To Whom Shall We Go? John 6:41-71

Review In John 6, Jesus feeds the 5,000+ miraculously Jn 6:15 – Many wanted to make Him king Jn 6:26-27 – Many were willing to follow in hopes of getting fed Jesus tells them they need to work for food that will give everlasting life Jn 6:28-29 – They want to know what work Jesus says to believe in Him Jn 6:30-31 – They want a sign, like manna Despite being miraculously fed the previous day

Review Jn 6:32-40 Jesus compared and contrasted Himself with the manna of Exodus 16 Compared: Both sent from God (not Moses) Both provide life by taking them in Contrasted: Never hunger (or thirst) again He came down from heaven (a choice He made) Jesus is the true bread of life The end result depends on whether you believe Those who do not accept Him as the Son of God will remain dead in their sins

Rejection John 6:41-42 They knew Mary and Joseph Wouldn’t accept His claim to divinity Same argument has been made ever since, ‘He’s just a man’ How could they believe His claim to divinity? They had such a high esteem for Moses Wouldn’t accept Jesus as superior How could they believe His claim to superiority? They understood manna as ‘bread from heaven’ But how could Jesus be ‘bread from heaven’?

Believing the claims John 6:43-47 “No one comes to Me, unless . . .” No one will believe Jesus’ claims unless . . . “the Father . . . draws him” Some think this refers to something irresistible God will do to bring them to Christ But Jesus tells what He means: “they shall be taught by God” “heard and learned from the Father” “not that anyone has seen the Father . . .” Denying the idea of direct interaction as a means of drawing God’s word is the method of drawing people Jesus already explained this method (Jn 5:37-40)

The bread of life John 6:48-51 Manna did not give eternal life Only kept alive for a little while Jesus came to bring eternal life Before having that life, one must believe (v47) Before believing, one must hear God’s word (v45) But belief includes acting on the word, one must ‘eat of this bread’ Take in the words and make them part of you In order for Jesus to be able to impart eternal life through His word, He would have to die 2nd reference in John to His coming death (Jn 3:14-17)

Rejection John 6:52 For many ‘bread’ is only something to eat for physical nourishment ‘flesh’ is only meat Just as Nicodemus could only think of ‘birth’ as the coming into the world (Jn 3:4) As the Samaritan woman thought of ‘water’ as a liquid to drink (Jn 4:11-12, 15) And even the disciples thought of ‘food’ as only something to eat (Jn 4:33) They can’t imagine how Jesus could give His flesh for them to eat like they ate the bread

His flesh and blood John 6:53-59 No way to have the life He offers if you don’t eat of His flesh and drink of His blood For literalists this would be repulsive For spiritually minded, would understand the idea of taking in the words, teachings, life of Christ (“abides in Me and I in him” v56) Might also recognize a foreshadowing of Jesus sacrificial death and new covenant Later Jesus instituted a memorial supper which should remind us of these truths (Lk 22:19-20) [Oddly Catholics believe they do the action literally, an act Jesus and Jews knew to be repulsive]

Rejection John 6:60 For those who were still literalistic, eating His flesh and drinking His blood was too hard Rather than seek spiritual meaning, they stopped trying to discern the meaning As Jesus explained about parables (Mt 13:10-17) Some teaching was given in figures of speech Separates the spiritually-minded from others

Explanation John 6:61-63 “Does this offend you?” The ‘this’ could be (any or all) . . . The idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood Jesus as bread from heaven Jesus as descended from heaven Jesus as God “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?” If you can’t accept the spiritual truths He was teaching, what will you do when He gives the ultimate proof by returning to heaven?

Explanation As to the eating His flesh . . . (v63) He said eating His flesh gives life (6:51,53-54,58) Now says the Spirit gives life, the flesh profits nothing The physical body is not what He was asking them to eat, it wouldn’t help them The eating was to be understood spiritually “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” By eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He meant you need to take in His words, be spiritually nourished by them, make them your life And eternal life is what they will lead you to

Rejection John 6:64-66 Some of those who were following Jesus did not believe They wanted healing or feeding or just to be around someone of notoriety, etc But belief requires a willingness to obey Those who were unwilling to believe and obey were betraying Jesus (Not a reference to Judas alone, but to all who go only part way in obeying – Heb 10:26-31) No one has truly believed in Jesus who is not willing to accept ALL He taught and did Many walked away right then

Question and answer John 6:67-69 Were the apostles willing to accept Jesus for Who He is and what He taught? Yes, Peter points out there is no one else to go to, “To whom shall we go?” Jesus has the words that lead to eternal life Exactly the point Jesus had been making He is the bread from heaven His flesh must be eaten and His blood drunk Peter understood the spiritual nature of what Jesus had said And as importantly he accepted it and believed and was willing to act on it in obedience

Conclusion Some people balk at the idea of surrendering all to Jesus Some refuse to accept all His teachings Some refuse to obey His commands Some pretend to follow, but their heart is not with Him (Jn 6:70-71) But if you want eternal life, you must come to Him in belief and obedience Are you willing to give Him all?