Who Can Accept It?

Who Can Accept It? John 6:52-69 Misunderstandings happen all the time. Maybe we don’t mean what we say, or it doesn’t come out right. Maybe we know what we want to say but can’t find the right words. Or maybe we’re just reading the situation wrong. One day Jim was in a bad mood, and anyone who got in his way would regret it. Jim walked into his favorite restaurant and plopped himself down in a booth. The waitress came to take Jim’s order and he said, “Get me a steak, well-done, and mashed potatoes.” Not long after his food came, Jim took one look and screamed, “Didn’t I tell you well-done!?” “Why thank you,” said the waitress as she smiled, “That’s the first compliment I’ve got all day!” Misunderstandings happen and people have bad days. But today we’re going to see what happens when people don’t misunderstand something, but intentionally avoid the truth. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, chances are that you’ve known someone who professed faith in Christ, only to fall away later. I’m sure you’ve faced difficult issues that have challenged your faith as well. Maybe it was a hard question with an unclear answer. Or maybe you prayed for something that God didn’t grant. Perhaps you trusted some promise in the Bible, but it didn’t work out the way you hoped for. Maybe someone betrayed you. Or maybe you suffered from some illness. How do you handle these kinds of hard trials and disappointments? How do you persevere in your faith when you experience things that don’t make sense? Maybe the question isn’t so much, “Who can accept it?” but “How to accept it?” Today, we’re only reading some of the last verses, but to gain the big picture, I encourage you to read all of John 6 when you get home because you’ll better understand the importance of today’s message. John 6 opens with Jesus feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. After everyone had their fill, they became amazed at what Jesus had just done. Jesus, knowing this crowd would try to forcefully take Him to be king, quietly escaped. That night the disciples see Jesus walk on water, and the next day they find themselves in Capernaum. The huge crowd from yesterday quickly found Jesus in the synagogue, and this is where Jesus begins teaching that He is the Bread of Life. Upon hearing this, we read in verse 52, “Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Now remember, this is the crowd from yesterday. The 5,000 plus people that watched Jesus perform a miracle and ate their fill with plenty of leftovers. It’s the crowd who yesterday wanted to forcefully make Jesus their king, but today are forcefully arguing with Him. So what does Jesus do? He raises His voice and says, beginning in verse 54, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” How crazy is this talk! Here are thousands of Jews listening to Jesus in a synagogue talk about eating flesh and drinking blood. It sounded like cannibalism! And it was especially offensive for the Jewish people because the Mosaic law prohibited eating any flesh with the blood in it, let alone drinking blood itself. Leviticus 19:26 said, “Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.” But in Jesus’s mind, eating His flesh and drinking His blood was a figurative way of saying: Believe in Me, trust Me, receive Me, get your nourishment from Me. Get life from Me. Jesus was an expert in teaching; of opening up the Scriptures so people could see Him. So when Jesus said, “Whoever drinks my blood has eternal life,” He was trying to teach them the truth of Leviticus 17:11 which says, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” The Jews knew well the Law. They knew Leviticus 19:26 said don’t eat the blood, but they weren’t willing to connect Jesus to Leviticus 17:11, making Christ’s blood their atonement and life. You see, they wanted a political Messiah, a king who would provide freedom from Rome’s oppressive yoke, and bring peace and prosperity. They wanted to live for the Law of Moses because Moses talked with God, unaware that they were actually talking with God themselves. They desired signs like manna from heaven but missed the Son of God from heaven right in front of them. And that was Jesus’ point: “Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever” (58). Now I want you to picture this seen in your head: Jesus has a crowd of thousands of people in front of Him arguing about Jesus being the Bread of Life. No doubt, with all the arguing, it's getting loud. But also with Jesus are His disciples, and what are they doing? Verse 60 says, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” Another word used for “accept” is “tolerate.” So the disciples were telling Jesus, “Who can tolerate this?” In response to their grumbling, Jesus replied, “Does this offend you? What if you saw Me return to heaven? Would that change your minds?” Would seeing another miracle really change their opinion about Christ being the Bread of Life? I mean just yesterday they witnessed a miracle, and now they seek another one. So would another miracle do the trick? 1 Corinthians 1:22 says, “Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom.” Here, standing before Jesus in the synagogue is a large Jewish crowd demanding a sign. But plenty of signs have already been given, and Jesus is asking for faith. You know, if God reveals everything, then there’s nothing left for faith. Everyone there knew exactly what Jesus was teaching, but they were unwilling to be taught. Notice that the disciples didn’t come to Jesus with a teachable heart and say, “Lord, we’re confused. We don’t understand this hard teaching. Can You help us understand?” Rather, as verse 61 says, “His disciples were grumbling about this.” Instead of having a teachable heart, they hardened their hearts because they thought their way was right. Within the crowd, you can almost hear them say, “We know what we believe. Our way is normal. It’s Jesus who’s crazy!” We’ve all encountered people like this before. People who believe their way is right and will never change. They’ve been doing something one way for so long that they can’t possibly think of doing things differently. Just like digging a hole while standing in it, after a while, you find yourself so deep you can’t see your way out. Tradition instead of truth has become their foundation. Their minds are closed off and they don’t want to learn new things from God’s Word. But if you approach the Bible with that kind of attitude, you won’t grow in your walk with God. If you reject it because you can’t accept it, then you place yourself in the dangerous spot of God’s judgment! This reveals that discipleship and salvation are different. To be a disciple is to follow someone’s teaching. To learn from them. But simply knowing about Christ isn’t enough. Verse 66 says, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” They couldn’t accept Jesus' teaching. Remember Leviticus 17:11 and how it said atonement is in the blood? Well, one verse before that, in 17:10, it says, “I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.” All these thousands of people who followed Jesus, some even calling themselves disciples, were more concerned with the Law and the Old Covenant than with Christ and the New. By drinking Christ’s blood, they weren’t going to be cut off, because Jesus wasn’t saying to literally drink His blood. Rather, that His blood provides the atonement they’ve been waiting for in the promised Messiah. Instead of being cut off from God, they would become alive with God. This also reveals an aspect of Christ’s divinity. Verse 64 says, “Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.” Only God can do that. Saying you’re a disciple of Christ may fool some people, but never Christ. Remember, God knows the heart, and calling yourself a disciple of Christ is worth nothing unless you have the Holy Spirit inside of you! And how do you get the Holy Spirit? By confessing Christ and accepting by faith that His body was broken for you and His blood was spilled for your salvation! The Jews sought after manna, but food only satisfies for so long. Just like if your body goes without food it dies; going without spiritual food also leads to death. Christ is the spiritual food that gives life. As Jesus says verse 63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” Life is not in the manna; it’s in Christ! Lastly, I want to point out something interesting. All of John 6, and out of everything we’ve heard today, is one verse that stands out. Many of you may think it’s verse 68 which says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” But I think its verse 59. In all of John 6, we have this great teaching of Jesus. Then, seemingly just stuck in there is verse 59. “He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.” Why is that there? I mean, it catches your attention simply because it kinda sticks out. So I prayed and pondered over the meaning of this verse, and God gave me is what I think a really neat answer. God revealed 2 truth’s behind verse 59. First, Jesus is in the synagogue. Now Jesus has taught in synagogues before. This was nothing new. But verse 59 has meaning behind it because of what Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Jesus is saying He’s the True Bread from heaven. He openly says that heaven is “where He was before.” Jews go to synagogues to pray to God, and now God is there with them. But it’s the second truth that really has meaning. Capernaum is the home of the apostle Peter. In fact, if you travel out there today, you can see for yourself what tradition holds to be his actual house. I always wondered why in verse 16 it says, “When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.” I mean they didn’t know where Jesus was. Remember, the crowds wanted to forcefully take Jesus and make Him their king, and Jesus snuck away. So why did the disciples simply leave? Because Capernaum was Peter’s home. It was a place to stay, and I’m sure they figured Jesus would look for them there. Now here’s verse 59, telling us that this huge uproar is happening right in Peter’s hometown. He grew up there. These are Peter’s people. And that’s what makes Peter’s statement that much more amazing. Peter looks at Jesus and says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Where shall we go? Peter was home, surrounded by family and friends in his hometown, but here’s Peter saying, “To whom shall we go?” This teaches us that when it comes to following Christ, we have to follow Him and not the crowd. If people we’ve known forever leave Christ, who do you follow? Do you stay at home, or do you leave and follow Christ? That’s the heart, the answer to today’s sermon title, “Who can accept it?” Can you accept Christ even in the face of a large, noisy crowd arguing against Jesus’ teaching? Can you be satisfied with being safe at home, or do you yearn for something more? Can you hear Jesus’ Words amongst the people? To finish up, One day, a child was playing with a pretty expensive vase. He put his hand into it and couldn’t get his hand back out. Calling for help, the boy’s father came over. He tried his best, but it was all in vain. Nothing was working, and they were thinking of breaking the vase. But as a last resort, the father said, “Now, my son, try one more time. Open your hand and hold your fingers out straight like this, and then pull.” To the father's amazement, his little child said, “O no dad. I can’t put my fingers out like that, because if I did I would drop my penny!” We can smile, but tons of people are like that little boy, so busy holding onto the world’s worthless penny that we cannot accept spiritual things. Let go and let God. John 6 began with 5,000 people, and now, it’s down to 11. Not everyone accepts Christ's message even though God provides grace for everyone to hear and choose. Are you holding onto that penny of tradition? Are you holding onto religion or the world so tightly that you can’t open your hand to reach out for God’s? I ask you today, let go of the world’s worthless penny, and say along with Peter, “We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Who Can Accept It? I pray you do today. AMEN