Offended by the Gospel

John 6:56–69 ESV

56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 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 we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

1. The Gospel is centered on the work of Christ on the cross. (vs. 56-59)

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

As we contended last week, Jesus concludes his teaching on the bread of life by describing himself as the one that must be consumed in order to have eternal life. Without him, there is no eternal life. We must believe and trust in him as we receive him into ourselves and abide in him. There is a sense here of the indwelling of Christ within us in a transformative way so that we can be with him for eternity. We see this visibly in the church through the sacrament of Holy Communion as we gather around the table and partake of his body and blood. It is in the partaking that we are abiding in him and resting in his presence.

But, I think that a broader view of what Jesus is saying to us picks up on the nature of the gospel itself because the wider picture of Jesus’ message to the Jewish leaders, the crowds, and his followers is that the sacrifice of Jesus in his body and blood is what brings salvation to the people. The body and blood of the crucified Messiah is the veil that is broken so that we might be in the presence of the Father for eternity. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:10, “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

It is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that is at center of the gospel that Paul preached to the Corinthians. He reminds us of the gospel that he preached by saying Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and raised on the third day according to the scriptures. In these verses, Paul is giving the heart of the gospel message. Jesus’ work on the cross is the center of the gospel because it is on the cross that Jesus died our death and cleansed us of our sin. In 1 John 4:10, it says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to the propitiation for our sins.” In his death, Jesus atoned for our sins and brought us into reconciliation with the Father so that we might be with him for eternity. Without that sacrifice, we cannot be in relationship with God. Jesus took upon himself our sin in his flesh as the perfect Lamb of God. His blood covers us for a multitude of sins and brings grace and mercy to those who believe in him.

2. The Gospel is offensive to those who do not believe. (vs. 60-65)

1 Corinthians 1:23 ESV

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

3. The Gospel leads nowhere but to Jesus. (vs. 66-69)

John 8:31 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,