INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever faced a moment of truth in your life? A moment of truth is a time where you are confronted with the facts about an issue or a person and then you needed to make a decision?
• It may have been a decision on whether or not to break off a relationship with someone. Maybe it was a decision as to whether or not to go to a party. Maybe it was a time where you had to decide whether or not you were going to cheat to get a better score on a test.
• As we face various moments of truth in our lives, they many times are crossroads that determine the course of our lives. It is important that we face our moments of truth understanding the serious implications of actions and decisions.
• At one time or another we will all face a moment of truth. Jesus is about to close this lengthy sermon He was preaching in the synagogue. Jesus has been preaching about what it would take for a person to have eternal life. Jesus has shared the benefits of following Him, now the people are confronted with a moment of truth.
• What are they going to do with what Jesus has taught them? Maybe you have been coming to church here for a while and you have been confronted by the teachings of Jesus. You are facing a moment of truth. What will you do?
• The crowd was faced with a moment of truth. The people had a choice to make. Accept or reject.
• As they contemplated what Jesus had taught them they had to decide what they were going to do? What would their response be during this all important moment of truth? Today as we close out the sermon by Jesus, we will see the three ways in which the crowds faced their moment of truth.
• As you listen to the message today, I want to challenge you to honestly assess where you are at today with Jesus. In what category do you fit?
SERMON
When confronted with their moment of truth with Jesus, for many the response was:
I. OVERT DEFECTION (60-66) (READ)
• This is perhaps the most “unsuccessful” sermon ever preached. Jesus started with thousands and finishes with a handful. Yet it is a significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry. While he moves closer to a self-revelation, he also shifts from a public ministry to thousands to a more private training of the Twelve.
• The original text of verse 66 is much more explicit than the English translation. “From this time”(NIV) or (As a result NASB) suggests not merely this time but this event.
• As a result of this sermon many of his disciples abandon ship. Not only that but the text indicates that people went back home, back to work, back to their old habits, old ways of thinking, etc. For many, this is an abandonment of the movement. They not only give up following Jesus, they give up what he represents and teaches.
• In verses 62-65 we see further evidence that Jesus did not mean to be taken literally when He spoke of eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
• In verses 62-63 Jesus tells the crowd that if they see Him ascending from Heaven, eating flesh will do them no good. He says it is the Spirit who gives life and furthermore; the WORDS that He spoke were Spirit and life!
• In verse 60 when the people complained about what Jesus was preaching, what did Jesus do? Did He back off His preaching, or did He change what He was saying to make it more palatable to the people? NO! Jesus was on the verge of losing many of the people who were following Him, but He did not change the message. There is a lesson in that for us today. We are not to go out and intentionally offend people, but the message is the message. If the message offends it offends. We are to preach the lesson with love, but we are not to change the message to make people happy!
• Many people today do not like the fact that Jesus claims to be the only way to God. Do we change what He said to make people happy? NO!
• I’ve made my choice," wrote the basketball star. "I love Jesus Christ and I try to serve Him to the best of my ability. How about you?" No, those are not the words of David Robinson, A. C. Green or any other Christian currently playing in the NBA. That testimony is from a tract written over thirty years ago by Bill Bradley, the former United States Senator and one time Presidential candidate. In a October 5, 1999 Breakpoint Commentary, Chuck Colson talked about how Bradley professed faith in Christ while he was a student at Princeton University. There he became very active in The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and by the time he was playing for the New York Knicks, he was a very outspoken Christian. But things have changed. In his 1996 memoirs, Bradley says he was put off by the exclusive truth claims of conservative Christianity and bothered by the uncharitable and racist attitudes displayed by some Christians. He now says he embraces all religions, from Buddhism to Islam, "so long as they seek inner peace."
• When the crowd said in verse 60 that the statement was difficult for them, the word used in the original text is a word that indicates the sermon was not hard to understand, but hard to accept, disagreeable offensive to them.
• They forsook and deserted the Lord. Why? Very simply, following Christ cost too much. It involved the cross, which meant complete denial of oneself.
• The real difficulty of Christianity is two-fold. It demands an act of surrender to Christ, an acceptance of him as the final authority; and it demands a moral standard of the highest level. The disciples were well aware that Jesus had claimed to be the very life and mind of God come down to earth; their difficulty was to accept that as true, with all its implications. To this day many a man refuses Christ, not because he puzzles intellect, but because he challenges his life
• This reminds us a bit of the rich your ruler in Luke 18. When Jesus laid out the cost of discipleship, the young man left, not willing to follow what he needed to do.
When confronted with their moment of truth with Jesus, for some the response was:
II. COVERT DEFECTION (70-71) (READ)
• I want to skip down to verses 70-71.
• Verse 64 is directed towards Judas and the others who did not believe in Him enough to give themselves over to Him.
• Judas did something that was worse than just leaving Jesus. He was a covert defector. Those who left, left. They did not go around claiming to follow Jesus and then bring shame on the kingdom by their disobedience. They quietly went back to the old way of life as we saw in verse 66.
• Judas on the other hand stayed with Jesus even though at this time he did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
• Judas was covert defector. He made out like he was a follower of Jesus, yet inside he was full of greed and envy.
• Judas would have been better off just walking away with the rest of the defectors.
• Judas may have been one of those who wanted Jesus to be made king just a day before. Why? Judas would have looked good since he was one of the 12 if Jesus was made king. Since Jesus rejected this, Judas may have felt the sting.
• Judas stayed with Jesus to see what he could get out of Him.
• JOHN 12:6 says concerning Judas, “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.
• How many of us are covert defectors? We come to church, we claim a relationship with Jesus, yet we really do not give our lives over to Him because we really do not want to accept the fact that Jesus is the Son of God?
• I am not speaking of a person who is struggling with their faith, but folks who just go about life giving no thought to how their example affects other people?
• A covert defector can do great damage to the kingdom of God.
• If we call ourselves a Christian, our lives MUST reflect it. We will not be sinless perfect, but people should see some signs of Jesus in our lives, they should see some growth in our lives.
• Judas was one of the covert defectors.
• I wonder what would have happened if Judas would have opened up and asked for help?
When confronted with their moment of truth with Jesus, for a few the response was:
III. COMMITTED DISCIPLESHIP (67-69)
• As Jesus saw the multitudes around Him leave He looks at the 12.
• I can see the hurt in Jesus eyes as He turned and looked at the 12.
• In verse 67 Jesus asks the question - WILL YOU leave me also? This statement is emphatic!
• Jesus frames his question in v. 67 so as to expect a negative answer. This is not an invitation for them to leave, but a helpful reminder of why they have chosen to stay.
• As the 12 contemplate what had just happened, Peter speaks for the group. “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
• In verse 69 Peter was in fact saying, “We have believed and have come to know.” As Peter and the others watched and listened to Jesus they had a settled conviction about who Jesus was. They still did not fully comprehend who Jesus was until after the resurrection, but they knew enough to know that Jesus had the Word of life in Him.
• Even though the going was tough at the moment, Peter knew Jesus was worth following. Where else would they turn?
• Peter and 10 of the other 11 were committed to discipleship. Up to this point the ride had been rather easy for them, but now it was going to start getting tougher for them, yet they knew they had now where else to turn for eternal life.
• What about you? Where are you turning for your words of life?
• Are you committed enough to Jesus to stick with Him through the good and the bad times?
• Are you going to stick with Jesus when you start to see some of what He teaches is not going to make you popular? Will you sacrifice your faith for popularity? Will you sacrifice your integrity on the job? Will you sacrifice what you believe for another person? Will you sacrifice your faith to have a spouse or a date?
• Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver? Do you have a price at which you can be bought out or are you sold out to Jesus?
• Peter was apparently struggling with some of what Jesus was says, but he knew Jesus had what he needed.
• Peter had to sense that following Jesus from this point on was not going to make him popular, but he was going to follow anyway.
• Peter faced his moment of truth with conviction.
CONCLUSION
• Today is your moment of truth. What will you with Jesus? Will you defect, reject or commit?
• Your decision will affect you for eternity.
• You have been confronted by Jesus today. What will you do?
• As we face a moment of truth, many times we are standing at the crossroads.
• For those of us who have been immersed into Christ, are we proving ourselves to be committed disciples or are we on the path to defection? Do not let that happen to you.
• WE all need to know that God loves us and we need to know that the depth of that love led Him to send His son to die for you!
