Thursday, December 11, 2008

John 6:60-71

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

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 Then 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—they are full of the Spirit and 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 them."

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 have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)



Dig Deeper

When I was still in college, I found what seemed to be an incredible job opportunity. It was working for a company that made and sold very high quality but also very expensive knives. The cool thing seemed to be in the fact that it wasn't a store. All of the sales were made through in-home demonstrations. This meant there were no set hours, I could make my own schedule, and I would be making straight commission, which could be rather lucrative with the price of these knives. After a little research I discovered that this place was legitimate and that there were a lot of people who had made a lot of money working in sales for this corporation. It seemed perfect for the first few weeks. I went and did demonstrations in the homes of my friends and family members and made quite a few sales and quite a bit of money. Then I went to a sales conference and heard what it was really going to take to be successful in the long term in this corporation. It would take me gathering names and phone numbers from my friends and family members and calling people I didn't know at all and making appointments with them and trying to sell to them. It would, they told us, take a total dedication to selling knives. That must become the most important thing to us if we really wanted to be successful. I recall leaving that conference and telling our supervisor as we traveled home that I was done. I just didn't understand, I told him. He wanted to know what I didn't understand, and it was then that I explained that it wasn't that I didn't comprehend, it was that I didn't understand why someone would want to commit like that to selling knives. I knew perfectly well what they were calling us to do, I just wanted no part of it. It was way too demanding.

This whole discourse that continues on through the end of this chapter began with the crowds looking for Jesus. Well, they've certainly found him. Only he isn't giving them the sorts of signs and teachings that they particularly wanted. They want something that would benefit them and meet their expectations, but now he is talking about being from heaven and hinting that he is going to suffer and die and that they will have to benefit from that and find him as their whole source of sustenance if they want eternal life. This is not at all what they were looking for. Oh, they understand the important aspects of what Jesus is saying (even if they don't understand every detail) but most of them wanted no part of it. It was way too demanding.

We find out in verse 60 that the ones arguing about Jesus' words here and now the ones that are grumbling openly (an act which connects them once again to the people of the Exodus who complained and grumbled against Moses' leadership and, ultimately, against God) about it. They complain that what Jesus has just told them is a hard teaching. They language here, in the original Greek, does not mean that they couldn't comprehend what Jesus was saying, it is actually more along the lines of saying, "this is an offensive teaching." How could he stand there and call Jews that were loyal to God and the Torah (Scriptures) and tell them that everything they needed for life would come through him? They wanted some kingly leader that would throw off the oppression of the Romans, not some guy who was talking of his own death and saying that they would have to benefit from it somehow in order to be part of the resurrection and the age to come.

Jesus knew they were grumbling, just as God knew the hearts of the Israelites in the wilderness, and asks them if they are offended. The issue is basically that they do not understand who it is that has been speaking to them. They were unwilling to surrender control of their lives to Jesus, but that is because they were unwilling to accept who he might really be. What if they were to see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before? Would that convince them or would it just offend them more? Where was he before? In God's presence in the realm of heaven. When Christ returns there through his death, resurrection and ascension, which is often viewed by John as one theological event, what will their response be then? If they could only humble themselves to the fact that the one they have been following really is from heaven and really will return there, they might be convinced.

They are so focused on their earthly expectations and demands that they are missing the spiritual truths being laid out before them. Jesus is speaking of things that can only come through understanding things at a spiritual rather than natural level. His words are full of spirit and life but their hearts are full of the flesh and death. The implication is that they will not accept the things of the Spirit and the life he is offering because they will not accept the Spirit. When they reject Jesus' teachings, they are rejecting God's Holy Spirit.

All of this comes as no surprise to Jesus, however, John tells us. He knew from the beginning that that some would not believe and that some would betray him. John is not telling us that Jesus was just really insightful and discerning. He means to relay to us that behind Jesus' statement "there are some of you who do not believe," there was divine insight. Jesus knew all along who would believe and who would not. This does, however, imply that these people did not have free will or the choice to believe or not believe. The fact that God has foreknowledge of all things does not mean that they are predetermined or that humans have no free will.

Jesus has already stated and now reiterates the fact that no one can come to him unless the Father has enabled them. All humans are slaves to sin and stuck in that slavery without the real possibility of coming to God or reconciling ourselves to him on our without Him taking initiative. This is, of course, the whole point. The Father has enabled all to come to him, but they have chosen not to. The responsibility for their unbelief does not lie with God, it is with them.

It is at this point, that many of Jesus' disciples turned back and no longer followed him. These weren't just part of the crowd that had stayed and watched from the periphery. These were people who had counted themselves among his disciples. They had followed Jesus and were prepared to recognize him as the Messiah. The demands that he had made on them, namely laying down their own agendas and relying on nothing other than the bread of life available in the life of Jesus, were just too much for them. They understood precisely what Jesus was saying to them, but wanted nothing to do with it. This is instructive for those of us who have experienced times when we have shared the message of the gospel of Jesus with someone, only to be disappointed as they have walked away and not accepted it. We then begin to blame ourselves as if we had just presented it better or done something differently they would have listened. The fact is, some simply will not. They will hear the demands of laying down their life and want nothing to do with it. It has little to do with the presentation and everything to do with the willingness to be obedient to the Word.

Many of those who had supposed to be his disciples simply leave Jesus and fall away. This is not the Messiah they wanted and they will no longer follow him. With the migration of many of his disciples, Jesus turns to the Twelve, the men into whom he has poured the most time and training. Will they leave too? The question is worded, in the Greek, in such a way that demonstrates that Jesus expects a positive response. Peter, in his usually impetuous manner, takes up as spokesman for the group. He addresses Jesus as Lord, a word that could mean anything from a respectful "sir" all the way to the name used for God in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that most Jews used in the first century (Septuagint). It is likely that Peter means to use this term in the highest possible sense. He is the Holy One of God. He is the one who speaks the words of eternal life, meaning that he doesn't just speak of the age to come, but his very words actually are in the process of bringing the new creation into reality.

It is fitting that they recognize this because they have a high calling. They have been chosen, just as Israel was chosen as God's people. Yet one of them was a devil. Just as Jesus knew who would and who would not believe in him, he knew that Judas would betray him. The point is clear. Jesus was the one whose very words were bringing God's new creation into existence, but some just were not ready for that and would not embrace it, regardless of what Jesus said or did. Some would enter into eternal life because they believed while some would refuse to believe and refuse to enter into that life.



Dig Deeper

You probably wouldn't be reading this if you weren't willing to follow Jesus at some level. Yet, there is still a challenge out there for us in a passage like this. Are there any areas of your life in which you read the words of Jesus but just simply aren't too interested in following them? Have you truly laid down your life in every area and grabbed hold to the eternal life that is available to all of those in Christ or have you walked away from certain aspects of Jesus' teaching?

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