SERMON: No Longer Following Jesus (John 6:60–71)
No
Longer Following Jesus (John 6:60–71)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
6:60–71
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
June
11, 2023
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
In the last few years, there have been a number of
high-profile stories of people walking away from the faith, from former pastors
to musicians to other figures. The
historic term for that is apostasy.
Today, though, the more popular term is deconstructing. The idea is that someone struggling with
personal belief mentally (or emotionally) takes apart their faith to see every
piece of theology, examining it and deciding whether to keep it. Such individuals are usually spurned on by
some event or personal desire, and they often times decide to reject a biblical
faith for one of their own making. In
other words, the end result usually is a rejection of Christianity, even if the
person still claims some nebulous belief in God or Jesus in the end.
Some Christian groups have tried to reach out to those
deconstructing their faith, obviously motivated by a desire to see them
continue walking with Jesus. Yet, the
efforts can range in biblical fidelity.
For instance, some Christian ministries use using the term “disentangle”
for those coming out of hyper-fundamentalist or cult-like structures; this is
good, because they want people to get rid of unbiblical notions and keep with
the Christ of the Bible. On the other
end of the spectrum, however, some falsely assure people that they can have
Jesus and whatever sinful passions or identities they want to embrace.
When someone starts questioning, then, we naturally want to
warn people of potential dangers. As 2
Corinthians 5:11 says, knowing “the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” Hebrews 6:4–6 says, “For in the case of those
who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have
been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the age to come, and then
have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since
they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” We don’t want people to walk away finally and
totally from Christ.
While it’s easy to fear the result of someone questioning
their faith, we must respond with both grace and truth and trust in the Lord
for the results. We don’t know the
future, whether they’ll ultimately apostatize, and even then, we don’t know
that they won’t come running back to Jesus after wandering in the world for a
while. All they will know is if we were
open to them and loving while also upholding the beacon of truth. So, even though we also know that there’s a
possibility that some loved one will walk away from faith in Christ for good,
we should be patiently faithful, praying and believing the best.
So, let’s back up for a moment as we consider a set of Jesus
followers who walk away from Him. We’ll
see that they reject Him because they reject His word. We’ll also see that those who remain do so
because of God’s grace. Let’s consider
that latter necessity throughout this sermon, in fact, as we consider how to
respond to those who may also seem to depart from the faith.
II.
Rejecting God’s Word leads some disciples to
walk away from Christ (vv. 60–66)
Therefore many of
His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who
can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious
that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to
stumble? What then if you see the Son of
Man ascending to where He was before? It
is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and are life. 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 it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have
said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the
Father.” As a result of this many of His
disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
The ones who walk away are identified in v. 60 as
disciples. How is that possible? We need to understand what the word
means. It comes from the Greek term mathetes
which most simply or generally means a “learner, pupil, disciple.”[1] Such learning or discipleship often involved
following a teacher through his travels and taking in the lessons he dispensed
along the way, as we see with Jesus. In
other words, these were more than casual acquaintances — these were dedicated
followers of Jesus.
However, they are false disciples. We know that because Jesus reveals in v. 64
that they do not believe. Oh, they
believed from a certain perspective; they believed in His ability to give them
stuff. As one commentary notes, “The
popular enthusiasm for Jesus as a political Messiah (v. 15) was then over. They saw that He was not going to deliver them
from Rome.”[2] Jesus’s teaching shattered their faith when
He reoriented them to a different one.
Theirs wasn’t a faith in the truth.
One of the most interesting phenomena in dealing with
atheists and others who apostatized from the Christian faith is that they will
always claim to have been true believers.
Yet, they usually mean that they were dedicated followers (they attended
services, memorized Scripture, prayed prayers, and sang songs). Their belief, however, was superficial in
some manner and unbiblical, never sincere.
The Apostle John would have been there to witness this. Decades later, he would see it happen over
again in Christian congregations. He
writes in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of
us, they would have remained with us; but they
went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” False disciples leave, not true ones.
Back in v. 60, we see that it is the words of Christ that
troubles them. They say, “This is a
difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
They could be responding to everything that Jesus had taught this day,
from the fact that He came from heaven to their need to consume His flesh and
blood for eternal life. While they were
initially interested, they find His teaching to now be repugnant. The next verse reveals that they were
grumbling at His teaching.
Jesus knows when there is a lack of faith and why. Incidentally, as the Reformation Study Bible
notes here, this is the first of three instances in this passage of Jesus
exercising supernatural knowledge; the other two are in vv. 64 and 70. He asks, “Does this cause you to stumble?” or
scandalize. Jesus does not hide the
truth just because it offends, not because He enjoys fighting, but because He
loves people and drives them to the truth.
While Jesus was gentle and mild, He also wasn’t afraid to say a word
that might offend when needed.
This might be what drives them away, but people are offended
at the wrong things. Jesus said in Matthew
11:6, “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (same word). This is a word that people need to hear today,
but unfortunately, many still chose to reject faith in Him.
Yet, He pushes scandal further in v. 62: “What then if you see the Son of Man
ascending to where He was before?” This
question cuts to the heart of His claims, going back to Daniel 7:13–14 —
I kept looking in the night
visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was
coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a
kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men
of every language might serve Him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom
is one which will not be destroyed.
He applies the title “Son of Man” to Himself once again, and
He asks them whether they would be offended if they saw Him take His rightful
place at the right hand of God and establish His kingdom there. For those with ears to hear, they will know that
He is offering to build the kingdom they so desire to see, though not quite in
the way they want it, and they should not be offended by that.
However, the idea of a ruling Jesus Christ over the hearts
and minds of the people does cause sinners naturally to stumble. He is the preexistent Christ. Jesus was in existence before His early sojourn. He will then return there glorified (after
being also lifted up on the cross). They
are yet unconverted, therefore, they cannot fathom His message.
That is the trouble with false disciples and false
converts. They are still in their sin
and cannot perceive spiritual realities.
All they know is what they like and what they don’t, and they don’t like
being forced to believe something that rubs them the wrong way. For a while, the Christian faith seems
preferable to them, perhaps out of a sense of nostalgia or moral duty, but they
still live in the flesh. As 1
Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually appraised;” true conversion must occur to receive
the truths of God.
Therefore, a supernatural work is necessary. Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life;
the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
are life.” The Legacy Standard Bible
translates this, “The Spirit is
the One who gives life.” This
is known as the doctrine of the regeneration of the Spirit. Natural man is dead in his trespasses and
sins (Eph. 2:1–3), like Lazarus in the tomb, and we need the voice of the Lord
to call us forth. The new life creates
in us a capability to do what the Bible says we can’t (Rom. 9:3–18) — seek God,
repent, and exercise faith.
Because they haven’t had a work of God yet, in v. 64, Jesus
says, “ ‘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 it was that would betray
Him.” They are in an ongoing state of
disbelief, and He knows this. In fact,
He fore–knows it, knowing “from the beginning who they were who did not
believe, and who it was that would betray Him.”
This is the second example of supernatural knowledge in this passage (vv.
61, 64, 70), and it’s an example of something else.
I know it’s unpopular, but it bears repeating that we see
the sovereignty of God throughout this passage.
In verse 64, we see the foreknowledge of the Lord. In vv. 65–66, we see the election of God the
Father. In v. 67, we see the
foreknowledge of the Lord again (in knowing they wouldn’t leave). In vv. 68–69, we see the results of His effectual
call. Finally, in vv. 70–71, we see the
election of the Lord to differing purposes.
I was more than a little tempted to call the sermon today, “The
Sovereignty of God Revisited,” although it isn’t the most prominent theme to
consider.
So, the statement in v. 65 also leads us back to the discussion
on the sovereignty of God. Because of
their unbelief, He said that they are unable.
It is interesting because they ask in v. 60 “who can listen to it?” or
“who can hear it?” The answer is no
one — with man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible
(Matt. 19:26). Belief is commanded, but
it is also a gift of God!
Though Jesus knew, it must have been heartbreaking to see it
unfold, though. People can’t come
ultimately because they love their sin so much.
We read in v. 66, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew
and were not walking with Him anymore.”
As MacArthur notes, “The language indicates that the abandonment was
decisive and final (cf. 1 Pet. 2:6–8; 1 John 2:19).”[3] The word “withdrew” comes from a statement we
can literally translate, “departed to the things behind.” Theirs was a complete apostasy, for they went
back to their old lives and would have nothing more to do with Jesus.
Note that it isn’t just those who start as enemies of Christ
who oppose Him. Some of His opponents
are former disciples. This is why some
of the most vocal and bombastic atheists and skeptics are those with church
backgrounds — once they reject Jesus, they want to tear down everything. For instance, Dan Barker was a professed
Christian and minister, preaching and producing Christian music for decades
before announcing he was an atheist. He
claimed he simply outgrew his faith, but he has devoted the latter half of his
life to getting Christianity out of the public square through the Freedom from
Religion Foundation. How does someone
get there? We could talk about the
heterodox Word-Faith environment in which he moved, but the simplest biblical
explanation is that he was a false convert all those years.
What do folks like this need? More gospel preaching and Christ more in our
churches? More biblical teaching? That’s helpful, but these disciples had
Christ and were His disciples and walked away! Rather, they need God’s saving grace. Let’s consider that next.
III.
God’s grace is necessary to keep disciples from
leaving (vv. 67–71)
So Jesus said to
the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of
God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself
not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot,
for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
Of course, the twelve here are disciples, as well. Perhaps even the twelve thought this was a
difficult teaching! Still, they
remain. As a group, they serve as a
witness to true discipleship. They
believe.
Let’s consider this.
In v. 67, Jesus asks, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” It’s not clear in English, but the question
in the original language is framed in such a way to expect a negative
response. This means that there was
little doubt on Jesus’s part as to the answer they would provide. The question is for their benefit, not
His. If there was doubt on His part,
then it would contradict everything Jesus said about the sovereignty of God and
salvation as well as John saying in v. 64 that Jesus knew who would and would
not believe.
Jesus, the Great Shepherd, knows His sheep, and He asks this
question to prompt their response. So,
Peter (speaking for the group) responds with an early confession about our
Lord: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have words of eternal life. We have
believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Peter recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, that
no one else can provide what Jesus does, and affirms what Jesus said back in v.
63 — that Christ’s words are “are spirit and are life.”
They believe, but that doesn’t mean that they were perfect. There’s some question here as to whether
Peter may be speaking with a bit of pride, like he did in Matthew 26:33 — “Him,
“Even though all may fall away
because of You, I will never fall away.”
In the case of his confession here in v. 63, Peter says “And we” (LSB),
with the “we” being emphasized. We all
have imperfect motives that God will need to change, but we are kept by His
grace, not our faithfulness. We should
never be proud that we believe while others walk away from Christ.
So, Jesus brings perspective back to the discussion in v.
70. He chose them. He’ll remind them of this in John 15:16 — “You
did not choose Me but I chose you.”
Three verses later, He says, “If you were of the world, the world would
love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the
world, because of this the world hates you” (v. 19). They believe because He chose them.
Even so, in this group, there is still a false convert. The group may have consented to the same
mind, but, as one commentator notes, “except that in Judas there was no
sincerity.”[4] Verse 71 names him as Judas Iscariot, meaning
“a man of Kerioth,” a town possibly in Judah, meaning he was “the only one of
the twelve not a Galilean.”[5] We read he “was going to betray Him” or, as
the footnote says, “was intending to” betray Him. Perhaps Judas had a similar disgust to the “hard
saying” of Jesus and the Lord’s apparent lack of ability to retain a following,
and he was already rejecting the confession that Peter voiced.
Jesus chose him for a different reason, as He says in John
13:18 — “I do not speak of all of you. I
know the ones I have chosen; but it is
that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his
heel against Me.’ ” Now, that doesn’t
mean Jesus chose Judas to call him to sin; in the words of James 1:13, “Let no
one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” Judas always had the choice, but he was “carried
away and enticed by his own lust. Then
when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished,
it brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).
His sin caused him to turn away from Christ in the end, too.
It wasn’t just in the end.
Judas may have been sympathetic to the crowd in this very moment, and
Jesus again wields His supernatural knowledge by saying one of them is already
a devil. Incidentally, because of the
Greek grammar, this may be better translated “the devil” (NET, HCSB). It’s not that he’s literally a (or the)
devil, but his goals align with Satan’s.
John later highlights the moral spiral of Judas when he calls him a
thief, explaining, “as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put
into it” (John 12:6). Later, Judas is
described as having a satanic source for his motivations (13:2, 27).
The Lord does not tempt to sin. In fact, there’s some grace in this moment,
if Judas would have allowed himself a moment of reflection before the Lord and
repent. He could have come to the Lord
with his struggles and asked that he begin honoring the Lord. However, he doesn’t do this, and our Lord
will use the sinful choices of people like Judas in a sinless way to bring
about His glory.
IV.
Conclusion
There are those in our churches who will reject the truth
for varying reasons. Perhaps they like
the idea of love in general, which the Bible extols, but then they come across
statements that seem unloving by modern sensibilities. There are young people who go to public
schools or social media, see the colorful pride flags and smiling faces, but
then they come to church and hear these things are a sin. Some are even having confusing thoughts and
emotions that the world seems to welcome while wrongly fearing that the church
would come to hate them rather than lovingly and patiently helping. For them, it’s a hard saying, and they may
deconstruct, wrongly thinking either Jesus accepts sin or wrongly rejecting
Him.
This is a difficult time for all involved. We want everyone to simply believe. But we can’t force it. We must instead be willing to walk alongside
people, faithfully demonstrating the love of Christ while taking opportunities
for truth speaking. It’s not easy,
especially if the person openly engages in devilish behavior and calling church
discipline upon themselves. In
everything, though, we operate with grace and understanding. Let us recognize that we had our own sinful
natures that God had to save us from and that we are where we are only by the
grace of God.
[1] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker,
Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A
Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature,
2000, 609.
[2] Edwin A. Blum, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 297.
[3] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1593.
[4] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, (Bellingham, WA: Logos
Bible Software, 2010), 1:278.
[5] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn
6:71.