Genuine Disciples

60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?” 61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?

61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?

62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

66 From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

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

70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray him.

All ministries and churches face difficult times. Sometimes things may seem to be looking up. Attendance grows, giving increases, ministry participation is growing, etc. Other times, things may seem to be looking down. Physical Sickness, life changes or apathy & spiritual lethargy seem to be on the rise. . He seems to be saying things that are driving people away. Our modern day mentality has caused great harm to the church. The thinking that bigger is always better. That larger crowds = health and success. This can be true of course, and we thank God for growth, true spiritual growth, for this is a work of God. Many a pastor or church leader has been cast aside or considered unworthy of leadership simply because he could not seem to “draw a big crowd” or “grow a church.” Church leaders work themselves into an early grave trying to please the masses and “get them to church” only to create large numbers of false disciples who have never been born again. We end up creating amusement and entertainment for the goats while the sheep suffer.

In John chapter 6, we see the falling away of many who were following Jesus. Perhaps Jesus had forgotten to read some of the books on church growth and leadership. One of the profound verses we see in this chapter is verse 66, “From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.”

In this chapter we see the crowds and their fickle and false allegiance. We see the clarifying words and call issued by Jesus. We also see the commitment and confession made by true christians.

Notice first:

I. The Desires of the Crowd

As has been stated previously, large crowds were following Jesus. No doubt, large numbers of people had stated their intention to follow Jesus. However, as Jesus continues to drop truth bombs on them, they begin to waver. They looked the part for a while, but then turned away. The problem was their concept of a savior.

Seeking a Particular Thrill (v.2)

Go back to , “A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick.”

The crowd mentality leads to a belief today that Christianity and following Jesus is meant to be a constant supernatural high or other type of exciting experience. This leads to the rise of “so called” faith healers and other purveyors of spiritual merchandise that is meant to excite and energize people. The crowds in Jesus day and ours are very much the same. Crowds want the excitement, but not the commitment.

You can grow a crowd today in a building and call it a church by providing the latest and greatest music, minimize biblical doctrine, emphasize a wonderful experience, lessen the demands of discipleship, provide a youth/children’s program that serves as a pizza and fun-filled babysitting service until graduation from high school and you can most likely grow a gathering. In the end, pastors and church leaders will burn themselves out, walking around hunched over with their tongues hanging out of their mouths from exhaustion. While the crowd eventually grows tired of the entertainment you can provide and begins to search for another thrill.

Seeking Political or Material Gain (v.14-15, 26)

Not very long ago, “

, “ When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”

The crowd was motivated by a desire to overthrow the Romans and set up a political and military kingdom. Their desire was for some political and personal enterprise to be furthered. The kingdom they desired to be furthered was their personal kingdom, not God’s.

Go back to , “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Go back to , “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

Go back to , “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”

The crowd was looking for their bellies to be filled again. The interest of the crowd is in purely personal prosperity. They wanted Jesus to make food for them again. Jesus to them was nothing more than a means to a personal goal of material prosperity and self-fulfillment. They were seeking after the food that perishes and not the eternal bread of life.

In 2006, Time Magazine ran a cover story with the headline, “Does God want You to be Rich?” What they discovered was that of the four biggest churches in America, they were preaching what is known as the prosperity gospel. Basically, come to Jesus to get well physically, to get wealthy materially, or to succeed in your personal ventures. Come to Jesus for the prizes he will give you, not for him alone. The crowd is interested in things other than Jesus. They do not want to walk with Jesus. They do not want to obey Jesus. They do not want or desire to worship him.

II. The Clarifying Work of God

“the spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (v.63)

“This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by my father.” (v.65)

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..” (v.44)

The Drawing Power of God the Father

The Preaching of the Gospel. Jesus is dispensing truth here to the crowd. Many are rejecting his message. Gospel preaching and the life-giving power of the Spirit are the means of drawing people to believe in Jesus. Salvation is wholly a work of God. God declares, the spirit draws - men are responsible for their response. Divine sovereignty does not do away with human responsibility.

“Salvation is never achieved apart from the drawing power of God, and it is never consummated apart from the willingness of humans to hear and learn from God. To choose one or the other will ultimately end in unbalanced, unbiblical theology … Rather than resolving the tension, the best resolution is learning to live with the tension and accepting those whose theological commitments differ from ours” (Borchert, pp. 268–69).

The crowd is interested in things other than Jesus.

Crowds Demand Things from God

We do not try to guess who the elect are, we are, as God’s ambassadors in this world, responsible for declaring the gospel. God does the calling, the saving and the clarifying.

The Life-Giving Power of the Spirit of God

The gospel of John has more to say about the person of the Holy Spirit than any of the other three gospels. It is the spirit of God that gives the illuminating power to receive and understand the words of God. The grumbling of the crowds (v.41, 60) revealed that their hearts and minds were still darkened. It is comforting to me as a preacher to remember that it is not my job to make someone believe. I am simply a herald, a messenger. I cannot turn the lights on in someone else’s heart. Only the Holy Spirit of God can do this work.

, “But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.”

, “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,,a who is the image of God. 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.”

, “But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.”

III. The True Christian

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After the desertion we see in v. 66, Jesus said, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”(v.67) What we see next is a confession and commitment that affirms true faith.

Many discussions have been made over the years on whether or not a person can be a Christian without being a disciple. While time does not permit us to dive deeply into this discussion, I do believe when we read this account as well as the whole of New Testament teaching that we have cheapened the call to become a Christian in our time. Becoming a Christian calls for:

Commitment To Follow Christ

is a passage that should warn us all of the danger and reality of false professions, “They went out from us, but they did not belong to us, for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.”

Half-hearted false professors look for a reason to leave. They look for a reason to not believe. Many times it is exactly because the truth has become too hard for them. Verse 60 bears this out. The truth has offended them. The teachings of Jesus were rejected by them. When things become hard, they bail. When Jesus stops performing for them like a genie in a bottle they look for another genie.

If you have been born again, transformed by the Spirit of God, you will be satisfied with the bread of life, Jesus. You will love him for who he is, not what he can give you. You will desire to worship him, not his blessings.

Genuine Confession of Faith

In our time we have many professors of faith, but this does not equate with possession of true faith. We need to remember this as church leaders when we see people slide away from the church. Jesus knows who belongs to him, and he preserves them. When Jesus asks this question in verse 67 he is providing an opportunity for the true disciples to affirm their faith.

A genuine confession of faith has two components:

1. Belief in who Jesus Is

Notice verse 69, “We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The use of the phrase “Holy One of God” affirms that they believed Jesus to be God. Peter is declaring that he believes in who Jesus is. You cannot be saved if you do not believe what Jesus has declared about himself. This was one of the issues with the crowd. When Jesus began to make claims about his person and power they balked.

2. Complete Trust in Jesus

“Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Six: Jesus Loses His Crowd (John 6)

The preaching of the Word of God always leads to a sifting of the hearts of the listeners. God draws sinners to the Saviour through the power of truth, His Word. Those who reject the Word will reject the Saviour. Those who receive the Word will receive the Saviour and experience the new birth, eternal life.

Conclusion: