Division Among the Disciples

[Read John 6:60-71]

Last week I talked about the way we can experience the same things but have two very different ideas of what happened. This week, I want to talk about something similar but different. It’s always interesting to hear people’s responses after I preach a sermon. The same people can listen to the same sermon and walk away saying/feeling two very different things. 

One time stands out in particular. It wasn’t this church—so that people don’t start looking around wondering who it was. I was preaching a pretty difficult passage in another church. It was one of those passages that’s pretty hard. As I studied it throughout the week, it cut me to the heart and convicted me deeply. When I preached the message, I followed one of my principles of preaching that I try to follow—I want the tone of my sermon to match the tone of the passage I’m preaching. So, if the passage is uplifting, I want the sermon to be uplifting. If it’s a hard and convicting passage, I want the sermon to be hard and convicting. So, this was a hard and convicting message. 

After the service, someone from the congregation almost came running up to me. They wanted to let me know how much they appreciated what I said that morning and the way it was said. It was exactly what they needed to hear that morning and they thought it was very well done—perfectly balanced. However, the next day someone came to my office and needed to talk to me. They were pretty upset with my message. It was too hard. They thought I should have been gentler. I asked a lot of questions, trying to make sure I understood their concerns, but eventually, I figured out the problem. One sentence in my sermon really bothered them. Yet, that sentence was a direct quote from the passage I was preaching on. In the end, they didn’t have a problem with what I said, they had a problem with God’s Word itself. Although they wouldn’t have said it this way, they thought God’s Word was a little too hard—God’s Word should have been gentler.

Jesus had to deal with these same criticisms. That’s exactly what the crowd says about his teaching. They say, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”” (John 6:60, ESV). Notice a few things about this passage. Who is saying this? It’s his disciples! It’s not the crowds of people who are skeptical about him. It’s not the Pharisees who hate him and are plotting to kill him. These are disciples—people who have been following Jesus, people who on the outside look like they are true disciples of Jesus. They are the ones who hear his teaching and say, “Who can listen to this?” 

Not only that, but they say his teaching is harsh and kinda mean. When they say it’s “hard,” they’re not saying that it’s too difficult or over their heads. They’re saying that his teaching is too harsh, too violent, too mean. They’re telling Jesus that he should be teaching with a much gentler tone, softer, not so hard. Jesus points out something else they are feeling. We read, “But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?” (John 6:61, ESV). Not only did they think Jesus’ teaching was harsh and hard, but it was offensive to them. 

That’s a word that is used quite a bit. We are in a culture that is easily offended and—to be completely honest—always a little offended. A number of years ago, I read an article about how UW Madison created a $200,000 program to train students how not to offend someone. Campuses all across the United States are increasing their funding and staffing of positions to help their students NOT offend people or to protect them from being offended. But notice the solution that’s being offered. The solution to a culture that is easily offended is to NOT offend them. Stop talking about these things. Stop talking about things that might possibly offend someone. Don’t talk about religion or politics because that may offend someone. That’s the solution rather than equipping people to NOT be so easily offended—strengthening them to stand firm in their beliefs and have enough self-confidence and conviction to not be offended and wounded when someone disagrees with you. Jesus was not afraid of offending people. There were no safe spaces available around Jesus. 

Here’s a good question to be asking about what’s happening in this passage, “Where were they so offended by Jesus’ teaching?” What’s at the heart of their being offended? There are a lot of ways we can answer that question: (1) They were offended because Jesus wasn’t the earthly messiah they were looking for (2) They were offended because they weren’t willing to give up their own opinions to listen to Jesus (3) They were offended because Jesus claimed to be greater than Moses (4)They were offended because Jesus’ teaching itself was offensive to them. In reality, all of these reasons are summed up in one quote by FF Bruce, ”What they wanted, he would not give; what he offered, they would not receive” (Bruce, 164). That’s why they were offended. They were offended because Jesus refused to give them what they want AND they refused to accept Jesus for who he was. That’s the basis of the offense. Like a spoiled rotten toddler, they say, “I want this!” and Jesus says, “No. I will not give you that because that is not good for you. I will give you this though—something that will lead to eternal life.” And they respond, “No. We don’t want that. We HATE YOU!!” Or, “That’s harsh!!” 

And I love Jesus’ response to this. He says, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” (John 6:61–62, ESV). Basically, he says, “Boy, if you’re offended by what I just said, you’re REALLY going to be offended when you see why I came to earth.” Or “If you think that’s offensive, you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Jesus points out to them that the rest of his life will be offensive to them—not just his teaching. They will REALLY be offended when they see their Messiah hanging and dying on a cross. THAT’s going to be offensive. They’re going to be offended when that same Messiah rises again from the grave. The resurrection is offensive. They’re going to be offended when Jesus ascends into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. It’s all going to be offensive to them. 

Jesus is not Midwest Nice. I think that’s a problem. They talk about Minnesota Nice all the time, but it’s really a Midwest thing. It’s a Wisconsin thing when someone bumps into you to say, “Ope. Sorry.” Right? That’s Midwest Nice. It’s Midwest Nice to worry about offending anyone at any time. We just want to be nice. We just want everyone to like us. But that’s not Jesus. Notice how Jesus responds to their criticism of him. They say to him, “Your teaching has offended us.” What is his response? Did he say, “Ope. Sorry.” or “I should have spoken gentler or kinder” or does he try to explain himself or justify himself? No. He actually says, “I’m going to offend you even more if you keep listening to me and following me.” 

I love how John Calvin talks about this. He says, “Many would say that it would have been better that a sermon of this kind should never have been preached, which occasioned the apostacy of many.” (Calvin, 277). I think we’d agree with that, right? I mean, imagine if I preached a sermon that caused everyone to leave this church, and only twelve people were left. Many people would say, “Probably not a sermon you should have preached.” Yet, it was even worse for Jesus. He had thousands of people following him and they, basically, ALL left him after this sermon. And I think many people would have told him, “Yeah, Jesus you should have preached softer, gentler, nice, easier, more winsome.” 

Here’s the point I’m trying to make. There is nothing we can do that will make Jesus—his Word, the Cross, the Gospel—unoffensive. Nothing. I mean, think about it. Jesus was perfectly without sin and he offended people. Is there any way that imperfect people like us will do a better job than Jesus himself? No. And, on top of that, Jesus is offensive to those who are non-believers by nature. We’re told over and over again in God’s Word that the cross is foolishness to those who don’t believe and it’s a stumbling block to the Jews. It’s offensive to them by nature. Jesus himself is offensive by nature to those who do not believe. There’s nothing we can do about that. 

I think this needs an exclamation point because there are a LOT of Christians and a LOT of churches who think their job is to make the Gospel and Jesus un-offensive. They want to market Jesus to the world—which means they want to remove anything about Jesus that is offensive or will turn people off from him. Not only is that an impossible task, but it is not what Jesus has called us to do. It’s an impossible task because it doesn’t matter how much you try to water things down, Jesus will still be offensive to anyone who is a non-believer. The only thing that can remove the offensive nature of Jesus, the cross, and the Gospel is the Holy Spirit. Not us. 

That’s why Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:63–64, ESV). The flesh is no help at all in removing the offensiveness of the gospel. We can’t do anything to remove it—no matter how hard we try or how much we water things down. It is the Spirit who gives life. It’s the Spirit working through the very words of Jesus Christ, that changes hearts and minds and removes the offensive nature of Jesus and the cross and the gospel.

And all of this points back to things we’ve talked about throughout the Gospel of John. They are offended by Jesus and his teaching because the Spirit still needs to work on their hearts. They don’t believe in Jesus because the Spirit hasn’t done a work on their hearts. To connect this with Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus, they can’t even see Jesus properly or understand his teaching rightly until they’ve been born again by the Spirit. 

Here’s what this all points to. Jesus is telling the crowd that it’s not his teaching that’s the problem. It’s not his tone that’s the problem. It’s their hearts. That’s the problem. They are offended by Jesus and his teaching because their hearts haven’t been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit NOT because Jesus was actually saying offensive things. Jesus’ words were not actually hard and violent or offensive. Jesus’ words were actually LIFE. Yet, because their hearts are still hard and the Holy Spirit hasn’t done a work on them, they are still offended by his teaching. That’s why Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” (John 6:65, ESV) or, to say it another way, unless the Holy Spirit changes his heart. 

And that’s why they walked away. We read, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (John 6:66, ESV). It’s the same reason people still walk away today. It’s the same reason people are offended by Jesus and his teachings. 

What was Jesus’ response as he watched all of these people walk away from him and no longer follow him? We read, “So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”” (John 6:67, ESV). I think “the twelve” is emphasized here to show that that’s probably all that was left. Everyone left him besides the twelve. A LOT of people left Jesus over this sermon. His response? He looks at those who are left and says, “Do you want to leave with them?” Based on the context, this doesn’t seem to be a sorrowful response from Jesus, kinda like he’s saying, “Everyone has left me, will you leave me too?” Rather, he is still in correction mode. Eventually, he’s going to call one of his disciples a devil. Based on the context, it seems much more likely that Jesus is looking at his disciples saying, “If you’re offended by me too, here’s the door. You can leave too.” He’s not needy. He is who He is. Jesus isn’t anxiously worrying about whether people will believe or not. He isn’t chasing down all of the people who are offended by him, trying to appease them or win them back. Rather, he looks out at everyone who hasn’t left and says, “Feel free to leave too, if you’re also offended by me.” 

To which Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69, ESV). This response is perfect. Peter has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth and speaking out of turn, but he doesn’t do so here. He makes a beautiful profession of faith. Jesus has just said that His words are life and Peter responds by saying, “We know that your words are life. We’re not offended by them.” Jesus has just said that many of his disciples didn’t believe and Peter responds by saying, “We believe and we know who you are. You are the Holy One of God. You’re more than the Messiah we expected. Why would we leave you or be offended by you? Where else would we go?” That’s a beautiful profession of faith and it’s given as an example for all of us for what true faith looks like. If Jesus looked at you and said, “Are you going to be offended by me and my teaching like everyone else in the world?” would you respond by saying, “Lord, where else would I turn? I’m not offended by you but I know who you really are and I believe in you. I’m not offended by you or your words, but see that they are life. Why would I walk away from you? No. Instead, I will follow you all the days of my life.” That’s true faith. 

Jesus’ response is interesting. He says, “Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.” (John 6:70–71, ESV). I’ll be honest, there’s not a lot of clarity as to why Jesus says this right here, but I’ll give you my thoughts on this. Some have said this is a correction to Peter’s arrogance (which pops up now and again) and Jesus is telling him that the twelve aren’t any better than any of the disciples that have already left. I find that to be a stretch because I don’t see anything arrogant in Peter’s words—this time. Instead, I think Jesus is correcting Peter’s words a little bit. Notice that Peter says, “WE have believed and have come to know.” Peter is speaking on behalf of all the disciples—including Judas. So, I think Jesus is taking the opportunity to say, “Well, not ALL of you believe and know me. Even one of you—those I’ve chosen in a special way—doesn’t actually know me or believe me and is actually offended by me.” Even those who are closest to Jesus can still be offended by him and turn away from him and betray him. Unless the Spirit does a work on our hearts, none of us would be able to make Peter’s beautiful profession of faith—not even if we followed Jesus every day of our lives. 

I think that’s something we need to imprint upon our hearts. Judas followed Jesus everywhere, every day for a very long time, and he still was offended by Jesus and he still did not have a true faith in Jesus. People can attend church every single Sunday for a very long time and they still will be offended by Jesus and will still not have a true faith in Jesus. That’s a sobering reality. That’s how hard our hearts are. That’s how far gone we are. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to do a powerful work in our lives, change our hearts, open our eyes, and draw us to Jesus Christ, and create a true faith within us. 

And remember what we’ve learned in this passage, a true faith is a faith that is un-offended by Jesus AND his teaching. It’s un-offended because a true faith knows who Jesus really is and it believes in him, and therefore it recognizes that his words are life—that he has the words of eternal life. This is why Jesus says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”” (Mark 8:38, ESV). That could easily be reworded to say, “Whoever is offended by me and my words, of him the Son of Man will also be offended.” That is because a true faith is not offended by Jesus nor his words—even when those teachings are offensive to the culture around us. 

So, this is a call for all of us to check our own hearts. We need to be continually asking ourselves, “Am I offended by Jesus and his message?” You cannot separate Jesus from his teachings—which include the whole Bible. And, let me tell you, there are aspects of the Bible that are VERY offensive to the world around us. The Bible has very different teachings about what it means to be a man or a woman, about what marriage is and isn’t, about our sexuality, and about how to spend our time and money. When you hear those things from Jesus, how do you respond? Are you offended by them? Do you try to remove the offensiveness of those teachings? OR do you wrestle with them and wrestle with yourself to figure out why you’re offended by them? The solution is not to remove the offensive nature of those teachings. The solution is to go to Jesus and ask for your eyes and heart to be opened, asking that the Holy Spirit would do a powerful work in you so that you would understand and embrace his message. Where else would we go? He has the words of eternal life!