to be fascinated by the miracles He’s done. Jesus wants us to go beyond what we’ve heard and to know Him personally. Listen, Jesus says:
Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.”[1]
Do you know what a seal is? A seal in biblical times was like a signature today. It was a sign of identity. No two seals were alike. If you stamped your seal on something people would know that it was from you. There were different types of seals. There were signets which were rings, and also people had cylinder seals that they wore on cords around their necks. Now the rich were the ones that wore seals. The poor would use their thumbs or the hem of their garments to sign things. Now Jesus in those days would be categorized among the poor, so the hem of His garment is what He would use to sign things the hem of His garment was a sign of His identity. Its no wonder why around this same time, in Marks gospel 6th chapter the 53rd -56th verse. After Jesus had fed the five thousand and after he had walked on water, and when got into the boat with the twelve the first place they came to was a place called Gennesaret. And when they got out of the boat immediately people bumb-rushed Him. The whole region began to bring the sick, and all they wanted to do was to just touch the hem of His garment. And the bible says all who did were made well. Do you remember hearing about the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years, she longed just to touch the hem of His garment for she knew she would be made whole. This lady with the issue of blood those people in the region near Gennesaret, they were just reaching for a piece of who He was. Friends in order for us to follow Jesus we first have to know who He is. We have to genuinely seek Him. We need to have a person relationship with Him. He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the Bright and Morning Star, He is the Lamb of God, He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, He is our Lord and Savior, He is God Almighty. Remember, a seal was a sign of what, identity. John 6:27:
Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.”[1]
Jesus said many times I and the Father are One. Jesus was letting them know then and He is letting us know today that God the Father has place His seal His identity on Him. Lets seek to know Jesus! Amen
Following Jesus
How do we follow Jesus? Its hard. Especially when His word challenges us or goes against our own personal beliefs. Then we become like these men in our text. We can’t except His word. Verse 60 of our text says:
When many of His disciples heard it, they said, “this is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
See following Jesus causes us to activate our faith. We’ve got to put some action behind it. And sometimes that simply means we just accept what the Lord has shown us, told us, or has placed in His word for us to live by. We accept it by faith. We need know that we are not always going to understand everything, but we should also know that everything is not for us to figure out. That’s why I say you have to first know Jesus before you can follow Him. Because if you don’t really know Him, when you are faced with a difficult situation, when you don’t really understand and don’t want to accept His word the first thing you will want to do is what these temporary disciples did in our text, and that is turn away. In the New Testament the word “disciple” is used both in the technical sense and the ordinary sense. In the technical sense it refers to an apprentice in training under an established teacher. Which in this case the teacher would be Jesus. But disciple, in the ordinary sense meant and adherent, someone who just went along with a movement without deep commitment to its principles or its leader. These were the type of disciples that turned away from Jesus in our text. That’s why I feel the message of the need for a personal relationship with Christ is so important, because in America we have become sort of cultural Christians. We attend church on Sunday just because that’s what we do in America. So many Americans have just went along with a movement without a deep commitment to the principles of God or a commitment to Jesus. Friends I am not saying that you are not going to mess up. But grow close to Jesus. Learn to love what He loves. Study His word and seek to become more like Him. Because you will be faced with challenging times. Young people I know you are up against difficult things day after day. All of us are fighting against the world’s view of life and against its desire to live life opposite the standards of God. But we must not turn away. We must utilize what Jesus gave to use. This is how we follow Him. By living life in and by the Holy Spirit. So even when the world gives you its strongest blow; you’ve got to know that God has placed something on the inside of you the believe in Christ, that gives you power over temptation, power over drugs, power over premarital sex, power over every wicked thing in this life. All we have to do is tap in to that power. When Jesus rose from the dead He said I have all power from heaven and earth in my hands. So now there is no power on the earth. Jesus ascends to heaven, but then He comes to live in you the believer, in the form of His Holy Spirit. So now you have the power of Jesus working on the inside of you. Of whom should you be afraid, of whom should you fear? What can’t you defeat? Nothing! You can defeat anything! That’s why Paul said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You’ve got to live in the Spirit. When you live in the Spirit you begin to understand God’s word. He left the bible for us to take with us on this Christian journey. He gave us His Spirit to it to life in us. Listen to what He says in verse 63 of our text:
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
Christ words are spirit and life. The flesh is no help at all. If you are not in the spirit Christ words won’t mean much to you. How can you follow Jesus if you can’t hear His word, if you don’t know His voice. How can you follow Him. You can’t. You’ll turn back. Just like the ones filled your churches just for Christmas, you’ll turn back. Just like those that will fill your churches on easter you’ll turn back. But if you live life in the Spirit you will realize what Peter realized in our text. After the temporary disciples had turned back Jesus turned to the twelve and asked them do you want to go away as well? In verse 68 of our text it says:
Simon Peter answered Him, 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.
Peter says there is no other place for us to go Lord. Not now. We see your word is true. We believe. We’ve seen your miracles. We believe. But this is what I love about what Peter says, he says, we have come to know… in other words Peter says we’ve been to close not for you to rub off on us. We have come to know… Lord you’ve taken us through a few things. We have come to know… brothers and sisters Peter is saying we have a relationship with you and we know that you are the Holy One of God. See when you have a relationship with Jesus, when walk with Him, when you draw near to Him, when you fellowship with Him, you will come to know that He is who He says He is.
Conclusion
In the 24th chapter of Luke the bible says that two men were on a road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Now this is after Jesus had already been crucified, buried and resurrected, but unknowingly to these two men. These men are talking about all the events that had just happened in Jerusalem. Jesus comes and joins them, He walks with them, but their eyes are kept from recognizing its Him. So they don’t know who He is. From their conversation Jesus can see that these men were losing hope because they didn’t know Him, they didn’t believe He had resin. They were losing hope because they didn’t understand His mission and purpose. So while Jesus walked with them on this 7mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus He interprets for them all the scriptures beginning with Moses’ writing and through all the prophets. And when they get to these two men’s house they invite Jesus in and while Jesus is sitting at the table, He takes the bread and blesses it and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, they recognized Him and He vanished from their sight. The two men said to each other didn’t our hearts burn with in us as He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures.
Follow Jesus church. Allow Him to open up the scriptures to you. And your hearts will burn with love. With the greatest love. With a love that only Jesus our suffering Savior and King who gave His life for us, A love that only He can give. Follow Him all the way!