Last week we heard the beginning of what’s known as the Bread of Life discourse and witnessed the feeding of the 5,000. And today’s gospel is its conclusion, which means we’ve missed some thirty verses, so a short summary may be helpful.
After crowds were fed, Jesus and the disciples departed and crossed the sea to Capernaum, where the crowds found him again. There Jesus said,
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6:48-51 NRS)
And immediately grumbling and murmuring began. Hearing them, Jesus continued his teaching and that’s where we rejoin the story.
At this point, the crowds aren’t the only ones murmuring and grumbling though. John tells us that Jesus’ own disciples are there, too. They say, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” (v. 60) And when Jesus hears them, he asks, “"Does this offend you? (John 6:61 NRS)”
What is the teaching that is so difficult and offensive, not only to the people in the crowd who may have been hearing Jesus for the first time, but even for those who had committed to following him?
The teaching that is so difficult is that Jesus has come from heaven.
The cause for scandal is in verse 62: “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” (John 6:62 NRS)
Because if Jesus came down from heaven and ascends there again,
it means that the gospel is true.
It means he truly is the Son of God.
It means that just as John stated in the first verses of his gospel, in the beginning, Jesus was with God and was God. (John 1:1-2 NRS)[i]
John invites all of us, hearing his gospel today, to answer for ourselves how we will respond to this truth.
People in the crowd that day probably had a host of reasons to be there. Maybe they followed Jesus that day because they had nothing better to do. Maybe they showed up because they needed something – healing or food or simply not to be alone. Maybe they were curious about this teacher and preacher and were afraid of missing out.
Others there were disciples; certainly, some were the seventy who were sent out ahead of Jesus to towns and other places. (Luke 10) But we don’t know the full number of those who counted themselves as disciples at this point.
We also know from John that the twelve apostles were there.
So you had outsiders and insiders and the most intimate friends all together. And faced with this difficult teaching — that God truly sent God’s own Son to us for the sake of the world — people made choices.
For some, perhaps their curiosity was satisfied so they moved onto the next big attraction or returned home to the lives they had been leading, unchanged.
But John also tells us that “many of [Jesus’] disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” (v. 66) They had spent some time following Jesus, but at this point, it was too difficult. Their faith was shaken, and they rejected Him.
Seeing these responses, Jesus asks the twelve apostles,
“Do you also wish to go away?”
And that’s when we get Peter’s confession in John. Like we hear in Mark when Peter declares, “You are the Messiah.” (Mark 8:29) and in Matthew “You are the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16), here Peter says, “You are God’s Holy One.” The only one to whom we can go. The only one who has the words of eternal life.
Importantly, in John, the confession rests on the cornerstone that is Peter’s belief.
In John’s Gospel,
remember that believing is the same as knowing Jesus
and that knowing Jesus means being in relationship with Jesus.
But John also shows us the consequences of not believing and deliberately walking away from God’s presence and participation in our lives. It is Judas’ unbelief that sets him apart and leaves him vulnerable to evil. He does not believe Jesus is who he says he is. Maybe he thinks Jesus is a good teacher or even a prophet. Maybe he thinks he’s a magician. But he doesn’t believe he is God. And in his unbelief, he breaks relationship with Jesus and betrays him.
So again, John invites us to answer for ourselves how we will respond to Jesus.
John gives us three possible answers. There are believers or knowers; there are those who reject Jesus and walk away, and then there are those who intentionally betray him.
I admit I want to say I’m with the apostles every time. But sometimes it is hard to believe. And sometimes it is hard to be Jesus to other people. And often, this teaching makes me uncomfortable because I want to make room for those who are undecided, but in this passage, John doesn’t give us that option. We have to choose.
Thankfully, just as Jesus says about Judas in verses 70 and 71, the first choice is God’s. Every day, every time, God chooses us. And then we face the same choice that these followers faced; we have to choose whether to believe and live in relationship, or not. We have to choose whether to commit fully to following Jesus with every part of our being and in every aspect of our lives.
In our Lutheran tradition, we teach and believe that even when we choose relationship, we cannot be faithful apart from God and the Holy Spirit working in us to make it possible. We depend wholly on God’s grace to enable us to respond at all. So we pray honestly with the man in Mark 9, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
When Jesus asks, “Do you also wish to go away?” he knows it’s a hard teaching and yet, we are encouraged to follow the twelve and follow Jesus, even as others walk away or make other choices.
Let us pray…
Holy God,
Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to us know You and choosing to give us your love and forgiveness.
Show us how to follow faithfully and choose life with Jesus every time.
By your Spirit, enliven us that our lives would witness to your abundant grace.
We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
[i] Karoline Lewis. John. 97.
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