Jesus’ Words

There’s power in the words of Jesus.  Jesus’ Words will either draw you to believe in Him, or His Words will drive you away from Him.  There’s no riding the fence with Jesus.  Eventually, you will respond one way or another to hearing His Words. For there is power in the words of Jesus.

I remember the first time someone told me about Jesus.  I was 19 years old at the time and working the graveyard shift at Artz Photo and I had just changed jobs from being a splicer to working in quality control.  As a splicer, I would go into a dark room and would splice a newly printed role of pictures onto another that was being fed into the photo processing machine.  My job kept me pretty busy and there wasn’t much to it.    I just had to stay on top of things and make sure there was a constant flow of rolls being fed into the processor.  I was pretty good at my job, so it wasn’t long before I got the opportunity to move up and be trained as part of quality control.  In my new job I soon learned how to adjust and restore all the printers, film and paper processors  so they would produce high quality color photos. However, there was a lot to learn. But one of the benefits of my new role is that I got to share an office with the main quality control guy who was my mentor.  His name was Paul Wrobluski. I remember Paul pretty well.  He was a great guy, a funny guy, but he always carried a Bible with him, and he’d always read it during his lunch break around 3:00 in the morning.  I thought that was pretty weird. Then one night during a lull in our work, he asked me if he could talk with me about Jesus.  I said, “sure” and then he read some of what the Bible said about Jesus and how Jesus died for my sins and offered me eternal life if I just trusted in him.  Now, I listened politely and all that I heard did seem to make sense.  But that night I told him wasn’t ready to do anything with this Jesus.  But what I didn’t know then, was that God used the words about Jesus to begin working in my heart to draw me to faith, even though that day would not come for five more years.

I tell you this story because sometimes when you talk to a friend or family member about Jesus, nothing seems to happen. For example, whenever I talked with my dad about Jesus, our talks never seemed to get anywhere. He just wasn’t ready to put his trust in Jesus.  But what I didn’t know at the time was that the words I had shared about Jesus were doing their thing. What I didn’t know at the time was that the seeds of the gospel were growing in his heart and would eventually bear fruit. And what I didn’t know at the time was that a few years later God would use the words of Jesus shared by one his granddaughters to finally bring him to faith.

In fact, over the years, I’ve talked to a number of people about Jesus, and their responses have been quite varied.  Some were so ready to believe, that sharing the good news with them worked like a hot knife through butter.  They were ready to believe and just needed someone to help them.  Then there’ve been other times when I’ve told people the good news about Jesus, and they just shrugged me off or argued with me about faith and even got angry with me.  It’s those experiences that often left me wondering, what gives?  Often got me asking, why do some people come to faith so easily and why it is so hard for others? Or why is it that some people argue with you or get offended by you when you talk to them about Jesus? 

And what I’ve learned over the years when it comes to sharing the good news about Jesus, is that it’s not about how articulate you are, how educated you are or how gifted you are – it’s all about the power of Jesus’ Words themselves.  People simply react to the words of Jesus differently.  Some don’t get Him, some are offended by Him, and still others are drawn to Him.  In fact, as we return to the story of Jesus today, we’re going to see 4 different effects Jesus’ words have on people. So, if you brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to open them to John 6:41-69, where we’re going to see the power of Jesus’ Words.

And the first effect of Jesus words is found in verses 41-42, where we see that Jesus’ Words can be confusing  And so we read: At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” John 6:41-42    Those listening to Jesus’ words were confused to his origin.  He just told them that He is the bread of life. He is the bread that came down from heaven.  But they know him as Jesus, the son of Joseph.  When Jesus moved to Capernaum his family moved with him.  So, we see here that the people of Capernaum knew Jesus’ family.  Some had done business with his earthly father, Joseph.  Some knew his brothers and sisters.  And some knew his mother, Mary.  So, they were confused about Jesus.  They saw Jesus as a Jew, as a Rabbi and a son who lived in their village.  But now with this claim, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” they are confused.

That’s why they were grumbling.  When Jesus claimed that he is the bread come down from heaven, they heard him claim to be God’s Son, not the son of Joseph.  So, their grumbling was a combination of confusion, complaining and discussing their opposition to Jesus’ claim. They didn’t like what they were hearing. So, they grumbled about Jesus’ Words.

Now this is how some people react to hearing Jesus’ Words today.  And the reason they do this, is that most people have already made up their minds as to who Jesus is. Most people today consider Jesus to be a good teacher and a moral example, but nothing more.  They’re content to see him from a human point of view.  They want a comfortable Jesus; a Jesus who doesn’t rock the boat; a Jesus who fits their lifestyle.  So, they’ve decided for themselves what is true or not true about Jesus.  This is called moral relativism.  The chose for themselves what they want to believe about Jesus. But then, once you start telling people what the Bible teaches about Jesus, it messes with their point of view.  They don’t want to hear what Jesus claims about himself.  They don’t want to hear that He is the Son of God; or that Jesus came to die for their sins.  So, they’ll grumble or complain, telling you that you don’t know what you’re talking about; or argue with you that the Bible isn’t relevant, or simply walk away.

That’s why Jesus confronts their grumbling with the truth. “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.”  John 6:44-45   Right here, Jesus tells us how anyone comes to faith in Him. They don’t come to faith in Jesus on their terms.  In fact, no one is able to come to faith in Jesus on their own.  The Bible says: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.” Romans 3:10-11

And Jesus affirms this truth when He says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”  In other words, we are not able to come to faith on our own.  We are spiritually blind to Jesus.  We can’t see who he really is unless God opens our eyes to see.  God’s Word says it this way, The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4  We are spiritually blind to Jesus. And we arespiritually dead to God. God’s Word is very clear about this, saying our sin has separated us from life with God.  We are spiritually dead.  That means not one person has the spiritual ability to come to Christ – unless God does something to help us.  That’ why people are often confused about the words of Jesus.  Without the Spirit of God to help us understand God’s Word, we are left confused about what it means to trust in Jesus. And that is why no one will ever come to Jesus on their own.  We need help.  And Jesus tells us here how God helps us.

The Father helps us by drawing us to Jesus. And how He draws us is by teaching us through His Word. Jesus says it here himself: “They will be taught by God.”  And when Jesus says this, He is quoting Isaiah, “All your sons will be taught by the LORD” Isaiah 54:13 In other words: God draws people to faith in Jesus by using the Words of Jesus.

And what that means for us, is that we can’t help anyone come to faith in Jesus unless we expose them to the words of Jesus.  That’s why Jesus says: “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.” John 6:45   God draws people to faith in Jesus by using the Words of Jesus. 

So, Jesus teaches them about who He is.  And as he does, he continues using the metaphor of bread, saying that He is the living bread, and that if you eat of him, you will live forever.  And then He makes this startling claim: “This bread is my flesh, which  I will give to the world.”  John 6:51  They don’t know it at the time, but here Jesus is speaking of his body that He will sacrifice on the cross.  Now at this point the crowd has a different reaction to his teaching.  They’re no longer grumbling now they are arguing among themselves. Which leads us to a second effect of hearing Jesus’ Words:

Jesus’ Words can be divisive  Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” John 6:52 At this point Jesus’ words have hit a nerve. Jesus is teaching in the Synagogue. The Jews mentioned here are the religious leaders. Some are strongly in favor of Jesus and his teaching, but others are incensed at what Jesus has just said about his flesh.

Their question, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” reveals their confusion. Some thought he was speaking literally. They couldn’t understand how Jesus could say such a thing. But if his language was figurative, what did it mean?  So, they began to argue over Jesus’ words.  And as they did, they totally missed the point of Jesus’ Words.  So, Jesus breaks up their argument by telling them what He means.  He says, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” John 6:53-55

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” John 6:56-58

Jesus now clarifies who He is as the bread of life. He’s speaking to them in metaphor. He’s saying, “If you take me into your life by faith (eating my flesh and drinking my blood) you will have eternal life.”  That’s the power of Jesus’ Words.  He’s not speaking literally, but figuratively and is saying: When you take Me into your life – you get My life.  If you want eternal life, come to me and feed on me. But these Jews get tripped up on these metaphors.  Talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood – that’s offensive to them. Because they know the law of Moses forbids the drinking of blood.  So, they argue over his words and miss the point of Jesus’ teaching.

Truth be known, people have argued over these particular words of Jesus for centuries.  Some take them literally; some take them metaphorically.  But they miss the point.  Jesus was simply teaching them where eternal life is found.  It’s found in Him.  Eternal life is found in taking Jesus into your life.

Here’s the deal, some people will never take Jesus into their lives because they want to argue over details in God’s Word.  Some will point to what they perceive as difficult things to understand and refuse to believe.  Some will point to things they perceive as errors and refuse to believe. But truth be known, is what they are doing is throwing up what I would call intellectual roadblocks.  And even if you could give them adequate answers to their intellectual questions, they still would not believe in Jesus.  So, yes, Jesus words can be divisive.  They are divisive to some.  But don’t miss the point of Jesus’s words:  Jesus’ words always reveal that He is the source of eternal life.  When you receive Jesus – when you take Him into your life by faith – you receive eternal life.  That’s the good news found in Jesus.  When you receive Jesus, you receive eternal life! That’s His promise to you.  But as we see here, Jesus’ words have become a stumbling block to the Jews. They can’t get past their disagreements.  But now we see that Jesus’ words are starting to have an effect on this crowds of would-be disciples. Which leads to the next effect of Jesus’ words can have, and that is this:

Jesus’ Words can be offensive Let’s pick up the story in verse 60.  On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?” Literally, the disciples said, “This is a harsh teaching” not meaning it was hard to understand, but it was “harsh” as in being offensive.  In other words, what Jesus was saying was difficult for them to stomach.  They weren’t pleased in what they were hearing from Jesus.  And it was causing them to question their allegiance to him.

So, Jesus says, “Does this offend you?” “Is my teaching a stumbling block to you too.” But he doesn’t give them the opportunity to reply.  Instead, he continues to teach them about himself saying, “Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” John 6:62-64    Right here Jesus draws a line in the sand.  He’s calling their bluff:  If you don’t believe Jesus has come down from heaven, you won’t believe if you see him go back to heaven? According to verse 65, they would not believe, for they were not true believers. Jesus is being purposely harsh so as to separate who are the true disciples from those who were following him for the wrong reasons.

Now we see the effect of Jesus speaking truth to them.  They are offended because they don’t truly believe in him!  So, what do they do?  John tells us: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. John 6:66   Jesus has just cleaned house.  His Words just exposed the frauds who called themselves his disciples. Wow! Here’s an important truth God wants us to see this morning: There’s no riding the fence with Jesus.  Jesus’ words will either draw you to Him or drive you away from Him. There’s no middle ground.  You will either walk with Jesus or walk away from Jesus.  That’s the power of Jesus’ words…  Jesus speaks and he clears the room.  If this tells us anything about the nature of Jesus’ Words, it’s that His words won’t leave you in neutral. If you really listen to His words, they will have an effect on you: and how you respond to Jesus’ words will reveal to you whether you are a true disciple or a fake one.

Fake disciples come to Jesus to get something they want from him.  But true disciples are drawn to Jesus by God. This is why God must do a work in us to draw us to Jesus.  For without His working in us, we would only come to Jesus to get stuff.  We’d come to get money, a house, or fame, but God has shown us the glories of Jesus and drawn us to his Son.  And what that tells us is this: when anyone comes to Jesus it is not a testimony of how insightful we are or how discerning we are; but it’s a testimony to how gracious God is, in opening our eyes to see Jesus for who He really is.

So now we find ourselves at critical juncture in Jesus’ ministry. As verse 66 notes:  From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.  John 6:66 Can you imagine what the 12 were thinking at this moment?  They’d helped Jesus feed the five thousand just yesterday. They’d faced a fierce storm on the open sea until Jesus came and rescued them.  But now, in the midst of Jesus’ teaching as the bread of life, His truths have been so scandalous, that almost all his followers deliberately and decisively walk away. Don’t you wonder what the 12 were thinking at this moment? Could they be harboring second thought?  And I’m pretty sure Jesus was aware of this.

Which leads us to the final effects of Jesus’ Words.  And that is this: Jesus’ Words can be life-giving    Once Jesus has emptied the room, he asks the twelve: “You do not want to leave too, do you?”  Jesus knew what he was doing.  He didn’t ask this question for His benefit. He asked this question for theirs.  The 12 needed to articulate their response.  Did they believe Jesus was who He claimed to be or were they too ready to throw in the towel? This was a critical moment for them as well.

With His question, Jesus sets them up for one of the most beautiful responses to His Word in all the Scriptures: Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Webelieve and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69  Notice, Peter doesn’t address Jesus as Rabbi, but as Lord, and confesses on behalf of the 12, that they have no need to look to anyone else, but Jesus.  They have found who they were looking for.  And he affirms this by saying, “You have the Words of eternal life.” Now, you don’t say this unless you know this to be true.  Jesus’ Words haven’t confused them. Jesus’ Words haven’t divided them. And Jesus’ Words haven’t offended them. Peter simply states that he believes Jesus has the words of eternal life.  But he doesn’t stop there.  He confesses his faith, saying, “We believe.”  Saying that he and the other disciples have come to a permanent decision regarding their faith in Jesus.  There are so certain that Jesus has come from God, that they’re not going anywhere but with Jesus.

The reason for their unwavering faith, is that they know who He is.  We’re staying with you Jesus because we know You are the Holy One of God.  With this confession, Peter uses Isaiah’s name for God as his own, claiming that he and all the 12 are thoroughly convinced that Jesus is God. Talk about the power of Jesus’ words.  His Words had drawn them to faith, not driven them away.  Jesus’ words had convinced them that not only did Jesus have the Words of eternal life, but that He was God in the flesh.

That’s the power of Jesus’ words: Jesus’ words can confuse you, Jesus’ words can create conflict within you and Jesus’s words can even offend you. But the good news is that there is power in Jesus’ Words to change your life forever. Jesus’ Words are spirit and they are life.  And through Jesus’ Words the Father is drawing you to believe in Jesus.

Perhaps that’s where you find yourself today.  You’ve been listening to the words of Jesus these past few weeks or months.  And what you are hearing rings true.  The Father is drawing you to faith through the teaching of Christ’s Words.  And if that is you, then the Father is calling you to come to Jesus and trust in Him.  He sent you Jesus, so you could come home to him.  So come to Jesus and believe in him today.