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.”
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.” (John 6:60-69 NIV)
Jesus had just had one of the most amazing 24-hour periods in world history. Do you know what Jesus had done just in the last day? The evening before, Jesus had fed over 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Imagine that: Five loaves of bread and two fish feeding an entire stadium. Wow! But that was just the start. That night, Jesus’ disciples started sailing across the Sea of Galilee. When they got to the middle of the lake, a strong wind was blowing. The waves were rough. So Jesus walked out to them on the water. He walked on water! And the moment Jesus got into the boat, they were at the other side. Wow! Then Jesus preached to crowds of people and gave them this promise: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). All in one day. Feeding 5000. Walking on water. Preaching about life. Don’t you wish you could have been there?
Actually, I’m glad you weren’t there. I’m really glad you weren’t there. Because here’s how the people responded: “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” After feeding 5000, walking on water, and preaching about eternal life, you’d expect the people to praise Jesus, right? “Wow! Food for all. Wow! He walks on water. Wow! Eternal life by faith. Praise God! This is our Savior! This is our God!” Instead, “This is a hard teaching.” It wasn’t a hard teaching to understand. It was a hard teaching to accept. So they grumbled.
And Jesus knew it. He knows everything! So Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?” The answer was, “Yes!” They were offended by Jesus. It seems like two things especially made them upset. Jesus claimed that he had come down from heaven. But the people said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “You didn’t come from heaven. You came from Nazareth!” On top of that, Jesus told them they needed to believe in him. In fact, they needed his body and blood to be saved. And they didn’t want to hear it. “No way! “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
What about you? Does what Jesus says offend you? What topics from the Bible make you roll your eyes when you hear them at church? God’s roles for a wife and a husband in marriage? “That’s so out of place today!” Differences between churches? “Let’s all just get along.” Money? Enough said. Sin? “It’s my life. I should get to do what I want.” “Does this offend you?” Jesus asks. What’s your answer? Jesus knows. He knows every grumble in your heart.
Just like he knew that crowd of people was grumbling against him. So you’d almost expect Jesus to back down a little bit. That’s what happens today, isn’t it? A person makes a strong statement. Then they take it back. “I was misunderstood. That isn’t what I meant to say!” We’d almost expect that from Jesus. When he received pushback, to say, “I went too far…” Is that what Jesus said? No! Jesus never retracted anything he said. Instead, he doubled-down. “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!” When people were offended by what Jesus was saying, here’s what Jesus said: “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
“If you’re offended by me claiming to come from heaven, what are you going to say when you actually see me ascend up into heaven? You ain’t seen nothing yet! If you’re offended by me saying you need my flesh—my body and blood—to have eternal life, what are you going to say when you actually see me lifted up on a cross, with my blood spilling out everywhere? You think my words are offensive? What until you see the real thing!” Would Jesus say the same thing to us? “You don’t think I have the right to tell you how to live? What if you see me come back on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead? What then? You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Is that hard to accept? You’re right. It is! We talked about this two weeks ago. Who, on their own, is able to accept Jesus? No one! As people grumbled about his teaching, Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” Who can come to Jesus on their own? No one! Faith isn’t a decision we make. Faith requires a resurrection. It’s going from death to life. From darkness to light. Who can do that? “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of Spirit and life.” It is hard to be a Christian. In fact, it’s impossible, unless the Holy Spirit gives you life through Jesus’ words.
Sadly, most people wanted nothing more to do with Jesus’ Word. Here’s one of the saddest verses in the Bible: “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt? Jesus had fed 5000 people. Jesus had walked on water. Jesus had offered eternal life to everyone who believed in him. And what was the result? Just about everyone left. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Later, after all of Jesus’ preaching for 3 years, do you know how many believers there were after Jesus ascended into heaven? 120 (Acts 1:15). About as many as our little church.
What an important lesson for us! You can do miracles. You can preach powerfully about God’s grace through Jesus. And what happens? Everybody leaves. Don’t be surprised! People are offended at what Jesus says. Now, if people are offended by us, that’s a different story. If we drive people away with arrogance or being jerks or not caring about people, God will hold us accountable. People better not be offended by us! But even if we were to do all the right things, people would still be offended by Jesus. Don’t be surprised when people turn away from Jesus.
So Jesus turned to the Twelve. As the crowds left, Jesus turned to his 12 disciples and asked a second question. Remember the first question? “Does this offend you?” Here was the second question: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” You can hear the pain in Jesus’ voice. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” What would you say? “You do not want to leave too, do you?” The temptation to turn away from Jesus is strong. It’s here today. Are you leaving Jesus too?
Before you say, “No way!” look at whom you’re following. Everybody is following somebody. As much as we like to think we’re independent, every one of us is following somebody for truth and hope and life. Whom are you following? Is it wine? That’s not what you were expecting, was it? During the pandemic, alcohol sales have sky-rocketed. People are looking for truth and hope and life—in wine. Are you? Maybe you’ve gotten caught up in the politics in our country. A lot of us have! How many times over the past year have you said, “Follow this person!” Or, “Here is where you find the truth!” Really? Or this last week I saw a meme on Facebook. A man looks at all the brokenness of our world, and he has a big band-aid in his hand that he’s about to slap on all the trouble. He finally found a solution! Know what it was? Football! We can finally watch football and have peace and hope and joy in life again! To whom—to what—do you turn?
Here’s the problem: Whomever I raise up, you can tear down. Have you noticed that? Our world is looking for a hero. People are looking for a savior. For someone to make things right again. We are raising up people left and right. “Follow him! Follow her! Trust him! Trust her!” Here’s the problem: Whomever I raise up, you can tear down. Whomever you raise up, I can tear down. “This is the guy!” “No, look at what he said!” “This is the lady!” “No, look at what she did!” Isn’t that our world? We’re all imperfect. We’re all sinful! But we keep on looking. Everybody is turning to somebody, and finding lots of disappointment and sin and broken promises.
Except Peter. Peter got it. That’s a strange thing to say. If you know the Bible, Jesus’ disciple Peter often didn’t get it. He often said all the wrong things. But not on this day. Not after these amazing 24-hours with Jesus. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked. And Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Memorize those words. Tell them to Jesus every single day: “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 hit the nail on the head. “To whom shall we go?” What’s most striking is Peter recognized the best part about Jesus. Peter didn’t say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You give us free food!” Feeding the 5000 was great, but there was something better. He didn’t say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You walk on water.” Actually, Peter could have said, “You even made me walk on water!” But there was something even cooler. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Remember what Jesus had said? “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). And, “my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40). “You have the words of eternal life!”
Those Twelve disciples realized they had found Someone different than everybody else. Not just a nice guy. Not just a good teacher. “We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus is the Holy One of God. The Savior of the world. And those disciples hadn’t seen nothing yet! They would watch Jesus suffer for them. They would watch Jesus shed his body and blood for them and their sins. They would see the empty tomb. They would see Jesus alive again and touch the nail holes in his hands and side. Offensive? No. Amazing! He is the One. Jesus is the One! “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”
I hope you know and believe that too. Every day throws troubles at you that you never would have expected. To whom will you go? When that loved one is sick with COVID, and it’s not just a little cough. It has them in the hospital fighting to breathe, like has happened to too many of us, to whom will you go? Jesus! He is the only one who has words of eternal life. When chaos continues to reign around the world. When bombs explode and people die and you wonder when it’s going to end. To whom will you go? Jesus! He is the only one who has words of eternal life.
“To whom shall we go?” You’ll face that question more often than you’d like to think. When regret fills your heart, when you can’t move on from that decision that you made, when guilt clouds your days, to whom will you go? Jesus! He is the Holy One of God, who lived a holy life in our place and died to forgive our sins. When the people around you turn back and turn away. When the people you love get offended by the Word of God, by the cross of Jesus, to whom will you go? Jesus! To Jesus. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
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