Why we stick with Jesus
John 6:60-69
9/10
† In the name of Jesus †
Grace, Peace and Mercy be yours, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
There was something about this man in the Marine Corps uniform, that the teachers, and staff, and students noticed. It was partially the way he walked, and talked with people, in his very quiet, assured, and friendly manner. The other recruiters made promises, and talked about how great their branch of the service was, and that theirs had opportunities that the other branches did not. Even though only given a brief two minutes, the other recruiters took far more than their allotted time.
Finally, the older marine sergeant rose, as the principal apologized and said there were only two minutes left to the assembly. The sergeant nodded, and went to the podium and for 60 long seconds, looked intently at the students. His eyes went two and fro Finally, without great volume, but with a sureness that everyone was listening, the old marine said,
“ I will not promise you anything except hardship. Hard living conditions, hard long days of work, and little reward. I want you to know this, that only two or three of you, will be strong enough, physically, mentally and emotionally, of being part of the Marine Family. I want to see those 2-3 boys at lunch.” No recruited saw such a response. There was more competition to talk to the old sergeant, than any college recruiter, any other military recruiter saw that career day.
I know some of you may have heard that story before, it has been in a sermon or two of mine. I use it again today, but with a twist. Because it illustrates the lives of those we read about in the Gospel, those who decided to follow Jesus, and those that did not, but walked away. Let me re-phrase the sergeant’s words a bit, to offer insight into the decisions made that day.
Following Jesus is not a “religion” of ease. There are, in reality, very few promises that make our lives now easier. We are not promised that the desires of our hearts are granted, that we live lives of comfort. Often, we have to struggle with Christ’s word, trying to understand that it is not our strength that makes us candidates to be in His family, but our weaknesses.
Are we weak enough, to receive that which the apostles were granted? Are we weak enough to believe God, and take Him at His promises?
The Don’ts
They start with the message, not the messenger
They don’t “get” it
They complain
Offended, They walk away rather than with
They don’t believe, and so toss away (betray)
Today’s gospel passage concludes a passage where Jesus is teaching. As we looked at the passage last week, I cautioned us against judging the disciples too quickly. We have knowledge that they don’t, specifically, we know about the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension to heaven. For them, to hear that Jesus was going to give them His body to eat, and His blood to drink must have sounded a bit, strange. If not downright bizarre!
It is here, that they make the crucial mistake, for they consider the message on its own merits, rather than who is speaking the message. It confuses them, and they start complaining among themselves about the message. There are times that I love the irony of the ancient Greek language. The sound of the Greek word for complained is “gong, u sin”. And complaining, or sounding like a gong, they did, not to Jesus, but to each other. Rather than wait for Jesus to explain, they started thinking they knew more than God. That is why I love the term “gong, u sin!” Rather than ask Jesus, as they had before, or wait for the explanation, as He also did often, they started complaining, they start sounding like a bunch of gongs. Simply put, they don’t “get it”.
Jesus is not unaware of this, scripture tells us, for he knows from the beginning, literally from before the ages, who believed, had faith in Him, and who did not have that faith. And so He once again raises the stakes, and notes that there are those who do not trust Him, who do not have faith, who do not believe in His words. Listen to His words,
John 6:63-64 (NKJV) 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
Rather than consider the one giving the message, they took great offense at the message. Or perhaps the offense that they took was that they couldn’t comprehend that message? It is not hard to do, remember when you were kids, or teens, and your parents said, “you will understand when you are older”? What was your reaction? But this great truth, that we receive life through Christ’s sacrifice, through His body being given, and his blood being spilt for us at the cross, is lost to them. They go from complaining, to no longer trusting Jesus, to outright betraying Him. Another great word picture there – they literally tossed Him aside, as if he had no significance! As if walking with God is not a thing to be valued, and even cherished, they toss it away, because they don’t understand clearly what he teaches them.
And that is what they do, they simply take off, and walk away, not following Jesus any longer. That is the nature of unbelief, you give up that which you do not know the value of, for you. Rather than listen, and hear, the very gospel that is the power of God to save them, they argue about it, and dismiss it.
That is very much like those who would rather not deal with Jesus today. They will dismiss the parts of our faith, that are minimal, and toss aside the hope of eternal life, the joy of walking with God, the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Instead they will argue about how a fish can swallow a human being and he stay alive. Or how Creation cannot have happened so fast, even with an omnipotent, omniscient God causing it.
Transistion – the question – et tu apostles?
As the people abandon Jesus, as they abandon all that He is going to give them, by giving up His body to be crucified, as they abandon the riches found in Christ Jesus, He turns to His closest disciples, the apostles, and asks,
Do you also want to go away?
Remember, in the passage, it says Jesus knew from the beginning who would believe and not believe. So He knew about Peter, and the other apostles. He knew that they trusted in Him, as a man of God, and were started to begin to understand what it meant to walk with God. They still had a long way to go, but belief, faith, trust, is there.
I would think, that He wants them to realize it, to say the words that come from what the Father has given them. The incredible truth, that Jesus is Immanuel. God. With. Us.
The Do’s
The Messenger is the Message
Words of Life
We have come to
Trust
Know
Peter again, will make an incredible confession. Not because he is smarter than the other guys, for that is, well let’s say, doubtful. But Peter is enthusiastic, almost childlike in the way he treasures that which God reveals to him. Let me take a little poetic license with his answer,
Lord, uh, where else, who else could we go to? There is NO one else with words of life. No One! How could we leave you, when we have faith, when we have come to realize, to know that you are the Christ, the Son of God!
Peter’s confession is incredible, and indeed, it had to come from God the Father, for according to Jesus, no one else could give it to Peter. He judges the messenger worthy of listening too, and accepts by faith a message that can only be understood in the shadow of the cross.
Peter didn’t need to realize everything about what Jesus said, right then. For Peter knew Jesus. Peter trusted Him, that all would be revealed in time. . That is the essence of Faith, according to the book of Hebrews, - being sure of the things we cannot see, having proof of what we do, it is the foundation of our hope.
That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That what He promised, in giving us His Body to eat, and His blood to drink, would deliver to us eternal life.
That is the basis of our “religion”, of our faith – the belief and trust that Jesus is the Christ. Here how John, decades later will state the same thing, again.
1 John 4:13-17 (ESV) 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
Peter saw no where else to go, with this trust and knowledge of Jesus. He dealt with the mysteries of God in a very simple way. He let be God be God, and rested in His faith. You and I, occasionally are in the same place, where we don’t have all the answers to our questions about God, His universe, His revealed word. But we too have come to believe, to have faith, and we know, that Jesus the Christ is indeed the Son of the living God. And that He lived and died, and rose again, to unite us to Him in our Baptisms, to strengthen that faith in the Lord’s Supper, and through His word.
And we don’t have to act like a bunch of gongs!
For we have God’s peace, the unsurpassed peace of knowing that He guards our hearts and our minds, in Christ Jesus!
