We are looking at the transformation of Peter and how Jesus moved him in his faith to become a faithful apostle. We are going to look at an important confession that Peter makes to Jesus before the other disciples. But it is not the confession that Peter is most known for making. Open your copies of God’s word to John 6 and we are going to look at another confession that Peter makes as Jesus makes some hard sayings and offers some challenging questions.
Hard Sayings (John 6:60-64)
I think it is important to begin by considering that Jesus frequently said hard things. His teachings were not simplistic. We might think that Jesus’ parables were simple or easy. But there were occasions when Jesus told a parable and his disciples would have to come to him afterward, needing an explanation for what Jesus taught. When we read the parables we also can struggle with the challenging teachings contained in them. But I want to draw our attention to John 6 in particular for our study. After the feeding of the 5000, the next day Jesus teaches the crowd that he is the bread of life (cf. John 6:35). But then Jesus says that whoever comes to him will never hunger and whoever believes in him will never thirst. Further, Jesus says that he has come down from heaven to do the Father’s will and not his own. These teachings lead to the Jews grumbling about him (cf. John 6:41-42). Jesus’ response does not make things any easier. Nor does Jesus offer an apology for what he is saying. Jesus tells them not to grumble because no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them (cf. John 6:44). Then Jesus tells them that he is the living bread and whoever easts this bread will live forever. In verse 52 we see the Jews dispute among themselves regarding this teaching. Jesus makes no apology again but states again that you must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have life (cf. John 6:54). In verse 59 we see that Jesus was staying these hard things in the synagogue in Capernaum.
This brings us to our text of study, John 6:60-69. After a day of this kind of teaching, I want you to notice the response of his disciples. Many of Jesus’ disciples heard it and said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” What Jesus said was hard to understand and hard to accept. But the question that is coming to these disciples is this: what do you do when you are presented with hard teachings in the scriptures? I want us to notice that when many of the disciples are saying that this is a hard saying, they are not saying it an informative way. They are not saying it like we might say that the book of Revelation or the book of Romans is a difficult book to study. You will notice in verse 61 that they are grumbling about this. They are complaining about the difficulty as a reason for rejection. They are not saying, “Wow! This is a hard saying and we are going to have to think about this and study it further.” They are saying, “Wow! This is a hard saying and we are not going to accept it.” What Jesus said was hard and they took offense at what he said (John 6:61).
I think this is an important point that we must consider for a moment. Not all of the scriptures are easy to understand. Further, not all of the scriptures are easy to accept. The teachings of the scriptures are going to be offensive. God’s teachings are going to offend people. The offense is not because God is crass or mean. The offense is because God is going to say things, teach things, and do things that we are not going to like. Why were the disciples grumbling and complaining in verse 61? The obvious answer is that they did not like what Jesus said and how hard it was to accept what he said. Friends, Jesus’ teachings on sexuality, marriage, divorce, remarriage, self-control, anger, love and hate, submission and leadership, gender roles and distinctions and the like are going to offend people. These are things that we want to take offense at as well. But notice how Jesus handled their offense. Jesus did not change his teaching or apologize. Rather, Jesus says essentially in verse 62 if you cannot handle those teachings, what are you going to do with even harder teachings?
But here is what else we must notice that Jesus connects together. Look at John 6:64. Jesus says that there are some of them who do not believe. Taking offense at what Jesus teaches means that we do not believe. If we believed in Jesus as the One sent from heaven who is the bread of life (cf. John 6), then it would not matter what he said, we would believe. Our argument with what God says in the scriptures means we truly to do not believe.
Drawn To The Son (John 6:65-66)
Notice how Jesus confirms this even further in verse 65. Jesus says, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Jesus said this back in verses 43-46 when the Jews began to grumble that he said he was the bread of life who came down from heaven. How does the Father draw people to Jesus? How does the Father grant people to come to his Son? Go back to John 6:43-46 and carefully look at the teaching. You will notice in verse 43 that Jesus tells them not to grumble about what he has taught them. In verse 44 Jesus tells them the reason they are not accepting him is because they have not been drawn by the Father to come to him. What does Jesus mean by this? Look at verse 45. “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father come to me.” How do people come to Jesus? They must be drawn by the Father. How are they drawn by the Father? They listen and learn from the Father. They are taught by God. They listen to the scriptures and respond.
Think about how that Jesus is teaching and doing is coming together in this passage. Why did Jesus tell hard parables that sometimes required the disciples to ask Jesus what the parable meant? Why would Jesus give hard sayings when people asked him questions? From our text in our study today, why does Jesus keep saying hard things which leads them to grumble and dispute even further? Why is Jesus doing this? What we are learning is that Jesus does these things to see who believes. What we are learning is that Jesus is doing this to see who will seek him more and who will walk away. Jesus wants to know if the hard things he has for us is going to be a deterrent or something we are willing to work through and learn from.
Come back to the text here in John 6:66 and notice the response of many of these disciples. Verse 66 tells us that many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Notice that it is not the crowd that turned back. Notice that it was not just a few disciples that turned back. It was many disciples that turned back and did not walk with Jesus. Why did they turn back? They turned back because what Jesus teaches is hard for us to accept. They turned back because what Jesus taught revealed their unbelief, even though they had been following Jesus up to this point.
The Key Confession of True Faith (John 6:67-69)
So now Jesus turns to his twelve disciples and asks if they want to do the same. “Do you want to go away as well?” Do you want to leave when things get hard? Do you want to leave when my teachings go against your hopes and expectations? Do you want to leave when you are challenged by what Jesus is teaching you in your life? Do you want to leave when you are offended by what the scriptures proclaim? Do you want to go also?
Notice Peter has an answer as he speaks for the twelve. Peter has a three point response to Jesus’ question. First, to whom will we go? Where else are we going to go? Who else would we go to? There is nowhere else to go. There is not something better to go to when you leave Jesus. There is not something out there in the world that is better than what Jesus has. We know this. Please consider why the world lacks joy and satisfaction. Please consider why the world is full of depression and emptiness. Everything that they claim is true living is not life and does not satisfy. There is nowhere else to go.
Second, Jesus has the words of eternal life. True life is in Jesus. Leaving Jesus is the worst decision you can make. Where are you going to go? You are going to leave true life. You are going to leave the only life. You are going to leave eternal life. You are leaving your purpose. You are leaving what you were made for you. You are leaving the paradise of eternity. You are leaving everything that is good, right, and true. Peter confesses that Jesus has everything. Jesus has the words of eternal life.
Third, Peter confesses that we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. We know who you are. If we believe in who Jesus is and have come to know who Jesus is, then there is nothing that could be offered to us that would ever cause us to leave. If we believe in who Jesus is and have come to know who Jesus is, then there is nothing Jesus can say that will be too hard for us to accept and believe. There is nothing he is going to say or do that will offend us. We will believe him and follow him. Whatever he teaches me about my body, that is what I will believe and will follow. Whatever he teaches about marriage, sexuality, gender, submission, leadership, suffering, hardship, trials, and all the rest, we will believe and we will follow. This is the great confession because it dictates the course of your life. If we believe that Jesus has the words of eternal life and that he is the Holy One of God, then there is nothing that he says or does that will cause us to grumble and to leave him. Rather, we are going to want to learn more from him, understand what he saying, so that we can draw even closer to him. What keeps us following Jesus no matter what happens in this life is that we know that there are no alternatives, that only Jesus has life, and that he is the Holy One of God. He is our Savior and our Redeemer.
Key Messages
So here are some important take home applications for our lives. First, eternal life is in the words of Jesus. We need to put our minds back into God’s word. God’s word suffers so much neglect. In a recent lesson from Jeremiah 36 we learned that God gives us his word about his future judgment so that we would turn from our evil ways and God would then forgive us. Jesus is telling us that his words are the only way to life. Life is not in philosophies, psychologies, sociologies, or any other human way of looking at life. Life is in Jesus and his words lead us to life.
Second, true believers seek to be taught by God. The quotation that Jesus uses in John 6:45 comes from Isaiah 54:13. “All your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace to your children.” When Jesus said, “And they will all be taught by God,” the “they” referred to God’s children. If you are a child of God, then this means you will be taught by God through his word, which is how the Father will lead you to Jesus to be saved. God’s children listen and learn from their Father.
Finally, this learning never ends. Peter’s great confession about who Jesus is and why they will not leave him did not mean that there was not more learning to come. We will read in Acts 10 how Peter had more to learn about God’s will regarding the inclusion of the Gentiles into the kingdom. We will not stop wanting to learn more and more from God. The listening never ends. The learning never ends. But you are going to encounter hard sayings. You are going to read hard teachings. You are going to want to be offended by what the Lord has said. Will this be your time to leave or your time to believe?