Jesus said, the spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all.
Father, we do want your spirit to speak now.
The words I speak are no help at all unless you are at work.
So please would you speak as we hear the words of Jesus read to us.
And then as I try to explain them, please speak by your spirit to each of our hearts and draw us to Jesus.
We pray in his name. Amen.
Now, I don't know if there's a there's a phrase that I don't know if you've heard it.
You're sometimes at watermark, maybe a prayer meetings.
Twenty five in twenty twenty five.
Does that ring a bell?
Yes, some people.
Twenty five in twenty twenty five.
Yeah, so twenty five.
That's what we wanted at the start of the year.
This year we wanted to see like twenty five people become Christians and get baptized.
Something like that.
Right.
So we thought twenty twenty five.
Twenty five is a great number.
Well, we have three months left and we're not even halfway.
And I don't know what you think about it.
The truth is actually, you know, it's not that easy for people to become Christians.
There aren't you know, it's not like amazing revival in Hong Kong.
For many people, it seems to be an objection even.
Right.
Maybe you're here.
You're looking into Christianity.
Christianity.
But, you know, if this really was real, if this really was so amazing, why don't we see
millions and millions of people in Hong Kong coming to believe that?
Right.
How can it be true if so few people respond?
I don't know if you feel that sometimes.
I mean, many of us, we love more people to believe, not because we want to have more numbers
here.
We think this is amazing news.
This is the best news ever.
This is wonderful.
And so we'd love people to receive this.
And yet that's not happening.
I don't know what people need.
Do you think maybe I wish there were more miracles today?
I wish there just was more evidence, you know, maybe a better preacher.
I mean, that would help definitely.
But you know what I mean, right?
What can we do?
Well, I think today will be helpful because we're doing the second part of this long chapter.
And I guess we'll have a few guests here who weren't here last week, visitors.
It's great to have you.
But yeah, where are we?
So this is in the Gospel of John, John chapter 6.
And this has been quite a momentous occasion because just now, Jesus, well, the day before
what we hear, Jesus did this amazing miracle.
It's so famous.
It's in every single Gospel.
That's the only one, actually.
It's in every Gospel where Jesus fed 5,000 people plus their families.
So 5,000 men plus their families from just one lunch.
I don't know what you would have thought, right?
If all of you, you know, maybe one of you has some sandwiches and all of us could eat
from that just because Jesus did this amazing miracle, right?
That was amazing.
And people recognize it, right?
They want to make him king.
When he then goes away, they all run after him.
The next day, they find him on the other side of the lake.
Oh, Jesus, right?
They love him.
And Jesus then wants to explain what it means.
We started looking at that a little bit last week because, well, it's a special time.
In 6, verse 4, it says it's the Passover.
The Passover is one of many times that they remember the exodus from Egypt.
The exodus from Egypt, I mean, if you have read the Bible, hopefully you've come across
that.
Maybe you haven't.
Maybe you've seen The Prince of Egypt, that movie from the late 90s.
Yeah, a wonderful story of how God's people, the Israelites, they were slaves in Egypt,
but God rescued them.
And he brought them through the desert.
And, you know, walking millions of people in the desert, how would they survive?
He gave them bread miraculously.
And now, well, this miracle just happened.
And Jesus says, well, actually, that's about me, right?
This is a picture of what I've come to do.
I've come to rescue you from slavery.
I've come to bring you home.
I'm the bread of life, the thing that's going to get you to the promised land.
And if you believe in me, you will have eternal life.
Well, I think you would expect revival, right?
Because, you know, here's the best preacher who ever lived.
And they've just had this amazing miracle.
And they're all hyped about what Jesus can do.
And so, well, I'm sure we're going to get thousands of people baptized.
Well, let's read as we continue in this chapter.
So, Margo and Iris will come up and read John chapter 6 for us.
Good morning, Watermark.
The scripture reading today comes from John chapter 6, verses 35 to 71.
If you're using the church Bible, you can turn to page 838.
Starting in verse 35, we read,
Jesus said to them,
I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
But I said to you that you have sinned me and yet do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
For I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me,
that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me,
but raise it up on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him
should have eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
So the Jews grumbled about him,
because he said,
I am the bread that came down from heaven.
They said,
It's not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know.
How does he now say,
I have come down from heaven?
Jesus answered them,
Do not grumble among yourselves.
No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
It is written in the prophets,
and they will all be taught by God.
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father,
except he who is from God.
He has seen the Father.
Truly, truly, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever,
and the bread that I will give for the life of the world
is my flesh.
The Jews then disputed among themselves,
saying,
How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
So Jesus said to them,
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.
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
abides in me,
and I in him.
As the living Father sent me,
and I live because of the Father,
so whoever feeds on me,
he also will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven,
not like the bread the fathers ate and died.
Whoever feeds on this bread
will live forever.
Jesus said these things in the synagogue
as he taught at Capanium.
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.
And 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 he said,
This is why I told you
that no one can come to me
unless it is granted 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 Jesus,
the son of Simon Iscariot,
for he, one of the twelve,
was going to betray him.
This is the word of God.
All right.
Yeah, great.
Good button works.
So, I don't know what you thought.
All right.
It's really not what we'd expect.
Here's a crowd,
and they start to grumble
about what Jesus says.
Jesus talks some more,
and they start disputing,
and when Jesus is finished,
verse 16,
man, this is a hard saying, right?
Who can endure it?
And then, ultimately,
verse 66,
many of his disciples
walked away,
and no longer followed him.
They had thousands of people,
and now, well,
I don't know,
twenty, thirty?
I have no idea,
but a lot less.
And I don't know
if it's a big shock to you, right?
It's so surprising
how few people believe.
And we're not just talking
about, I don't know,
the Pharisees,
the religious leaders.
Of course,
they always don't like Jesus,
but it says
these are disciples, right?
People who started following him,
who, yeah,
who followed Jesus,
and yet they gave up.
Well, what is going on?
That is the topic
for basically today,
the next few chapters.
There's actually
quite a lot of that
in these chapters of John,
and today will be
one part of it
that, yeah,
I think is something
we should listen to
that will be helpful
in many ways.
Now,
how will I divide it up?
I'll just basically
go through it
and then make
a few applications.
I'll just divide it
by the paragraphs here,
the three times
that basically
there's a negative response
from the people
leading to this
wholesale rejection.
But there's a few
hard sayings from Jesus
that they struggle with.
So, yeah,
hard saying number one,
Jesus is from heaven.
That's what it says, right?
So he says,
well,
I'm the bread from heaven
in verse 41.
So the Jews
grumbled about him
because he said,
I am the bread
that came down
from heaven.
They said,
is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother
we know,
how does he now say,
I have come down
from heaven?
Right?
They really struggle
with it.
He says he's come down
from heaven,
from God.
Now,
isn't this just
an honest question?
You know,
because here's this guy,
he just looks like
a normal,
you know,
Middle Eastern male,
30 years old,
and he says he's from heaven.
Of course,
that's hard to believe.
Actually,
I don't think
this is a very honest question.
I mean,
John says they're grumbling.
I don't know
if you know the word grumbling.
It's a Bible word
and actually,
it's a Bible word
that we hear a lot
in,
well,
those stories
of the Exodus
back in the Old Testament,
right?
All those people
brought out of Egypt,
what are they known for?
Well,
they're grumbling.
They complain.
They don't believe God.
They don't trust him
and actually,
as a result,
they all die
in the desert.
Grumbling already says
this is not good,
but,
I mean,
do these guys know
Jesus is special?
They do,
right?
Yesterday,
they were with
thousands of people
in the desert
and they got their
free lunch
out of nothing,
created out of
five loaves of bread,
right?
Surely,
I mean,
they wanted to make
Jesus king.
They said he's the prophet,
right?
They run to the other side
of the lake
to be with him.
They know Jesus is special.
Why are they now
complaining?
Well,
I don't know.
Exactly.
John doesn't tell us
that much,
but you can see
that there is maybe
a kind of pride
at work,
right?
Because now Jesus
says,
actually,
I'm not one of you.
I'm very different.
I don't know
how to illustrate it.
Maybe imagine
a football team,
right?
Somewhere,
some town,
they have their
local football team
and the team
is not doing well,
right?
They're losing
every game.
But then
they discover
a young man
on the street
of that town
who actually
is really good
at football
and they hire him
and now they're
winning all the games,
right?
And,
I mean,
they will really
love this new player.
It would be very
different if maybe,
I don't know,
they hire someone
from Brazil,
right,
to pay a few million
dollars and
would they like
that person?
No,
they won't.
Why not?
Because he's not
one of us,
right?
Actually,
this,
you know,
the local player
is one of us
and,
you know,
hey,
we're the Jews,
we're God's people,
we're,
here's our prophet,
rather than actually,
no,
I haven't come
from here.
I've come from
somewhere else
to save you.
I don't know
if that is what it is
but they were not
happy,
right?
And even though
they've seen
this amazing miracle,
they have amazing
evidence for Jesus,
actually,
they struggle.
Jesus isn't faced,
Jesus keeps repeating,
no,
I'm the bread of life,
you really need me,
I'm,
I've come to
rescue you,
right?
I'm really from heaven,
I'm from the father,
I mean,
that's why I can
take you there,
why can I take you there?
Well,
that's where I'm from,
right?
That's what he says
in verse,
yeah,
no one has seen
the father
except he who
comes from the father.
But,
yeah,
but then he starts
talking about,
okay,
this bread of life,
this bread that you need,
I'm sure you've heard that,
right?
It's the bread that we
saw on the screen.
Actually,
there's something
more specific,
this bread that you need
is my flesh,
right?
End of verse 51,
the bread that I will give
for the life of the world
is my flesh.
Now,
this sounds very weird
and they thought it was,
sounds very weird,
right?
The Jews then disputed
among themselves,
saying,
how can this man
give us his flesh
to eat?
Jesus doesn't
back down,
of course,
he repeats it so often,
right?
verse 53,
Jesus said to them,
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.
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
has eternal life
and I will raise him up
on the last day
for my flesh
is true food
and my blood
is true drink.
Is the mic okay?
Seems to be fading
in and out.
Okay.
Sorry,
I have a very
old shaped head
and that's why.
Maybe this,
is this better?
Yeah,
okay,
let's try this.
I will raise him up
verse 55,
my flesh is true food,
my blood is true drink.
Whoever feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
abides in me
and I in him.
I mean,
you can't miss it,
right?
He keeps talking
about his flesh
and blood.
Now,
what is this?
I think if you've
been around Christian things,
you know for a while,
he's talking about
his death.
I mean,
when you see
flesh and blood,
I don't know
what kind of movies
you watch,
but you know,
when you see
flesh and blood,
people die,
right?
He says,
he's going to die.
That's actually
not a weird thing
for him to say
because remember
the festival
that it was,
right?
This is,
John said,
this is the Passover time
and what do they remember
at the Passover?
Well,
how did they actually
come out of Egypt?
How did God
rescue the people
from slavery?
Well,
God said
he would punish
the Egyptians.
He would send
a plague
and every firstborn
son would die,
kind of repayment
for what the Egyptians
had done in the past.
But how would people
be protected,
right?
If every firstborn son
in every house
is going to die,
how would the
Israelite families
be protected?
And God said,
well,
you need to take
a lamb
and you kill that lamb
and you put the blood
kind of on the doorpost
and around the door
and then God
would pass over.
That's why it's called
Passover.
He would pass over
that house
because basically
there was already
a death in the house.
Someone had already
died,
something,
and so the firstborn son
did not have to die.
That was the idea,
right?
Every firstborn son
would die.
Again,
if you've seen the movie,
if you've read the story,
you probably know that.
And they didn't just
put the blood there.
What did they do?
They then had to eat
the flesh.
They had to kind of
roast the lamb
and eat the flesh.
So eating flesh
at Passover
would have made
a lot of sense to them
because it makes it
personal, right?
Okay,
here's this rescue.
God is going to rescue us
but I need to make it personal.
I need to eat it.
I need to receive it.
So I think that is just
what Jesus is saying.
Plus,
he's the Passover lamb.
And actually,
chapter 1 already said
that he was the lamb of God,
right?
He takes away
the sins of the world.
But,
you know,
if that is what he says,
it does have
certain implications,
right?
If he talks about,
okay,
my flesh and my blood
as a Passover lamb,
well,
for example,
that does mean
that his death
probably has to do
with sin,
right?
Because when God
came to
bring that plague,
it was judgment,
right?
Sin is a Bible word.
If you don't know it,
it's about our rejection
of God,
the way we just live
our own way,
even though God made us.
And,
yeah,
if God is our loving maker
who made us,
we,
you know,
we,
you know,
it's wrong to walk away
from him.
If it's wrong to reject him.
And so we face death.
Death is the punishment
for sin.
And,
you know,
that's why all those people
in the desert died.
They,
not because of old age,
but they were judged
because they grumbled
and didn't believe
and rejected God,
right?
But Jesus says,
I can give you life.
The manna is just bread,
right?
Bread can't save you,
but I can,
because I will die
in your place,
right?
Just like the lamb
died in place
of the firstborn son,
I'm going to die
for you
in your place.
And then you don't need
to face judgment
for the things
you've done wrong.
That's basically
the point,
right?
So,
again,
it's believing
in my death
on the cross,
as John will go on
to say in the future.
Before we have to
think about it more,
I know when you heard
this chapter,
some of you will think,
hey,
isn't this communion
or something?
you know,
because he talks
about eating my flesh
and drinking my blood.
I know there's people
here from a Catholic
background,
and,
you know,
you've probably
always heard,
hey,
you need,
you know,
communion.
That is where
you really get saved
because that is
what Jesus says here.
Just,
I want to speak
to that for a minute.
I don't think
that that's the case.
I mean,
first of all,
Jesus talks about
his flesh,
not his body,
right?
What's the official
warning?
This is my body
broken for you.
I mean,
why would he use
a different word?
It doesn't really
help his point.
And also,
as you heard,
they're not actually
having any food,
right?
I mean,
if he really says,
okay,
it is about this,
why doesn't he serve it?
Actually,
the bread
was the day before.
And his whole speech
is about,
it's not about bread,
right?
It doesn't make
any sense.
Actually,
if you take
these two verses,
maybe you can see
what he means.
So,
verse 40
says,
this is the will
of my father.
Verse 40,
next picture,
yeah.
this is the will
of my father
that everyone
who looks on the
son and believes
in him should
have eternal
life.
And I will
raise him up
on the last
day.
And then verse 54,
whoever feeds
on my flesh
and drinks
my blood
has eternal
life.
And I will
raise him up
on the last
day.
So,
how do you
get eternal
life and
be raised
up?
I think the
two verses
are just saying
the same thing,
right?
Eating my flesh
is a metaphor.
It's a metaphor
for believing
because,
again,
that's what
the Passover
symbolized,
right?
When you take
it,
the flesh,
you're saying,
yes,
I need this.
You're trusting
God.
Again,
lamb chops
can't save
you.
It's just,
right?
It's not about
the flesh.
It is about
the symbolic
action that
expresses your
faith.
Again,
same with
communion.
You know,
the little
wafer and the
juice can't
give you
anything.
It's just,
you express
your faith
in Jesus'
death.
That's what
you do.
Okay?
So,
this chapter
is not about
communion.
This chapter
and communion
are both
about the
cross,
if that
makes sense.
But,
with that
aside,
what do
people think
of this?
They think
it's a
really hard
saying,
right?
Verse 60,
when many
of his
disciples heard
it,
they said,
this is a
hard saying.
Who can
listen to
it?
Right?
And I
think,
why is it
so hard?
Because of
all these
assumptions,
right?
Because the
Passover means
that you
deserve
judgment.
that you've
done wrong
and that
you're going
to die
and you
can't do
anything about
it.
That's why
Jesus had
to come
and do
something.
Right?
You can't
save yourself.
The lamb
needs to
die in
your place.
And maybe
that's very
humbling.
Right?
he says,
without this
you have
no life
in you.
It's
difficult to
hear,
right?
You have
no life.
You have
nothing if
you don't
without me.
Rescue,
yeah,
he's offering
a rescue,
but you
need to
accept that
you need
rescue.
I don't
know,
silly
example,
we had a
typhoon last
week.
And actually,
to me,
that sounded
in some ways
quite exciting.
because we
have this
river near
our house
and the
water level
would rise
by four
meters and
flood all
the cycling
paths.
I think
that would
be really
cool to
see.
So,
maybe,
what will
I do?
Shall I
build a
hut next
to the
riverbank
and just
go and
see what
it's like?
I'd love
to see
that,
right?
Well,
my guess
is if I
would do
that,
I think
the police
would come
and knock
on the
hut and
tell me,
hey,
we want
to bring
you to
a
shelter.
Now,
in a
way,
it's a
nice
offer,
but it's
a bit
humbling,
right?
Because they
are thinking
that my
hut will
not withstand
a T10.
They are
having doubts
about my
superior
engineering
skills,
right?
If I'm
proud of
what I've
done and
they tell
me,
actually,
come,
you need
help,
I don't
want to
hear that.
So,
if I'm
humble and
accept,
yeah,
accepting
rescue means
you need
to be
humble.
You need
to accept
that,
actually,
I need
help,
I can't
save
myself,
I'm
in
trouble.
And if
you don't
want to
accept
that,
yeah,
then it's
offensive,
because that
is how people
respond,
right?
Again,
the result,
yeah,
is this
mass
departure,
right?
Because then
what happens
after he's
talking about
his death
and the
cross,
well,
many of
his disciples
leave him,
verse 60,
that is a
hard saying.
Jesus says,
well,
are you
offended by
this,
right?
Verse 61,
do you
take offense
at this?
He says,
it's going
to get
even worse,
right?
He's just
said he's
going to
die.
Actually,
he's going
to die a
criminal's
death on
the cross
by the
Romans.
It's going
to get
even worse.
But,
you know,
it's the
only way.
Verse 63,
it's the
spirit who
gives life.
The
flesh is
no help
at all.
The
words that
I've spoken
to you
are spirit
and life.
And flesh
here doesn't
mean flesh
as in
Jesus'
flesh.
Flesh
means human
effort,
often in
the Bible.
And so,
human effort
is no help
at all.
You can't
save yourself,
he's saying,
right?
The only
way is
through this
message that
I'm preaching
to you,
right?
that's how
you can
have
spiritual
life,
but you
can't help
yourself.
There's
nothing you
can do
by your
human
efforts.
You need
me.
But they
don't believe
it.
And so,
verse 66,
many of
them walk
away,
and they
turn back
and no
longer
walk with
him.
They
decisively
reject
Jesus.
Only a
few
remain,
including
his 12
closest
followers.
And why?
Well,
they know
what Jesus
came to
bring,
right?
He
asked them,
hey,
do you also
want to
leave?
Verse 68,
Simon Peter
answered him,
Lord,
to whom
shall we
go?
You have
the words
of eternal
life.
Why do we
want eternal
life?
And where
can we
find it?
Only in
you.
That's what
they believe.
And that's
what they
hold on to.
And that's
why they
stay with
Jesus.
But now,
what should
we do
with this?
I hope
you can
see,
basically,
yeah,
it's the
negative
end to
this speech,
right?
This great,
the first
big gospel
explanation
in John,
and yet,
yeah,
so many
people go
away.
Well,
I want to
put a few
questions on
the screen.
I guess the
first one,
I mean,
that's what
Jesus'
question,
right?
So we have
to ask it,
will you
believe?
Will you
believe?
Jesus is
offering eternal
life,
right?
Don't miss
this.
We can
focus on
the bad
reaction,
but look
what Jesus
says,
you can
have eternal
life.
There's no
other way,
you can't
help yourself,
but I've
come to
rescue you,
I've come
down from
heaven,
and I'm
going to
die for
you.
And for
us now,
he has
done that,
right?
Such a
huge effort.
I mean,
he wouldn't
do that if
it wasn't
necessary.
So if you
are here,
do you
believe what
he says?
Do you
believe that
actually you
need Jesus?
That,
yeah,
well,
then there is
a wonderful
offer here,
that you
can have
eternal life.
You just
have to
come to
him,
you just
have to
rely on
what he
did on
the cross,
on his
death,
and you
can be
forgiven,
you can
be back
with God,
you can
have eternal
life that
starts now
in your
new relationship
and then,
yeah,
raised up on
the last
day,
that will
last forever,
right?
You just
need to
pray and
come to
him,
and Jesus
says you
really need
it.
Please do
that if
you're not,
yeah,
if that's
you,
but yet,
at the
same time,
this chapter
would ask
us,
well,
if not,
why not?
Because this
chapter is
about people
who don't
believe,
and it's
not because
they lacked
a miracle,
they had
this amazing
miracle,
right?
It's not
that they've
never met
Jesus.
I hear other
people say
that,
yeah,
if I could
just meet
Jesus
personally,
then I'll
believe.
These people,
they met
Jesus
personally.
It didn't
help,
right?
No,
the problem
was not
Jesus,
the problem
was not
the miracle,
it's the
message,
right?
People
don't want
to believe
this,
and I think
because it's
just a hard
message,
it's offensive
because of
what it says
about us,
right?
That's what
they struggle
with,
and we're
going to
see more
of that
in the
coming
two chapters.
Although
one surprise
that you
may have
if you're
thinking
about this,
the surprising
thing here
is that
Jesus'
audience,
right?
Because if
there's one
place you
would expect
a result,
well,
these are
Old Testament
Jews,
right?
They are
God's
historic
people.
I mean,
don't they
know this?
I mean,
if I go
here to,
you know,
I'm going
to stand
out at
Wong
Chuk
Hang
Station
and I'm
going to
tell people
Jesus is
the bread
of life.
You need
to eat
his flesh
and then
you'll be
raised on
the last
day.
People will
look at me
very,
like,
what are you
talking about,
right?
Because people
have no idea.
But these
people,
they knew,
right?
They know
the Bible,
they know
about sin,
they know
about judgment,
they know
about sacrifices,
they know
about the
Exodus,
they've been
celebrating it
since they
were born,
like every
day,
every month,
right?
Big festivals
every year.
And yet,
these people
are not
interested in
Jesus'
offer.
How can
it be?
How can
people with
so much
background,
you know,
maybe some
of us,
right?
You know,
some of us
grow up in
church,
and so
much background,
and yet,
people don't
believe.
That's surprising,
right?
Now,
again,
that's going
to come up
more and
more,
you know,
I want to
have it in
our minds,
hey,
what's going
on?
So that the
next few
weeks,
we can look
at that
more.
I guess
there's some
hints you
can see.
Maybe you
picked it up
in the
reading.
Ultimately,
that's because
people are
saved by
God's work,
right?
Verse 44,
Jesus says,
well,
no one can
come to
me unless
the Father
who sent
me draws
him.
Verse 65,
this is why I
told you that
no one can
come to me
unless it's
granted to
him by the
Father.
God needs
to be at
work.
God needs
to be at
work,
and otherwise
people can't
believe,
is what it
says.
That's a big
topic behind
their predestination.
I'm not going
to go into
that.
Again,
we're going
to see more
over the
coming weeks,
although if
there's something
you struggle
with,
please come
and talk
to me.
I'd love
to help
you.
The interesting
thing,
though,
is that it
means Jesus
is not
worried.
He had
15,000
people there,
now he's
got 12,
and yet he's
not worried.
He doesn't
panic.
He says,
I'm working
with my
father,
and I
trust him.
I guess
that's
something we
can do
as well.
Maybe,
I hope this
place will
be filled
with people
from Wong
Chukang.
Maybe it
won't.
We should
trust God
with that.
But I
think this
is not
just about
other people.
I think
the interesting
thing is
he shifts
from the
Jews to
the
disciples,
when many
of his
disciples
heard it.
After
this,
many of
his
disciples
turned
back.
So these
are people
who were
following
him.
These were
not people
who reject
him,
who haven't.
They're
people who
follow
Jesus.
They've
seen
Jesus,
but now
they walk
away.
Maybe the
equivalent
would be
people who
come to
church,
and they're
part of
the church,
and they
would say
they're a
Christian,
and yet at
some point
they walk
away.
So maybe
this is more
challenging
for us.
Jesus has
this good
question that
I think this
chapter would
raise.
He asks,
do you
take offense
at this?
Do we
find this
offensive?
Again,
if someone
asks if you
need help,
it kind of
applies that
you look like
you need
help.
Is that
something you
struggle with?
When Jesus
says,
well,
your efforts
helped
nothing.
We've
rejected
God,
we face
death,
and the
only one
who can
do
something
about
it
is
me.
I
have
to
come
down
from
heaven,
and I
have
to die
for you.
That's
the only
way you
can have
any
hope.
In a way,
that's so
depressing,
right?
But do
you say,
yes,
absolutely,
that's
me?
Or
actually,
do you
find it
just too
much?
And maybe
you're a
youth here,
and every
time it's
about Jesus,
every
time in
youth,
and you
get a
bit sick
of all
the talk
about sin,
and judgment,
and Jesus,
right?
Well,
maybe in
your CG,
it's always
about Jesus,
and you
get kind
of fed
up with
it,
right?
I mean,
that's a
good question.
What do
we think
of all
this talk?
Is
that
something
that we
can't
get
enough
of?
Or
actually,
you know,
hey,
man,
I've got
other things
in my
life.
Can we
talk
about
my
job?
You
know,
that's
a lot
more
relevant
than all
this stuff
about sin.
Well,
this chapter
would ask
us a
very good
question
then,
actually.
You know,
are we
here for
the rescue?
Because
Jesus,
in a way,
he says,
that's what
I've come
to do.
These
people,
they came
for the
wrong
thing,
right?
They saw
the healings
and thought,
yeah,
I want
that.
And they
followed
Jesus,
and they
got bread.
Yes,
I want
that.
But then
Jesus says,
well,
it's not
about the
healings,
it's not
about the
bread,
they're
just
that point
to me
and I've
come,
but the
real thing
is the
rescue.
But they
wanted
something else,
and that
is why
they thought
they don't
need rescue,
we want
this other
thing.
They just
need a
bread.
And so,
yeah,
if you know
you need
rescue,
if you
come here
because you
want Jesus
rescue,
then I
guess you
will want
this
teaching.
Well,
if you
want
something
else,
right?
I think
people come
to Watermark
for all
kinds of
reasons,
people become
Christians for
all kinds of
reasons,
like community,
right?
Such a
wonderful,
loving atmosphere
here.
It's great,
right?
To have
coffee
afterwards,
such a
buzz,
it's
wonderful,
community,
right?
Lots of
young adults
with whom
you can
hang out,
it's
great.
Except
Jesus
says,
that's
nice,
but that's
not why
I've
come.
I mean,
of course,
we're all
still sinners,
right?
And you
might be
disappointed,
but Jesus
says,
that's not
what I've
come to
do.
Ultimately,
I'm here
to rescue
you.
So if
you come
here for
the
community,
yeah,
and you
have CG,
hey,
come on,
can we
hang out?
But no,
we're talking
about sin
and about
Jesus again.
Well,
yeah,
that's not
the reason.
Maybe people
come here
for meaning
or purpose
or a
feeling of
peace.
Maybe you
come here,
I want to
be a
better person
and Jesus
is such
an inspiring
example,
so I
want to
learn about
Jesus and
how to
follow him.
Now,
Jesus is
an inspiring
example and
he does
want you to
follow him,
but it
doesn't start
there,
right?
Jesus says,
I've come
here because
you don't
need an
example,
you need
me to
die for
you.
And people
find that
sometimes hard
to accept,
right?
If they,
I come here
to learn
to be a
good person,
well,
Jesus says,
you can't
be a good
person,
you're not.
So if you
struggle with
Jesus'
message,
yeah,
I think
that's worth,
what are
we looking
for?
And just
to say,
it's okay
to struggle
and don't
pretend that's,
oh,
I love this
message,
right?
people who
say to me,
oh,
nice sermon,
when actually,
actually I don't
like Jesus'
teaching.
That's okay,
it's much better
to be honest
about it,
that's much
more helpful.
But think
reflecting,
you know,
what do I
want from
Jesus?
Why am I
here?
Do I want
him to
rescue me,
or are
there these
other things
that I
actually,
I want
more?
Because that
shows you
think you
need those
more than
this.
Although
finally I
would ask,
you know,
if that's what
you think you
need,
are you
sure?
Are you
sure that
you don't
need to be
rescued?
Because,
you know,
maybe Jesus
knows things
that we
don't.
I'm so
confident often
in my own
knowledge,
but,
you know,
I haven't
seen God.
Right?
how do I
know his
standards?
How do I
know what
he's going
to do?
Jesus
says,
I've
come from
him.
I can
tell you
about him.
And so
maybe it
would be
good to
be humble
and take
his word
for it.
Especially,
again,
Jesus didn't
just come to
bring a
message,
right?
If Jesus
was just
all talk
but no
action,
can we
believe him?
Well,
maybe not.
But actually
he didn't
just speak,
right?
He says,
I'm going to
die for you,
and he
actually
did it.
If he
went to
all that
trouble,
would he
be lying?
Would he
be saying,
you know,
you really
need my
death,
that's the
only way,
when it
wasn't the
only way?
Why would
he then
go to
the cross?
No.
I hope
we can
see from
Jesus,
he must
be telling
the truth
and that
means we
are in
trouble and
it means
that he
came for
us.
If you
see Jesus
and you
really realize
he's come
to rescue
you,
to die
in such
a way
that shows
an amazing
love,
right?
It's
incredible
what he
was willing
to do,
to come
down from
heaven,
to die
for us,
even though,
well,
if we are
really such
people,
we don't
deserve it.
I'm
saying we're
going to
get so
frustrated
with people
and yet
Jesus keeps
loving them,
Jesus keeps
loving us.
So,
yeah,
if you
see that,
come to
him.
Admit your
need,
admit you
need a
rescue,
and if you
want a
rescue,
yeah,
come to
him,
rely on
his death
and receive
eternal
life.
Why don't
we pray
together?
Father,
thank you
that you
tell us
the truth,
even if
truth is
sometimes
hard to
hear,
that we
need
rescue,
that we
have no
life in
ourselves,
that only
through
Jesus we
can actually
be saved.
Father,
help us
search our
hearts,
many of
us are
rejoicing,
we love
to hear
this because
we know
Jesus'
love and
we know
we need
him so
much.
There's
others of
us who
are still
thinking,
still
struggling.
Father,
open our
eyes,
would we
see Jesus
and therefore
would we
accept what
he has to
say to
us,
or that
each of
us have
eternal
life.
Again,
we see
people walk
away,
ultimately we
don't want
that,
we want
many people
to hear
this good
news,
and not
die,
but have
eternal
life.
No one
wants death,
everyone wants
life,
but we need
to know
where to
find it,
and it's
in Jesus.
So we
pray this in
his name.
Amen.