Title At Capernaum/John 6:63-69
Content from Capernaum
(John 6:63-69)
After performing the miracle of feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, Jesus' popularity reached its peak. As a proof of his popularity, many people began to follow Jesus. But Jesus said something very shocking to them. "Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were satisfied.
This means that some people went out because they saw a sign after eating the bread, while others followed Jesus simply because they were full.
What is a target?
For example, if you are going down a road, and there is a stone pillar standing next to the road and it says "Namwongol", everyone will know, "Oh, now the village called 'Namwongol' begins. This is because the stone pillar is a sign of Namwongol. Therefore, a decent person will not sit in front of the stone pillar saying that they have reached Namwon-gol, but rush the road towards the village that is over the hill.
Therefore, through the miracles Jesus performed, we should be able to see the signs of what Jesus was trying to say, but all those who ate the bread did not see the signs. It just ended up being full. These people eventually left Jesus. Then, as verse 66 says, “He walked no more with Jesus.”
On the other hand, those who knew that the miracle Jesus performed was a sign indicating something great did not leave Him. Peter confessed that the great thing was “the words of eternal life.” There are two characteristics of people who end up being full. First, they do not understand what Jesus is saying. Jesus was talking about spiritual things, which sounded difficult and absurd because people tried to understand them at the level of eating and drinking. For example, when we talk about the bread of life that God gives in verses 33-35, people asked that we always be able to eat that bread. It is understood as bread eaten.
Verses 51-52/ After hearing the words, “The bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world,” he said, “How could that man break his flesh so that we may eat it?” He shuddered.
Even the disciples' reactions were no different. Verse 60. "Many of the disciples heard it and said, "It is difficult to say these words, can anyone hear it..." The disciples here include not only the 12 already appointed but also others who followed Jesus to become disciples. There is. The words of Jesus were difficult because these people also had no interest in anything other than to fill their stomachs. So, in the end, they all left Jesus.
There is a second disappointing characteristic.
As they continued to listen to what Jesus was saying, people must have thought to themselves, "What the hell are you talking about? It's not like this..." They could not hear the story they had expected from Jesus. What's more, it didn't even make me feel full again with the same miracle as the five bowls. Disappointment with Jesus must have filled their hearts. So I left Jesus.
Not all appearances of leaving Jesus were the same.
First of all, it is the appearance of abandoning Jesus. This is what most people do. And I will never again be interested in Jesus. Because he had concluded that Jesus was useless and worthless in his lifetime.
Verse 66: "Therefore, many of the disciples withdrew, and walked no more with him!"
The next few people will do something very heartbreaking. Jesus referred to such an active act as “selling oneself over.” Today around us, there are people who are against the word church, carrying packed lunches. All of them are people who at one time went along to become disciples of Jesus.
What is the underlying reason for all this? We have already analyzed that it was because the words were difficult to understand for worldly reasons, and they were disappointed with the words. If so, what is the reason from the religious point of view? He came expecting the works of the flesh and looked at Jesus at that level until the end. So these people did not have faith in the first place.
They did not believe in Jesus and did not believe what Jesus said.
Jesus lifted his eyes and looked around his disciples slowly. And he said to them: / verse 64
"But there are some among you who do not believe, because Jesus knew from the beginning who are the unbelievers and who will betray him."
What words in these verses break our hearts? "From the beginning". You knew me from the beginning. That is why he constantly taught and admonished me and gave me love, hoping that I would be changed and changed. And yet, when I continue to be the way I was, I will condemn you, saying, "There are some among you who do not believe."
All those who came to become disciples have left, and now only 12 are left. Jesus asked these disciples. "Are you going to cover it too?" Jesus' heart must have been very lonely and painful at this time. At this point, Peter came out. "Lord, you have the word of eternal life; to whom shall we go?" Although they said "we", it is clear that not all of the disciples are at this level. However, when Peter came forward and said this, all the other disciples were supposed to have reached this level by themselves, and some disciples must have realized after hearing Peter's words, "Oh, that's right." Not only me, but all of my colleagues also raised their faces. Looking back, Peter is a very wise man and a good person.
Through this confession made by Peter, we can learn several things about how to become a disciple who does not leave Jesus and takes him as his eternal teacher.
First, it is not a faith that goes back and forth in crowd psychology.
The popularity of Jesus, who did not satisfy the desires of the flesh, fell to the ground in an instant. How much of a morning mist is the mass popularity of a new star when they come out, leaving them all behind and rushing straight to them to cheer them on? However, Peter never changed in taking Jesus as his teacher and following him. People did not care and proudly made their confession of faith in front of them.
In verse 61, we see people gathering together and chattering. Gossip is dangerous, and it is the beginning of bad things. It was like Joshua in the Old Testament.
This is the case in Joshua 24.
After conquering the land of Canaan and distributing the land evenly, the representatives of the 12 tribes were gathered together.
Even at that time, the Israelites did not abandon the idolatrous faith they had in Egypt and the religions of other nations. Before them, Joshua declared:
"If it does not seem good to you to serve the Lord, choose whom you will serve today, whether it be the god your ancestors served beyond the river, or the god of the Amorites in the land in which you live. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"
Second, we have to confess that Jesus is Lord.
It means that I have Jesus as my Lord. The attitude and attitude of a person serving the master is that he will listen to and obey whatever he says. Only such a person would be able to say, "Is it true? It's right because you said it. I'll do it" even if the owner doesn't like it or says something that is difficult to understand.
Third, when there is a confession in verse 69 as the concluding story of today's sermon, we will be able to live with Jesus as our eternal teacher.
"We believed and knew that you are the Holy One of God" This confession includes the words "know" and "believe". Only knowing and believing who Jesus is can make us true disciples. Look at Judas Iscariot. Judas was a failure in knowing Jesus. This is because he knew and understood Jesus within the scope of his personal thoughts and outlook on life. That is why I failed to believe in Jesus.
They were carefully selected and selected, and among the 12 disciples who spent three years teaching together, he became the only one who failed. Among the disciples whom Jesus had personally chosen and taught, there was a serious failure who did not just leave but sold Jesus over.
How are we today? How am I today? How is our church today? You must know Jesus and believe in Him. Only then will we be able to take Jesus as our eternal teacher and follow the path of discipleship without failing and failing today.