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.
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,
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.
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,
clear,
hands up,
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,
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
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,
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.
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,
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?
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.