Eat Him Up: Part 2

Amen.

Okay, kiddos, you are excused to your King's Kids class.

!

In 2018, the internet was abuzz with this audio test.

A computer-generated name was named to test which name you heard.

Either you would hear Yanni or Laurel.

So, computer-generated, the name was named.

Those who heard it heard a name.

Some hear Yanni.

Some heard Laurel.

And I was just, there's no way that this is actually happening.

So, I thought I'd run a test.

So, Zach, come on in.

So, I'm like, Zach, stop in the doorway.

And I hit play.

And the computer-generated name was named.

And Zach was a little confused.

What?

He didn't even know he was in my office.

I'm like, okay, let me do it again.

I played.

I'm like, what are you here?

And he's like, Yanni?

And I'm like, you got to come around to my computer screen.

Because I'm like, Zach, I hear Laurel.

You hear Yanni.

I hear Laurel.

What's up with that?

I'm not making this up.

This is no joke.

How is it possible that two people hearing the same computer-generated name are hearing two different names?

How is that possible?

Two different responses.

In John chapter 6, verses 60 through 71, there are two groups of people.

John 6:60–71

Both the gospel of John, John says, are disciples of Jesus.

And they both hear what Jesus has said.

In John 6, verse 53, Jesus says this,

John 6:53

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

If you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no eternal life.

So one group of His disciples hear this and say, this is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it?

And they turn back and stop walking with Jesus.

The other group of His disciples hear and say, Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

All of these are described as disciples.

But one group says, we can't stomach this.

We're out.

And the other group says, we can't get enough of this.

We're going to eat you up and follow you all of our days.

How do you explain the difference?

Well, in this passage, Jesus actually explains the difference.

He explains why there are some disciples,

disciples who stop walking with Him,

and why there are other disciples who stick with Him.

So let me read John chapter 6, 60 through 71.

John 6 · chapter mention

Hear God's Word.

When many of His disciples heard it,

they said, this is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it?

But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about this,

said to them, do you take offense at this?

Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?

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.

For Jesus knew from the beginning

who those were who did not believe

and who it was who would betray Him.

And Jesus said, this is why I told you

that no one can come to Me unless it is granted to Him by the Father.

After this, many of His disciples turned back

and no longer walked with Him.

So Jesus said to the twelve,

do you want to go away as well?

Simon Peter answered Him,

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.

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.

So we have two groups of disciples

with two very different responses

all to the same thing they've heard Jesus say.

So let's look at both groups.

The first one is the disciples who walk away from Jesus.

This is in verses 60 through 66.

Let's call them false positive disciples.

Look at verse 60.

When many of His disciples heard it,

at this time, Jesus has a lot of people following Him.

Last week, we were looking at a group of people

who Jesus had fed and filled their stomachs

at that miracle in which He feeds the 5,000,

more like 15,000 to 20,000.

They come looking for Him,

and then He basically says,

I'm the bread of life,

and they're like, we don't want that.

This group of people,

here in verse 60,

is a group of people who've been following Jesus.

They're not the same group

who've just had their tummies filled.

And so it's a different group of people,

and they have at least somewhere along the way

committed to following Jesus,

walking with Him, learning from Him,

seeing Him do wonderful things.

And I just want you to notice the word it.

When many of His disciples heard it contextually,

that's what He just said,

has been talking about.

We can talk about it as what He just said in verse 53.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

you need to eat my flesh and drink my blood

in order to be saved.

Look at their response.

This is a hard saying.

The heart of it,

the heart is not trying to figure it out.

It's not that kind of heart.

The heart of it is it's disgusting.

It's hard to stomach.

It's distasteful.

Who can listen to this?

Do you?

Did you hear Him?

Does He actually want us to eat His flesh

and drink His blood?

They are taking it as literal cannibalism.

But what we know is that Jesus has actually called them

to a very radical dependence on Him by faith.

This is not a literal eating of Jesus.

This is a spiritual taking in of Jesus

in a radical dependence.

But they didn't hear that.

In verse 61,

we read,

but Jesus, knowing in Himself

that His disciples were grumbling about this,

said to them,

do you take offense at this?

Jesus didn't overhear them like He did last week.

He overheard last week

these Jews who were grumbling.

Not according to this verse.

He knows inside of Himself,

which means He's got this divine knowledge

of what is going on

in these quote-unquote disciples.

And He overhears.

He knows,

doesn't overhear,

He knows that they are grumbling

over what He said.

What is grumbling?

Grumbling is a kind of complaining.

It's verbalized complaining.

It's a kind of whining.

It's a questioning.

And when it's spoken of in relationship to God,

you are questioning God.

And more often than not,

grumbling leads to gossiping.

And so you kind of grumble

to others about someone else.

This is the second group of people

who've been grumbling in John 6 alone.

If you look back at verse 41,

so the Jews grumbled about Him, Jesus,

because He said,

I'm the bread that came down from heaven.

And they said,

is not this Jesus,

the son of Joseph,

whose father and mother we know?

They're like,

hey,

this is weird.

Isn't He Joe and Mary's son?

We know where He's from.

Why should we believe this?

This is weird.

What's interesting about all this grumbling in John 6

and Jesus claiming to be the bread of life

is that it parallels Exodus 16,

where Israel has been brought out,

delivered from Egypt by God.

He brings them out into the wilderness

and they start grumbling

because they don't have food to eat.

They want to go back to their meat pots in Egypt.

And that's where God miraculously provides manna

in the wilderness.

Jesus has just claimed to be the bread of life.

This is Jesus' way of saying,

I am the new and better manna.

Not this flaky honey kind of stuff

you find on the ground every morning.

I'm the manna that came in the flesh.

And Jesus asks them a question in verse 61.

Jesus doesn't let up.

In verse 61,

He asks them,

do you take offense at this?

That word offense

comes from a word in the original language.

that we get the word scandal from.

Just imagine Jesus.

Do you find this scandalous,

what I've just said?

Look what He then says in verse 62.

Then what if you were to see

the Son of Man ascending

to where He was before?

Here's what Jesus is saying.

If you find my words

about eating my flesh

and drinking my blood scandalous,

wait till you see me ascend

to the glory I had before with my Father.

Now when you hear the word ascend,

because I know you're all

theologically astute,

have solid Christologies,

you're like,

I hear ascend

and I think His ascension.

Christ's death,

His resurrection,

40 days later,

He ascends.

This is Acts 111.

But that's not the ascension

that John is talking about here.

In the Gospel of John,

John emphasizes something about Jesus.

He talks about,

over and over again,

about Jesus being lifted up.

That it will be

the hour of His glory.

What he's actually referring to

is being lifted up,

ascending on the cross,

and He will return to the glory

that He had before with His Father

at the cross.

So Jesus is like saying,

if you think me saying something

about eating my flesh

and drinking my blood

is scandalous,

wait till you see

the Holy One of God

hanging from a cross.

That's scandalous.

And that's exactly

what a Jew would think.

The Messiah

nailed to a cross?

Oh, the shame of it.

It would have been disgusting

to their ears.

The promised one,

the King of Kings

hanging from a cross?

The promised one,

in 1 Corinthians 1,

18-25,

the Apostle Paul

gets at this scandal.

Listen to what he says.

For the word of the cross

is folly

to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved,

it is the power of God.

For it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom

of the wise

and the discernment

of the discerning

I will thwart.

Where is the one

who is wise?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater

of this age?

Has not God made foolish

the wisdom of the world?

For since,

in the wisdom of God,

the world did not know God

through wisdom.

It pleased God

through the folly

of what we preach

to save those who believe.

For Jews demand signs

and Greeks seek wisdom,

but we preach

Christ crucified,

a stumbling block

to Jews.

scandalous.

In folly to Gentiles,

but to those who are called,

both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God

and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God

is wiser than men

and the weakness of God

is stronger than man.

So this scandal

of the cross,

do you take offense

at what I'm saying?

It's like,

wait till you see me

hanging from the cross.

Here's what this means.

When we proclaim Jesus

to people

who's been crucified

on the cross

for our sins,

people are going to hear

one of two things.

They will hear either

scandal,

disgusting,

why would God

ever do that?

I don't need that.

Or salvation.

salvation.

This is music

to my soul.

In verse 63,

we read,

it is the spirit

who gives life.

This is Jesus speaking.

It is the spirit

who gives life.

The flesh is no help

at all.

The words that I've spoken

to you are spirit

and life.

Remember John 3,

Jesus with Nicodemus.

Jesus is trying

to make this case.

The spirit,

it's the spirit

who gives life.

It is the spirit

who gives rebirth.

It is the spirit

who initiates

something in a dead sinner

that enables them

to believe

to be born again.

Here's what the spirit

of God does.

When we're preaching Christ,

here's what the spirit

of God is doing.

The spirit of God

tunes the heart

of a sinner

to the words of life.

Jesus has been

talking about this.

That's what he's getting

at in verse 37.

All that the Father

gives me will come to me.

And whoever comes to me,

I will never cast out.

That's what he means

in verse 44.

No one can come to me

unless the Father

who sent me draws him.

That's what he's getting at

here in verse 65.

This is why I told you

that no one can come to me

unless it is granted

by the Father.

grumbling,

questioning,

taking offense

at Jesus,

finding him scandalous,

reveals that someone

has not truly

believed in Jesus.

Do you remember back

in the year 2020,

2021?

There was something

that swept the nation.

Maybe you don't remember.

COVID-19.

I mean,

anybody tested?

I was...

There was a percentage

of people

that were tested,

though,

who were false positives,

which means this.

They would go

to the hospital,

they would get tested

for COVID,

it would show up positive,

but they're actually

not carrying the virus.

They're fine.

What we're talking

about here

is false positive

Christians,

false positive

disciples.

Those who've seen

Jesus would even say

that they're followers

of Jesus,

but they haven't been

genuinely drawn

to Jesus.

They haven't been

granted by God

the Father

to come to Jesus.

They will eventually

be exposed.

So what we're seeing

here in this first

group who take

offense is a

false positive

disciple.

Christians,

so-called Christians

who at one point

start following

Jesus,

and then they

become disenchanted,

and they turn

back and stop

walking with Jesus,

verse 66.

these people

have not

received Jesus.

And you can tell

by the way

that they're

receiving these

words about

Jesus himself.

Now,

in our day,

in our culture,

this happens

on a regular

basis.

People don't

take offense

today

at saying

eat Jesus'

flesh

and drink

his blood.

They just think

that's nonsense.

offense.

But when you

say something

like this,

did you know

that Jesus

said,

I am the way,

the truth,

and life?

No one comes

to the Father

but through me?

Did you know

that Jesus

is denying

any other

human philosophy

or religion

as a means

of being saved

and going to

heaven?

Did you know

that?

Did you know

that when Jesus

says,

I'm the way,

the truth,

and life,

no one comes

to the Father

but through me,

that he is

making an

exclusive claim

to salvation.

Do you know

what?

People will

be offended

by that.

You can do

an experiment.

This week at

work say that.

People find

that incredibly

offensive in a

pluralistic society

that we live in

where everybody

wants to have

kind of like,

you know,

we're all

worshiping the

same God.

Jesus does

not allow

that.

And his

substitutionary

death

matters.

So these

false positive

disciples,

they eventually

turn back from

following Jesus

verse 66.

They stop

walking with

Jesus.

And what's

important here,

this isn't some

kind of doubting.

This is like,

I'm done.

This is not a

temporary thing,

a temporary

crisis of faith

and then you

return.

No,

this is,

I'm done.

I'm disgusted

by this.

I don't want to

be known with

him.

That's what's

going on here.

That's a false

positive disciple.

They will not

stick with Jesus

all the way to

the end.

They turn from

walking with him.

So now let's

turn and pivot to

true positive

disciples,

the disciples who

stick with Jesus

all the way to

the end.

This is verses

67 through 71.

We just saw in

verse 66.

There are many

so-called disciples

who will turn

from walking

with Jesus.

They'll say that

they're done.

Maybe you know

some.

But in verse 67,

look what Jesus

does.

He doesn't like,

oh,

please don't go.

Verse 66,

he turns to the

12.

Do you want to

go too?

Do you want to

go away as

well?

Jesus turns to

his 12,

the OG

disciples,

right?

Peter and the

gang.

Do you guys

want to go

join the other

false positives?

Here's what I

think is going

on here.

I think this is

a test.

It's like Jesus

is saying,

hey guys,

I'm not

holding you

here against

your will.

You're free

to go.

You're free

to go with

the other

false positives.

You go

ahead.

Jesus already

knew how

these 12,

at least 11

of the 12

would answer.

Because if he

already knew

who would

not believe,

it makes

sense that he

would already

know who

would believe,

even if one

of them

would betray

them.

It's like

Jesus right

here, he's

like anteing

up with his

disciples.

He's like,

are you guys

in?

Are you

all in?

And if

you're not

all in,

you can go

with him.

In verse

68,

Peter,

the spokesman

of the 12,

answers Jesus'

question.

And with

the help

of D.A.

Carson,

he answers

in two

sections.

Lord,

to whom

shall we

go?

You have

the words

of eternal

life.

Do you

know what

Peter's saying

right there?

Who else

are we going

to go to?

You're it.

You are

the exclusive

Savior of

the world.

you are

the one

and only.

You are

it.

Lord,

who else

are we

going to

go?

You have

the words

of eternal

life.

You are

the source

of eternal

life.

You are

the bread

of life.

You're the

resurrection

in the life.

You are

the way,

the truth,

and the life.

You are

the good

shepherd who

laid his

life down

for the

flock.

You are

the gate

into the

sheepfold.

you are

it.

Did you

notice that

Peter starts

with Lord?

Lord.

I don't

know how he

said it.

I'd love

to.

Lord,

Master,

we know

who you

are.

We're

not going

with them

because we

know you,

Master.

There is

no other.

You are

the way,

the truth,

and life.

No one

can come

to the

Father

but through

you.

And in

verse 69,

he says,

we have

believed

and we've

come to

know that

you are

the Holy

One of

God.

There seems

just to be

a little

click up

between we

have believed

and have

come to

know.

It's

moving from

saying this

is true

and yes,

I agree

to being

I am

utterly

convinced.

This is

not just

a belief

that we

associate

with

like

intellectual

assent

or agreement.

This is

a kind

of belief

that results

in conviction

that,

yeah,

man,

I'm all

in,

unwavering.

uncompromising,

unyielding.

So let

me ask

you,

have you

come to

believe that?

Have you

become

convinced

that Jesus

of Nazareth

is the

Holy One

of God,

that salvation

is found

in no one

else,

that He

alone has

the words

of eternal

life because

He's totally

God and

totally man

who died

on the cross

and in that

is the

fountain of

eternal life.

have you

come to

believe

that?

Are you

convinced

of that?

Are you

ready to

stand your

ground on

that?

Unwavering,

uncompromising,

unyielding,

a full

commitment

to an

exclusive

claim

of

Jesus.

Now,

what do you

think Jesus

would do

upon

Peter's

confession?

Here's

what I

would have

done.

I'm like,

Peter,

that's

awesome.

High five.

Ooh,

ah,

yes.

One of

those.

That's not

what Jesus

does.

Look what

Jesus does.

It's kind

of like,

wah,

wah.

Did I

not choose

you,

the 12?

12?

And yet

one of

you is

a devil?

He spoke

of Judas,

the son of

Simon

Iscariot,

for he,

one of

the 12,

was going

to betray

him.

I mean,

you're thinking

like,

when Peter

drops a

dime like

that,

Jesus would

be like,

you finally

got it!

Yes!

Did I

not choose

you?

what Jesus

is doing

here is,

he's not

intentionally

trying to

discourage

the

disciples.

He's just

reminding

him,

them,

of his

grace.

You

didn't

choose me,

I chose

you.

Remember,

all that

the Father

gives me

will come

to me.

Simon,

you're one

of them.

Remember,

no one

can come

to me

unless the

Father

who sent

me draws

him.

Simon,

the only

way that

you can

say what

you just

said is

that God

has drawn

you to

me.

That

there's a

spirit work

in you

that has

resulted in

a confession.

That's not

from you,

Peter.

Listen to

this.

Now,

when Jesus

came into

the district

of Caesarea

Philippi,

he asked

his disciples,

who do

people say

that the

Son of

Man is?

And they

said,

some say

John the

Baptist,

others say

Elijah,

others say

Jeremiah,

one of the

prophets.

And Jesus

said to

them,

but who

do you

say that

I am?

Simon

Peter

replied,

you are

the Christ,

the Son

of the

living God,

the Holy

One of

God,

in other

words.

And Jesus

answered,

blessed are

you,

Simon Barjona,

for flesh

and blood

has not

revealed this

to you,

but my

Father who

is in

heaven.

Guys,

I didn't,

you didn't

choose me,

I chose

you.

It's all

grace,

from beginning

to end.

Jenny and I

like watching

medical dramas.

and there

will be

these

situations

in the

ER

where

they'll

roll in

somebody

who's

dead.

They hook

them up

to the

machine

thing,

beep,

flatline.

You know

what they

do?

They get

the pads

out.

Zip,

zip,

zip,

zip,

clear,

hands up,

zip,

zip,

they run

electricity

through their

body.

They're looking

to jump

start a

dead heart.

Zip,

doesn't work,

juice it,

dial it up,

zip,

didn't work,

juice it,

dial it up,

bap,

thump,

thump,

thump,

thump,

sinus rhythm,

they're back

to life.

It's a wonderful

picture.

When we

come out

of our

mamas,

we're dead

in our

sin.

Flatline.

No interest.

No inclination

to God.

That's Romans

Romans 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

None.

And then

God in His

grace,

by Holy Spirit

power,

He quickens

us.

He zaps

us.

He gives

us new

life that

immediately

results in

a confession

of life.

You're the

Holy One

of God.

Whom will

we go?

You have

the words

of eternal

life.

We believe,

we've been

convinced that

you alone

are our

salvation.

Jesus has

chosen us.

We haven't

chosen Him.

It's humbling,

isn't it?

It's a good

humbling.

This passage

is essentially

a contrast

of two

responses.

Jesus

has made

it clear

in 653,

truly,

truly,

I say to

you,

unless you

eat the

flesh of

the Son

of Man,

the Holy

One of

God,

and drink

His blood,

you have

no life

in you.

The first

response is

false,

positive

disciples.

Who can

stomach these

words?

we're

out.

They don't

believe.

There's no

life in

them.

They haven't

been drawn

by God.

It was just

a matter of

time before

they're exposed.

Like the

parable of

the soils?

But true

positive

disciples,

when they

hear something

scandalous

like,

eat my

flesh,

drink my

blood,

God,

when they

hear something

totally

crazy,

like God

incarnate

died on

the cross

for my

sins,

they don't

hear scandal,

they hear

salvation.

They hear

life.

And they

want to

eat Him

up.

They're like,

oh,

this is so

good.

I believe

and I'm

convinced

you're the

Holy One

of God.

I will

live for

you,

not

myself.

how can

these two

groups of

His disciples

have heard

the same

words but

have very

different

responses?

Well,

the difference

that Jesus

gives us

is one

is being

drawn by

God the

Father and

the other

is not.

These are

deep theological

waters.

But that's

what Jesus

has said.

And maybe

you're in

your pew

wondering,

whoa,

whoa,

whoa.

what about

me?

What does

this mean

for me?

Well,

let me just

run the

audio test

on you.

When you

hear Jesus

say,

truly,

truly,

I say

to you,

unless you

eat my

flesh,

flesh of

the Son

of Man

and drink

my blood,

ye will

not have

life.

When you

hear that,

what are

you hearing?

Are you

hearing

scandal?

Or are

you hearing

salvation?

Let me

just urge

you,

by way

of application,

to make

Peter's

confession

this morning

your

confession.

Make it

yours.

If you're

not a

Christian in

the room,

but you've

had this

sense

that this

Christianity

you've never

really thought of

before,

you're like,

boy,

this has

got

substance.

This makes

sense to

me.

It's hard

to believe

that God

incarnate

would die

on the

cross for

my sins,

but boy,

I see

it.

Guess

what?

You're being

drawn by

God.

And so

what you

need to

do is

you need

to come

to Jesus.

And so

you pray,

Lord,

where else

shall I

go?

you

alone

have

the

words

of

eternal

life.

Give

me

this

life.

And at

that

moment,

your

eternity

just

changed.

And then

you join

a church,

a nobody

church like

Christ the

King

Church,

and

together

we

follow

Jesus.

let's

say you

think you

are a

Christian.

You

think you

are a

Christian.

This

passage is a

little

sobering.

There's a

warning in it,

isn't there?

It's

possible to

think of

yourself as

a disciple

of Jesus

when you're

actually not.

You're a

false,

positive

disciple.

Or at

least you

can be.

A

dino.

A

disciple

in name

only.

What do

you do?

You

examine

yourself to

see if

you're in

the faith.

You

just take

stock.

Are you

grumbling?

Are you

pushing

back against

Jesus'

exclusive

claim to

be the

only

savior of

the world?

Do you

find that

embarrassing

or disgusting

or offensive?

Do you

want to

disassociate?

Is this

exclusive

claim that

Jesus is

making,

is it

actually

scandalous

to you,

even though you're

walking through

kind of the

motions of

kind of

weekly

Christianity?

Christianity?

If it's

scandalous

to you

and you

do not

want to

walk with

Jesus,

can I

urge you

to stop

calling

yourself a

Christian

because you're

not?

But if it's

salvation

you're

hearing,

you're a

true positive

disciple.

But there are

no high

fives this

morning.

Remember,

you did not

choose him,

he chose

you.

The

Father has

drawn you

by the

Spirit

unto

Christ.

It's

only by

his

Spirit

that you

have been

able to

confess,

Lord,

to whom

else will

I go?

You have

the words

of eternal

life.

It's

humbling,

isn't it?

Maybe in

your pew

and you're

like,

why me?

Why not

my neighbor?

Why not

my workmate?

Let me

answer that

with a

verse from

Ephesians,

two verses

from Ephesians

2.

For by

grace,

you have

been saved

through faith.

It is not

your own

doing.

It's not a

work of

your flesh.

It's of

no help.

It's the

gift of

God.

Not as a

result of

works,

so that no

one may

boast.

There is

absolutely

no boasting

in oneself

around the

throne of

Jesus.

None.

There is

only boasting

in Jesus

and what

he has

done.

And so

for those

who are

true positive

disciples,

we don't

hear scandal,

we hear

salvation.

Do you

know why

Zach

hears

Yanni

and Mike

hears

Laurel?

Zach

has better

hearing than

I do.

He can

hear higher

frequencies

than I

can.

He hears

things that

I can't

hear.

Do you

know why

some sinners

believe in

Jesus unto

eternal life,

but most

do not?

Jesus

says in

65,

no one can

come to

me unless

it is

granted by

the Father.

It's

only by

grace.

And when

that

saving

word,

these words

of eternal

life,

when that

is heard,

you want to

eat them

up.

You can't

get enough.

Stick with

them to the

end.

let's

pray together.

Lord

Jesus,

where else

will we

go?

You have

the words

of eternal

life.

We've

come to

believe and

we have

come to

know that

you are

the Holy

One of

God.

And not

only have

you given

your life,

not only

have you

been raised,

not only

have you

ascended

on high,

not only

are you

reigning

on high

at the

right hand

of God,

we're one

day closer

to you

coming back

and seeing

you face

to face.

Come,

Lord Jesus,

come.

It's your

name we

pray.

Amen.