December 19, 2025 • 24 mins
There are a lot of reasons folks find to celebrate during the Christmas season. Believers know that the incarnation is at the heart of the celebration. But is there even more that we can lean into to fuel this celebration? We’ll go for further understanding of the roots of the season in this study.
John 6:35
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Now, the reason why I've chosen this series of seven IN
statements in John's Gospel for our Advent series is because
right at the heart of Christmas is a claim to the identity of
Jesus as the God man in common. Who is this Jesus?
(00:21):
Welcome to the God centred life with Josh Moody.
Brand new series kicking off today.
We're calling that series Who isJesus?
Taking a look at the book of John.
Today's installment, the Bread of life from John 635.
Josh Moody, senior pastor of College Church located in
Wheaton, IL Thanks for joining us today.
(00:42):
Well, we're dialing up an Adventseries here, Josh, and it sounds
like you're suggesting that if we talk about or sing about or
celebrate the baby in the Mangerwithout really wrestling with
who that baby is, we're not getting.
Christmas, you are not getting Christmas.
The whole point of Christmas is the Christ and who is Jesus.
And of course, then what implications does that have for
(01:03):
each of our lives? And we're going to lead into
that this season with joy and anticipation.
Let's do it. Bread of Life, John 635.
Here's Josh. Well, it's a great joy to be in
church together as we enter the Advent season.
Like every generation before ours and every generation after,
(01:30):
deep down we long for Jesus. So said one reporter on ACNN
blog, writing about why millennials are leaving the
church. Her point was that it is the
peripherals of church dysfunction that put people off,
not the person of Jesus who remains is always deeply
(01:52):
attractive. Or whether or not her whole
argument is accurate, the passage before us today does
display the kind of magnetic power that Jesus indeed does
still have, but yet at the same time that the real issue is not
what Christians do or the churchdoes, but who Jesus actually is.
(02:18):
Well, we're beginning a new series for Advent this weekend,
looking together at the seven times in John's Gospel that
Jesus declares I am. And these I am statements are
usually thought by commentators to reverberate with the claims
of Jesus to be God himself. In the Old Testament, God had
appeared to Moses and said that his name was I Am.
(02:43):
So when Jesus declares I am the bread of life, he is probably
then most would agree, deliberately referencing this
divine person. That Hebrew readers and his
original heroes would have picked up.
This reference is made crystal clear by the most famous time
(03:04):
that Jesus said I AM when in chapter 8 of John's Gospel he
claims that before Abraham was Iam.
Meaning that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
And the reference to divinity there was not missed because
those who heard it first spoken tried to stone him to death for
(03:28):
the blasphemy, not believing that he was the true Son of God
Incarnate. Now, the reason why I've chosen
this series of seven IN statements in John's Gospel for
our Advent series is because right at the heart of Christmas
is a claim to the identity of Jesus as the God man Incarnate.
(03:52):
Who is this Jesus? What we will find out as we
listen to his I AM statements. But I've also chosen this series
of seven I Am statements becausethey answer the most important
religious question of our day, those who want to be spiritual
(04:14):
but not religious, in the phrasethat has become well known with
reference to those who are not sure they want to claim
particular religious affiliation.
Such folk need first of all not to think about church, but about
Jesus. Who is Jesus?
(04:35):
Well in this first I AM statement Jesus declares that he
is the bread of life. What does he mean by that?
To answer that question we will need to look at this I am
statement in context for John weaves into his description of
this story. 3 responses to Jesusclaim to the bread of life. 2
(04:59):
Wrong one right? The crowds, the disciples and
then the 12 First the crowds. So the story in the background
is that Jesus has just fed 5000 people with a small picnic.
This was an astonishing miracle and the crowds began to realise
(05:21):
that Jesus was at least someone special.
They first thought that he was the prophet.
That is, they recognise the way that this miracle echoed
previous miracles of Moses that had been done to their
forebears. However, they clearly have the
wrong idea about all this because verse 15 they want to
(05:43):
make Jesus king by force and so their idea, the prophet is a
warlike king. Jesus is not this and so he
withdraws from them by himself. Jesus disciples decide across
over the lake that is the Sea ofGalilee, verse 16, no doubt
(06:04):
wondering where Jesus had got toand thinking that he might have
gone back to Capernaum, which itseems was their early base of
operations for their ministry. Suddenly a great storm grew up
and then they noticed Jesus walking on water.
Jesus steps into the boat and immediately the boat appears on
(06:26):
the other side. The crowd, realising that Jesus
and his disciples had left, followed in their boats to
Capernaum and they discover Jesus again.
Now this crowd is magnetically attracted to Jesus, but who do
they think Jesus is? There is now a series of
interactions from verse 25 to verse 59 that indicates what
(06:50):
they thought. They were hungry for the wrong
thing. Jesus explains their mistake in
verse 26. Truly, truly, I say to you, you
are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate
your fill of the loaves. Now in John's Gospel signs play
(07:16):
an important role as intended vehicles to carry people towards
genuine faith in Jesus. And so Jesus point here is that
they're not following him because of the sign of the
feeding of the 5000 wondering what that means about who Jesus
is, but simply because they werereally impressed with the
(07:37):
miracle had had a belly fill of bread and they're viewing Jesus
as some sort of coin operated dispenser of miraculous
sustenance. There follows a series of
interactions that are Jesus way of showing the crowds that
though they are attracted to Jesus, they are seeking the
(07:58):
wrong thing. They're hungry for the wrong
thing. So verse 29, Jesus tells them
the works that God requires are to believe in him whom God has
sent. That is in Jesus.
That's the point of the sign, tocause them to believe in Jesus.
But then in a bizarre interaction in verse 30, they
(08:18):
then asked for a sign to prove it.
As if feeding 5000 people with asmall picnic and going for an
afternoon stroll on the Lake of Galilee wasn't enough.
Well, Jesus answers by pointing them to a deeper meaning.
The real bread from heaven is hehimself.
(08:40):
They naturally enough, they wantthis life giving bread.
And then Jesus says in the famous I am statement in verse
35, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go
hungry and he who believes in mewill never be thirsty.
(09:01):
Well, this is all too much for them, and they begin grumbling.
It's a word deliberately chosen by John, no doubt to remind us
of the grumbling of the Old Testament people of God after
Moses's miracles. I cannot believe that Jesus is
the bread of life because they know his dad and mum.
(09:25):
The crowd's reaction to Jesus inthe focus as we continue our
look at John's gospel. But first, a reminder that with
this brand new study, there are other studies that are available
and those are to be found on ourwebsite, which is God centered
life.org. There's other resources there as
well. There's a devotional that Josh
writes. We'd love for you to take
(09:45):
advantage of the resources that are there, God centered
life.org, who is Jesus? Let's jump back into that study
now. Here's Josh.
What was then the crowd's beliefabout Jesus?
Well, they followed him because He was a miracle worker who
could provide them with materialsustenance.
(10:05):
Once Jesus began to explain thatfollowing Him meant believing in
Him personally and it meant something for eternal life and
that He was himself the bread oflife.
That is, to follow Jesus was notjust to get something from
Jesus, but to believe in Jesus for His own sake.
(10:29):
The crowds are not so excited. Perhaps they were spiritual but
not religious. They did not want Jesus to be
the great I am. He was Joseph and Mary's son
after all. How on earth could they eat his
(10:51):
flesh? It was all too much like cultic
religious mumbo jumbo. Now, if Jesus had just stopped
with giving them a big meal out of nothing, then they would have
been quite happy and followed him.
It's a bit like if someone in Africa had managed to sort of
conjure up a massive feast for impoverished people and they'd
(11:15):
all of course followed him. And then afterwards he refused
to give them any more. I would not be best pleased.
I like this true story of someone at Cambridge University
who asked the Proctor to bring him cakes and ale during his
examination. Proctor.
(11:37):
Sorry, no person taking examination.
Sir, I really must insist. I request and require that you
bring me cakes and ale. At this point he produced a copy
of the 400 year old Laws of Cambridge, written in Latin and
(11:59):
still nominally in effect, and pointed to the section which
read roughly translated from theLatin Gentleman.
Sitting examinations may requestor require cakes and ale.
Pepsi and hamburgers were judgedthe modern equivalent, and he
sat there writing his examination and happily slurping
(12:20):
away and chewing his Big Mac or whatever it was. 3 weeks later,
the university fined the person 1 LB of sterling silver for
failing to wear a sword to the examination.
(12:42):
Sometimes people find Jesus dissatisfying not because he is,
but because they're looking for satisfaction.
Bread. Drink in the wrong places?
(13:06):
Well, the first response, then the crowds hungry for the wrong
things. Second response, the disciples,
or once again, John carefully weaves this into his story and
you'll find their response to Jesus.
I am the bread of life statementin verses 60 to 66.
(13:27):
And you'll see there that they find Jesus teaching too hard.
Look at verse 60 when many of his disciples heard it.
They said this is a hard teaching.
Who can listen to it? Jesus replies by saying that
there are harder teachings to come, namely verse 62, the
(13:49):
ascension of Jesus after his resurrection.
But Jesus also replies to their objection by explaining the
meaning of his teaching. He says the words I've spoken to
you are spirit and they are life.
That is, Jesus is not literally saying we have to cannibalise
(14:10):
Jesus to be saved. He is saying that we need to
feast on Jesus by faith. But not all of them got this.
Indeed, famously, Judas Iscariotverse 71 did not get it.
How is this possible? How is it possible that these
(14:33):
disciples close to Jesus, at least for a season, did not
believe in Him? Jesus?
Explains verse 65. This is why I told you that no
one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.
(14:54):
Sometimes people find Jesus teaching too hard, not because
it is, but because they do not understand that His word is what
gives life. Now, there certainly are some
aspects of Jesus teaching that can appear like strong meat to
(15:18):
young disciples, and many of them are alluded to right here.
Election. God's sovereignty over
salvation. The Ascension.
But the main point that Jesus ismaking in this place is not
about these, it is about who he is.
(15:43):
But these disciples could not understand they they were
followers of Jesus for a while they listened to his teaching,
but once it became something spiritual about believing in Him
and so having life right now to the full, that would be a part
of eternal life forever or that they just could not grasp.
(16:10):
They could not get their minds around a person who was saying
to believe in Him would change their life spiritually.
If the crowds reject Jesus because they're hungry for the
wrong things, disciples sometimes reject Jesus because
they find his teaching too hard.And then finally, the 12.
(16:37):
So Jesus then, in the story, turns to the 12, the inner core
of his discipleship team, specially selected by him, and
in a touch of his wonderful humanity, asks plaintively, Do
you want to go away as well? The others were wandering off
(17:01):
because they were hungry for thewrong things or because they
found his teaching too hard. But these 12 Would they be loyal
to Jesus? Of course, much of this passage
is explained, the divinity of Jesus as the great I am.
(17:21):
But here is a touch also of his humanity.
He longed for their companionship and friendship.
Well, Peter then answers with brilliant insights.
Verse 68. Lord, to whom shall we go?
(17:42):
You have the words of eternal life.
That is, who else is there? 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 believed Jesus for who he
truly was, God's holy 1 the anointed King, the great I am.
(18:12):
Now what generates this admirable confession of faith is
that Jesus calls the question. So his request in verse 67 that
they do not want to leave him isnot only a touch of humanity on
the part of Jesus, it's also a calling of the question.
You see people follow Jesus whenthey come face to face with the
(18:36):
question of Jesus and realise there is no one else to whom
they can go. The first response from the
crowds hungry for the wrong things.
The second response from the disciples who found Jesus
teaching too hard. Third response was from the 12.
(18:59):
You, Peter said, have the words of eternal life.
Well, then, is our response to Jesus more like that of the
crowds, the disciples, or the 12?
In an interview with U.S. magazine in 2007, Brad Pitt
(19:24):
illustrated a popular version ofthe crowd's response today.
I didn't understand this idea ofa God who says you have to
acknowledge me, you have to say that I'm the best and then I'll
give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get
it. It seemed to me to be about ego.
I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.
(19:49):
Well, many people in the crowds today do think something like
this. Who is this Jesus?
Well, Joseph's son, why shall I worship him?
It's of course a misunderstanding of the nature
of God, as well as a misunderstanding of the nature
of Jesus. We as humans cannot be the
centre of the world. Only one person can rightly and
(20:12):
healthily occupy that place of worship, Jesus.
For Jesus to be the centre is for the universe to function as
it was intended, and for us thento be joyful as we were made.
If we find ourselves tempted by the crowd's perspective on
(20:34):
Jesus, remember this. He who comes to me will never go
hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus offers us not less than wefear, but more than we dare
(20:58):
hope. The disciples misunderstanding
is more subtle, but nonetheless still mistaken.
Well, yes, there are people who are religious, who enjoy the
Christian morality, who support ministers and churches, but who
(21:19):
balk at the idea of the incarnation and at the worship
of Jesus as the great I am. They think of it as just another
fable, one that comforts the small minded and supports the
weak willed. And it's a fine enough myth for
our society. They find Jesus teaching about
(21:42):
himself too hard, as did these disciples.
The trouble is that Jesus did not allow for this kind of half
hearted devotion. He did not come to teach people
how to be moral citizens. There's no fire in that to start
(22:05):
the Christian movement that turned the world upside down.
The Stoics had long taught similar kinds of morality, and
you can find it all already in the Old Testament.
No, Jesus claimed more, not lessthan There's the 12 OFT foolish,
(22:27):
they strayed. Peter, who seldom opened his
mouth other than to put his footin it, here shows the brilliance
of his leadership and the work of the Spirit in him.
The 12 are not perfect, not righteous in themselves.
No, the only difference between them and the crowds and the
(22:49):
other disciples is that when Jesus calls the question, they
answer in the affirmative. Yes, you are the Holy One of
God. They did not follow Jesus merely
for material sustenance like thecrowds.
They did not follow Jesus merelyfor religious rules like some of
(23:11):
these disciples. They followed Jesus because he
had the words of eternal life and they actually the pillars of
the church, were spiritual because they believed and knew
that Jesus was the Holy One of God.
(23:38):
That's Josh Moody and this is the God centered life.
The crowd, the followers, the 12th Ben.
Yeah, us heading into the Adventbecomes a great time to ask what
our response is. Thanks for that, Josh.
Appreciate that. And we are heading into the
Advent, wrapping up this week. And next week, of course, is the
week of Christmas. We're going to be looking
(24:00):
further at who Jesus is. We hope that the study that
we're in now and heading into next week as well is going to
help you reframe your Christmas holiday as you ask with us, who
is Jesus and what is my response?
Hope you're going to join us forthat.
Next time we get together, we'regoing to be talking about the
(24:21):
seeing and the blind. These Pharisees, if anyone the
seeing people of their day, how did they become blind?
It's a very important question for every generation to ask for
if history teaches us anything, it is that there is none so
blind as them that think they see.
We'll continue our look at the book of John when we get
together next time. God Centered life.org, your
(24:43):
chance to partner with us and this is your warm invitation.
And join us for the next editionof The God Centered Life with
Josh Moody.
Now, the reason why I've chosen this series of seven IN
statements in John's Gospel for our Advent series is because
right at the heart of Christmas is a claim to the identity of
Jesus as the God man in common. Who is this Jesus?
(00:21):
Welcome to the God centred life with Josh Moody.
Brand new series kicking off today.
We're calling that series Who isJesus?
Taking a look at the book of John.
Today's installment, the Bread of life from John 635.
Josh Moody, senior pastor of College Church located in
Wheaton, IL Thanks for joining us today.
(00:42):
Well, we're dialing up an Adventseries here, Josh, and it sounds
like you're suggesting that if we talk about or sing about or
celebrate the baby in the Mangerwithout really wrestling with
who that baby is, we're not getting.
Christmas, you are not getting Christmas.
The whole point of Christmas is the Christ and who is Jesus.
And of course, then what implications does that have for
(01:03):
each of our lives? And we're going to lead into
that this season with joy and anticipation.
Let's do it. Bread of Life, John 635.
Here's Josh. Well, it's a great joy to be in
church together as we enter the Advent season.
Like every generation before ours and every generation after,
(01:30):
deep down we long for Jesus. So said one reporter on ACNN
blog, writing about why millennials are leaving the
church. Her point was that it is the
peripherals of church dysfunction that put people off,
not the person of Jesus who remains is always deeply
(01:52):
attractive. Or whether or not her whole
argument is accurate, the passage before us today does
display the kind of magnetic power that Jesus indeed does
still have, but yet at the same time that the real issue is not
what Christians do or the churchdoes, but who Jesus actually is.
(02:18):
Well, we're beginning a new series for Advent this weekend,
looking together at the seven times in John's Gospel that
Jesus declares I am. And these I am statements are
usually thought by commentators to reverberate with the claims
of Jesus to be God himself. In the Old Testament, God had
appeared to Moses and said that his name was I Am.
(02:43):
So when Jesus declares I am the bread of life, he is probably
then most would agree, deliberately referencing this
divine person. That Hebrew readers and his
original heroes would have picked up.
This reference is made crystal clear by the most famous time
(03:04):
that Jesus said I AM when in chapter 8 of John's Gospel he
claims that before Abraham was Iam.
Meaning that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
And the reference to divinity there was not missed because
those who heard it first spoken tried to stone him to death for
(03:28):
the blasphemy, not believing that he was the true Son of God
Incarnate. Now, the reason why I've chosen
this series of seven IN statements in John's Gospel for
our Advent series is because right at the heart of Christmas
is a claim to the identity of Jesus as the God man Incarnate.
(03:52):
Who is this Jesus? What we will find out as we
listen to his I AM statements. But I've also chosen this series
of seven I Am statements becausethey answer the most important
religious question of our day, those who want to be spiritual
(04:14):
but not religious, in the phrasethat has become well known with
reference to those who are not sure they want to claim
particular religious affiliation.
Such folk need first of all not to think about church, but about
Jesus. Who is Jesus?
(04:35):
Well in this first I AM statement Jesus declares that he
is the bread of life. What does he mean by that?
To answer that question we will need to look at this I am
statement in context for John weaves into his description of
this story. 3 responses to Jesusclaim to the bread of life. 2
(04:59):
Wrong one right? The crowds, the disciples and
then the 12 First the crowds. So the story in the background
is that Jesus has just fed 5000 people with a small picnic.
This was an astonishing miracle and the crowds began to realise
(05:21):
that Jesus was at least someone special.
They first thought that he was the prophet.
That is, they recognise the way that this miracle echoed
previous miracles of Moses that had been done to their
forebears. However, they clearly have the
wrong idea about all this because verse 15 they want to
(05:43):
make Jesus king by force and so their idea, the prophet is a
warlike king. Jesus is not this and so he
withdraws from them by himself. Jesus disciples decide across
over the lake that is the Sea ofGalilee, verse 16, no doubt
(06:04):
wondering where Jesus had got toand thinking that he might have
gone back to Capernaum, which itseems was their early base of
operations for their ministry. Suddenly a great storm grew up
and then they noticed Jesus walking on water.
Jesus steps into the boat and immediately the boat appears on
(06:26):
the other side. The crowd, realising that Jesus
and his disciples had left, followed in their boats to
Capernaum and they discover Jesus again.
Now this crowd is magnetically attracted to Jesus, but who do
they think Jesus is? There is now a series of
interactions from verse 25 to verse 59 that indicates what
(06:50):
they thought. They were hungry for the wrong
thing. Jesus explains their mistake in
verse 26. Truly, truly, I say to you, you
are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate
your fill of the loaves. Now in John's Gospel signs play
(07:16):
an important role as intended vehicles to carry people towards
genuine faith in Jesus. And so Jesus point here is that
they're not following him because of the sign of the
feeding of the 5000 wondering what that means about who Jesus
is, but simply because they werereally impressed with the
(07:37):
miracle had had a belly fill of bread and they're viewing Jesus
as some sort of coin operated dispenser of miraculous
sustenance. There follows a series of
interactions that are Jesus way of showing the crowds that
though they are attracted to Jesus, they are seeking the
(07:58):
wrong thing. They're hungry for the wrong
thing. So verse 29, Jesus tells them
the works that God requires are to believe in him whom God has
sent. That is in Jesus.
That's the point of the sign, tocause them to believe in Jesus.
But then in a bizarre interaction in verse 30, they
(08:18):
then asked for a sign to prove it.
As if feeding 5000 people with asmall picnic and going for an
afternoon stroll on the Lake of Galilee wasn't enough.
Well, Jesus answers by pointing them to a deeper meaning.
The real bread from heaven is hehimself.
(08:40):
They naturally enough, they wantthis life giving bread.
And then Jesus says in the famous I am statement in verse
35, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go
hungry and he who believes in mewill never be thirsty.
(09:01):
Well, this is all too much for them, and they begin grumbling.
It's a word deliberately chosen by John, no doubt to remind us
of the grumbling of the Old Testament people of God after
Moses's miracles. I cannot believe that Jesus is
the bread of life because they know his dad and mum.
(09:25):
The crowd's reaction to Jesus inthe focus as we continue our
look at John's gospel. But first, a reminder that with
this brand new study, there are other studies that are available
and those are to be found on ourwebsite, which is God centered
life.org. There's other resources there as
well. There's a devotional that Josh
writes. We'd love for you to take
(09:45):
advantage of the resources that are there, God centered
life.org, who is Jesus? Let's jump back into that study
now. Here's Josh.
What was then the crowd's beliefabout Jesus?
Well, they followed him because He was a miracle worker who
could provide them with materialsustenance.
(10:05):
Once Jesus began to explain thatfollowing Him meant believing in
Him personally and it meant something for eternal life and
that He was himself the bread oflife.
That is, to follow Jesus was notjust to get something from
Jesus, but to believe in Jesus for His own sake.
(10:29):
The crowds are not so excited. Perhaps they were spiritual but
not religious. They did not want Jesus to be
the great I am. He was Joseph and Mary's son
after all. How on earth could they eat his
(10:51):
flesh? It was all too much like cultic
religious mumbo jumbo. Now, if Jesus had just stopped
with giving them a big meal out of nothing, then they would have
been quite happy and followed him.
It's a bit like if someone in Africa had managed to sort of
conjure up a massive feast for impoverished people and they'd
(11:15):
all of course followed him. And then afterwards he refused
to give them any more. I would not be best pleased.
I like this true story of someone at Cambridge University
who asked the Proctor to bring him cakes and ale during his
examination. Proctor.
(11:37):
Sorry, no person taking examination.
Sir, I really must insist. I request and require that you
bring me cakes and ale. At this point he produced a copy
of the 400 year old Laws of Cambridge, written in Latin and
(11:59):
still nominally in effect, and pointed to the section which
read roughly translated from theLatin Gentleman.
Sitting examinations may requestor require cakes and ale.
Pepsi and hamburgers were judgedthe modern equivalent, and he
sat there writing his examination and happily slurping
(12:20):
away and chewing his Big Mac or whatever it was. 3 weeks later,
the university fined the person 1 LB of sterling silver for
failing to wear a sword to the examination.
(12:42):
Sometimes people find Jesus dissatisfying not because he is,
but because they're looking for satisfaction.
Bread. Drink in the wrong places?
(13:06):
Well, the first response, then the crowds hungry for the wrong
things. Second response, the disciples,
or once again, John carefully weaves this into his story and
you'll find their response to Jesus.
I am the bread of life statementin verses 60 to 66.
(13:27):
And you'll see there that they find Jesus teaching too hard.
Look at verse 60 when many of his disciples heard it.
They said this is a hard teaching.
Who can listen to it? Jesus replies by saying that
there are harder teachings to come, namely verse 62, the
(13:49):
ascension of Jesus after his resurrection.
But Jesus also replies to their objection by explaining the
meaning of his teaching. He says the words I've spoken to
you are spirit and they are life.
That is, Jesus is not literally saying we have to cannibalise
(14:10):
Jesus to be saved. He is saying that we need to
feast on Jesus by faith. But not all of them got this.
Indeed, famously, Judas Iscariotverse 71 did not get it.
How is this possible? How is it possible that these
(14:33):
disciples close to Jesus, at least for a season, did not
believe in Him? Jesus?
Explains verse 65. This is why I told you that no
one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.
(14:54):
Sometimes people find Jesus teaching too hard, not because
it is, but because they do not understand that His word is what
gives life. Now, there certainly are some
aspects of Jesus teaching that can appear like strong meat to
(15:18):
young disciples, and many of them are alluded to right here.
Election. God's sovereignty over
salvation. The Ascension.
But the main point that Jesus ismaking in this place is not
about these, it is about who he is.
(15:43):
But these disciples could not understand they they were
followers of Jesus for a while they listened to his teaching,
but once it became something spiritual about believing in Him
and so having life right now to the full, that would be a part
of eternal life forever or that they just could not grasp.
(16:10):
They could not get their minds around a person who was saying
to believe in Him would change their life spiritually.
If the crowds reject Jesus because they're hungry for the
wrong things, disciples sometimes reject Jesus because
they find his teaching too hard.And then finally, the 12.
(16:37):
So Jesus then, in the story, turns to the 12, the inner core
of his discipleship team, specially selected by him, and
in a touch of his wonderful humanity, asks plaintively, Do
you want to go away as well? The others were wandering off
(17:01):
because they were hungry for thewrong things or because they
found his teaching too hard. But these 12 Would they be loyal
to Jesus? Of course, much of this passage
is explained, the divinity of Jesus as the great I am.
(17:21):
But here is a touch also of his humanity.
He longed for their companionship and friendship.
Well, Peter then answers with brilliant insights.
Verse 68. Lord, to whom shall we go?
(17:42):
You have the words of eternal life.
That is, who else is there? 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 believed Jesus for who he
truly was, God's holy 1 the anointed King, the great I am.
(18:12):
Now what generates this admirable confession of faith is
that Jesus calls the question. So his request in verse 67 that
they do not want to leave him isnot only a touch of humanity on
the part of Jesus, it's also a calling of the question.
You see people follow Jesus whenthey come face to face with the
(18:36):
question of Jesus and realise there is no one else to whom
they can go. The first response from the
crowds hungry for the wrong things.
The second response from the disciples who found Jesus
teaching too hard. Third response was from the 12.
(18:59):
You, Peter said, have the words of eternal life.
Well, then, is our response to Jesus more like that of the
crowds, the disciples, or the 12?
In an interview with U.S. magazine in 2007, Brad Pitt
(19:24):
illustrated a popular version ofthe crowd's response today.
I didn't understand this idea ofa God who says you have to
acknowledge me, you have to say that I'm the best and then I'll
give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get
it. It seemed to me to be about ego.
I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.
(19:49):
Well, many people in the crowds today do think something like
this. Who is this Jesus?
Well, Joseph's son, why shall I worship him?
It's of course a misunderstanding of the nature
of God, as well as a misunderstanding of the nature
of Jesus. We as humans cannot be the
centre of the world. Only one person can rightly and
(20:12):
healthily occupy that place of worship, Jesus.
For Jesus to be the centre is for the universe to function as
it was intended, and for us thento be joyful as we were made.
If we find ourselves tempted by the crowd's perspective on
(20:34):
Jesus, remember this. He who comes to me will never go
hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus offers us not less than wefear, but more than we dare
(20:58):
hope. The disciples misunderstanding
is more subtle, but nonetheless still mistaken.
Well, yes, there are people who are religious, who enjoy the
Christian morality, who support ministers and churches, but who
(21:19):
balk at the idea of the incarnation and at the worship
of Jesus as the great I am. They think of it as just another
fable, one that comforts the small minded and supports the
weak willed. And it's a fine enough myth for
our society. They find Jesus teaching about
(21:42):
himself too hard, as did these disciples.
The trouble is that Jesus did not allow for this kind of half
hearted devotion. He did not come to teach people
how to be moral citizens. There's no fire in that to start
(22:05):
the Christian movement that turned the world upside down.
The Stoics had long taught similar kinds of morality, and
you can find it all already in the Old Testament.
No, Jesus claimed more, not lessthan There's the 12 OFT foolish,
(22:27):
they strayed. Peter, who seldom opened his
mouth other than to put his footin it, here shows the brilliance
of his leadership and the work of the Spirit in him.
The 12 are not perfect, not righteous in themselves.
No, the only difference between them and the crowds and the
(22:49):
other disciples is that when Jesus calls the question, they
answer in the affirmative. Yes, you are the Holy One of
God. They did not follow Jesus merely
for material sustenance like thecrowds.
They did not follow Jesus merelyfor religious rules like some of
(23:11):
these disciples. They followed Jesus because he
had the words of eternal life and they actually the pillars of
the church, were spiritual because they believed and knew
that Jesus was the Holy One of God.
(23:38):
That's Josh Moody and this is the God centered life.
The crowd, the followers, the 12th Ben.
Yeah, us heading into the Adventbecomes a great time to ask what
our response is. Thanks for that, Josh.
Appreciate that. And we are heading into the
Advent, wrapping up this week. And next week, of course, is the
week of Christmas. We're going to be looking
(24:00):
further at who Jesus is. We hope that the study that
we're in now and heading into next week as well is going to
help you reframe your Christmas holiday as you ask with us, who
is Jesus and what is my response?
Hope you're going to join us forthat.
Next time we get together, we'regoing to be talking about the
(24:21):
seeing and the blind. These Pharisees, if anyone the
seeing people of their day, how did they become blind?
It's a very important question for every generation to ask for
if history teaches us anything, it is that there is none so
blind as them that think they see.
We'll continue our look at the book of John when we get
together next time. God Centered life.org, your
(24:43):
chance to partner with us and this is your warm invitation.
And join us for the next editionof The God Centered Life with
Josh Moody.
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