Well it looks like we are going to finish chapter 6 of John before the end of the year. Tonight we see what the Bible tells us about the reason some people are offended by Christ. People often say that they are offended by the message of Jesus Christ. There are four things in particular that we will look at tonight, four things in particular that offend people. Let’s get into the study.
The first thing we need to take note of tonight is that Jesus’ message was to the synagogue crowd in Capernaum. READ vv. 59-60. For the past few weeks we have been studying where Jesus made a claim to the people that He was the Son of God, that He came down out of heaven, and that to have eternal life one must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood.
Many disciples and followers of His were present, but they had difficulty accepting what He had said. When they said it was “a hard teaching” they meant it was rough and harsh. What Jesus had said was hard and difficult to accept, but His words were clearly understood. The people’s problem was not in their understanding, but in their hearts. Jesus knew this, so He covered some of the reasons why men are offended by Him.
The first reason was the idea of eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. READ v. 61. I said earlier in this study that if we were in that crowd that day and took Jesus literally, it would probably offend us to think about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. It would offend us, that is, if we didn’t look beyond the physical aspect of it.
And so it is today with those who try to defend their opinion against Christianity. To them, Christianity becomes a bloody religion or a religion of cannibalism. God becomes a grotesque god, a god who came to earth to impregnate a young girl, becoming incarnate into human flesh, being born half-man and half-god.
Let’s say something about that. Jesus claimed to be God incarnated in human flesh, but not in a grotesque sense—not half-man and half-god. Jesus was fully man; that is, He had the nature of man, being made of the very same substance as all men. The difference was that He was not born of a human father. He was born of God.
God simply spoke the Word and a miracle took place, just like He spoke the Word and created the world. There is nothing grotesque neither about God’s speech nor about His willing something to be done and doing it. So Jesus was born by the Word of God and by human flesh. He was fully Man, fully God.
Some feel that the cross or the blood of Christ is offensive and repulsive. Yes, it represents the awful shame of sin and the death of Jesus. But it also represents salvation and deliverance from sin and its awful guilt. So to Christians, the cross is the most attractive symbol in all the world.
So the words “Take…eat” are not cannibalism. They simply mean that a person is to spiritually receive Christ into their life, into their whole being. So we spiritually take and eat Christ’s body, we spiritually receive, Christ into our life. In that, one must allow Christ to become the very nourishment, the innermost part and energy, of his being.
READ 62. Some are offended by the ascension and exaltation of Christ. Why? Because if a person accepts the ascension and exaltation of Christ, he has to surrender the control of his life to Christ. He can no longer control his own life and do the things he wishes.
Christ referred to himself as the Son of Man. The false disciple is not willing to look at Jesus as the Son of Man. If a person accepts Christ as the Son of Man, they will have to pattern their life after Christ by doing their very best to live as Christ lived. They would diligently seek to be like Christ.
God exalted Jesus as Lord and Master. The false disciple is not willing to submit himself under the control of Jesus. He is adamantly opposed to patterning his life after Jesus.
In v. 62 Jesus used the words “where he was before.” That points to the fact that Jesus is eternal. He was preexistent. He was there in the beginning. He is the Word. And in the beginning He was with God and He was God.
READ 63-64. People are often offended by the teaching that the Spirit quickens. What does that mean? It means the Spirit gives life and the flesh counts for nothing. Think about it. . .
1. The flesh can’t quicken and make a man alive. Those apart from Christ don’t like to think about the zero value of the flesh. And aren’t most of us guilty of that. We do everything we can to keep our youth, our attractiveness, our stamina. We us cosmetics, clothing, and activities to appear young, attractive, and physically capable. Am I right men? It’s hard for us to admit it when we realize our sons can outrun us, or beat us in an arm wrestle. So when we finally realize it, we see that the flesh in unprofitable, it ages, and surrenders to the process of decay. (Talk about sounding grotesque.) That thought offends people.
2. Only the Spirit can quicken a person and make them alive, giving them abundant and eternal life simply by receiving the Word of God. When a person receives the words of Christ into their heart and life, they begin to live; they actually experience the Spirit of God entering their life and begin to experience real life.
3. But note what Jesus said, “Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” They didn’t accept His Words, so they didn’t have the Spirit of God remaining in them nor did they have life. They were only existing, not living abundantly and eternally. They were just not quite sure of what Jesus was saying.
READ v. 65. People are offended by the fact that God draws and saves man, that man doesn’t save himself. When Jesus said, “No one can come to me, unless the father has enabled him,” He was saying:
a. No man can come to Him unless God draws and stirs him to come.
b. No man really belongs to God who hasn’t come to Him.
c. No man is saved unless they have come to Him.
d. All men are lost unless they come to Him.
This fact disturbs a lot of people, because most people feel they are good enough and have done enough good to be acceptable to God. Few people think they are lost and doomed to be separated from God; so hearing that fact preached offends them.
But the critical point in it all is that the only saved person is a person who has been drawn to Christ by God and who has surrendered to God’s pull and movement within his heart.
READ vv. 66-71. There were three responses to Jesus’ message. And these three responses still exist and happen today.
1. There were disciples or followers who turned back. They deserted the Lord. Why? Because to them the cost was too high. It involved the cross, which meant complete denial of oneself.
a. Jesus claimed to be Lord. This meant that a person had to give all he was and had to Christ.
b. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, to have come down out of heaven. Some just couldn’t receive and accept the fact.
c. Jesus was demanding total allegiance and complete self-denial, and following Him would just cost too much.
2. Then there was the disciple who believed that Jesus was the Lord.
a. Peter spoke for all the apostles. He was their leader and spokesman.
b. Peter called Jesus “Lord.” He used that title in its fullest meaning. Jesus was recognized to be the sovereign Lord of the universe, the One to whom all men owe their allegiance.
c. Peter declared that Jesus’ words were the words of eternal life. He declared that what Jesus had just proclaimed was true.
d. Peter proclaimed that he and the apostles both believed and knew something, that Jesus WAS all He claimed to be.
3. Then there was the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Note this since Judas Iscariot is specifically mentioned here.
a. Judas was a CHOSEN man, chosen not only to be saved, but to be a minister of Christ.
b. Judas was called “a devil,” slanderous, a false accuser, an enemy of Christ.
c. Judas was a betrayer, a professed follower, but a hypocrite.
Three responses, and people today still must choose one. Do people today think that Jesus doesn’t know which one they have really chosen?
