Fan or Follower
Which Jesus am I following?
John 6:30-69
Slide
Expectations
Have you ever been disappointed?
Of course you have. We all have at times.
But have you thought of why you were disappointed?
Maybe someone didn’t do what you thought they would do.
Or maybe, things did not turn out the way you imagined in your head.
Either way, you were disappointed because you had a different expectation than what actually happened.
Now we all have expectations, and we all have expectations of other people, especially those we are in relationships with. This is normal.
But I think it is good that we examine our expectations every so often. If we don’t we find ourselves disappointed more often because we may have improper expectations.
For example, if I have expectations that my wife will cook a home cooked meal every night and my wife expects that I will take her out to eat every night, we are both going to be disappointed. Not because either expectation is right or wrong, but because we are expecting different things.
Now these expectations can inadvertently create false images of the person we are in a relationship with.
When that person does not act in accordance with our image and with the expectations we have established in our minds, it can have bad consequences for the relationship.
We see friendships ruined, or divorces take place, all because the person we have created in our head was not the same person as the one in real life.
Spiritual expectations of Jesus
Now this is true, not only in our daily lives, but in our Spiritual lives as well.
Many people come to have expectations of what Jesus will do if we are in relationship with Him. Today we are going to look at some of the expectations people had of Jesus, and consider our own expectations and see which Jesus we are following, the real Jesus, or the one we have developed in our heads.
I am going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to John 6:25.
Slide
We are finishing up a series that we began 4 weeks ago called “not a fan.”
In this series, we have been looking at differences between being a fan of Jesus and being his follower.
We have been asking questions to help us determine where we are and why we are following.
When we started this series, we looked at the feeding of the 5000, and now we are going to look at what transpires right after that miracle and examine ourselves to see who it is we are actually following.
In the text today we are going to see people who were “following” (I put that in quotes), at least they thought they were following Jesus, but Jesus brought them to a point of crisis of belief about whom they were really following, the real Jesus, or the Jesus of their expectations, in which case they would turn out to be only fans of the Jesus they expected.
So, just to get us up to this point, Jesus has just fed 15K to 20K people and then went to the other side of the lake. The people are looking for him the next morning and realize he went to the other side and they head over there to find him.
And in verse 25 it continues,
John 6:25-34
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ’He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’"
32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
Ok, I want to pause here for a moment.
Many of these people are not real followers of Jesus.
And Jesus is about to help them see the reality of what their faith is about
Let’s consider what has just transpired.
Jesus fed 15k to 20k people with 5 loaves and 2 fish the day before.
These people continue to follow after him and find him on the other side of the lake.
Jesus tells them straight up that they are looking for him because he provided them a meal.
He says listen, believe in me as the one that God the Father has sent, the Messiah who has been prophesied to come.
And they say ok, we will believe in you if you show us a miracle.
Now do you really think they will believe if they saw him do a miracle?
What just happened 12 hours earlier?
Jesus did a miracle before their very eyes in feeding the crowd abundantly with plenty leftover.
The Reality is that they don’t really want him to perform a miracle so they will really believe in Him. They want Jesus to keep satisfying their physical wants. That is what they expect of him
Jesus shows them the reality of what they are really following and who they really are.
They are fans that are following Jesus, the Meal Ticket
Fans follow Jesus, the Meal Ticket
Slide
They had expectations that if I follow Jesus, he is going to feed me and provide for all my physical wants and needs as his main priority.
Let me ask you,
What are your expectations of following Jesus?
If I follow Jesus, then I won’t have to worry about my next meal.
If I follow Jesus, he will provide for the things I think I need.
If I follow Jesus, I will get a job.
If I follow Jesus, I will be healed from what ails me.
If I follow Jesus, I will not suffer.
Now while it is true that Jesus tells us that we should not worry about what we will eat or wear because our Father knows we need them, He promises to provide for our needs as we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
The people that Jesus was talking to didn’t really want to seek those things.
They just wanted to eat. That is what they expected.
Application
What are your expectations of Jesus?
Do you just want what you want and you expect Jesus to provide it for you?
Are you just following Jesus, the Meal Ticket?
What happens when these expectations are not met?
These are tough questions because all of us probably have some expectations of what Jesus should do if we follow Him.
And when those expectations are unmet, we face a crisis of belief.
Real followers are going to face this crisis as well.
Let’s read on and see what Jesus has to say and how the fans and the followers responded.
John 6:35-69
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ’I came down from heaven’?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ’They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Ok, so Jesus gives this teaching saying that
he came down from heaven and that
he is the bread of life
and there are people who are struggling with this teaching. They were looking for a meal ticket and this person is talking in ways they do not understand.
And we see from verse 66 that “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” (John 6:66)
Jesus exposed the reality of their faith, that they were not really followers, but only fans, through this challenging exchange.
But look at what the disciples, true followers say.
John 6:67-69
Slide
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Followers Follow Jesus, the Messiah
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The disciples recognized and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Holy One of God, the One who was prophesied to come.
Did Jesus say some things they did not understand?
Absolutely.
Did they completely grasp what Jesus was talking about when he said He came down from heaven and that He is the bread of life? At this point, I seriously doubt it.
But that is the thing about those who have recognized the reality of who Jesus is, that He is the Holy One of God, the Messiah, God in the flesh and become His followers.
Followers will follow even when things are Confusing
Slide
The people had expectations of the Messiah that would come. They didn’t completely understand that the Messiah would be fully God and fully man. They had expectations of a great military ruler who would save them from the rule of other nations, including Rome.
Jesus was not what they expected. Some were confused.
Slide
John 6:42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ’I came down from heaven’?"
They didn’t understand Jesus’ human and divine natures, that He was God and man.
They should have because there are Scriptures from the Old Testament that speak of it.
Isaiah 9:6 calls the Messiah “Mighty God” but they were still confused.
Application
Today, there are things that may confuse us, but just because we don’t understand everything, that does not mean we should not follow or that it is irrational to follow.
We know what we need to know.
Jesus is the Messiah. He died for me. He loves me and has shown his love by his great sacrifice for me.
Even if I am confused about some things, I will follow Jesus the Messiah, the Holy One of God. He has the words of life.
Continuing on…
Jesus goes on talking about being the bread of life and the people were confused still more.
That is because in some of the things that Jesus spoke about, He spoke about in spiritual terms.
This is not the first time the people were confused by Jesus. In the gospel of John, we see this happen over and over again.
In John chapter 2, Jesus spoke about destroying this temple, meaning his body, and Him raising it in 3 days and people confused what he was saying with the literal temple.
In John chapter 3, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again speaking of being spiritually reborn, and Nicodemus confused what he was saying with getting back into his mother’s womb to be born again.
In John chapter 4, Jesus spoke to the woman at the well and offered her “living water” meaning the Holy Spirit that would indwell those who believed in Jesus. She wanted real water that would make it so she did not have to come back to the well again.
Now in our text today, Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which many were taking literally, but in John 6:63,
Slide
Jesus says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”
He is again talking spiritually meaning that His flesh and blood is going to be sacrificed and shed for the forgiveness of sins and that you must believe in His sacrifice of his body and blood and receive Him as your Savior if you want eternal life.
Now while we may understand this today, there will be things, both literal and spiritual, that may confuse us, that we may not completely understand.
“Lord, why do you allow bad things to happen to good people.”
Now I certainly understand this from a theological perspective. There is sin in the world and because of it all people will suffer, some more than others. That still does not make it easy to understand from an emotional level.
“Lord, why do the evil sometimes seem to flourish without facing any judgment?”
Again, from a theological perspective, I understand that the Lord will judge, but it is sometimes hard to understand when we desire timely justice.
We don’t often understand the things of the Lord because God’s ways and our ways are different and His ways are far superior to ours.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Slide
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the Lord.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God has eternity in mind in regards to all that He does and what He allows to happen.
I usually have right now in mind.
But as a follower of the Lord, I trust and know that He is good and that He is God and has the words of life, even when I am confused or don’t understand something.
I follow anyway.
But not only is it when things are confusing that followers will follow.
But,
Followers will follow even when things are Hard
Slide
Those who were turning back said "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60)
There are teachings that are not only hard to understand, but that are hard to follow.
Some of the teachings of God’s word in this day seem to get harder and harder to follow.
God’s teaching on giving. He can’t possibly mean we are to give 10% in this economy!
God’s teaching on sexual purity. Shouldn’t it be ok if we are really in love even without being married?
God’s teaching on homosexuality. Why can’t people make this choice if they want?
God’s teaching on the value of life. Does God really understand what being pregnant now will do to my life and career? Abortion is best for me and for the baby.
From our human standpoint, these may seem like good reasons and we may not understand completely all of the reasons, and it may be hard for us, but we need to realize in times like this that His ways and thoughts are not only higher than ours but what He teaches is for our long term and eternal best.
Real followers respond, the way the disciples did, even when we may feel confused by His teaching or that the teaching is hard.
John 6:68-69
Slide
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Conclusion
Which Jesus are you following?
Are you following a Jesus that you believe is supposed to be your meal ticket and make everything nice and easy?
That is unfortunate, because that Jesus is not real. That picture of Jesus you have is really only you dressed up in Jesus’ clothes.
That picture of Jesus can’t really provide for you.
That picture of Jesus doesn’t really love you like the real Jesus does.
That picture of Jesus didn’t die for your sins.
That picture of Jesus can’t save you.
Follow the Jesus who is the Messiah, the Holy One of God, God in the flesh.
That is the Jesus who provides for you and loves you and died for you and can save you.
Yes, there will be things that are difficult to understand and hard to follow.
But we follow anyway, because we know that He is good and He is God and He has the words to eternal life.
Close in “The Stand”
We are going to close in a song,
(worship team come up)
called the Stand and I want to encourage you to make this your response to the Lord.
It is a song that recognizes the truth of who Christ is and what He has done and comes to the point of saying,
So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You
So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
So I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours
As we sing this song, won’t you sing that in a way that truly is a confession of your belief in Him and a testimony of your willingness to follow Him?
Just like the apostles said, to whom shall we go?
What can I say or do?
I am going to take my stand in you, Lord.
With arms high and my heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I’ll stand My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours.
If that is your sense today, I would encourage you to make that posture as you sing that as well.
Arms high and heart abandoned, all I am is yours.
Worship Him and receive Him by giving yourself.
Sing - The Stand
