| Tough Teachings for the Proud or Self-Righteous
This lesson was taught during the Sunday school hour by Scott Hollander as part of the series Tough Teachings of Jesus. The audio for the lesson can be found here.
- expand our tough teachings of Jesus to see what he says to the proud or self-righteous. We're going to look in John 6 to see what Jesus has to say to those people who want the benefits that come from association with the church, or to enjoy the benefits of Christianity without actually having Christ. We're also going to see what he says to those who believe they can somehow earn or deserve salvation through wisdom or works. Background:Jesus' miracles of healing the sick continued to draw crowds and so we see in… V. 1-14; Feeding the Five Thousand V. 15-21; Jesus Walks on the Sea – Pray after Scripture reading – 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" We see here in chapter 6, the people were seeking Jesus because their bellies were fed, and they were amazed by his miracles, and here in v. 25 they're chasing after Jesus, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" Jesus was never one to be distracted with the non-essentials however, and having avoided their trivial question he declares their true intention and ushers a warning not to pursue the temporal gains of food but to pursue everlasting life itself. 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." This is a declaration that although Jesus was talking about perishable food specifically, his teaching applies to all things temporal: a comfortable life, community with the physical church on earth, wealth and possessions, etc. You guys want stuff, but you need everlasting life… And how do we receive this everlasting life? Only through the Son of Man (Jesus). And He declares, "I give it to you because the Father set his seal on me." Some of you may have seen this ring that I wear quite frequently. Although you may have noticed it, you may not have noticed what it actually is. Engraved on this ring is the Hollander shield and crest; it is essentially a signet ring. With this ring, I can press its engraving as a seal of authenticity that it came from me. Now the question stands, what's the value in authenticating that it came from me? Not much… It was a common understanding though that kings and men in authority could authenticate their message through the seal of their signet ring. This is what Jesus was declaring; his authenticity was based on the seal placed upon him by God the Father himself. Did the people hear Jesus though and cling to him for everlasting life? No! They completely missed the point and asked, what work may we accomplish. 28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Jesus had to repeat himself, the work was not of them, but of God, that they would believe on Jesus whom he sent. Listen to how Jesus phrases this, he doesn't say, "this is the work, which you must do…" He says, "This is the work of God… that you would believe… Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 2:8-10 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
But you're about to see the trend of the people to seek the reward of Christ without seeking Christ himself. 30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. What Jesus is saying here in v.35, somewhat lost in translation, is "I AM, I AM" or "I AM WHO I AM," just as God declared to Moses at the burning bush. If there was any doubt up until now, Jesus declares "I am, myself, the bread of life!" He is declaring his deity, his authority and his efficacy. And now we see some of the toughness of his teaching… 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. Even when all the truth was laid out for them, the signs, miracles, the truth and even Jesus himself, they would not believe. But is their lack of belief somehow a failure of Jesus' ministry? Could he not have convinced them with his eloquence, or the signs and miracles they requested? 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." And here in v.39 Jesus himself declares what we in reformed circles call limited atonement, or particular atonement. We see as well, irresistible grace or better referred to as efficacious grace, and preservation of the saints. The elect are a gift from God the Father to Jesus Christ, as we'll see both their regeneration and their perseverance are effectual because God declared it so based on the works of Jesus himself alone. So do we believe in justification by works? Yes we do, it's a trick question…we are justified by Jesus' works alone. This concept of particular atonement, efficacious grace, and preservation of the saints, was so important that Jesus repeated it three times: 1. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 2. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 3. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." And in this, the Jews knew that Jesus was declaring his deity, we see… Rejected by His Own; 41-65 41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." 42 And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" But Jesus cuts them short… 43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one cancome to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. In this response, Jesus is teaching us about both ability and inability. He's expanding his previous comments in order to clarify that there is no work which you can do to earn eternal life because you have no ability to earn or deserve the benefits of Christ without Christ and additionally, without the work of the Spirit. "Can" in v. 44 (and later in v. 65) is a word that denotes ability. You all remember the trauma of elementary school, teacher can I go to the bathroom??? And what does the teacher (or for the homeschooled, mom…) inevitably say? Jesus is declaring that no one "can" because no one has the ability to come to Christ. This is the doctrine we refer to as total depravity or total inability; for the fact that because of our sinful nature, we are wholly corrupted in our person, and as Scripture says, dead in our trespasses and sin. We are unable on our own to work a work or exercise faith and belief in Christ apart from the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. The necessary condition to come to Christ is that the Father draws him. Jesus was not declaring that no one would come because no one could come, but that the only way for us to come to Christ is for the Father to draw them to Christ. And here we see another tough word and that of drawing. To be clear, this is the same word used in Acts 21:30 for dragging. Luke tells us, 30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. 31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. This is not a mere wooing or conviction through logical reasoning. But Jesus explains what this dragging looks like; God does not drag people into Heaven kicking and screaming that don't want to go. He continues… 45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." Here, Jesus quotes Isaiah 54:13, 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children. This is the same teaching he was trying to convey to Nicodemus in John 3: 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." …And then in verse 5… 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' (This being born again is the act of regeneration by the Holy Spirit) 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." This drawing or dragging is the work of the Spirit of God himself as he takes out the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36: 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.), this is the monergistic work of regeneration. But as we'll see, this is truly a hard teaching for the proud and the self-righteous who think there is any way to the Father except through the Son. 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." 59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. 60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" Herein lies some of the complexity of the concept. Something does not have to be physicalto be true, and simply because something is material/physical does not make it true. What Jesus was conveying was that their ancestors had physical manna, but that it was not the true bread. And likewise, we do not have to physically eat Jesus's flesh for the spiritual reality to be true. I mean truly true, not just in memoriam. This is the same type of reality in reference to the husband and wife becoming one flesh. We need not be joined at the hip to truly be one. 61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." 66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 70 Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. This text likewise teaches us the hard doctrines of what we refer to as unconditional election, in that there is nothing inherent that any of us brings in order to somehow justify the grace bestowed on us, and similarly the teaching of limited atonement, in that God the Father knew those intimately who were to be a gift to Jesus and Jesus knew those whom he was redeeming through his life, death and resurrection. The apostle John teaches in 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; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. And in chapter 3:1, of 1 John, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. How can we take what can be some very hard teachings from Jesus though, and yet still understand the hope of the Gospel? o Even though we can neither earn nor deserve it, salvation is a gift from God. (Eph 2:8-9) o Our salvation is efficacious to the uttermost. What about in evangelism? o We do no one any favors by not declaring Christ in the Gospel. o It is not our words and intellect God uses to convince or woo a convert. o God's word will not return void: Isaiah 55:11 reminds us, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." The two-fold purpose of evangelism:
2 Corinthians 2:14-17, "14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ."
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