JOHN 6 JOHN 6 WITH PASTOR JERRY2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: John 6 John 6 With Pastor Jerry

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, this evening, though, we're going to spend some time in John chapter 6, and I

Breaking away from our format of paces and having the video panel as well, it seems like everybody's schedules are quite filled. And so I'm not sure if the Lord's just putting an end to the video panel thing or not. But for today, the Lord stirred it up on my heart to just teach through the passage and

There's a lot of verses here. We're not going to try to go in depth in all of them. But there are some certain things that I think the Lord wants to call to our attention and speak to us about as we consider the passage that we read today for the Bible in three years. And so we're going to be looking at John chapter 6 verses 41 through 71. But let's begin by reading verses 41 through 46. John chapter 6 starting in verse 41 says this.

The Jews then complained about him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

It is written in the prophets, and they shall be taught by God. Therefore, 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.

Here as we look at John chapter 6, we're jumping right into the middle of a passage where there's a lot that's been happening. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus fed the 5,000. And that was a great miracle. It's recorded in all four Gospels. It drew lots of excitement amongst the people. And they came looking for him the next day. And Jesus let them know that they weren't following him. They weren't seeking him alone.

for spiritual things, but they were seeking him. They were searching him out because, well, they had a good meal. They really enjoyed that and they wanted to continue that experience. And so he was really addressing their thirst for the physical more than their thirst for the spiritual. And so they've been interacting ever since then and walking through some important truths, some deep truths.

I shared this last Wednesday as well. The passage that's before us is just powerful. There's some really dense doctrine in here and some really essential things for us to know and understand about Jesus. And he reveals himself very clearly in the Gospel of John. And as the Gospel of John really focuses on the deity of Jesus,

the fact that he is God and one with the Father and equal to the Father, it really reveals some things that are important for us to grasp hold of. And so now in this passage at the end of chapter six, we see that continue. And so there's some important truth, some hard truth. That's the testimony of the people that are there in the present as Jesus is talking about these things. They say, this is hard. Who can understand these things?

And so there's some difficult things for us to chew on, but important truths for us to grasp hold of and understand. And so I'm going to walk through the passage with five points. The first one in these verses that we just read, verses 41 through 46. Here's point number one. The Father draws people to Jesus.

The father draws people to Jesus. Again, jumping into verse 41, it says, And their complaint has its roots in the fact that Jesus said he came down from heaven. They're wrestling with his origin story.

He said, I've come down from heaven. I'm the bread which has come down from heaven. And they're talking amongst themselves and say, isn't this Jesus? Don't we know this guy? His father, his mother, we know Joseph, we know Mary. And in other passages also, they refer to his brothers and his sisters and

And so they're saying, look, we know this guy. We know where he's from. How could he be saying then that he came down from heaven? That can't be true because we know where he is from. He's not from heaven. He's from Joseph and Mary. And so they're complaining about what Jesus is saying and wrestling with what that means for them. Verse 43, Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do not murmur among yourselves.

And the idea here is they're murmuring secretly, right? So they're having this interaction, they're having this conversation, but they're not addressing this openly with Jesus, but they're murmuring amongst themselves. And Jesus here knows, of course, what's going on. And he says, hey, don't murmur secretly, right?

I know that everyone is not going to follow me, and I know that everyone is not going to receive these truths. You don't have to try to keep it a secret. You don't have to keep it a secret that you're wrestling with the things that I've said. Don't murmur amongst yourselves. Jesus goes on to say, because no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus says, you're wrestling with these things. You're having a bit of a battle. You're trying to understand them, but you're not seeking the truth as much as you're fighting against the truth. And that's okay. Nobody can come to me, Jesus says, unless the Father draws him. And so we see here an important truth about the Lord. And that is, we cannot approach the Lord without the help of the Father.

We cannot, on our own, engage with the Lord and be united with him and be born again. It's not in our nature to seek after the Lord. There is none righteous, no, not one, right? Paul says later on, and there's none who seek after the Lord. But what we see really happening is it's the Father who draws us.

And we may have a different perspective. You know, we talk about the time that I came to Jesus, right? Or the time that I found Jesus or found God. And from our perspective, you know, we're the initiators. But the scriptures are very clear from beginning to end. God is always the initiator. He's the one who drew us. And he is drawing people to himself, right?

It's really a great encouragement to understand, to know that the Father loves us. And again, going back to John 3, 16, as we did last week, that it's God who so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son. It's the Father who has this great love. He wants to meet with you, to know you, to walk with you.

more than you'll ever want to know him and walk with him. It's always him who's initiating because of his great love for you. And so Jesus says, look, you're wrestling with these things, but don't murmur in secret. Nobody can come to me unless the Father draws him. And he goes on to explain it a little bit further. He says, look, it's written in the prophets, they shall be taught by God.

And what Jesus here is explaining, similar to what we saw last week, that Jesus and the Father are united. They're together. They're in unison. They're in sync. And if you know the Father, then you're going to know Jesus. And if you love the Father, then you're going to love Jesus. And so Jesus says, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. The Father leads people to Jesus and draws people to Jesus.

And Jesus leads people to the Father. He's the way, the truth, and the life, right? And so there is this relationship between the Father and the Son. And if we know one, then we know the other. And they draw us to the other, that we would have a full and rich relationship with God. Now he goes on to say, "'Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God, he has seen the Father.'"

And so he's saying, look, if you've been taught by God, it doesn't mean, you know, you had to have seen God. But if you have any kind of relationship with the Father, well, you're going to know Jesus, and you're going to love Jesus, and you're going to be drawn to Jesus because Jesus is sent by the Father. And Jesus goes on to clarify again who he is. He says, no one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. Jesus is from the Father. He's seen the Father. And

And so here he is, the representative of the Father, the representation of the Father. Again, he's in perfect unison with the Father. And so the Father draws people to Jesus.

Pastor David Guzik, talking about this, said this is a great encouragement for us to share the gospel. Because as we do, we are sharing and the Father is drawing people to Jesus. And so there are those who will not receive and not hear and not listen.

like we'll see here in this passage tonight. But at the same time, it's not up to us to draw people to Jesus. Like it doesn't, you know, all depend upon us. The Father is drawing them. We get the opportunity to help, you know, to share, to be part of that process. But the burden is not on us. The burden, well, it's the Father's burden. He's drawing people to Jesus. We're

Well, moving on to verses 47 through 51, we get the second point for tonight, and that is that Jesus provides spiritual life. As the Father draws people to Jesus, what Jesus provides is real, full spiritual life. Verse 47 and 48, Jesus says this, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.

Jesus says, most assuredly, you can count on this. You can take this to the bank. Whoever believes in me has everlasting life. The Father draws people to Jesus. And those who receive Jesus, those who believe in Jesus, Jesus says, you can count on it. It's guaranteed. You could rest in the reality and the fact that you have everlasting life. You have life beyond this life. You have the hope of eternity.

Because you have believed in Jesus. This is the work of God Jesus will teach later on. We'll see that in our reading as we work our way continuing through John. This is the work of God, to believe in the one that he has sent. Well, then he goes on to say something very interesting in verse 48. He says, I am the bread of life.

And it's often been noted in the Gospel of John, these statements where Jesus declares, I am, and then something after that. And there's seven specific I am statements. I put eight on this list because there's another one that's important as well. But here's a quick look at the upcoming I am's. Here in John 6, verse 48 says,

Actually, verse 35 is the first time he says it, but I am the bread of life is the first I am statement of the gospel of John. In a few chapters, we'll see in John chapter 8, he says, I am the light of the world. In John chapter 10, he says, I am the door. In John chapter 10, he also says, I am the good shepherd. In John chapter 11, he says, I am the resurrection and life.

In John 14, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And in John 15, he says, I am the true vine. And these are powerful statements about, well, who he is, his nature, his character, his role in our relationship with the Father. All of these things are very powerful as you, you know, kind of carry out the ideas and the understandings of these statements that he makes.

Now you might notice I skipped over one as I was reading through them. It's in John chapter 8. Jesus says, before Abraham was, I am. And the word I am is an important one because it was the way that God introduced himself back through Moses to the children of Israel.

He told Moses to tell the people of Israel that I am that I am sent you. And so Jesus here says, before Abraham was, I am, he is declaring himself to be God.

the one, the God who interacted with his people in the Old Testament. And so at that event, the Jewish people took up stones to stone him because they understood it was a very clear declaration and claim that he is God, that he is equal to the Father. He is part of the triune nature of God. And so here, as we see this, I am the bread of life, there's a statement of his deity, right?

of who he is, the fullness of who he is. We often look at the humanity of Jesus, and that's important. But Jesus here in his deity is able to say, I am the bread of life. I'm not just a good man. I'm not just a great prophet. I didn't just teach really good parables. I wasn't just a martyr. No, I am. I am God. And as God, I am the bread of

Now Jesus is going to go on and give it a little bit of a illustration for them, calling back to their history in the Old Testament. In verse 49, he says,

You go back to your ancestors out in the wilderness with Moses. They had manna there in the wilderness, and yet they died. Even though it was bread from God, it was a provision from God, it sustained them for the time, but they still experienced the normal course of life and experienced death and

even though God provided manna for them. Now, the provision of manna is back in Exodus chapter 16. And again, it's this time where the children of Israel are wandering through the wilderness and they're hungry because there's no food and God does a miracle. And in the morning, as they wake up and the dew's on the ground, they look and there's this substance that's there, this fine substance it's described. And they didn't know what it was. They said, what is it? In

And then Moses explained, this is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. And for 40 years, God provided this bread every morning, except for the Sabbath. But every morning, the bread would be provided. And it was called manna, which means what is it? Because they didn't know what it was. But their God supernaturally provided for them, sustained them, and gave them life. It was a miracle. It was a great thing. And it was something they referred to often.

But the point that Jesus is making here is that as great as that miracle was, it was temporary. It was only for this life. But what Jesus is claiming is that I am the bread from heaven that is far superior to that. Verse 50, he says,

There is something far superior that God is providing. Verse 51, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. Jesus here says, I am God's provision of bread in a far superior way than the manna ever was.

I am the provision of life, the substance of life. And again, here the point is that Jesus provides spiritual life. Later on, Jesus is going to say, I've come that you may have life and life more abundant, not just like a little bit of life, not just a hint of life, but a full and vibrant life, spiritual life, life with the Father, life in contact with God.

in unison with God, in walking with God. And Jesus says, I'm the provision for that. I'm the bread that provides that life that God desires to give to you.

This bread that Jesus is talking about, of course, is an illustration. It's an analogy. Yeah, that's the right word. It's to paint the picture of our need for the Lord. Like we need bread to sustain us. Like we need food to sustain us. Jesus says, I am that for you spiritually. I am the one who satisfies your soul and meets your need.

And it's also a really important picture for us to consider because, well, bread by itself doesn't satisfy us. We have to partake of it. I like the way that Pastor David Guzik helps us kind of walk through that thought. He says this, seeing a loaf of bread on a plate will not satisfy our hunger.

Knowing the ingredients in the bread will not satisfy our hunger. Taking pictures of the bread will not satisfy our hunger. Telling other people about the bread will not satisfy our hunger. Selling the bread will not satisfy our hunger. Playing catch with the bread will not satisfy our hunger. Nothing will satisfy our hunger and bring us life except actually eating the bread.

And that's a really interesting thing to think through because, well, sometimes in our lives we can be quite hungry. And of course, I'm speaking spiritually. Are you hungry? I don't think this analogy of bread is really hard for us to understand, but it is hard many times in our lives to live it out. Are you hungry? And we can...

you know, have these various interactions with Jesus. We can see Jesus. We can read about Jesus. We can know about Jesus. We can memorize Jesus, you know, things about Jesus. We can talk to people about Jesus. We can do all kinds of things that seem spiritual perhaps or seem to be part of a relationship with Jesus and yet still we're hungry because we haven't really engaged in

in that relationship with the Lord. Pastor Warren Wiersbe asked the question, how do we then eat his flesh and drink his blood as he talks about here in the coming verses? And he says it's through the word. If you'll jump down for a moment to verse 63.

Jesus says it is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. There Jesus makes it clear. As he talks about himself being the bread that comes down from heaven, he's speaking an illustration. He says, I'm speaking to you spiritual things. And the words that I speak, it's my words that give you life.

It's my words that are life. They provide life by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it's through the word of God, through the word of the Lord, through receiving and believing and interacting and then living out and putting into practice and having our relationship with the Lord in this way provides for us life. We need to really chew on the substance.

Not just, you know, kind of have a fancy place for Jesus or have a nice talk about Jesus, have a, you know, kind of distant relationship with Jesus, but to have a real close and real personal relationship with him. Are you hungry? Now, sometimes we're hungry because we have all of this kind of like dance around Jesus, but we don't actually know Jesus. Sometimes we're hungry though, because, well, we've spent our time filling up on junk and

So that when it comes time and when we have the opportunity to have some time with Jesus, we're already full. And again, the illustration is not hard to understand, right? You can physically fill up on junk. And then when it comes time for a good meal that would, you know, be really satisfying and provide for you, you know, I had all this junk food. And so I'm not really hungry for this food that I actually need that is good for me.

I have a bit of a confession to share. When I sit down for a meal, if it's a hamburger and fries, I always eat the fries first.

And if you ask me why, I have a great explanation about how fries are better hot, right? And so I eat the fries while they're hot and the hamburger holds its heat better. So when I get to the hamburger, then, you know, it's still hot, so it's still good. But if I eat the hamburger first, then the fries are cold and nobody likes cold fries, right? So I have this whole explanation, but it's all kind of a half truth explanation. Here's the confession. So

confessions of a chubby pastor right here tonight, you know, on this episode. I eat the fries first because I know if I eat all the fries, I'll enjoy the hamburger still. But if I eat the hamburger first, I'm probably not going to eat all the fries.

And so strategically, I think the best way for me to consume all of this food, which is probably more than I need, even maybe more than I should have, right? More than I want. But the only way for me to consume all of it strategically is to eat the fries first.

Because if I eat the hamburger first, I'm going to get full and then I'm not going to be able to enjoy the fries. I want to enjoy the fries, so I have to eat those first. And so I have this strategy that I employ to make sure that I get to enjoy the whole meal, right? In a similar way, as we approach spiritual things, you know, there's a lot of times that we need to be more strategic to make sure that we get the whole meal, right?

And sometimes we're filled up on junk where we've filled our minds and hearts and emotions and been tied up in all of these things. And by the time we get to time with the Lord or we set aside time for the Lord,

We have information overload because we've been, you know, reading all the latest news and hearing all the latest things about the coronavirus or whatever is happening, the politics that are going on or the news that's happening with the family. Like we've been watching the news. We've been just receiving, filling up, filling up, filling up, filling up, filling up. And then we open the Bible and it's like, man, I don't know why it's so hard for me to concentrate. Why aren't I hungry for the things of the Lord? Why aren't I hungry for the Lord? And there's a need for us to evaluate and to consider, right?

Are we giving the Lord his rightful place? And are we making sure to fill up on him first and let everything else be secondary? Because Jesus is the bread of life. We can fill up on a lot of other things, but it'll be like, even if they're blessings from God, it'll be like manna in the desert that perhaps satisfied us for the moment, but it didn't last. And so we're still hungry, but at the same time, we're full. We're not satisfied.

And we're not able to partake. Are you hungry? Jesus provides spiritual life. And I really want to encourage you to...

Ask the Lord to speak to you about this. And maybe consider if there needs to be some changes to your schedule, to your approach to God and your relationship with the Lord, to make sure that you fill up on the Lord, that you partake of Him, that you don't just learn about Him or talk about Him or, you know, kind of have a loose relationship with Him, but that you are closely involved with and have a real, you know,

substance in your relationship with him. Well, as we move on through the rest of the chapter, we'll move a little bit more quickly. But verses 52 through 61 give us the third point for this evening, and that is that Jesus is not afraid of offending people.

As he's sharing these things, these are hard things for the people around him to understand. And again, I don't think it's so much the analogy that's hard to understand, although they do wrestle with that. But as we wrestle with these things, we need to understand that the truth is sometimes quite opposite of what we want to hear. Verse 52 and 53 says this, "'The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?'

And so as Jesus is sharing these things, again, it sparks a quarrel. It sparks a battle between them. They were murmuring and complaining secretly before. Now they're, you know, it's kind of roaring a little bit louder. There's this battle between them. How can this guy give us his flesh to eat?

Is Jesus talking about, you know, cannibalism? What is he talking about here? Now, again, clearly this is an illustration. He's talking about spiritual bread, spiritual life, but they're a little bit confused and they're wrestling with the words of Jesus. Now, putting myself in that context, I could see myself easily sensing the tension, sensing that kind of quarreling and

and be very tempted to back down. Maybe I should rephrase what I'm saying and soften that a little bit. This is causing some commotion, some turmoil. Some people are fighting over this. Maybe I should soften that down a little bit. But Jesus, in looking at this, he rephrased, but not to soften, but to clarify the reality of this hard truth. He says, look, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man,

They're wrestling. How can this guy give his body to eat? And Jesus said, unless you do that, unless you partake of the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. And Jesus here is not talking about physical, you know, body or bread or blood. He's saying, unless you believe in me, unless you partake of me spiritually, there is no life in you.

Verse 54, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. And so Jesus here clarifies, he doubles down on the language. He says, yes, you have to eat my blood. You have to eat my body. That's a requirement. And if you do, well, then you will have eternal life.

Everlasting life. And I'll raise you up. You'll have a resurrected body. You'll have everlasting life if you partake.

Now again, he's sharing it in this way. It's an illustration, and it's something that the Apostle John uses throughout his gospel. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it this way, Going back to John chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus,

And Nicodemus said, well, how can I enter into my mother's womb again? You know, how does that born again happen? And what Jesus was not talking about a physical rebirth, but a spiritual rebirth. As Jesus interacted with the woman at the well in John chapter four, he said, look, if you drink this water from the well, you'll thirst again. But if you drink the water that I give you, you'll never thirst again. She said, oh yeah, that's great. Give me that water so I don't have to keep coming back here to draw water out of the well.

But Jesus wasn't talking about physical water. He was talking about the life that he gives. And so in a similar way, as he talks about his body and his blood and the need to partake of it, again, it's not a physical thing that he's describing here, but a spiritual relationship with him, that you must make him a part of your life. You must fully receive him.

swallow all that he says. And some of the things that he says are hard to swallow, right? Some of those truths are hard to get down. Some of those commands are hard to walk out. But Jesus is saying, you must partake of me fully. Not just look at me, not just know me, not just, you know, have some information about me or talk to other people about me. You must partake of me yourself. And when you do, you will have life. He goes on in verse 57. He goes on in verse 57.

Jesus, again, makes it clear. He says, look, I live because of the Father.

in his adding humanity to his deity, he says, look, my life is completely and fully dependent upon the Father. And what I'm asking you to do is to make your life fully and completely dependent upon me, just like I'm fully, completely dependent upon the Father. I live because of the Father. He provides all of my needs.

And when Jesus was out in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, remember the devil tempted him, hey, why don't you provide for your own needs? You're hungry, make yourself bread. And Jesus says, no, no, no. The Father, I'm in his hands. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And here Jesus is saying, look, I live by the Father. He provides for me. And what I'm asking you to do is to follow my example, Jesus says. Depend upon me for all of your life.

We need God for our spiritual life just as much as we need God for our physical life. You know, sometimes we forget about this, but our very breath is not guaranteed. It's in His hands. And we have life because He provides it. And spiritually, it's the same truth. Sometimes we're not as aware of our need for God. And there's other times where we're really, you know, uh,

very clearly aware that we're hurting. There's something that's happening. And oh man, we realize how much we need God. But the reality is our need for God doesn't change. We don't need God more sometimes and less other times. We always need God the same amount. It's just there's many times that we're not aware of how much we need God. And Jesus is saying, be aware. Come to me. Partake of me just as I am given life by the Father. You rely on me and have life from me. Verse 58.

Here is Jesus saying,

addresses this need that they have to partake of him using the illustration of bread, the disciples are really wrestling with this. And it tells us that they say, this is a hard saying. Boy, this is really difficult. Now again, it's perhaps they're saying that

The concept is difficult, you know, that they're taking him too literally and, you know, thinking that he's asking them to partake of his physical body, drink his physical blood. But even giving them a little bit more credit than that, understanding the spiritual illustration, the analogy, they could still be saying, this is a hard saying. Who can understand this? To fully partake of Jesus. It's something that, well, it is hard to explain, right?

And they wrestled with it, and there are people who wrestle with it today. And Jesus, again, you know, you or me in those circumstances might try to soften, might try to like, hey, let's, you know, patch some things up. Let's kind of soften this down a little bit. Jesus asked the question, does this offend you? And then he's going to go on and add some more offense to them. Not because he's trying to offend, but because he's trying to reveal the truth.

If this offends you, Jesus says, then how are you going to understand and be able to grasp hold of, well, greater truth and deeper understandings of who he is and who God is? And so here I make the point that Jesus is not afraid of offending people. He knows they're fighting about it. He knows they're wrestling with these things and he doesn't back away or soften it.

He works his way through this truth. This is a hard truth. You have to wrestle with it to understand it. You need to partake of Jesus. You need to fully receive him and have that kind of relationship with him. And that might offend you. That might offend some people around you. But Jesus isn't afraid. He's not going to change the message so that it's less offensive. He's going to press on in the truth because it's the truth. And it's what's best for you, for you to know the truth, whether you receive it or not.

The truth is the truth. And so Jesus isn't afraid of that. He's not changing the truth because people are offended by it. Well, continuing with that similar kind of thought, here in verses 62 through 66, we get point number four, and that is that Jesus allows people to walk away. In verse 62, he says, what then, if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before it?

It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. Jesus says, look, if you're struggling with this, you're really wrestling with and it's offensive to you, this illustration of me being the bread that comes down from heaven, then, well, what are you going to do if you see the son of man ascend into heaven?

You have a hard time believing that I came down from heaven? What about when you see me ascend into heaven? Jesus says. You're going to have a harder time with that. You see, as you reject the truths that have been revealed, it puts you in a position where you are unable to receive the fuller truths and the later revelations that God wants to give. We have to respond to the truth that God has revealed right now.

And even if we don't understand all of the details, even if we don't have the full understanding that we want to have, we need to receive Jesus, fully accept him, fully live out what he has instructed us to live, to set us up so that we're in a position then to receive the fuller understanding, the greater revelation that we'll experience later on. So he says, what if you see the Son of Man ascend where he was before?

You thought it was hard to believe that I came down from heaven. You're going to have a real hard time when you see me ascend into heaven. Jesus goes on to say, it's the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. Oh Lord, help us to learn this lesson. It's the spirit who gives us life. The flesh doesn't profit us. It doesn't give us life.

And it's something that we easily get confused about. And we try to work, works and flesh, they go hand in hand. We try to work for life. We try to work out our life. We try to, you know, receive our fulfillment and satisfaction from our works. The Church of Galatia had this issue as they turned from the gospel of grace to a gospel of works. And

Paul was shocked and said, I can't believe you're turning from that to a different gospel that's not a gospel at all. The flesh doesn't profit you anything. It's the spirit that gives life. Pursue the spirit. Pursue the things of the spirit. The things of this life will not satisfy you. And Jesus says, the words that I speak to you, those are spirit. The Holy Spirit will work in you. He will speak to you. He will transform you through my words, Jesus says, and he will give you life.

The truth cannot fully be understood by our physical or earthly or fleshly mind. The apostle Paul explained this to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. He says, Physically or mentally, we cannot grasp anything.

the truth. There's a lot that God wants to speak to you about that is not going to come through, you know, our processing internally of our mind or of our brains. Now, that doesn't mean we shut off our brains and we don't use logic and we don't use, you know, rational thought. No, God wants us to use all of that as well. But at the same time, there are some things that the Lord says and He wants us to just accept it, not figure it out, not wait until we understand it fully to then accept it, but

He wants us to accept it, to understand it and believe that it is the truth, that he is speaking what's best for us and giving us life in the things that he says. He goes on in verse 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.

And he said, therefore, I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my father. And from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. Here's a really interesting thing to consider about this whole passage we've been looking at. We're talking about the disciples of Jesus. Now, Jesus had his core group, the 12 disciples, but he also had a group of people that were with him continually that were committed to following him. They were his disciples.

All of this arguing, this complaining, these battles that we've been seeing between the groups of people here, that these are not the religious leaders who are opposed to Jesus. This is what's happening with a group of people who said, I want to follow Jesus. And yet they didn't know him. They didn't receive his teaching. They were offended by the truths that he presented. And here we see from that time, it says in verse 66, many of his disciples went back and they walked with him no more.

Previously, they said, I want to follow Jesus. But now they said, never mind. I don't want to follow Jesus anymore. They changed as a result of this hard truth. We're talking about disciples here. It's really important to consider. And the kind of difficult thing to wrestle with in this is that Jesus, he let them walk away.

He didn't force them or say, hey guys, come back. No, no, come back, come back. Let's talk this through. You know, let's sit down and talk about this until you get it. You know, I promise you it's a good thing, you know, and you can understand it. Let's just spend a little bit more time working through it and finally you'll get it. No, what the Lord said is, look, I told you, nobody can come to me unless the Father draws him. And you're not responding to the Father. You're not seeking the Father. You're not seeking the Father.

You were excited about following me for different reasons than the reasons that you should have had. You were excited to follow me because of the miracles, perhaps. You were excited to follow me because it was new and exciting and engaging. And oh man, there was just all this stuff happening. And oh wow, it's so wonderful. You got caught up in that. You wanted to follow me for a variety of reasons, but not because of who I really am. And that continues to happen. There are people who

Commit to following Jesus for a variety of reasons that are not based on the truth. And there's not this dependence upon him for life. And we come in contact with hard truths, hard situations. And it causes us to say, oh boy, this is hard. Who can understand this? I don't know. This is too challenging for me. And we can be tempted. And sometimes we do walk away. And Jesus let them go. He didn't chase them down.

He didn't try to force them to understand it, to grasp hold of it, to believe it. He allowed them to leave. Commentator F.B. Meyer says, the effect of his words was precisely what he expected and must have shattered any ambitions that he had, or that had begun to stir in the hearts of his disciples. Picturing there the disciples as they're seeing the, you know,

The massive group that's developing and growing as Jesus is going to minister and people are following and there's this excitement in the air. But the excitement in the air and the crowd is not the goal. That's not the success or the result necessarily. The success, the result, the objective is for people to know the truth, to really know Jesus, receive Jesus, partake of Jesus.

and have an abundant life in connection to him, independence upon him. And so Jesus allows them to walk away. Now, we could wrestle with this, and we could wonder how that could be and why he would allow that. But understand that this is what's best for these disciples. If Jesus persuaded them to just, no, no, stick around, just keep on going, stick around, you know, you'll get it later on, then they would have

very easily been in a position where they could be deceived and think, hey, I'm fine. I'm okay. Look, I'm one of Jesus' disciples. Even though they never really understood or were not partaking of Jesus. They weren't really believing in Jesus. They were around for other reasons. But allowing them to walk away gave them great clarity about where they stood with the Lord. And they had the opportunity then, this wasn't the last chance for them, right?

Now, the Father was still going to be drawing them, but they were going to have a clear opportunity later on to respond. And so it's important sometimes to let people walk away so that there would be that clarity. And again, not saying this is a law that we never, you know, try to work hard to persuade people or encourage people or help people or, you know, work through things with people. That's not the point. But at the same time, we don't always do that either, right?

That sometimes what's best is to just let people walk away, to have a clear understanding of where they're at. It's kind of like when the Apostle Paul encouraged the Church of Corinth to cast out the man who was living in open sin so that there would be that clarity, so that there would be repentance and that he could be brought back.

And that is, you know, something that is important to understand that sometimes for the, you know, thinking it's what's best, we kind of hold on a little bit longer than, well, perhaps than Jesus would. And he was evil. He had no problem letting the people walk away when it was what was best for them. Well, let's finish it up in verses 67 through 71. And that's point number five.

The fifth point is that each person must choose to follow Jesus. In verse 67, Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. So Jesus now, watching the crowds walk away, you know, as it begins to melt away, he looks at his core group, his disciples, the 12. He says, how about you guys?

You want to join that crowd and walk away from the Lord? He gave them the choice. They had a real choice here. It was a real choice that they had. If they wanted to, they could stop following Jesus. But Peter, one of those occasions where we really appreciate his response. He says, where would we go? Where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. Where else would we go? I mean, yeah, what you're saying is hard.

It's hard to understand. It's hard to do. It's hard to live the life that you're calling us to live. But what's the alternative? I like what Pastor David Guzik said. He said, following Jesus is the hardest way to live, except for all the others. It's the hardest way to live, but it's still easier than all the other ways to live.

Yeah, there's hard truths. Yeah, there's difficult things to grasp hold of. Yes, it's a life of discipline to walk with the Lord and maintain and build and grow in a relationship with Him. But where else would you go? I don't know if you've ever had these kinds of experiences in your life where you really had to wrestle with this. And maybe there was occasions where you wrestled with how hard it was to walk with the Lord and

You made the decision, you know what, I am going to just melt away with the crowd because it is so hard. But then you remembered why you came to Jesus in the first place. You remembered life apart from Christ is much harder and it's not fulfilling and it's not satisfying. We can learn the hard way or we can be reminded by Peter the easy way. Where else can we go? Each of us must choose.

Understanding what Jesus is saying. I'm the one who gives you life. Are you hungry? Are you dissatisfied in your life? Are you uneasy and messed up? It's me that you need. It's not a new job. Maybe that's part of God's plan, but that's not the core thing. The core thing is me. It's not a new family, right? That's not going to satisfy you. And we can chase all of these things because we're hungry, right?

And we're thinking that next thing is going to satisfy us. But the only thing that will really satisfy us is a real, deep, and meaningful engagement with the Lord. He is what we need the most. Peter says, We have come to know and to believe that you are the Christ. We've discovered, we know, and we believe you are the Savior. You are the Son of the living God. We're with you, Jesus, to the very end, Peter says.

He gave them the choice and they chose Jesus. He allowed the others to walk away because they didn't choose Jesus. But then he goes on to say in verse 70, did I not choose you, the 12? And one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray him being one of the 12. Peter says, hey, we collectively have come to know and believe you are the Christ and

Jesus says, not so fast, Peter. You're speaking for the group, but it's not exactly accurate for everybody in the group. There's amongst us one who is a devil, one who is not believed. Now, the disciples didn't know that at this time, right? They didn't know about Judas. They didn't know. There was no suspicions of him that, you know, they didn't think it was him. Judas was well hidden to everyone except the Lord. And the Lord here is saying, look, Judas here, he doesn't believe. He doesn't believe.

He doesn't know. And he's sticking around, but not for the right reasons. Even those who have the best opportunities to be around the Lord, to be part of the works of the Lord, even those who are right there in the mix can sometimes have no actual real relationship with the Lord. Each person must choose to follow Jesus. That's, hey, if you're on the worship team, just because you're part of the worship team, that doesn't mean

mean that you don't have to make that choice. And sometimes there are people who are part of the worship team and they're part of the work and they're just like one of the 12. They fit in perfectly, but they don't actually have a real relationship with the Lord. They're not satisfying their hunger with the Lord. Sometimes there are those who come from a Christian home, a Christian family. Everybody else around them looks like, hey, they're knowing the Lord. They're walking with the Lord. They're connected to the Lord.

But here's this one who they fit in well. Seems like from the surface, everything is great. They're engaged. They're, you know, participating in the work just like Judas was. But there's still a disconnect between this person and the Lord. Each person must choose. And so this evening, I want to encourage you to allow the Lord to minister to your heart about this. Let there be a little bit of a challenge to you. Let there be a little bit of an examination and a thinking through.

Are you hungry? Again, it's not hard for us to really understand the analogy that Jesus is giving here as the bread of life, but living it out can be a challenge. Are you hungry? And are you filling up with junk so that you don't have room really to receive from the Lord? Are you really giving God his proper place in your life? Putting him first, feeding on him, letting him be the substance of your life and the satisfaction of your life.

The Father is drawing people to Jesus. And perhaps right now he's drawing you because he wants to provide you spiritual life in Christ. And it's not found through works. It's not found, you know, through the surface things or through being around a group of people. The truth is you need Jesus. You need to know him truly personally. You need to receive him, believe on him.

and live out. His words are life, but they're not just, you know, to be studied and read and then that's it. Jesus says, look, if you want to have a real life, do what I say. Dig down deep and build your life upon the rock, which is the obedience to the things that I say. Jesus is not afraid of offending people and he'll allow us to walk away. If we don't dig down deep and if we don't root ourselves in him,

We're in danger and there's a risk there. We need to be careful and make sure that we find our fulfillment in the Lord. We need to make sure that me, I, you, each person makes the choice to follow Jesus, to fill up on Jesus, to fill our lives and our hearts, to focus our minds, to discipline our lives and have a real relationship with the Lord.

Again, our need for God never changes. Perhaps there were times in your life where you were very aware of your need for God. And so you were fully engaged. But things have changed. Circumstances have changed. And our awareness changed. But your need hasn't changed. The reason why you're unfulfilled and unsatisfied and hungry is because you haven't been relying upon the Lord and walking with the Lord in the way that he's called you to, in the way that you need to.

And so this evening, let's allow the Lord to minister to us, to draw us near to him that he would fulfill us and satisfy us. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider these things, I pray for each one of us. And I pray, God, that you would help us to have a very clear perspective on our own hearts and lives and situations in life. Lord, we blame all kinds of things. We complain about all kinds of things. We have all kinds of reasons why this and that and these things aren't so good.

But Lord, the truth is, you know the truth and you know what's really going on. And so I pray that you would help us to see that truth, even if it's a hard truth, even if it offends us. Lord, would you show us the truth that we might respond to the truth because it's what's best for us. Lord, would you draw us to you, that we might know you, that we might be filled with more of you, that our lives would be changed, transformed, that we would have great substance.

because of our connection to you, our talk with you, our walk with you. Lord, would you fill us with more of you? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.