“Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” [1]
Christ will never compel anyone to remain as one who is counted among the faithful. If a person is determined to “quit” pretending that she or he is a follower of the Risen Saviour, the Master will not keep them from leaving. Perhaps you will recall that in the First of the General Epistles bearing his name, the Apostle of Love has written, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” [1 JOHN 2:18-19]. There is no effort to compel anyone to continue being counted as one of the faithful, though those who choose to walk away will be revealed to have been false in their pretending to follow the Saviour.
Many contemporary Christians are giving the wrong answer to Jesus’ question, “Do you want to go away as well?” We need not look far to see denominations, churches, and institutions and preachers who are obviously offended by the gospel. That’s a pretty strong statement, Pastor. How do we know they are so offended by the gospel? It’s because of the distance they have put between themselves and the gospel.
In the Sixth Chapter of John, Jesus told his hearers that he was the bread of life, and they must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they wished to have eternal life. Many of his followers went away after hearing these words. Jesus then turned to his disciples and asked, “Do you want to go away as well?”
This is a question that each Christian must face repeatedly. You should know that this question rises to challenge the preacher each time he takes his place behind the sacred desk to preach. The temptation to repackage the gospel is constant. There is always pressure to soft sell the truth, to bring in a little marketing advice, to translate, to explain, to qualify, to dilute.
As Christians, we will answer the question Jesus asked His disciples in such a way that the answer will be visible for all to see. Our response as followers of Christ cannot be hidden. Our commitment to Christ is clear to everyone, and the answer we will give is at once seen by all. Over the last two centuries, Christians have failed to answer the question correctly on far too many occasions. The history of the Faith reveals a sustained pattern of rejection and compromise and accommodation. The doctrines of inspiration and revelation and substitutionary atonement have been discarded among many of the professed people of God in this day. Many professed Christians no longer believe in hell, it simply isn’t culturally significant anymore. Likewise, doctrines such as the trinity, justification by faith and imputed righteousness have become increasingly difficult to find in North American churches and run counter to the modern mind.
Perhaps the theological truth that is most seriously compromised is the exclusivity of the gospel. It is one thing to say that Jesus is a saviour, but that is not scriptural. Jesus is either the Saviour or he is no saviour at all. Jesus has testified, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” [JOHN 14:6].
Liberal Protestant churches have abandoned the gospel to such an extent that it would be a “miracle” for anyone to hear the authentic gospel in those places. Sadly, this same theological compromise increasingly influences even Evangelical congregations. We are witnessing what seems a veritable explosion in the number of feel-good churches today. We have so many empty, meaningless sermons delivered as preachers blather on without saying anything of significance. Most evangelicals these days know better than to offend through embracing blatant heresy; and so, they solve the problem by speaking no theology at all. Followers of Christ must carefully guard against this spirit of accommodation. They must admit that the only way such deviation from commitment to Him will not happen to us is by the grace of God and not by our own ingenuity.
Christ is still the only way to God and the only hope for sinners. I pray that we in this congregation will always stand without apology, without compromise, without embarrassment and without hesitation upon this truth. We recognise that in holding to such an uncompromising stand we will assuredly offend some, and we will offend, perhaps, many. I pray, if that is to be, we will offend all the right people and for all the right reasons. We who follow Christ must echo Peter’s response to the Lord’s question, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” [JOHN 6:68].
LEAVING JESUS BEHIND — “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” [JOHN 6:66]. There are several points that should interest us as we focus on this verse. First, we read in our English translation, “After this,” and that should immediately raise the question in our mind, “After what?” What is taking place that the divine author wants us to know what triggered such a negative response by so many?
Crowds had seen Jesus feed the five thousand, as described in the opening verses of this sixth chapter of John. They were ready to compel Him to be their king, and they would have done so had Jesus not withdrawn Himself from their presence. That evening, the Master had walked on the sea to the boat where the disciples were toiling to make land.
The next day, the crowds that had been fed, and perhaps grown larger by others that had either witnessed the miracle or heard of it, came seeking Jesus. They had seen the disciples leave the area, and Jesus hadn’t been with them. However, when they couldn’t find Him, they went searching for Him. Eventually, they had come to Capernaum where they found Jesus. At this point, Jesus delivered the explanation that He is the Bread of Life. Let’s review what was said at that time.
“When [the crowd] found [Jesus] on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you” [JOHN 6:25-29]?
Wow! They had just witnessed an astonishing miracle as they were fed in the Judean wilds, and they dared ask Jesus what sign He might show them! He had multiplied the meagre lunch a mother had packed for her son. The religious people had focused on the provision of bread to fill their stomachs until they were incapable of recognising that they had just received a great sign pointing to Jesus’ divinity.
So, these brilliant theologians asked Jesus, “What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” [JOHN 6:30-31]. They were arguing that Moses during the days wandering in the wilderness had given the people of Israel a sign of having fed the fathers in the desert, and they couldn’t see that Jesus had just fed them in the Judean wilderness. In formulating their argument, however, they had overlooked one significant point. And Jesus would quickly correct their oversight. When they raised this foolish argument, Jesus responded, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” [JOHN 6:32-33]. At this, still focused on filling their bellies and trying to get something for nothing, we read, “They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always’” [JOHN 6:34].
The selfish desire they expressed at this time elicited an explanation from the Master meant to point them to the eternal value. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” [JOHN 6:35-39]. Jesus was trying to refocus their attention on the purpose of His coming, and the people were not having it. Had they listened and responded with faith, they could have found life in a manner that was foreign to them up to that point.
How quickly the attitude of that crowd changed! At one minute they were actively seeking to crown Him king so that He would give them what they wanted, and the next moment they were grumbling their displeasure with Him. Thus, we are informed by the account John provides, “So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, “I have come down from heaven”’? Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, “And they will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’” [JOHN 6:41-51].
The mood had changed. Whereas the crowd was previously saying that they wanted what Jesus could provide, the same people were now disgusted with what He was saying. Therefore, we read, “The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 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. 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.’” To complete the account, John informs us, “Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum” [JOHN 6:52-59].
Jesus had been speaking to what was obviously a “religious” crowd; however, it could not have been said that this was a godly crowd. To be sure, the people had gathered in the synagogue, but they had no desire to hear the voice of the Lord calling them to obedience. It is obvious that the people who heard Jesus speak at that time were totally focused on their own desires; they demonstrate no willingness to seek what would be pleasing to the Lord God of Heaven and earth. Free food, not fidelity to God, was the primary thought that was expressed by those present at that time.
Isn’t that reminiscent of what is seen among many religious societies today? I hesitate to speak of many of the contemporary religious entities as churches, since they are more focused on soothing themselves than they are focused on serving the Risen Lord of Glory. In some ways, religious people are a greater danger to the work of God than are the irreligious who are openly identified with this world. Often, the irreligious will ignore the godly, seeing them as an anachronism, while the godly are seen as an immediate threat to the religious. The godless are not immediately threatened by godly people; but mere pretenders are under immediate threat of being exposed as fraudulent. Therefore, religious people often strike out at the godly or at those who seek after the Lord, because they are afraid of being exposed in their falsity.
Focusing once again on the text, wouldn’t you imagine it is important to take note of the fact that we are told that “many of His disciples” were involved in this desertion? Surely, it is significant that the Word wants us to know that His disciples—disciples, not opponents, not antagonists, but disciples—are exposed as those who were turning back and no longer walking with Him. For many of us, that is a problem! We wonder, “Can disciples simply decide to quit walking with the Saviour?” We know that we couldn’t easily turn away from walking with the Saviour.
Perhaps you are prepared to say that these were faux disciples, that they never knew the Lord. While I suppose that argument could be made, that is not what we are told in the divine text. We are told that “many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.” And that should give us pause.
Note the words with which John alerts us to a serious problem that then arose. “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” [2 JOHN 7-9].
“Watch yourselves,” indeed. Don’t we see something like this whenever we find ourselves drawn to consider again the manner in which we once lived? We’ve all known of people who came into the fellowship with statements of commitment. They were eager to follow Christ, saying that they were ready to accept the responsibility to serve as the Lord dictated. But somehow, the demands of the Faith grew to be oppressive in their estimate, and they began to be inconsistent in their attendance at the worship, their responsibilities that were accepted so eagerly began to be neglected, and eventually they were no longer seen to be walking with the people of God.
You understand how this happens when you recall a parable that Jesus told. Jesus taught the people, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold” [LUKE 8:5-8a]. Then, emphasising the vital importance of what He had just said, Jesus stated, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” [LUKE 8:5-8b].
Like us, the disciples were confused as to the meaning of what Jesus had just said. They asked the meaning of what He said, and the Master responded, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” [LUKE 8:10-15].
In our hearts, each of us will say, “That will not happen with me. I’ll never turn away!” And yet, we know that people have turned from walking with the Master; and many of those who turned away gave every appearance of being committed. As He prepared His disciples for His exodus, Jesus taught about the need to watch ourselves so that we don’t turn aside. Take note of His words recorded in the latter pages of Luke’s Gospel. The teaching focuses on events that will take place during the days immediately prior to the coming of the Master, but they surely apply to us even at this time.
“[Jesus] told [the disciples] a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“‘But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man’” [LUKE 21:29-36]. Watch yourselves. Don’t allow your heart to be weighed down with the cares of this life. Stay awake!
THE SAVIOUR TAKES NOTE OF THOSE DESERTING HIM AND DESERTING HIS CAUSE — “Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well’” [JOHN 6:67]? Jesus was aware when those who had espoused commitment to Him turned back to what they had known before. What is more, He understood the significance of their actions. To this day, people imagine that they can simply walk away from their commitment to follow Christ without consequence. It is as if they think that no one will notice. However, you may be certain that others notice. What is more essential is that the Son of God knows.
Worse still is the thought that by leaving, these poor souls justify their perfidy because no one rushes to plead with them to reconsider their pique, which is lese majesté to Christ. The fact that no one pleads with these self-centred souls to stay the course justifies in their mind the validity of walking away from the commitment they had professed. These spiritually impoverished souls do not realise, however, that the reason no one contacts them is that they have already made themselves irrelevant. Before their feelings were ever hurt, they had already ceased to take part in the life of the body. They hold the view that they can coerce others into doing what these deluded souls want. Their emotions have overwhelmed their ability to think clearly.
We need to say to those who act like infants, demanding that the preacher, or that the entire congregation take special note of them by rushing to plead with them, thus accommodating their demands, “Grow up! Be an adult!” Such infantile behaviour that is demonstrated is but a coercive effort to make others do what they want; their desire has overpowered reason. You will recall that our Apostle admonished the Christians in Corinth, and therefore he admonishes us, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” [1 CORINTHIANS 16:13]. Mature saints don’t try to manipulate the people of God—or anyone else! Mature Christians face their situations and stand firm even when things appear to be going against them.
I understand that we live in a day populated by over-sensitised individuals who can find something to complain about in almost anything that may be said. Because this is the situation, I suppose it is necessary to acknowledge that there undoubtedly are women who will find the Apostle’s admonition to “act like men” offensive, or at the least insensitive. If you have difficulty understanding that Paul is urging those who wish to be thought of as Christian to act with confidence and firmness in the face of trials and challenges, then you likely have difficulty understanding almost everything except for a very narrow sliver of life. Therefore, grow up—act like men!
There will be times when the assembly with which you worship doesn’t agree with your view. Visiting with a friend who was a member of a church among whom I laboured over two decades past, I was told that almost every Sunday he felt I was saying things with which he disagreed. He said that he would go home and think through what I had said, comparing the Scriptures on which I had based my statements, and ultimately conclude that I was pointing him to what the Word said. His conclusion was that he was being forced to look at what was written rather than what he wanted the Word to say.
Learn to act with deliberation before you allow your emotions to rule your life. And if your church makes decisions with which you disagree, how often does the Master act in such a manner that you cannot understand what He is doing! The Son of God does not always act according to our limited understanding; He often acts contrary to our understanding! But remember, “We walk by faith, not by sight” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:7].
The flesh is easily offended, taking umbrage at that with which we disagree. Learn to listen, to think, to weigh what is done against what is written. Take charge of your emotions; refuse to be ruled by your emotions, knowing for a certainty that what you feel will often create confusion and great trouble both for you and for the congregation in which the Spirit has placed you. Again, learn to be deliberate in your actions, responding to what offends only after you have verified that the offensive act is indeed wrong and dishonouring to God.
This is in accordance with what is written in the Letter to the Christians in Rome, when the Apostle instructs us, “Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” [ROMANS 12:17-21].
This teaching is the natural extension of the teaching we are given in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus says, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” [MATTHEW 5:23-24].
I am well aware that some may imagine that I have wandered from the text, but seeking reconciliation with those who are offended is germane to the discussion of those who take offence over some issue and how we respond to such insults. We are taught, of course, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” [MATTHEW 18:15-18].
The sum of what has been said to this point is encouragement for each Christian to rule over her or his own spirit rather than raging against a fellow saint of the Lord. Surely the words of the Wise Man find application in this instance. I trust that you will recall that Solomon has written:
“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
[PROVERBS 16:32]
Wise words, indeed! Work at teaching yourself to be wise. In each case, whether speaking of you as an individual follower of the Saviour, or whether speaking of us as a congregation, let us make every effort to be the master over our emotions. Refuse to give in to your feelings. When some leave us, whatever their reason, keep the door open. But don’t feel as if you must rush after them, pleading for them to do what should be done.
As for arguing with those who are trapped in the throes of their emotions, those who are reacting in haste and in anger, perhaps this word from the Wise Man will provide you with wise counsel.
“If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.”
[PROVERBS 29:9]
Indeed, look to lower the temperature by assuring the angry person of your love, knowing that there is no benefit in arguing with them. Assure them that you will be glad to discuss the issue when the temperature of the moment has been lowered. If they are determined to make trouble, there is nothing left except to allow them to go their own way. This is the instruction given when the Apostle wrote Titus. “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” [TITUS 3:10-11].
It is a sobering word that John has given us, but a word that we must learn to hold as necessary instruction if we will honour the Master. The Apostle of Love has written, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” [1 JOHN 2:18-20].
Even the most diligent of Christ’s followers can be offended because things are not going the way that saint wants things to go. On one occasion, the Baptist had grown discouraged, and he had ample reason to be discouraged! Nevertheless, he seems to have misrepresented the ministry that Jesus was conducting and John’s relationship to all that God appointed him to do. Thus, we read in the Gospels of a point at which John sent some to try to clarify matters. “When John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me’ [MATTHEW 11:2-6].
The Master’s final statement is instructive: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Taking offence is easy. Keeping your eye fixed on the labour God has assigned regardless of how things may look in the short run is far more challenging. We are being trained to act with deliberation, seeking Christ’s glory and not our own comfort.
I know that I have just invested considerable time speaking of being dispassionate about those who are offended and choose to leave. Nevertheless, there is an essential point that begs to be made—Jesus never tried to stop those who were deserting Him. It is one thing to search for lost sheep; it is quite another to rush after disgruntled sheep. Making this distinction can be demanding, and undoubtedly the pastor that must make such tough decisions will error at times, but it is not the responsibility of an under shepherd to burp dyspeptic sheep. Though I would never discourage anyone who wants to turn an angry person back from the rage to which they have surrendered, know that they have chosen to give in to their emotions. Christ must deal with them, and He will.
A DISCIPLE RESPONDS TO JESUS — Noting that many of those who had claimed to be His devoted followers were deserting Him, Jesus, turning to His disciples, asked them, “Do you want to go away as well.” Without giving any particular thought to the import of his words Peter confessed the unique nature of the Master. We read, “Simon Peter answered [Jesus], ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” [JOHN 6:68]. Peter revealed his view of the Master. In giving this assessment, Peter challenges each Christian to choose on which side of this history we will take our stand.
Let’s acknowledge that the Big Fisherman’s confession wasn’t perfect. Had it been perfect, his future actions would not have included that awful incident when the bold man quailed before the accusations of a little girl. But Peter did deny Christ! In fear of what could happen, he did not stand firm in the face of this little girl’s accusations. And you and I likely would have done no better! He was in the presence of those who had seized the Master, delivering Him over to the authorities for a trial that would surely lead to condemnation and a sentence leading to crucifixion. I don’t imagine that any of us would eagerly embrace being nailed to a cross!
Here is something we each need to consider: our confession is not about what we may or may not do at some future point in time, it is about what we hold to be true now! We dare not boast of how we may act at some time yet future since we don’t know the particulars of what we may face. We need to take seriously the cautionary statement given by the brother of our Lord, when he writes, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” [JAMES 4:13-16]. The point to hold in mind is that none of us can accurately predict how we will respond to challenges that lie somewhere in the future because none of us know what challenges are yet in the future. And we don’t know what our situation will be when we face challenges that are still future. We no doubt want to be bold, but only one who has faced threats and assaults knows the power of the enemy.
After that brief excursus, let’s turn again to the text. I note that Peter’s confession gave voice to the exclusivity of Jesus when compared with the entirety of mankind. Peter avows, whether one is considering those who have lived before Jesus or all who would ever live after Him, that Jesus was uniquely divine. No other individual in the whole of history ever claimed to be God and proved it by giving sight to blinded eyes, by restoring hearing to deaf ears, by giving strength to withered limbs, and by raising the dead as did Jesus. In the whole of history, no other individual would sacrifice His life so that others might live, claiming that they would have a new quality of life that would be eternal.
Peter’s response to the Master’s query also informs us of the reason Jesus is uniquely qualified to be the only One to whom a disciple would ever dare resort. In effect, Peter confesses that those who have actually known the Son of God cannot just walk away. His very Person as the Christ demands that those who know Him will continue walking with Him! Jesus is either unique in all history, or he is just another man. If Jesus of Nazareth is not truly God in human flesh, why would anyone follow Him? And if He is very God as He claims, why would you not receive Him as Master over your life? Indeed, to whom shall you go if not to Jesus?
And that raises the question to you who name the Name of Christ. You call yourself a Christian, but are you walking with the Saviour? Or are you effectively walking away from Him? Are you serving Him as He has directed you? Or are you drifting on the sea of life? Jesus calls us to be actively engaged in the business of following Him, doing what He commands. And yet, many who identify as Christians, as followers of the Son of God, have a name and no substance to the name they have taken upon themselves. I pray that is not the case for those who listen to the message this day.
The Apostle to the Gentiles would challenge the professed saints in Corinth, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” [2 CORINTHIANS 13:5]! It is a challenge to each one who claims to be in the Faith. And I pray you have not failed the test.
But what of those who may hear the message, though they have never put faith in the Risen Son of God. You need to know that Christ the Lord died because of your sinful, broken condition so that you need not be held accountable for your sin. He then rose from the dead before ascending into the Glory where He now appears before the throne of the Father for all who have believed on Him. Now, the Word of God calls you, saying, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10].
I suppose it is possible that someone who hears may question what is to be done. Perhaps they imagine that what is demanded is too difficult to understand. It is as if the Lord anticipated your confusion by directing His Apostle to quote the words of an ancient prophet named Joel. This quotation is given just for you so that you will understand God’s will. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Believe the Christ and be saved. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
