“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Just think about what a challenge that is? It’s not a picture of something else, it’s an instruction. When was the last time I made a conscious costly decision to sacrifice something for my faith, to fight to say ‘NO!’ to something I wanted or society encouraged me to do because it doesn’t fit with following Jesus?
Or Jesus call for us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. To love at cost to self, to reputation, pride, honour. Or his call to forgive not 7 times but 77 times. Or Jesus teaching that “you cannot serve both God and money.” And it’s impact on our approach to work, stuff, education, parenting and so on.
Or maybe it’s the Bible’s teaching on giving, or sexuality, or marriage, or divorce, or suffering or something else where Jesus words clash with our dreams or wants or simply with what society has trained us to think is right. To live by Jesus words can be costly.
We’d never take a pair of scissors to the Bible and snip verses out, but do we live as if that’s exactly what we have done?
In John 6 we see two groups of disciples polarized by what they do with Jesus words, with his hard teaching. And that difference becomes the defining mark of a real disciple. Genuine disciples live by Jesus words not their or the world’s wisdom.
Deserting disciples? (60-66)
(60)”On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” Jesus has just taught the crowd that he’s God the Son, uniquely revealing God to the world, that he must die to bring life to those who believe in him(53f), and that eternal life can’t be earned but is God’s gift by faith in Jesus. They don’t mean that Jesus teaching is hard to understand but that it’s offensive, hard to accept, it clashes societies expectations and their way of thinking.
(61)Jesus knows and tackles this offensiveness heads on, but not by backtracking or softening what he said. “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?” Jesus confronts them with the same truths. He claims he has been with the Father in heaven for all eternity, and that he will return there again via arrest, suffering, death and resurrection. The doubting disciples are struggling with Jesus words because they’re doubting his identity. But Jesus says these are non-negotiables. Disciples must believe Jesus is Son of God and Messiah who gives life.
(63-65)Jesus raises the bar further, stressing that understanding isn’t purely a reasoning thing. It isn’t a work. It’s life given by God. The Spirit gives life by producing belief or faith. Jesus, God the Son, brings God’s words and those who are drawn by God the Spirit will believe and have life and live full of the Spirit.
Jesus always knew that some of those following didn’t believe. This doubting of his words is because they doubt his identity. It’s also a biblical pattern. Think back to Genesis 3, where does Satan strike? At God’s word by questioning God’s character and identity. Where does Satan strike at Israel in Egypt or in the desert? It’s at God’s words and his power to rescue and bring them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. It’s the same here. It will be the same for us. Deserting begins with doubting Jesus words because we question his identity, character and authority.
Where are we struggling with Jesus teaching, with his words? Where do you feel the battle is at it’s fiercest between the culture and Christ or between your will and his will, your kingdom and his kingdom? Where are we tempted to doubt Jesus words as old fashioned or out of date, or just too hard, or for others but not for me? Is it the call to carry a cross not pursue comfort? Is it when what we want clashes with what he wants? Is it his teaching over money, sexuality, greed, gossip? Where is it? Can you identify it? When we can, we need to stand back and realise that the question underlying it isn’t one of relevance but about the character of God – Father, Son and Spirit. As we struggle we need to see what that struggle is saying about who Jesus is?
Deliberate disciples?(67-69)
It’s hard to stand out against the crowd isn’t it? To be the one known for not engaging in office gossip, or who you have to watch your language around, or who simply won’t do that. Marching to a different drumbeat from our culture, our peers, our friend, family and neighbours is hard. Peer pressure isn’t at it’s worst when we’re teenagers that’s just when we feel it most keenly. I wonder if peer pressure gets a bit easier as we hit adulthood not because we feel the pressure any less or care any less what others think of us but because we’ve developed coping mechanisms; learnt ways to minimise the difference, to keep things quiet or hidden away. To live as chameleon Christians rather than distinctive disciples. It’s never easy to be different.
As the crowd react angrily to Jesus teaching following Jesus becomes more difficult. As (66)“many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” The peer pressure on the 12 grows. And Jesus turns and asks “You do not want to leave too, do you?” It’s a striking question isn’t it? Talk about being put on the spot.
But Peter speaks for them and again words and identity are key to why they will stay, just as they were key to why the deserting disciples left. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Do you see what Peter’s saying? Jesus, your words may be hard, they clash with our culture, others reject them and there’s much that we don’t understand, but in them, in you, we find what we’ve been looking for. That phrase eternal life is key in John, 17v3 “Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” That’s what Jesus words have given Peter and the others, he makes known God to them, he satisfies their spiritual hunger, he reconnects them with God, with life as it should be.
It’s what the crowd and the deserters don’t get, it’s what they deny. But it’s what the woman at the well and the twelve have found to be true. In Jesus words we find eternal life. There’s an echo of Deuteronomy “people do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the life of the LORD.” Jesus brings life because he reveals God to us, his words are God’s words.
That’s the conviction of a deliberate disciple. You don’t drift into that conviction you decide on it. For Peter and the others when Jesus words clash with cultures words they deliberately, at cost, choose Jesus words because nothing else satisfies. That’s their deepest conviction. The promises of society are empty Jesus words bring life. Is that a conviction we share? When Jesus words clash with our cultures or our own desires do we wrestle to the point of deliberate, determined, decided discipleship? Jesus words bring life! Jesus words - if we find in them satisfaction because they bring us to know the Father – will carry more weight that our own, than our desires, than our peers, than societies. Who do we believe has the words of eternal life?
But we’ll only choose Jesus words if we’re fully convinced of who he is and we see that connection here too. (69)“We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Do you see the conviction? We’ve come to believe and know, this is a fixed point. We’ve seen you reveal your glory and believe you’re God the Son. It’s this seeing, knowing and deciding that lead to a belief that means they accept his hard words.
We’ll only give the right weight to Jesus words when we reach that same settled decided conviction that Jesus is God the Son come to save us. That means when I’m struggling to accept Jesus words as they clash with my will or societies norms I wrestle to believe them by wrestling with who Jesus is. Do I believe he is God the Son and Messiah? Do I believe he died and rose again, having born the punishment for my sin, because of his love? Do I believe his words bring eternal life and satisfaction now that nothing else can? Then I’ll live by his words.
Deliberate, determined disciples see who Jesus is and live by his words because they’re utterly convinced Jesus is for them and that in him they have satisfaction. Deliberate, determined disciples wrestle with their desires to bring them into submission to Jesus words.
But let me just give a health warning here. This isn’t calling us to add a gospel veneer to every decision we make. You know those tables you see that look like an oak table until you get close enough to realise it’s just a thin veneer of oak pattern on an MDF table. There’s a danger that we settle for doing that – after all it looks and sounds holy – Christian peer pressure. When was the last time we really said ‘not my will but your will be done’? It’s easy isn’t it to dress up our will in gospel veneer language. We see and want a bigger house, what gospel veneer might we add? ‘It’ll be great for ministry.’ We want our children to go to a certain school because of the quality of the education, what gospel veneer might we add? We’re moving to our new mission field.
We must be careful of baptising our will with gospel motives. We must be honest about what our motives are. Determined, deliberate discipleship calls us to live by Jesus hard words, words that clash with our desires, that lead us to deny self, shun the crowds, clash with society. But if we’re convinced that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life then we’ll make that choice.
Gracious Saviour
There’s a lot of challenge in these verses. How are you feeling? A bit guilty? Can you see lots of places where you’re struggling with peer pressure, where you’ve failed to stand for Christ, where you’ve said my will not yours be done? Where we’ve given into comfort rather than carry our cross? Maybe you’re thinking that you look more like a deserting disciple than a determined one. It’s right that we examine ourselves and ask these questions.
In fact that’s a key part of Jesus love for us. Jesus words of warning aren’t condemning they’re loving. He’s not prepared to have half-hearted disciples because a half-hearted disciple is no disciple. He won’t comfort people with hope that isn’t theirs. He won’t pretend following him is easy or socially acceptable. Jesus warns even Judas, in fact he perseveres in warning Judas even though he knows he will betray him. Do you see the love and pain, he knows here, a year before it happens, and yet he lovingly warns him. As he speaks to the 12 they’ll all betray, deny or desert yet he lovingly teaches them and goes to the cross for them and restores them.
Jesus also provides long-term comfort for them. They may flounder at times but their hope is not in their strength but God’s drawing them to believe(62-65), in his sending the spirit after his resurrection to enable them to stand. That’s our hope too.
As we examine our hearts this morning. As we ask these hard questions. As we ask: who do I live as if Jesus is? Do I live as if Jesus words alone bring eternal life? Am I standing against society or blending in to it? Where am I deliberately denying self and carrying my cross?
As we answer them, we must see again that Jesus is God the Son in all his glory come to die on the cross for us. That his words alone bring eternal life. As we come and confess, as we reaffirm our conviction as to who he is, the weight his words should carry, we do so knowing he has forgiven us, called us, our faith is a gift of God and we have the Spirit alive and at work in us. And Jesus alone has the words of eternal life.
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