Gospel of John - This Is A Hard Teaching, Who Can Accept It?

                     “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

John 6:60-71

Jesus in obedience to the Father, and in compassion for the lost spoke in truth and honesty the words and the will of the Father, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away… And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day… “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” V.37, 39, 44-45 

Recapping, the disciples and all the 5,000 plus followers had tasted the bread on the knolls of Bethsaida, and Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life”, if they partake of this bread that they would never hunger again. They said “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then, Jesus taught them the spiritual lesson on the bread that came from heaven. He was the bread of life, and they had to eat of him. Just as they had partook of the earthly bread in order to satisfy their fleshly hunger, they were to partake of the bread of heaven for the hunger of eternal life, and this was the sticking point for those that heard his further teaching. Let’s begin with the text, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 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. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 

Jesus was not being exclusive or segregative. He simply told the listeners that they can have eternal life by partaking of the Bread of Life, Jesus’s flesh. Partaking involves: consuming, engaging, taking part in, sharing in, and abiding. Jesus spoke of eternal life that came from partaking of the Bread of Life, literally. Literally in that their lives must abide in Christ as the sustenance that gives life through the Son of God. When they ate the earthly bread that gives energy to live, they consumed it, but eating of the body of Christ gave eternal life, they would never hunger again because Christ was the sustenance from Heaven. This came only by faith in the Son of God. Jesus in speaking to Nicademus had said, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? …Everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus’ disciples were among the grumblers, they were not understanding the spiritual lesson. They had left everything to follow Jesus, and Jesus had kept them fed physically as well as opening their eyes and ears to the truth of God’s Word. For them as well, this teaching on the bread of life was hard to digest. 

Jesus, knowing their hearts and minds, turned to them and said, “Does this offend you?” Jesus knew whom God the Father had given to him to be his disciples. So he approached them with this question. Were they offended at the literal eating of the flesh of a man, or was there more to the offense?  They had seen many miracles and they had heard both instruction in private as well as hearing the teaching to the masses. They had privy to Jesus like no others, yet their spiritual ears were still not hearing and their spiritual hearts and minds not understanding. 

Jesus then poses a question, “What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!” Jesus took them again to a new level to believe not just with your eyes and mind, but with your heart, soul, and spirit. The disciples probably couldn’t imagine what they would experience at Jesus’ ascension back to heaven, but they had seen enough to know that Jesus was sent from God, as Nicademus had said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus wanted them to see with spiritual understanding, for his next words alluded them. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” 

Jesus was teaching them that life was more than the flesh, it would die, but the Spirit gave life and that eternal. They were still bound by the flesh, partaking only of this earth, yet Jesus desired for them to have abundant life through the Spirit by eating (partaking, abiding) of the Bread of Life, Jesus. 

Jesus, again knowing his disciples, also knew who would not believe and would betray him, “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. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 

All the disciples were still trying to grasp all that they had seen and heard, and searching deep into their souls: Did they really believe? Is it really possible to have life that is eternal? Is Jesus really the Son of God? How can we eat this Bread of Life? Jesus knew their every doubt and uncertainty, and he knew those who were true to follow and those who were unbelieving, even to the point of betrayal. 

And this brings Jesus to the statement, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” Like the Israelites in the desert, God knew who would take only enough manna for the day, and those who wouldn’t listen and take more than they were told too. Jesus knew those who would listen and believe and those who doubted and pretended to believe. God’s omniscience and predestination of believers was based on who would truly believe, not on a list of who was naughty and nice.

Application - Today, there are many voices crying out many ways to eternal life through acts of works, through following a certain person of influence, to believing in man to be the sustainer of life by saving the planet. All of these ignore the fact everyone will die in their fleshly body. They will have tried to make themselves righteous through self righteousness or believing in something that has no life. They will coerce people into believing in their own abilities, only to find the sinful nature of mankind cannot be controlled by an act of the human will or force. Jesus is the only way to God the Father, and it was the Father who sent the Son to be the way to eternal life. No one can enter heaven but by them abiding in Jesus, partaking in the sacrifice that only the Son could do by his sacrifice for sin and believing by faith and living in the Son. 

Like the people who follow Jesus in order to get fed earthly bread, or to see and hear the wise teaching of the master, none of this would give eternal life. God the Father sent His Son so everyone who believed in him would have eternal life. Abiding in Jesus is to be connected to him. We must live daily in faith, eating of the Bread of life, the Word of God daily as the Lord’s prayer said, “Give us this day our daily bread…” God knows all who will believe in His Son, and Jesus knows all who will abide in him for life and that eternal. He also knows all those who are half-hearted, who will betray him.  Jesus, who is our creator, knows our hearts and minds, the very words we will speak that come from the heart, and they will reveal who we really are.

Last, Jesus went deep into revealing God’s plan and will. Let’s look at the text, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

Jesus began to see the winnowing of the Holy Spirit’s wind through the harvest. The followers and those wanna be disciples were now blowing away, as the chaff from the grain. Many of those who had come from the villages across the sea and those from the synagogues began to grumble, murmur, and fall away from listening to Jesus because of his teachings: He was from God. He was the Bread of Life, likened to the manna from heaven. And Jesus’ teaching that God wanted everyone to believe in the Son, even the gentiles and outcasts. 

Jesus now asked his twelve disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Again Jesus was testing them, for he knew all that the Father had given to him. Peter then opens up in the flesh, but ends in the spiritual. “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Peter and all the others had left their homes, families, and businesses to follow Jesus. They were mostly all in. They had seen and heard the very word of God spoken with authority to the natural elements: healings, the multiplicity of food, and the obedience of nature to Jesus’ voice even to walking on water. The disciples were beginning to understand spiritually the words to life and what it is to be like by following God’s Son, eternal life, and they could speak to Jesus about anything. They had seen the crowds and all those who tried to use Jesus for their own means and endeavors in life. 

Peter's response showed that there was no one like Jesus, where else could they go, they had given up everything, they were all in. They had been drawn to Jesus by the power of the Spirit to the Father. Peter then took their commitment to the next level when he said, “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Peter's heart and soul were into following Jesus. He wasn’t doing it because of the great harvest of fish, or handing out fish and bread that seemed to come from nowhere into their baskets, or the experience of a lifetime of walking on water in the middle of a squall. Peter now committed to Jesus because he had the sustaining words of eternal life, Jesus was the Bread of life, and that He was sent by God the Father. Jesus is the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Christ, the promise of the Father.

Jesus then exclaims, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?” In response to Peter’s declaration on behalf of the twelve, Jesus now dropped a bomb, “Yet one of you is a devil!”. Jesus had chosen the twelve men from among the people of Galilee, and he knew that these were the ones that the Father had given to him, even though one (Judas Iscariot) would betray him. This wasn’t settled here, but would again be brought up at the Passover meal in the upper room.

Jesus knew that Judas Isacariot would betray him at the end of his time on earth, and that Satan would enter him for evil, but God meant it to fulfill the prophecy in Psalm 41:9 and Zechariah 11:12-13 of the betrayal by Judas. 

Application - One of the problems in the church today is the phrase, “the back door of the church.” Many will come to church services for a while for various reasons. Then there comes a time when they will make a choice, to commit to Christ or decide to leave church and exit out the back door so to speak. 

God’s word is sown and each person is given free will to choose to believe in the Lord or not. We use the ability to choose in almost everything we do. So it is in committing to following Christ by believing in him for eternal life, confessing our need for a savior who has the words of eternal life like the disciples. The Bread of life is a gift from Heaven, like manna. Salvation as well is a gift from God the Father, we receive the gift by grace through faith. 

Yet there are going to be those who have listened to Jesus, tasted his goodness, worked miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, and even acknowledge him as Lord before others, like Judas who lived, spoke, and listened to the enlightened words of eternal life, the Bread of life . Peter later wrote about people like Judas in 2 Pet. 2:20-21, who had been in the churches throughout Asia minor and like the disciples who walked away from Jesus, they turned their backs and later were possibly with those who called out to crucify Jesus. He said,  “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 

Jesus said one more thing of great importance to his disciples, “Have I not chosen you?” Jesus knows those whom he has chosen, by the will of God who gave them to him, for they are those who will truly believe, deny themselves by humbly submitting their lives to the will of God, and carrying the cross of dying daily to the ways of the flesh and world. 

Paul gave Timothy godly wisdom to which he lived and we need to live as well. “If we died with him,  we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Tim 2:11-12

We again come back to the promise of God the Father to the Son, and the Son’s promises to his disciples,“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away… And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day…” 

Jesus is faithful, and if we abide in Him and eat of the sustenance of the Bread of life, we have eternal life, and that in abundance and we will be raised up on the last day. Amen

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I am developing a new webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today.  Thank you

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com