Alright, well go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 6, we've been in John chapter 6 for a little while now. And as you turn back with me to John chapter 6, we're going to be picking up in verse 49. Now, remember again, I've said this several times, and it's because we've been in John 6 now for a month, and this will be our fourth message on John chapter 6 alone. And the reason for that is just genuinely there is so much to break down. You simply can't do it all in the chapter just by its length alone is significant. And so we want to take time to focus on the theological points that we need to tackle and address, but we also, at the same time, we want to keep in mind the overall context. We want to keep in mind where we are in John's narrative. And so remember, this narrative, picking up in verse 49, it is still directly following the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus has just one day prior fed 5,000 plus individuals, walked across the water. The crowds are astonished. They want to make Him king. Jesus withdraws from them because This is not God's plan for him. And he's miraculously performed many signs and wonders to the crowds to verify his deity. And yet the Jews insist that if Jesus can outdo Moses, then they'll believe him. This is their response. They would follow him faithfully, certainly, if he could only outdo the sign that Moses did of feeding the Jews for 40 years in the wilderness. But Jesus of course, knows their hearts. This is a point that John has made since the beginning of the book in John chapter 2. Jesus knows their hearts and He knows that their deepest need is certainly not for physical bread, but their deepest need is for eternal life, for salvation. Jesus is that bread that leads to life and he's clearly and repeatedly claimed to be from above. He will do so again numerous times in our text today. The crowds do not hear him and so they continually request physical bread and Jesus of course says in verse 35 and then in verse 48 from last week, I am the bread of This is the first of seven I Am statements that we see in the Evangelist Gospel. And remember, as we came to our passage last week, the people have asked Jesus, what must we be doing to do the works of God? How can we get this physical bread for ourselves? And Jesus tells them what? This is the work of God, that you, what? Believe Him whom He has sent. And so we looked last week at passages that can be frequently misunderstood or frequently misconstrued, but Jesus, throughout the evangelist gospel, has called people to turn, to repent, to respond to his testimony. And so again, as you look at last week, verse 44, we addressed the idea that no one can come to the Father unless he is first drawn. And so we ask, who is drawn by the Father? Well, Jesus tells us in the very next verses, he clarifies. He says, they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. To be drawn by God then, to be drawn by God is to listen to the Father's divine representative and to respond to His message in faith. This is what it looks like to be drawn by God. We'll actually see this addressed again in verses 60 through 71 this week as we look. Again, this is where we left off last week, and we're jumping back into the middle of this dialogue between Jesus and the Jews. So please, again, don't misunderstand where we are. We're still in the same dialogue that we were working through last week. So notice now verse 49. I'll read from verse 49 down to verse 59, and then we'll pray and really get into this text. God's Word says, starting in verse 49, Then the Jews disputed amongst themselves, saying, So Jesus said to them, Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the 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 bread that the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum. Let's go ahead and pray as we look to this text and ask for God's grace. Dear Lord, we are so thankful for your word. We are so thankful this morning for the living bread that came down from heaven and sacrifices life as a ransom for many so that we could have a relationship with you. God, I pray that for any in this room who do not have a relationship with you, that they would understand the passage that we read this morning. They would understand their need to experience Jesus in a personal way. God, there is no such thing as salvation by proxy. And so we pray that we would understand our personal need to experience Jesus and to be saved by His grace so that we could have a restored fellowship with you. We pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you guys know, typically I consider illustrations for the passages that we look at, and I like to find stories that are real life stories from the real world, and they kind of connect to our application. But this week I came across a fictional story that just fit the passage so well, I really couldn't resist it. The story is known as the Parable of the Drowning Man. The story goes that there was a man who had been caught in a flash flood and amid the quickly rising floodwaters, he was unable to escape. The man was a Christian and he had great faith that God would save him from the floodwaters. And so he prayed that God would rescue him. And soon enough, a boat came along and offered to help. The man refused the boat's help. and insisted that God would save him from the flood. Soon, a helicopter came along and struggled greatly to save the man. But again, the man refused, insisting still that God would rescue him. Finally, and unfortunately, the man drowned in the flood and he died. When he reached heaven, the man asked God, I had great faith that I would be rescued from the floodwaters. Why didn't you save me? To which God replied, I sent you a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want? Now, as silly as that illustration is, the attitude of the story captures well the response of the Jews in our passage today. Jesus has performed numerous signs. He's consistently called the Jews to repentance and faith. And instead of hearing and believing the words of Jesus, they stubbornly refused to accept the Messiah who was right in front of them. They refused to take part in the salvation that Jesus was offering them. And so look down at verse 49 as this dialogue continues. Verse 49, Jesus says, Now remember, as you come to this text, this is why context is so important. The Jews have frequently requested physical bread. Give us physical bread. We want to see you perform this miracle. Moses was able to do this. Certainly you can do better if you're the son of God. And so they recall that the bread their fathers ate in the wilderness was sufficient to feed millions and millions of Jews wandering through the wilderness for four decades. Again, Jesus could certainly top this as the divine incarnate word. And so Jesus, again, seeks to note that the bread he is providing is of a totally different kind. The Jews ancestors ate manna and died, but Jesus offers bread that leads to life. And this is an intentionally jarring contrast. John has done this repeatedly through his gospel. He likes to set the old covenant in direct contrast with the new covenant. The insufficiency of the old covenant and all of the sufficiency that comes with Jesus Christ in the New Covenant, and this is a perfect, perhaps one of the most stark contrasts we see. As the Jews cry out, well, Moses was able to do better, certainly you can top Moses, and Jesus says what? That manna didn't lead to eternal life. Those men ate that bread and they eventually died. It was not the same bread that I am offering you. And again, as you consider the Jews' frequent blindness, their frequent calls for physical bread and for their physical needs to be met, these selfish, self-seeking followers, these thrill seekers who see the miracles, but they're not truly observers of the signs. This is what's significant. Do you understand the significance of Jesus' signs? They mean something. They point the viewer to something. And you can be a passive spectator of a miracle and have no clue what the sign is truly pointing at. That's where these Jews are. They're frequently blind, and it's so easy to think, well, how foolish they must have been. Here they were clamoring for bread, and they're blind as bats that Jesus and all the salvation he offers is right there in front of them. They could have eternal life in Christ. And yet I think if you were to stop and genuinely consider this morning, you could probably identify a number of ungodly, selfish, worldly desires that are dominating your life right now and pulling your focus away from Jesus Christ. This is where the Jews are at. Their selfish, worldly, physical desires have so dominated their perspective, they've lost sight of what truly matters. Have you? Do you understand what truly matters this morning? You understand how you can have life. You must recognize this morning on a personal level that life apart from Christ is completely unsatisfying and empty. It is futile. Life lived apart from Christ is worthless. And so you must experience Jesus for yourself. You must have a personal encounter with Jesus that leads to life-altering transformation. This is what true salvation is. You cannot be saved by proxy. And what I mean when I say that is you can't have someone else stand in your place and accept salvation and benefit from that. That's what it means to have a proxy, essentially someone that goes in your stead. Salvation doesn't work that way. It's experiential on a personal level. Jesus has made this point repeatedly and the Jews refuse to hear him. This is willful blindness and hardness. Jesus is going to restate this truth in very graphic and vivid terms in our passage today. So look at verses 50 and 51. Jesus says, 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 so Jesus in these verses, he fully affirms his deity. He seeks to restate his heavenly origins. He is the bread that comes down from heaven. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. His statement in verses 50 and 51, it heavily resembles the words that he spoke to the woman at the well in John 4. And we've seen this comparison repeatedly through John chapter 6. Jesus says to her in verses 13 and 14, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. So again, we have a woman who's completely consumed with this idea of her physical needs being met. And so what does she say in verses 13 and 14? He says, whoever drinks of the water I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And of course, the woman misunderstood similarly to the Jews. And what does she say? Please give me this water so I don't have to come here to draw water anymore. This was, again, it was a menial task, but it was burdensome. And so people would frequently follow Jesus because they thought that he would meet their needs in some way. They're selfish seekers. We see Jesus's point clearly and repeatedly through this gospel. You must experience him for yourself. You have to experience Jesus in a real, personal, tangible way. And the reason that I bring this up is because the Samaritans do this. The Samaritans rightly respond in John 4, 42. The woman runs away and she goes to the town to say, come see a man who told me all I ever did. And what is the town's response? In verse 42, they state gloriously. It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. And the idea that the Samaritans were accepting of the Jewish Messiah was completely distasteful to the Jews. This one they rejected, who the Samaritans had already accepted his testimony and responded in faith. It is no longer because of your witness, but because we went and saw for ourselves, we experienced Jesus in a personal, real, tangible way. Again, have you? Have you experienced Jesus like this and has it led to change? Again, they didn't need to take anyone's word for it. And so as you consider this, Jesus's point becomes even more graphic in the last statement in verse 51. As you consider experiencing Jesus in a personal way, Jesus is gonna take it to a whole nother level. He says, the bread that I will give for the life of the world is what? My flesh. Now, first, I want you to notice briefly before we get to the shocking part of this statement, Jesus makes the statement of the offer of salvation to the world. Who is the offer of salvation available for? The world. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. His life is given for the life of the entire world. And this word for world in the Greek, it is literally the word cosmos. That is the geographical earth. Okay, there is absolutely no way to limit the scope of this salvation unless we are just blatantly disregarding the words of Jesus from this passage. He says, I offer my life for the life of the entire cosmos. And so, as you consider this then, does this mean that the whole world will be saved? Is this this idea of universalism where we really don't need to respond to the gospel because Jesus offers his life for the life of the world and so everyone is saved through Jesus in this way? Is this what Jesus is talking about? No, of course not. And we know that because in the statement just prior to this, Jesus has clarified his terms. Anyone who, what, eats of this bread, he will live forever. Anyone who personally experiences me, that person lives forever. This isn't a universal acceptance of salvation. It is a universal offer of salvation. And so secondly, as you consider this, notice that Jesus also greatly intensifies his call to personally experience his salvation with the statement. He's just told the crowds they must eat the bread from heaven in order to have eternal life. What is the bread from heaven? The bread that I will give is my flesh. And he doesn't stop there. Notice the response of the crowds. Jesus is only going to continue ratcheting up his commentary. The crowds then disputed amongst themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Many commentators note this phrase is better translated as they began to argue sharply. This is an intense disagreement. What exactly is this man claiming? Certainly Jesus is not advocating for cannibalism. However, What else could he have meant? The Jews are not sure. He seems to be very clearly stating, you need to eat me in order to be saved. You need to drink my blood in order to be saved. What in the world is he talking about? And so as the crowds are disagreeing about this, again, the irony in this passage is so rich because not 24 hours earlier, they're trying to make this one king because he had just fed them. Now they're disputing amongst themselves regarding this person and work of Jesus. And so Jesus will intensify his statement again. Look at verses 53 through 58. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Now again, we're seeing clear claims to deity. Only God can raise people up. Jesus is not mincing His words. And this connects directly with chapter 5, where Jesus provides a fully-fledged apologetic regarding himself and his work and his deity his relationship with the father and so jesus says here again affirming his previous statements i will raise this one up on the last day why 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 that the fathers ate and died. Again, that comparison, stark comparison between You want bread that the fathers ate. That bread didn't satisfy. It didn't provide what they needed for spiritual life. But again, the Jews are so focused on the temporary, that they're so focused on what's right in front of them, they're focused on physical life. We want that bread that provides for us in our physical lives. And again, they ironically quote Psalms that were talking about how dissatisfied their fathers were with that physical bread, and they claim that they will certainly be satisfied with that. Again, Jesus knows their hearts. He knows this is not the case. So, this is not like the bread that the fathers ate. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Now again, As you consider ratcheting up the intensity of this statement, Jesus certainly does that, and he does so primarily by stating that the Jews not only needed to eat his flesh, but they also needed to drink his blood. This would have been very, very jarring. The Mosaic Law specifically forbade anyone from eating meat that still contained blood in it. So, literally, a raw steak, you cannot eat that. If there's any blood left in the animal, you cannot eat it, you don't touch it, don't mess around with it, because that is the life still in the animal. And so to drink blood, this was entirely off-limits for any remotely faithful Jew. And so again, what is Jesus talking about? This would have been absolutely jarring. Now, to try and make sense of what Jesus is claiming here, even in a modern sense, some have said that Jesus is speaking about the Lord's Supper in this text. And so they believe when Jesus refers to eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he's referring to remembrance, right? This is taking place during the Lord's Supper. We're commanded to take part in the Lord's Supper and remember the sacrifice of Christ, and some even believe that this passage is a proof text for the Catholic belief of transubstantiation. Now, that's a big word, but transubstantiation essentially means during the Lord's Supper or during the Eucharist, when the bread and the wine are passed out, Catholics believe that that bread and wine literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They believe that primarily because of this text. They believe because Jesus says, you must eat my flesh, you must drink my blood. Certainly then, when we partake in the Lord's Supper, those elements are transformed, right? They're transubstantiated, that's where you get the idea, they're transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ. Now, this is, let me be very clear, this is completely unbiblical, completely unbiblical, and baseless from a theological perspective. And I'll address exactly why I'll address exactly why that's the case here, but additionally, it's really important, it's really important that we don't misunderstand or misuse this text, just like we saw last week. When we addressed last week, we said Jesus doesn't come to the middle of John chapter six after preaching the gospel of faith and repentance, respond to my words, believe my testimony, and all of a sudden his tune changes in John chapter six, the middle of John chapter six, suddenly Jesus is advocating for this certain school of theology and he's no longer calling people to repentance and faith. No, of course not. Of course not. We understand the same thing is the case here. Jesus is still preaching the same gospel message that he has been preaching since the beginning of John chapter 6. He doesn't reach verses 53 through 58 and suddenly become Now I'm talking about the Lord's Supper. Now we're talking about sacraments. No, we've been talking about salvation. Jesus is still talking about salvation. So do not lose the context, all right? Now, the reasons that we know Jesus is not referring to the Lord's Supper or to the Eucharist, number one, number one, the Lord's Supper has not been instituted yet. This is probably the most obvious, the most easy to understand. Jesus does not institute the Lord's Supper until Luke chapter 22, verses 14 through 26, we see it referenced in 1 Corinthians again, but this is quite a while before we get to the Lord's Supper. Jesus also does not command the disciples to remember his sacrifice until the night before his crucifixion. Okay, and so as you consider this, we understand chronologically, it doesn't make any sense that Jesus would be referring to the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist in this passage here, when that has yet to be instituted for probably a year, two years in advance from now. And so just from that standpoint, it makes sense Jesus would not be talking about that. Number two, the tense of the words eating and drinking all throughout verses 50 to 58, the Greek words used for eating and drinking are actually spoken in the aorist Now, the aorist tense communicates a single action that is performed in the past, okay? So, if you were to give an example of the aorist tense in English, you might say, Jason closed the door, right? Now, that is to communicate, Jason walked through the door, he shut the door, and that was it. He didn't close the door and then open it again and close the door and open it again and close the door. No, the aorist tense is used to communicate a single action performed in the past. So this is significant because the Aorist tense is consistent with the once-for-all action of being saved. You're not saved over and over and over again. You understand who Jesus is, you believe Jesus, you place your faith in him, and that's done. You're justified, the Bible says. Now, The Lord's Supper, you would not use the Aorist tense to describe eating and drinking on Lord's Supper because it will happen repeatedly. It's something that you're commanded to remember, actually, until the Lord returns, Jesus says. So it wouldn't make sense to use that tense of the word in this context. Jesus is clearly talking about salvation. Now, the third reason, and this is the most theologically grounded reason, Most convincingly from verses 50 to 58, Jesus says seven times that an individual must eat the bread that is from heaven that they may have life. Seven times, Jesus says, you must have this bread so that you have life. In verse 50, this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that whoever eats of it may not die. In verse 51, I am the living bread came down from heaven. If anyone eats of it, he will live forever. In verse 51, the Jews say, how can he give us his flesh to eat? Jesus says, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. So seven different times we see you have to eat this bread in order to have eternal life, in order to have spiritual life. Nowhere, nowhere else in scripture is it commanded for an individual to partake in the Lord's Supper or in the Eucharist in order to have eternal life. Completely unbiblical. This is probably the biggest reason that we understand this is not in any way shape or form referring to eternal life. Jesus makes very clear that he is speaking about eating and drinking that leads to, again, salvation. The Lord's Supper does not grant salvation to its participants. All right, now finally, and probably most insignificant reason, but a reason nonetheless, the usage of the word flesh in this passage versus the word body in every other passage where we see the Lord's Supper instituted. That is a significant difference. Jesus is using a far more graphic word here in John 6 than he does when he institutes the Lord's Supper before his crucifixion. There are two different words used. And so while this does not necessarily prove our understanding, it doesn't prove our position, it is nonetheless an argument alongside our other very significant proofs. And so As we think about that, you covered pretty thoroughly what Jesus is not talking about here. We understand very clearly Jesus is not talking about the Lord's Supper. So what is his point then? Why does he keep referencing eating and drinking if we are not to think of the Lord's Supper? And the reason is this, Jesus wants to make a graphic, vivid point. Salvation is experiential on a personal level. Again, you cannot be saved by proxy. There's nothing more personal than eating food and it's something that no one else can do for you. You have to eat the food. And we would all understand for someone who is starving and dying out in the woods or out in a desert, if you put a meal before them and they don't eat it and instead would rather someone else eat it for them, we understand the food won't benefit them and they will die. This is the significance here. As I think about this, one of my favorite restaurants is Jimmy John's, right? And they have quite a few funny signs that hang in the restaurant. But one stands out in my mind as I look at this text. Usually hanging somewhere in their front window is a big sign that reads, free smells. You ever seen that? It's funny because we all understand. You can go into that shop. You can look at all the subs. You can look at the menu. You can smell the subs. You can even touch the ingredients. But unless you eat that food, it will not benefit you. This is exactly what Jesus's point is. Responding tangibly and personally to his testimony is the only way to be saved. Jesus says in verse 56, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. This verse is significant. It makes an important statement about the believer's security, their assurance in Christ. This word for abide, it is the Greek word meno. It should literally be translated. I believe it is better translated in this passage, remains. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me. and I in Him. Whoever truly experiences Jesus for themselves, they remain in Christ. There's no such thing as a former Christian. This is becoming very popular in our culture today, the deconstructionist movement and people saying, I deconstructed my faith. You never had a faith to begin with. Be very clear about that. There is no faith that someone can deconstruct. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, those who personally experience Jesus's salvation, they remain in Christ, and Christ in them. Again, the evangelist writes in his epistle, 1 John 2.19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. Those who truly respond to Jesus Christ, they remain in Him. They experience the power of grace at work in their lives in a real personal way. And so as you consider the strength of this message, the difficulty of this message, what will be the response of the Jews? The Jews have already been turning in their attitude and their affections towards Jesus. From chapter five, we've witnessed this turn. They've been selfishly seeking and following, hoping to see miracles, hoping to be participants in this celebrity of who Jesus is and all the miracles that he's performing. And so as Jesus starts to preach his gospel and they start to hear a little bit more about him, starting in John chapter five, he gives this apologetic for himself and his deity. And it's kind of like, whoa, what is this? We didn't sign up for this. Now it's getting even more heavy, more weighty. Notice their response in verse 60. Verse 60, the Jews respond, The first thing you notice is the response of the disciples. And this is the broader group, again, of thrill-seeking followers, those who were not true followers of Jesus Christ. Instead, they're selfish, shallow followers who desert when things get difficult. Which kind of follower are you? What kind of disciple are you? Are you a true disciple of Christ, or are you a selfish, shallow follower who deserts when things get difficult? In addition to that, we should also pay attention closely to their response, their evaluation that this was a hard saying. This does not simply mean hard to understand. The word used in the New Testament that means hard to understand, we see it used in Hebrews 5.11. It literally means this is difficult to comprehend. This is a heavy, difficult truth. We don't understand it. That is not the word used here. This is not a word meaning we struggle to understand what exactly you're talking about, Jesus. This word literally means harsh or difficult to accept. This is a harsh teaching. This is an offensive teaching. Who can accept this? Who can listen to it? Notice for so many of these disciples, as soon as the possibility of physical bread is removed, instead it's replaced by a demand to submit and obey what? they're no longer interested in following Jesus. It's so ironic, just 24 hours earlier, they get the bread, he feeds the 5,000, he walks across the water, what's their response? We're gonna make this guy king. Yeah, King Jesus. And by the way, we also want some more bread. And okay, wait, what's this now about you're the bread from heaven and wait, we have to fully commit to you and follow you? Yeah. Yeah, I got stuff to do. I can't hang around for that. Is your faith real this morning? Or is your faith contingent upon your needs being met by Jesus when it's convenient? You'll follow Jesus if you're allowed to do it on your terms. This is where the Jews were. We'll follow Jesus if it's on our terms. But as soon as Jesus talks about, you need to experience this in a real way, very similar to Nicodemus, you must be born again. Again, Nicodemus doesn't misunderstand. He's not stupid. He doesn't say, wait, I can't go back into my mother's womb and be born again. This isn't scientifically possible. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and proposing a metaphorical challenge. And so Nicodemus responds to this problem in like metaphoric terms. He says, I'm an old man. It's too late for me. I can't be transformed that way. The Jews here are responding very similarly. This is a harsh saying. Who can listen to it? You're asking a lot here, Jesus. We just want bread. Again, what kind of follower are you? What kind of disciple are you? Jesus is gonna respond in verse 61. Again, John providing proofs throughout his gospel of Jesus's deity. John, from the beginning of his gospel in John chapter two, he says, And here he says it again. Jesus, knowing in himself that the disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, 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. In Jesus' initial question, do you take offense at this? He already knows they've taken offense at this. His question likely indicates there will be far more in the future for the Jews to be offended at. Namely, the slaughter of their Messiah on a Roman cross. Paul refers to this reality as a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Jesus is essentially saying, if you took offense at this, this is nothing. You just wait. You're taking offense at this, you just wait for my ministry to play itself out. There's gonna be a whole lot more for you to be offended at. The gospel by its very nature is offensive. And Jesus never shies away from that. Jesus never strives to make his gospel more palatable so that he might have a larger numerical following. This is never his concern. He preaches the gospel unapologetically. powerfully. In verses 63 through 65, we see the detailing for us how one can respond to the gospel message. Notice Jesus' words in verse 63. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. Very similar to what Jesus told Nicodemus. But he immediately follows it up by saying what? The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. So the spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all. How then can we be saved? What can we do? Maybe we can only respond if we're specifically drawn or called. No, actually Jesus follows it up and says, the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Commentator Leon Morris writes, Jesus' words not only tell of life, they bring life. Jesus himself says this in John 5, 24. And notice verse 65. And so Jesus seems to reiterate the thought expressed back in verse 44. Who is granted to come to Jesus? Jesus says you can't come unless it's granted to you by the Father. Who is granted to come to Jesus? Any and all who listen and learn from his words. Anyone who listens to the words of Jesus and responds to them in faith. That's what he just said. My words are spirit and life. Jesus defines exactly what it looks like to be drawn by the Father. It is literally to listen to and learn from the words of Jesus. He lays it out in verses 45 through 46. Notice Jesus' continued dialogue with the disciples in verse 66 and 67. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the 12, do you want to go away as well? This is a dramatic and this is a tense moment. You have to understand, for the disciples who are living in the moment, that they are waiting for an earthly, physical Messiah to come and rescue them from Rome, to dominate Rome, a political agent to overthrow their political oppressors and bring, again, physical deliverance. The disciples are watching the scene unfold. There are thousands upon thousands of people who have just said, King Jesus, yes, King Jesus, just give us more bread. Well, you can do that, Jesus. We're this close. We've got an army. We're so close, just give him more bread. Instead, what does Jesus do? He preaches an unapologetically difficult gospel message. You experience me, you submit to me, you come and you follow. If you don't eat this bread for yourself, you don't have life. And now the crowds are turning away. And I imagine for some of these disciples, it was like, what did you just do? We're so close to the physical deliverance that we've been waiting for, that the Messiah would bring, right? And now all these crowds are, leaving, they're walking away and almost you can see the scene as Jesus would turn and in the distance, people flocking away from him. You want to go away as well? And his question is stated in the negative, almost to say, you do not want to leave also, do you? He's expecting their response to be in the affirmative. He's expecting them to be loyal. Notice Peter's response in verse 68. 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. Peter's response is simply amazing. What else is there? Where else would we go? And Peter responds by affirming that no one who has come to know Jesus' life-giving word would ever forsake him. And I think it's unfortunate, this question, do you want to go away as well? I think it's unfortunate, this is not asked more often of believers today. Far too often, as believers today, we're already off trying desperately to fit in with the world around us, instead of staying close by Jesus and understanding there is no one and nothing else worth following. Where else would we go, Jesus? You have everything we need. Peter also refers to Jesus as the Holy One of God, which is most certainly intending to ascribe the highest possible honor to Jesus. Peter refers to him as Lord and then follows up with this statement again, John using a third party witness to testify to the deity of Jesus Christ. And notice despite Peter's confidence, notice Jesus' answer, Jesus answered them in verse 70, And Jesus' response is very interesting. One commentator writes, He knew what was in man. He himself had chosen the 12 and of his inner circle, one that would not merely go away as the fringe disciples have gone. He was a devil. And in the spirit of Satan, he would actively oppose what Jesus stood for. This is Judas. And it's astonishing after all that we've seen happen in this passage. After the fringe disciples that decide, you know what, this message is too difficult to accept, we don't want any part of it, we're leaving, Jesus turns to the 12 and says, are you gonna go away also? Peter responds enthusiastically, and Jesus understands still. Despite all that he's done, despite his consistent gospel message, despite his testimony and the testimony of others, there's still one in his inner circle that would not follow, and actually more than just not follow, he would actively in the spirit of Satan opposed the will and work of Jesus. It's both astonishing and I believe sobering that after years spent with the Son of God, witnessing miracles, hearing his words, hearing his testimony, Judas still held firm in his rejection of Jesus. If Judas could do that as one of the inner circle of Jesus' disciples, how much more could you and I? You live in close proximity to the gospel. But this is possible because Judas never experienced Jesus personally. He was close to Jesus, he was close to the apostles, but proximity to real faith, no matter how genuine, does not render one saved. Again, proximity to real faith does not make you saved. You must understand that this morning. Judas is able to spend years with the very Son of God, watching his miracles. Judas could have given a better apologetic to the personal work of Jesus Christ than probably anyone in this room, and he still rejects Jesus at the end and actively opposes him by Satan's power. How much more could one of us do that? You must personally experience Jesus for yourself. You must come to him in true repentance and faith. Again, in a personal way, there is no salvation by proxy. Let's go ahead and bow and close with a word of prayer. Dear God, we're so thankful for the clear testimony of your word regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ. Lord, we understand the metaphoric terms of the passage today. We must truly experience Jesus in the most personal way. More personal than eating food and being blessed by its nourishment. We must partake in the person and work of Jesus. If we don't, We stand to respond exactly like Judas and the fake disciples. We're selfish, shallow followers who desert when things get difficult. God, I pray that you would give us grace to truly examine our hearts and lives today, to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to understand that in order to truly respond, we must experience Jesus personally. It's not enough to be close to faith. It's not enough to be close to Jesus. We have to experience him in a personal way. God, would you give us grace to do this? We need your help. And we ask for it this morning in Jesus name. Amen.