Fickle people. They change their loyalties, interests, and affections frequently. They will follow after one thing until some little thing happens to change their mind. They will be a supporter of a leader for a while, but then when the wind blows the other way or some challenge comes up, they drop away. It is not pleasant to have fickle people in one’s entourage, and they do not help one’s cause at all. Jesus faced some fickle people among the crowds that followed Him. We will read about them in our passage of Scripture for today.
As our Scripture today begins, Jesus had been teaching the crowds of people. After He gave His talk where He called Himself the Bread of Life, and that people would need to partake of this Bread for eternal life, many of the crowds turned away from Him. Even some faithful followers were disillusioned with what Jesus had been saying that day, and they even turned away in unbelief. This was one major, critical turning point in His ministry, one where people were faced with making a decision. Would they accept what Jesus had said about Himself, or would they turn away in unbelief. After this day only the true believers remained.
At this point in time many of the Israelites had a set idea of what they felt the Messiah should be like. They wanted a warrior-king type of Messiah, one who would come and kick the occupying Roman empire out, one who would set up a king like their great King David from the past. The actions and words were indicating that Jesus was the Messiah, but not the type of Messiah they wanted. He never spoke of kicking the Romans out, nor of being an earthly king. Jesus spoke of sacrificing Himself. These crowds were unwilling to accept the bloody death of the Messiah, one who would sacrifice Himself. This was an offence to the Jews, a stumbling block to them, and they turned away (vs. 61). The cross is an offense to the world.
The weak-faithed disciples complained and murmured at what Jesus said. His words were too hard and unbelievable, and seemed like either nonsense or blasphemy. That is the case with many people today. They have their own preconceived ideas of what Jesus should be like. They love the idea of a Good Shepherd, a gentle Jesus. However, when He says that He is the only way to heaven, when they read that we must be obedient children, give up our own ways, they turn away. They want God on their own terms, they want salvation on their own terms, not by what the Bible says. So they turn away, just like the people in our passage today.
There were several reasons why these false disciples left. One was when they realized that Jesus was not going to be the conquering Messiah-King they were wanting. Another was that He did not give in to their self-centered requests. Some people turn away from God when they don’t get what they want. They want a heavenly Santa Claus, and that is not who God is. Some of the people turned away in our passage because Jesus emphasized faith, and not works. That turns some people off today, as well, as their pride gets in their way. And then, His teachings were difficult to understand, and some even seemed offensive. What God’s Word really teaches gets some people angry today, too, and they decide they want no more to do with Him.
Jesus knew what was in their hearts (vs. 64). They were not true believers, and were only attracted by the miracles and food. When Jesus turned to the twelve apostles, He asked them if they were going to turn away (vs. 67). The apostle Peter answered right away that he knew that there is no other way, no other One who has the Words of eternal life (vs. 67-68).
There is no middle ground with Jesus. We either accept or reject Him. The more people hear Jesus, the more they divide into two camps. Many reject Him because they don’t like what they hear in the Bible. Jesus’s Words, God’s Word the Bible, gives us life (vs. 63). Jesus didn’t use flowery, placating speech to make the crowds feel warm and comfy. He spoke hard, Biblical truths. We need preachers and Bible teachers today who do the same!
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