“Do You Want to Leave Too?” | John 6:25-69

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a

couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in

practical ways. Jeff, I am blessed and highly favored. How

are you today?

I am doing great.

Yeah. The reason why I'm blessed in highly favored is

yesterday's podcast. We were Matthew seven and then this podcast,

which happens, you know, right after we record right in

a row the next day. The next day. So I

actually took my Bible and I just flipped and it

went directly to the page.

Yeah, that's exactly right. So you are blessed and highly favored.

Yes, yes, I turned to the exact page.

So if that's how you want to use today's blessings,

go ahead.

No, that starts. That is the tip of the iceberg.

What if that's the only one you're getting today?

Now? Are you kidding? Are you kidd I'm blessed sitting

next to you, Jeff, I'm blessing.

Right now, both of them. Then you got both your

blessings already five minutes into the day.

Here, Wow, the day I'm all used up. Well, Hey,

welcome to the guys. I'm Christ this is Jeff, and

we are excited that you've joined us. Today, we are

in a series what if Jesus had a podcast covering

the famous sayings of Jesus? And today is this is

the saying called do you want to leave too?

That's a pretty that's oh, this is a big story.

That's a big, big question.

Yeah. Yeah.

But before we get into that, we have a segment

by Desiree and it's one of my favorite segments, Who's

most likely?

Who's most likely?

I like these because it just forces us to pick.

We should have like a who's most likely likely?

I like you think everything is that voice with you? Though? Yeah?

I know, yeah, it's like you like Stomp the pastor

Yesterday everything.

Every commercial I would do would always sound like a

truck pull right right, a monster truck.

Sound like a movie trailer in the world where people

are most likely to do things?

So who's most likely?

Yeah? So anyway, I like the would you rather? And

I like the Who's most likely because it forced you

to pick a choice. Yes, so here's the first one.

Who's most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse with style?

Oh?

Yeah, that'd be you.

I don't know with style? You have better style than me.

I might have the style part, but I don't have

any guns. Well there's that, and you have multiple guns,

well yeah, and so I and not not to mention,

you have more survival skills, uh, in the outdoors, and

I'm assuming that you're gonna have to run. You're not

going to be you know, bolted up in your gun room, right,

you probably have to be on the go, right, walking

dead and such out in the wood, yes.

Yeah, or growing food, yeah, finding something? Yeah. Who's most

likely to crash a wedding and give a toast? That

is definitely you? Well I used to, did you used to?

Yeah? So this is the honest, goodness truth, Me and

my buddy Jeff Miller, who you know who's listening right now?

By the way, Hi Jeff, Hi Jeff. We invented the

movie Wedding Crashers. We invented that concept when we were teenagers, fifteen.

Years before the movie because nobody else was even doing it.

Well I'm sure they were, but I remember.

You just came up with the idea on your own. O.

That's right. We didn't read about it. We didn't hear

about it. We just said hey, and because my girlfriend

was working at a place that did weddings and so

at the time, and so I remember literally one night

in particular where Jeff says, hey, get dressed up, we're

going out, and so he actually invited Julie, I invited Sharon.

We all got dressed up. I was in a suit.

I was only sixteen. We picked him up and they're like, hey,

where are we going? We're going out to fancy dinner.

We went to the Mayrinight Center on Meridian Road and

there's a there's three weddings happening, and so we went

from wedding reception to wedding reception to wedding reception. And

in Youngstown they're really big, you know, weddings with big

Italian families with all these great food, right, and we

were going there. We would dance and Jeff literally caught

the garter. No, he caught the garter in a mafia wedding.

It was a mafia wedding. And then he put the

garter on the brine. Oh no, and then they asked

who are you and we had to run through the

kitchen and we had to run out and escape crazy.

Did you guys give a toast?

No, we didn't give a toast, Okay, but I've done

everything but the toast.

There you go.

I let a congo line in a dance. Yes, I

let a congo line, which is great.

This is this is the difference between the two of us.

Yes, yeah, most likely, yep.

This is why I don't mind talking about obeying the

laws of God and why you only only depend on

the grace and mercy of.

Say that is not why I would argue to say

those things are not connected whatsoever. But but yeah, real breakers.

Crazy man, Yeah for sure. Okay, who's most likely to

deliver a TED talk that accidentally goes viral? That's going

to be you us. Oh yeah, you're a way better

speaker than me.

Yep, but you have you're the content guy. How about this?

How about this? You would help me develop the content

of a TED talk that I might deliver.

I wouldn't. I'm too busy. You would do it. You're

on your own.

Good luck with that.

You're going to do great.

I appreciate you saying that, though I'm I'm not.

Sure that's true, But no, I have no doubt.

All right. Number four, who's most likely to turn a

five minute story into an epic trilogy? That is definitely both.

Of us, both of us.

That's going to say, yeah, but I honestly think you

have the slight edge.

Oh yeah, I will take a story and make it

much longer.

Yeah, I would take you have a slight edge. But

by the way, I would say barely.

But when when we start telling stories, what happens is

I tell a story and then you go that's nothing.

And then you tell the story and I go, that's nothing.

So that's how we would get the trilogy, would be

both of us.

That's funny. That is really funny. Well, we are definitely

like that.

Yeah.

So if we're at a dinner, oh man, it's dangerous.

We just did this. We did this.

Yeah, we sort of went back and forth, didn't we. Yeah,

that's that's sort of.

We had a dinner at my house. We had some

other friends over, and you and I got to telling

stories and and.

It turned into it that's nothing.

Yeah yeah.

Yeah.

So then we had to kind of change shift gears

a little bit and get it back to the people

that were And it.

Was so obvious. I'm like, hell, so do you guys

own a boat?

Yeah?

I was like, so, so talk about yourselves a little bit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Look how awesome. We are. By the way,

do you do anything interesting?

I know that, I know that. I don't mean it

that way, but that is probably how it comes across.

It's probably across, all right, go ahead. Number five.

Who's most likely to win an argument using Shakespeare quotes?

Well, you just you just read them.

I was just reading some Shakespeare quotes.

Too literally, right before we started recording.

I kept typing in different quotes to just make sure,

like the lady doth protest too much?

And yes those kinds, yes, yes, so that be you.

It was that when much ado about nothing. One of

the quotes was I will eat his heart in the marketplace.

Yes, yes, he's going to devour that guy publicly.

Yeah, that was great. And then the one from Julius Caesar.

Oh, I remember you just quoted it. You said a

coward dies many deaths, but the valiants only die once.

That's right, It's great.

Isn't that a great quote?

It's a great So that's great. So yeah, so that's you.

But anyways, you win Number five.

I have the of Julius Caesar of Shakespeare in a

leather bound book on my shelves. I had to read

a lot of Shakespeare in high school. That's great, and

re reading Shakespeare in the King James Bible. They were

both written in the sixteen hundreds and so it's very

very similar. We grew up to King James Bible. So

reading Shakespeare was easy. You know that these and the

dows wasn't a hard thing. Really, it was easy to

kind of track along.

I read Shakespeare through a mediator called cliff.

Cliffs Notes.

Yes, cliffs notes, just.

A quick summary. Yeah, and now it's chet GTP chet

gbt A summarize Julius Caesar for me.

Yeah, and then read it to me. Yes, yeah, out

I sleep, Yeah, oh mercy, Okay, So hey, we're gonna

move on to our sigma or to our scripture for today.

So we're gonna leave that conversation.

Woh, there it is.

U huh, there it is, and go to another conversation.

And do you think we'll leave that one too?

Uh? Well that's the question Jesus is gonna ask, do

you want to leave too? Yes, there's the terrible transition.

It was horrible. Yes, So we're gonna read quite a

few verses here, but this is a really powerful story.

In verse twenty five, it says they found him on

the other side of the lake.

John chapter six, John chapter six, Yes, you didn't say

John six.

John six, verse twenty five through sixty nine.

Sorry, go ahead. Yes.

They found him on the other side of the lake

and ask Rabbi, when did you get here. Jesus replied,

I tell you the truth. You want to be with

me because I fed you, not because you understood the

miraculous science. But don't be so concerned about perishable things

like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that

the son of Man can give you. For God, the

Father has given me the seal of his approval. They replied,

we want to perform God's works too, What should we do?

Jesus told them this is the only work God wants

from you. Believe in the one he has sent. They answered,

show us a miraculous sign. If you want us to

believe in you, what can you do? After all, our

ancestors ate mana while they journeyed through the wilderness. Scriptures

say Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said,

I tell you the truth. Moses didn't give you bread

from heaven. My Father did, and now he offers you

the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God

is the one who comes down from heaven and gives

life to the world. Sir, they said, give us that

bread every day. Jesus replied, I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever

believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven't

believed to me, even though you've seen me. However, those

the Father has given me will come to me, and

I will never reject them. For I have come down

from heaven to do the will of God who sent me,

not to do my own will. And this is the

will of God that I should not lose even one

of all those he has given me, but that I

should raise them up at the last day. For it

is my father's will that all who see his son

and believe in him should have eternal life. I will

raise them up that last day. Then the people began

to murmur and disagreement because he had said, I am

the Bread that came down from heaven. They said, isn't

this Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father

and mother. How can he say I came down from heaven.

But Jesus replied, stop complaining, about what I said, For

no one can come to me unless the Father who

sent me draws them to me. And at the last

day I will raise them up. As it is written

in the scriptures, they will all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him

comes to me. Not that anyone has ever seen the Father.

Only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.

I tell you the truth. Anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes,

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate man

in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats

the bread from Heaven, whoever, however, will never die. I

am the living bread that came down from Heaven. Anyone

who eats this bread will live forever. And this bread,

which I will offer so the world may live, is

my flesh. When the people began arguing with each other

about what he meant, how can this man give us

his flesh to eat, they asked, Jesus said again, I

tell you the truth. Unless you eat the flesh of

the Sun of Man and drink his blood, you cannot

have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my

flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I

will raise up that person at the last day. For

my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains

in me, and I in him. I live because of

the Living Father, who sent me in the same way,

anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.

I am the true Bread that came down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your

ancestors did, even though they the man of but will

live forever. He said these things while he was teaching

in the synagogue in Capernaum. Many of his disciples said,

this is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it.

Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he

said to them, does this offend you, then, what will

you think if you see the Son of Man ascend

to heaven again. The spirit alone gives eternal life. Human

effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken

to you are spirit and life. But some of you

do not believe me. For Jesus knew from the beginning

which ones didn't believe, and he knew who would betray him.

Then he said, that is why I said that people

can't come to me unless the Father gives them to me.

At this point, many of his disciples turned away and

deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the twelve and asked,

are you also going to leave? Simon Peter said, Lord,

to whom would we go? You have the words that

give eternal life. We believe and we know that you

are the Holy One of God.

I love that question, Lord, to whom shall we go?

Yeah?

You have the words of a life. It reminds me

of the Old Testament scripture is what God is as

great as our God? You know? To whom shall we run? To?

Right those concepts? He looks and says, do you want

to leave too? And that is the title of the segment.

That's the famous phrase, That's the famous question. And I

love their answer And their answer is where else are

we going to go? Get point to one God that

is greater than you. Your words hold eternal life. Do

you want to leave too? And what Jesus is asking

is actually an extremely relevant question because whenever there is

a truth that offends, then then the question is, Okay,

are you going to love me, believe me, follow me enough?

To continue on or are you going to get offended

and leave? Think about how many Christians you know they're

in for all the they're in for all the you know,

they do the Bible buffet, they love all the happy truths.

And then you know they take what they want and

then right, and then you say.

Like this and this and this, I just don't like.

That or that, right, right, right? And then and then

you haven't.

Read the Bible with an eraser in your hand.

Yeah, And then you have a verse that says remain

sexually pure, and they go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, not

that one. I don't want any of that. I'll pass

on that. And and it's like, hey, does this offend you?

Are you gonna do? You want to leave? Also? Right?

And so the and there's a couple of different things

about this passage number one. He says some of the

disciples turned and left, and on the on the surface,

people may think he was referring to the twelve disciples, right,

But then he says he turned to the twelve, which

means the twelve are still there, right. And the word

disciple is actually used for anybody who's a follower of

Jesus so sometimes there may be hundreds of followers, and

he referred to the crowds the followers as disciples. That's

why you and I could be referred to as disciples,

but the twelve were actually the title was apostles. So

so not every disciple is an apostle, but yet every

apostle is a disciple.

That's correct.

So so it's it's a little confusing sometimes because sometimes

he'll say the twelve disciples because they were disciples.

Well they started off his disciples. They weren't apostles until.

Until later on, right right, but they were the twelve

in this case, there was twelve capital T right right.

So anyway, that was something that stood out to me.

And and then I have a lot to say here,

go ahead. I used to work for a guy that

he used to quote this verse all the time, and

and I and I believe that he used to use

that out of context. And consequently a lot of the

staff used to quote it and use it out of

context all the time. Where Jesus looked at the disciples

and said, the only thing that God requires of you

the work, the only work of God that you require

to do is to believe. Oh right, Remember that, and

he says, he says that that's the only work, because

because what did he say? The disciples said, hey, uh,

we want to do many great works in your name,

right right, and so and then Jesus goes, hey, hey,

there's one thing only that's required of you. You ready

believe now the way that I take this, and by

the way, I don't just take it as in my

own interpretation. You take that scripture and you combine it

with every other scripture that Jesus talks about of what

is required of the follower of Christ. And so the

Bible is its own best commentary. So my old boss

used to say, hey, the only thing required is just

to believe. That's it. You don't have to do anything else.

And all of a sudden, it was translated, is in

like you don't have to do anything, right, like, as

long as you believe, you know, it's almost like as

a Christian, you're not required to evangelize, you're not required

to do this, you're not required to obey, you're not

required to do it. He used to say, it's the

only thing that's really required. And I'd say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

that is not how Jesus meant it. What he is

saying is if a person truly believes, then everything else

will naturally come. Because if you don't believe, you're not

going to act right. So if you believe the chair

is going to hold you, then you're gonna sit. But

if you don't believe the church is gonna hold you,

you don't sit. So belief is the only thing that's required,

true belief, because if you have true belief, everything else

comes later. And what Jesus was saying is, listen, you

want to know the only special ingredient that you have

to have, it's true belief. And once you believe truly,

I won't have to talk to you to doing anything right.

You'll just naturally do all the things that you believe

are true. You believe, you'll have the right perspective, you

have the right faith, you have the right you know

the priorities, you'll have everything in place because the only

thing that's required belief. Because what happens the rest of

the chapters, he said he knew who didn't believe, and

he knew who believed. He knew that some would walk away,

he knew that some would follow. He knew their hearts.

And so he's saying, the only thing that's required is belief,

But that does not exempt.

Us belief in the one he sent.

Yes, I believe in God or.

Believe in Christ? Yeah, the one that God the Father sent?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, And anyway, all that to say,

I just if you've ever heard somebody say, hey, the

only thing that's required for me is belief to get

off my back, that is not an application to what

Jesus was trying to say.

Well, if I truly believe what in Christ, the one

who God sent, then what does that mean? What does

it mean to really believe Jesus?

Right?

At this point, Jesus hadn't died. Now he's talking about

his death, he's talking about his blood and his body, right,

So he's talking about his death later. But when he

made that sentence, he hadn't talked about that yet. And

so believing Jesus means I believe your words. I believe

what you say. I believe you are who you say

you are. I believe you're going to do what you

said you're going to do, and I believe that I'm

supposed to do what you tell me to do. Jesus said,

if you love me, keep my commandments right. So so

this belief goes beyond just just a belief that I

believe Jesus existed. You know, the Bible tells us the

devil believes right, right, the devil believes that Jesus existed.

So surely Jesus saying, believe in the one he has

sent right, that belief is more significant or has a

different meaning than the fact that James tells us that

the devil also believes right, right, right, right. So it's

not just a mental assent that, oh yeah, I believe

that he was a real person. There's this I believe

that he is the Messiah, the son of the Living God.

This is where Peter begins to head towards in that

statement here when he says, well else are we going

to go? Later on, Jesus said, who do you guys?

Say I am, and Peter says, you are the You're

the Messiah, You're the son of the Living God, right,

And Jesus goes there you go, buddy, yeah, right, that's

a whole other thing from what the devil was saying,

you know, believes And then and I.

Think that other big thing that's in this passage that

is so glaring that needs to be addressed. What's that is, yeah,

is drinking blood and eating flesh. You know, it's so

interesting how Jesus uses metaphors throughout the whole entire Bible.

Just last podcast we said, uh oh no, two podcasts ago,

we said, he says I'm the gate right, right, but

we know that Jesus wasn't a physical gait, right, that's

pretty weird. Jesus said I'm the rock. Jesus said, I'm

the door. You know. Jesus said, I'm the bread. Jesus,

I'm the light, I'm the shepherd. He wasn't a shepherd.

Jesus wasn't any of those things, right, But he but

the metaphorically, Well, here's what he's saying. He's saying, just

as the children of Israel in the wilderness has physical

salvation from the miraculous provision of the bread. Actually the mana,

which is sort of like a what is it bread

like substance, yet literally translates into what is it? Which

is great? But you love that translation. The word mana

literally means what is it? Anyway? But we assume it's

something like bread, right, but anyway or to bully right.

It could be well, Jesus is referring to it as bread.

That's right, that's right. And then he's saying and then

he's saying, in the same way, the sacrifice that I'm

going to give you on the cross is the bread

of life for spiritual salvation. So there's a physical salvation

and then there's a spiritual salvation. By the way, not

very much different than him saying I have living water

to the woman at the well. Right, Hey, if you

drink this water, you'll be satisfied, but you'll thirst it

again eventually. That's temporary. But if you drink of the

living water, you'll never thirst again. It doesn't mean that

Jesus was water. It doesn't mean he's literally saying I'm

gonna grind up my flesh and blood and turn it

into water and have you drink it. And so Jesus

was not, I repeat not, saying that there has to

be a physical consumption of physical flesh and blood. And

the reason why I'm emphasizing that so much you already

know the reason why, because some people interpret that as communion.

When Jesus broke the bread and he says, this is

my body, and he pours the cup and says this

is my blood. And they're like and they're like, oh, okay,

well I was taught that you know that that that

the religious figure had the power to literally, uh transform

the Eucharist into uh uh actual flesh and actual blood.

And by the way, this is a staple for an

entire world religion. Yeah, I mean, this is the thing

that they say differentiates them from everybody else. And uh

and yet what we understand is is that Jesus, you know,

all the way throughout the New Testament, uh didn't did

not listen. It's just it's just it's a little silly

to believe I shouldn't say that that sounds disrespectful I have,

I have.

It's a misinterpretation of yes, so it's a it's a

false connection between this passage and the Last Supper passages.

I didn't mean to say silly. I have tried. Everybody

who knows me knows I have tremendous respect, Yes, tremendous

respect for different world religions and the good that they

have brought. Right, but this is a very big differentiation.

So you know, so Jesus is saying here that your

my life has to become yours. That's right right. The

life is in the blood is what the Book of

Deuteronomy says. It's what Hebrews quotes. He's saying that my

life has to become yours, and that is received by faith.

He's already doult that. Another passage where he references eating

bread with the devil, he said, man shall not live

by bread alone, but by every word that comes from

in the mouth of God.

That's right, right.

Let me tell you you still need to eat physical

bread or you're gonna die, right right. So he's talking

on a spiritual level. There's a spiritual conversation about bread.

There's another time when they come and they tell Jesus, hey,

why don't you come and eat with us? And Jesus

has been spending time with the Father, and he says,

I have bread that you know, not of what's he's

been hiding bread? Right, he's sneaking out My brother, my

brother when we were we had bunk beds, and my

brother used to steal Swiss cake rolls, the whole boxes

and hide underneath the bed. He'd have cookies under the

bed and I'd be like, hey, Mark, Mark, can I

have some cookies? He's like I don't have any cookies,

Like what, I know you got cookies, right, And he's like,

I don't have the cookies. I said, that's it. I'm

going to tell mommy, Oh I got these cookies. I

have bread that you know. What was Jesus hiding out

on bread or is he talking about something spiritual?

Hey, Napoleon, Napoleon, give me your tots, right exactly.

So when he's talking to the devil and he says,

man shall not live by bread alone, but by every

word that comes from the mouth of God, he's talking

about a spiritual When he's talking about I have bread

that you know not of he's not talking that he's

got secret bread somewhere, that's right. He's talking that he

has a spiritual connection that's feeding his soul. Right, And

so this is the same. This is what he's saying

is you have to have a spiritual connection to my life, right,

And and that's that's the issue. And so then we

receive communion and remembrance of right, this spiritual connection, that's

what first is eleven tells us, right, Right, So where

Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me, it's a

it's a spiritual connection that we're remembering because of what

Jesus did, uh in his body and with his blood.

That's right, and no, and nowhere in the scripture does

that line up with anything else. So the so you

know that that there's no transubstantiation transforming, uh, you know

elements there there is a symbolism of Jesus saying, and

by the way, that's not the one last observation. And

let's not forget that when they were eating the last

supper that was that was the passover feast, right, right,

And when you had the passover feast or any meal

for that matter, Uh, it meant something for you to

accept an invitation by somebody's house. It meant that you

approved of them. It meant that when they give you something,

if you had disrespect for that person, you refuse to eat.

Even to accept something is to accept that person that household.

All of all of the eating with somebody, you know,

inviting somebody over all, that was very significant. And so

therefore when Jesus says, eat of the bread that I

give you, is it is an accepting of who's offering

it as the host. And Jesus is saying, this is

my gift of salvation, and once again, it lines up

with the symbolism of every other scripture that Jesus uses.

So you know, this is the reason why we believe

that communion. It remains bread and it remains the cup

because that's what Jesus said.

And so the famous quote for this podcast today is

the do you want to leave? Too? So they start

off saying, hey, Jesus, give us some more food. He said,

you're only following me because I fed you last time.

And they're like, hey, let us do some magic tricks

like you do. We want to do miracles too, And

he's like, if you believe, what are you guys doing right?

And then finally at the end, they all leave, So

many of them leave, and Jesus is disappointed, and he's

kind of challenging the twelve that stay and some of

the other followers. You know, why are you really following me?

And I think that that's a challenge to every one

of us.

That's right.

Am I following him because of the cool stuff he

might do for me? Or Am I following him because

I genuinely don't have anywhere else to go. Jesus is

my only way to heaven?

That's right? And he's the Lord. He's the Lord, right,

So whether he says good things are bad things, things

that a like or don't like, to whom else shall

we go? Right? Right? So it's a great question do

you want to leave too? It's a question everybody should

ask themselves. That's right, all right. Well, hey, that's a

good place to end, and we are out of time

for sure, so we'll see you next time on the Bible.

Guys,