Wisdom or Nonsense?
John 6:47-71
47“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48Yes, I am the bread of life! 49Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
52Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.
53So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.j”
70Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
In Chapters 1 – 6 of John’s gospel, we see Jesus gaining in popularity…
- It is recorded that Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana. This is his first recorded public miracle.
- It is recorded that he taught a paralyzed man how to walk for the first time in 38 years.
- It is recorded that Jesus fed at least 5000 people, utilizing only two pieces of fish and five loaves of bread.
- It is recorded that Jesus walked on water.
Each miracle that Jesus performed seemed to be more extraordinary than the last.
Certainly, no one had seen anything like this man. And people were responding…
- The Pharisees set themselves up in opposition to Jesus at every turn. Yet even among the Pharisees there were those who responded to Jesus – such as Nicodemus, a leader among the Pharisees. Jesus was bridging the philosophical divide.
- Samaritans, a mixed race with Jewish blood, were looked down upon by the Jews. Yet Jesus had a confrontation with a Samaritan woman that left her changed for life. He was crossing racial divides.
- Jesus healed a political leader’s dying son. This leader was a gentile – he had no ties to the Jewish religion. He probably was brought up worshiping the pantheon of Greek gods. But through the healing of this man’s son, Jesus was reaching out to the gentiles.
People from every race, philosophy, and religion were responding to Jesus.
As Jesus grew more and more popular, the Jewish leaders became more and more anxious.
They were upset when Jesus came in and cleared the moneychangers out of the Temple. And when Jesus healed the paralyzed man on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders felt certain that they had caught him sin.
How did Jesus respond? “My Father is always working – so I also must always be working!”
With that statement, Jesus was declaring himself to be equal with God. The Jewish leaders were furious.
And the crowd loved him. And they became more and more demanding. It wasn’t enough for them to see a miracle here and there.
You see, with a man like this around, who could produce food at will, who needs to work?
But then this same man stood up and made the following declaration: “I am the bread of life. And if you don’t eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have eternal life.”
And the crowd’s response? They left – in DROVES.
It’s as if they had forgotten the miracles: turning water into wine, healing the paralyzed man, feeding over 5000 people.
These people weren’t interested in the message. They just wanted the miracle. They wanted the spectacular. And when the spectacular was gone, so were they.
Have you ever put a couple of bird feeders up in your backyard? As long as you’ve got food in the bird feeders, you’ll have a pet store in your backyard. You’re not going to just have birds. You’re going to have cats chasing the birds. You’re going to have squirrels hanging upside down, reaching into the feeders. Birds are going to be flying into the windows and doors of your house.
And what happens if you take away the bird feeders? You’ll have some grumpy birds and squirrels for a couple of hours. And then, in a day or so, they’ll be all gone.
Are there people like this today? They come around when the goodies show up. But, like the birds, when the goodies are gone they disappear.
It’s amazing to me that people in the Bible – people who walked alongside Noah, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and Paul – could walk away from God.
They heard the preaching, they saw the miracles – and rejected them. How could they do this?
Stop and think about Pharaoh for a minute. Did you ever wonder how a man could be so hardheaded? He stood in the presence of Moses himself. He heard the voice of Moses, and saw the miracles of God.
Pharaoh was familiar with many other so-called “gods”…
Ra – The Sun God
Set – God of Evil
Osiris – Lord of the Dead
Isis – Queen of the gods
Imhotep – Lord of Science and Thought
Horus – King of the gods on Earth
Baal – God of Thunder
Anubis – God of Embalming
Anat – Mother of gods
Amun Re – King of all the gods
Pharaoh acknowledged these and a hundred other gods. But he failed to recognize Yahweh, the One True God.
He witnessed the Plague of Blood.
He witnessed the Plague of Frogs.
He witnessed the Plague of Lice.
He witnessed the Plague of Flies.
He witnessed the Plague of Livestock Death.
He witnessed the Plague of Boils.
He witnessed the Plague of Hail.
He witnessed the Plague of Locusts.
He witnessed the Plague of Darkness.
…And then Pharaoh witnessed the death of the Firstborn, including the loss of his own firstborn son.
Every one of these plagues was a slap in the face of the other so-called gods. Each plague chipped away at everything Pharaoh had been brought up to believe in.
Most of all, the plagues sent a message, loud and clear, to Pharaoh that he, himself, was no god.
So, having heard and seen all of this, how could Pharaoh not believe? Because the Father did not enable him to believe.
It’s the same way with the people that wandered around with Jesus.
They heard him speak. They saw the miracles. They partook of the bread. But the switch hadn’t been turned on inside of them. Who flips the switch that enables us to believe? Do we do it ourselves? No. God flips the switch within us.
If God doesn’t flip the switch within a man or a woman, the message of the gospel is offensive. It doesn’t matter how much preaching or how many miracles an untouched person witnesses. This is the person who, at the end of the day, can be disappointed and walk away from the Lord.
Look at this passage in John 6 again. Jesus says he chose his disciples, including one who was a devil.
Judas Iscariot was with Jesus everyday. He was the one in charge of the money for the group. How could he be so close to Jesus and not believe? Because he wasn’t enabled by the Father to believe. It was like a light switch that hadn’t been turned on. And if the switch isn’t turned on, you will continue to walk in darkness. You will continue to take offense at the message of the Gospel. You will be just like hardheaded Pharaoh. Or devilish Judas.
The reality is the things that the things of God offend the people of this world.
In John 6 we see a couple of things that identify us as Christians…
- We eat the body of Christ.
- We drink the blood of Christ.
This is confusing to the world. This is offensive to the world. It conjures up images of vampire movies. But no one can understand the things of God – unless God enables them to understand it.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19As the Scriptures say,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”e
20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,f Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
People get so caught up in the material, that spiritual things look like foolishness.
It’s true that salvation is available for everyone. But we are blind and deaf to the message of God unless he first opens our eyes and ears.
Let’s take a second look at the story of Pharaoh and Moses. In the eyes of the world, Pharaoh held all of the cards. Who was Moses? Some dirty guy who came in from the fields with a group of unhappy slaves.
The Jews were slaves in Egypt. They had no money, they had no military skills, they had no political clout. They were the lowest of the low. And they were going to teach Pharaoh a lesson? Right.
But things are not always as they seem. The reality was that Moses did hold all the cards – not because of anything he could do, but because he had God on his side. And, as Paul says, if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
Now look again at the story in John 6 – where Jesus fed the 5000 people. It might seem that Jesus was having a successful ministry. I mean, look at all these people who were following him?
But the reality was that he was losing the battle. These people were all blinded. They were deceived. With each sensational miracle, it’s almost as if the devil himself was saying, “Yes, Jesus! Do another miracle!” Because the miracles had become a distraction from the message.
And remember Jesus dying on the cross. The world might say he was defeated. Even the disciples were hopeless. What looked like Jesus’ greatest defeat was, in reality, his greatest victory. Because through his death we gained eternal life. He sacrificed himself for our sins.
This message may not make sense to you.
That is why Paul says the message of the cross appears to be foolishness to those who are headed for destruction. Is it confusing to you? Ask God to make it more clear to you. He is able. I would be glad to talk with you, and so would the pastor. But we don’t know unless you ask.
Even now I don’t understand everything that happens in my life.
But I see what he did in the Bible – how things that look like defeat in the moment, and in reality they are victories.
I realize that God’s foolishness is greater than our greatest wisdom. I have to trust in that. What does this mean for us? Here’s a few things to consider…
- Just because a church is bigger doesn’t mean it’s better. Remember the 5000 that walked away from Jesus. He was left with 12. And one of those was a devil.
- Just because we are in church doesn’t mean we are Christian. Judas walked daily with Jesus, and he had a demon.
So what was the big idea?
Why did Jesus stand up in front of everybody and say they had to drink his blood and eat his flesh in order to live forever? What did he expect to happen? Did he expect everyone to be happy with this news?
In order to understand his words, we have to examine the difference between the disciples and the 5000.
The disciples had a relationship with Christ. With the exception of Judas, who was corrupted, their lives were bound up in Christ.
This is what God desires most from each of us – a relationship. This is why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper today. We celebrate our union with Christ. We identify with Christ. And through this act, we commune with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We remember the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ – that he was bruised for our transgressions (Isa 53:5), and his blood cleanses our sins (1 John 1:7).
I thank God that he flipped the switch in me. And even in the most desperate of times, I can empathize with Peter when he says, “Lord, I don’t understand why things happen. I may not understand what you’re doing in my life. But where can I go? Because you alone have the words of life.”
The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:7 that if we walk in the light – if the light switch inside of us is turned on – then we will have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus will cleanse our sins.
Let’s walk in the light today. Let’s have fellowship with one another. And let’s remember today the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The food and drink that we partake of here today have no power to save us. But they do have power to remind us of He who saves – Jesus Christ.
