Follow Jesus until the end

John 6:60~71

60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet 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. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

66From 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.

68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

70Then 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.)

I. Message:

Content:

1. Some followers find that Jesus’ teaching was hard and unacceptable by most and begin to grumble (v. 61)
2. Jesus explains to the disciples that were in doubt (v. 62)
3. Jesus emphasizes that His words are life-giving spirit (v. 63)
4. Jesus points out that some of them did not believe in Him and would betray Him (v. 64~65)
5. Many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him (v. 66)
6. Jesus asks the Twelve about their thought and plan (v. 67)
7. Simon Peter’s confession of faith and decision (v. 68~69)
8. Jesus points out Judas, who would later betray Him (v. 70~71)

Themes:

1. Pursuing actively to understand His words
2. Follow Jesus until the end
3. Confession of faith and wise decision

II. Who is God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit?

1. Jesus is omniscient and sees every thought within our heart (v. 61)
2. Jesus as the Son of Man (v. 62)
3. Jesus ascents to heaven (v. 62)
4. Life-giving Spirit (v. 63)
5. God enables us (v. 65)
6. Jesus is God sent and holy (v. 69)
7. Jesus chooses His disciples (v. 69)
8. Jesus is betrayed by one of the disciples (v. 70)

III. What does the passage teach us (about commands, promises, examples, exhortations and warnings)?

1. The Truth is hard to accept

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Sometimes it’s really hard to grasp the meaning of revelations on the kingdom of heaven and truth in the Gospel. For instance, Jesus talked about the living water with the Samaritan woman; He also urged the crowd to eat His flesh and to drink His blood following His teaching on the bread of life to the five thousand that was fed. These revelations and teachings did confuse the crowd at that moment and made the truth hard to understand.

Some left because of this and did not gain anything. However, some decided to follow anyway and understood in the end. The apostle John is one of the later.

We often fall into the trap of finding the Bible too hard to understand and give up even though we know, like the disciples back then, that the Bible is God inspired.

Dear God, please have mercy on us! Help us not to give up but to pursue actively. Grant us wisdom from the Holy Spirit and open our eyes to truly understand the wonders contained in the Bible.

Reflections: When I read the Bible, do I find it hard to understand? If it’s true, I must be more careful. Must not give up but look for help from church, pastors and spiritual leaders. Otherwise, I may end up like the crowd leaving Jesus; in other words, becoming a Christian that attends Sunday service only or one that carries only the title without living it. If we do not read the Bible or cannot understand the Bible, we cannot follow His will in our daily lives! We end up walking in our own way.

2. We must follow Jesus until the end

According to earlier verses in this chapter, a huge crowd followed Jesus after the miracle of five loaves of bread and two fishes. Also, it is recorded in Luke 14:25 that there were many that walked with Him. Even though many followed, not all followed to the end. A number of the followers could not persevere and gave up.

There were many reasons explaining the abandons. Some left due to family matters (Luke 9:57-62); some could not live up to Jesus’ challenge and pay the price of following Jesus (Luke 14:25-35). In today’s passage, many left for other reasons. First, they could not understand Jesus: “60 on hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Second, they could not see Jesus fulfilling their expectation: some followed for miracles, some for food and some others wished He’d become a political leader. As soon as they learned that Jesus was to die for them, they left disappointed and lost their hopes.

Reflections: For how many years have I believed and followed Jesus? Do I have the determination to follow Him until the end? What are my motives in following Him, for miracles or food? If these two answers and true, the situation is extremely precarious since the crowd that left Jesus was seeking the same.

3. Confession of faith and decision

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

This is a confession of faith and is extremely important and correct decision. Hope this confession of faith, given by Simon Peter on behalf of the Twelve is ours as well.

Reflections: I must look back on how I decided to follow and believe in Jesus. Can I be like Simon Peter to come before our Lord and confess, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”?

4. Do not follow Judas’ steps

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.)

Following Jesus’ question for the Twelve, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." However, we know that not all twelve believed in Jesus. Judas had other plans.

Since Jesus is God, hence He knows what would happen and sees Judas’ motives. Therefore He pointed out, “one of you is a devil!” referring to Judas. For He knew Judas would betray Him.

Reflections: Did I ever betray Jesus and followed Judas’ steps? If I did, I pray for forgiveness, mercy and an opportunity to repent.

Tanslated: 顏偉哲