❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
While We Try To Be Strong, Jesus Chooses and Loves the Weak
(John 6:60-71)
Mari Ikeda
Today we continue with the Gospel of John, and today we will read 6:60-71. Over the past two months and four messages, I have spoken from Chapter 6. In particular, the last two messages have been on the theme “Jesus is the Bread of Life,” in which I have explained that the bread of life that brings us eternal life is Jesus Himself, and that we must eat Him to have a true life. Today’s passage records the disciples’ response to this teaching. As we will read, it is recorded that most of the disciples were disappointed in Jesus and left him. People’s attitudes toward Jesus become hostile after today’s passage. The Gospel of John also records that Jesus ceased his activities in his native Galilee and headed for the Jewish region in the next chapter. Thus, today’s passage is in many ways a milestone in this Gospel of John, and I think it is a passage that makes clear once again how different Jesus’ thoughts are from ours.
As usual, I will read a little bit at a time. First, verses 60-63.
A. We impose our selfish expectations on Jesus, and get disappointed when He does not meet them
1. Because we try to rely on the “flesh” (60-63)
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
At the beginning of chapter 6, people were so enthusiastic about Jesus that they followed him to the other side of the lake, but their enthusiasm quickly cooled. As I said in the previous message, the people expected Jesus to be the political and military leader of their people. They were hoping that Jesus would free the Jews from Roman rule. Their expectations stem from the sin that every human being has. We are creatures who desire to gain more power and control over others and are willing to take away the rights of others to protect our own interests. And it is the same at the individual, ethnic and national levels. We are terrible creatures who justify any injustice by taking up the cause of protecting the interests of our people and nation.
Jesus does not meet our such false expectations. Instead, He asked us to admit our sins and ask Him for help. That was the teaching, “Eat my flesh.” Those who had been enthusiastic about Jesus quickly turned away from him, believing that he was not interested in protecting the interests of his people, but was instead trying to infuse them with bizarre and blasphemous teachings. They imposed their selfish expectations on Jesus, and got disappointed when He did not meet them.
Jesus noticed that people were disappointed in Him, and He said, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!” “The Son of Man ascends to where he was before” is supposed to refer to the time when Jesus, who originally came from God, was resurrected after his death on the cross, and after 40 days ascended to heaven to return to God. The sentence is an unfinished sentence. The supposed meaning is negative, saying, “if you saw it, you would be even more disappointed and would not understand.” This means that when a series of events occurs in which a person equal to God is crucified, killed, and resurrected, “you will still not understand and will be even more disappointed. This is because it is too insane and unacceptable to the common human sense that God, the omniscient and omnipotent Creator, would be captured and miserably executed by human beings as a criminal.
We desire to expand our power and influence in society, and if we cannot achieve this ourselves, we at least hope to benefit by joining those with strong power. On the contrary, we do not want to be looked down upon or excluded from society, and we do not want to associate with weak people who are treated that way, and we are careful not to be lumped in with them. It is all because we are trying to rely on “the flesh,” in Jesus’ words here. It is an attempt to feel secure by having more abilities, achievements, social status, and possessions than others. If we are bound by these things, we can only be disappointed in Jesus who does not give us these things. And Jesus’ death on the cross would only seem like a defeat.
Let’s move on to verses 64-66.
2. Because we don’t rely on the Holy Spirit (64-66)
64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
To know the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross is impossible by our human power alone, and the help of the Holy Spirit is essential. I mentioned about this in last two messages of mine as well. This is why Jesus said again and again, “No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” It is not possible for us to understand the presence of Jesus unless God the Father guides our hearts by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit breaking our prideful hearts, God’s strength seems only weakness to us, God’s love seems only foolishness, and we cannot think of God as God.
This is well illustrated by the content of the second half of today, so I would like to move on, firstly verses 67-69.
B. Jesus invites, forgives and loves us who are weak
1. Peter’s overconfidence (67-69)
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
This is the first mention of the “twelve” disciples (or apostles) in the Gospel of John. Jesus clearly distinguishes these twelve disciples from the multitude of other disciples here. Jesus’ question, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” implies a positive meaning in the original language, namely, “You won’t leave me, will you?” In other words, Jesus trusted the twelve disciples and expected that they would not leave, even though many of the other disciples had left. I think it can also be said that Jesus did not want the Twelve to leave Him and wanted them to stay with Him.
But Jesus’ particular trust in the Twelve was never because they themselves were particularly superior to the rest of the people. This is because all of the twelve disciples are weak people who will eventually abandon Jesus and run away. Here Peter, representing the Twelve, makes an admirable confession of his faith in Jesus, but both he and the other disciples flee for fear that they too will be arrested when Jesus is arrested. None of them had any special abilities, were of low social status, were not religious experts, and were not particularly good in character. Jesus knew from the beginning that they were such weak, ordinary people, but he still chose them to be his disciples. Rather, it might be better to say that Jesus chose them to be his disciples because they were ordinary, weak human beings.
Let’s read from the Gospel of Mark as it describes the time when Jesus chose the twelve. (Mark 3:13-15)
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
In this way, Jesus’ purpose in choosing the Twelve was to keep them close to Him and have them carry out His work. Jesus knew from the beginning that they would abandon Him and leave Him, that they would fail or make mistakes in their ministry. Nevertheless, Jesus invited them, kept them close, shared the journey with them, and loved them.
The same is true when we are chosen by Jesus to have faith and believe in Him. It is Jesus who knows our weakness from the beginning and still invites us, forgives us, and loves us. We can live with Jesus, not because we are any good, but because He just wanted to keep us close.
This is best illustrated in the words of Jesus that follow, the last 70-71 verses.
2. Judas’ betrayal (70-71)
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Jesus’ words, “Judas is a devil,” sound very harsh, as the words of final and irrevocable condemnation and exclusion. But in fact, Jesus once also called Peter, “Get behind me, Satan,” and used this appellation without hesitation when the disciples were about to be tempted by the devil. It could be said that Jesus is cautioning us that the presence of the devil actually exerts power over us. The devil tries to separate us from God and make us believe that there is no God or that God cannot be trusted. The devil’s purpose is not to make us commit murder or other serious crimes, but to make us deny God’s love and despair. The reason we sometimes despair while wishing to trust Jesus may be because we are caught in the devil’s trap of having to rely on our own strength.
And what is important in this passage is that Jesus made His disciples even those who would be tempted by the devil. Jesus’ choice is so one-sided that it is not a matter of the qualities of the chosen one. It can also be said that being chosen does not mean that one is free from the temptations of the devil. We need to repeatedly confirm to ourselves that we are indeed chosen by God, that we are loved by God, and that we desire to be near Jesus. That does not mean that we must strengthen our willpower to trust Jesus. Rather, it means that each of us, in the situation in which we find ourselves at any given time, must identify for ourselves the depth and meaning of the love of Jesus, who was God, yet became man, was executed by man, and gave his life for us. And it means also for us to admit that we can only ask Him for help because we do not have the strength to believe in Him even if we want to, that we doubt His love even if we want to trust Him, no matter how much we understand the greatness of Jesus in our minds. The most important thing to remember then is that Jesus did not choose us because we are better in some way, but because he knew from the beginning that we were weak, and that is why he invited us. And it is for us to know that even though we doubt Jesus many times and sometimes betray Him, He forgives us each time and never stops loving us. Jesus is the one who went to the cross so that we could be forgiven in our weakness, loved in our wrongness.
We try to be strong, but Jesus chooses and loves the weak. Knowing the love of Jesus, let us walk with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we can rejoice in our weakness, accept the weakness of others, and forgive one another.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, we stubbornly try to rely on our own strength, but please help us to trust in You. Lead us to entrust our worries to you. Show us that You have known from the beginning that we are weak and that You love us as we are. Please help us to be thankful for the grace and hope You have given to each of us, instead of comparing ourselves to others and being happy or sad. And give each of us someone with whom we can safely show weakness and forgive each other. May such relationships grow within each of our families, friends, and this church, and may such relationships spread from us throughout this world. Dear our Lord Jesus, we pray this in Your name, Amen.
Summary
We tend to desire to have power and influence in society and to benefit from those who have such power. Conversely, we do not want to be looked down upon or excluded in society, and we tend to desire not to associate or be lumped in with such people. This attitude of ours to exclude the weak and be strong is also evident in our attitude toward Jesus. If we stay that way, we will be disappointed in Jesus, because Jesus does not try to be strong, but He invites the weak, forgives them and loves them.
For Discussion
- Have you ever realized that your expectations to Jesus were wrong?
- What exactly is your weakness that Jesus forgives and loves you for?