John 6:49-71 “followers of Jesus that turned away from Him” 3/9/08
Today we’re going to talk for a little while about the fact, that some of the people that followed Jesus turned away from Him and followed Him no more, listen as I read today’s text found in John 6:49-71 Here we find Jesus talking to His followers—
48I am that bread of life. 49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60Many therefore of his disciples*, [a learner] when they had heard this, said, this is a hard saying; ** who can hear it? –[Hard for them to understand]
61When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, “Doth this offend you? 62What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63It is the spirit that quickeneth;*[makes alive] the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64But there are some of you that believe not.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
70Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
-- At the beginning of this chapter in verses 1 & 2 we read: 1After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.---------
And then we’re told in vs.66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
It seems that there were a lot of people who wanted the blessing of following Jesus without the problems associated with making a real commitment. As long as it was convenient, as long as everyday was a mountain top experience, these people were with Him.
But when to walk with Jesus requires more … then that seems to be a different story.
Jesus tells them that it is time for them to begin thinking about spiritual things. In verse sixty we read, 60Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
This verse tells us that many of the disciples found what Jesus had been saying in the previous verses about His being “the bread of life and that all who ate of His Body and drank His blood would have eternal life” a hard saying. That is, it was hard for them to understand.
Today many people refuse to follow Christ, not because they don’t understand that Jesus is the Bread of Life, but because it might interfere with their way of living.
But Jesus wants people to decide, whither they will follow Him or not! Will they commit themselves to Him or not. There is no such thing as halfway committed.
These halfhearted followers had come to Jesus to get something from Him but when it came to making a commitment to Him they quit. they were following Jesus because of the miracles He was doing.
They were unwilling to join the company of the committed! In verse sixty-one Jesus asks, “Doth this offend you?- or “Does this cause you to stumble ?”
There were those that stumbled over the whole issue that he was God incarnate. He had just told them that He was the true bread that came down from heaven in verse 33 33For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,- in other words, that He had existed before his physical birth. They were not ready to accept that He was God come in the flesh.
And another thing they didn’t like was the idea that Jesus Christ had to earn salvation for them. Jesus was to go to the cross to pay for salvation and they would have to receive salvation as a free gift from Him or not receive it at all. They had a hard time understanding that there was nothing they could do to earn salvation on their on merit.
In verse sixty-six I want us to see the change of attitude towards Jesus.
66From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
The verse tells us “from that time” or ”because of this” the number of those who followed Christ diminished greatly.
Jesus asks a Question in v. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
He was saying in other words, “No matter what the case will be with others, will ye not go away,”?
It was directed at all 12 of them. Jesus didn’t ask this question because he didn’t know the answer, he asked the question because the disciples needed to search their own heart.
And the 2nd thing I want us to see is Peters Declaration –
Peter’s Answered with his Confession of Faith in verses 68-69)
68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Although the question is directed to the 12 disciples, Peter was acting as their unofficial spokesman who answers with a question of his own. In verse sixty-eight he says, “to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. In his question he makes an affirmation.
He speaks of Belief - He Acknowledged That Jesus Alone Has The Words Of Eternal Life.
Peter is expressing the idea that having come to Jesus, going back is unthinkable.
Would you brothers and sisters even consider going back? “What are they to go back to?”
Is there anything in your past that can compare to what you have in Jesus? Would you really go back to the way your life use to be?
Peter truly speaks for all believers when expresses that there is no other source of life.
Paul says in Acts 4:12, 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
We certainly have many problems and discouragements on our way to heaven, but we are on our way, sister Lacy sings a song,” I wouldn’t miss heaven for the world”
peter confesses in verse 69 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Peter is answering, 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
He says, “No matter what the case maybe with others, we believe and are sure—
The 12 had come to a place of belief and they remain in it and they had come to a state of knowledge and they remain in it, with the exception of Judas perhaps, and the Lord knew about him.
Peter is stating that he and his fellow disciples have a certainty of faith and knowledge.
The disciples represented by Peter, had taken a very important step into commitment. They had not only seen the truth, they have literally staked their lives on it and had burned their bridges behind them that went away from the Lord Jesus.
~~~A man by the name of Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico in 1518 to begin the conquest of the New World; one of his first orders to his men was to burn the ships. Cortez was committed to his mission and didn’t want to allow himself or his men the option of going back to Spain. By removing this option, it forever sealed their opportunity to turn back. ~~~
The mark of the true believer is that they want quit. 1 John 2:19 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
And then Jesus declares, that one of the 12 would betray Him:
Verses 70-71Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
We know that what Peter said was true, and then Matthew tells us in his gospel account what Jesus said about Peter, Matt 16:17 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven -
But not everyone in the 12 felt as Peter did. Judas was not wholeheartedly committed to Jesus even though he was numbered among the twelve. Even though he had been sent out with the other disciples and had also participated in healings. Matt. 10: 1And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
We don’t like to think about anyone betraying Jesus, but to think that someone from this hand picked group could do so is almost inconceivable. But lets remember that God has a plan and also lets remember that God didn’t cause Judas to betray Jesus but He knew that He would.
~~ Can you and I be counted among the “Company of the Committed?” Will you or have you forsaken Him? There are a number of ways in which we can be guilty of forsaking the Lord.~
~~ We can forsake Him in our prayer life.
It may be that once in our lives talking to the Lord was real important to us, but then we got too occupied with the things of this world. God speaks to us in His Word, we speak to God in our prayers, wonder how we as parents might feel if our children never talked to us? we can grieve God this way. Eph.4: 30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
~~ANOTHER WAY WE MIGHT FORSAKE Him is by forsaking God’s house and His work.
Many people began with a wholehearted commitment to the Lord’s house. But more pressing concerns crept in. Some no long come at all. Others come on Sunday mornings but they never come back at any other time. It is easy to allow other things to have precedence over being in the services.
~ We can forsake Him in the matter of gratefulness.
If we are not careful we get to the point that we never stop to thank the Lord for all he has done for us. “We might be like the man who had been married for forty-five years to a faithful wife. and then she died suddenly, and at the graveside the man was heard to say, “You know, I loved that woman with all my heart and there were several times in our marriage when I almost told her so.”
~We can forsake Him in the matter of giving.
Maybe we once were tithers, but then as personal need arose we stopped. Or we know we should be tithing but we are still waiting for the right time to start. some may say, well it’s all the Lords to start with, that’s true but the Lord wants us to give willingly, the comfortable building and it’s essentials must be kept up.—heating and air, insurance and many other needs are everyone’s duty as well as sending Missionaries to the field.
Christianity is not a philosophy, which we accept, nor a theory to which we give allegiance. It is a personal response to Jesus Christ
