From Darkness to Light (7): 'Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?' -- January 2, 2011

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

(John 6:60-71)

A couple of years ago, I ran into an old friend from seminary in a Christian book store. It was really neat because she was also an old high school buddy of Miriam's. At the time, Jin Sook was a Christian education director at large church in the city. She usually didn't have the responsibility to preach, but the passage she was supposed to preach on was the passage just before the one we're looking at this morning! Poor Jin Sook had to preach on these words: "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53)

And to make matters worse, it was late Saturday afternoon, and she had to preach the next morning! So when she saw me, her eyes got real big, and it didn't take long for her to ask me, "How on earth do you interpret this teaching of Jesus!?!" (Now, if you'd like to know what I believe Jesus means by these words, ask me afterwards, and I'll give it my best shot.)

But no wonder people walked away and said in vs.60, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" No wonder vs.66 tells us that from that time onward many who once followed turned back and no longer did so. It's a painful thing when that happens. It's a painful thing when, for whatever reason, folks turn away and stop coming to a particular fellowship. But it happens.

But there are two very positive things that Jesus does in response to this, and they can be a real encouragement to us. The first thing you'll notice is that Jesus never backs down from the truth He's teaching. You gotta love that about Jesus here. He never backs down. Instead, He senses their grumbling and says, "Oh, does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!" He just doesn't back down! I so love that about Him. We serve a strong, mighty Savior. And you don't see any "Oh, I didn't mean it that way", you don't seen any spin, you don't see the Lord trying to change the substance of His message. He just doesn't do it. He just won't back down.

We have to distinguish between style and substance. Take my hair, for instance. (It had to come up any way.) It makes no difference whatsoever as to whether my hair is long or non-existent. That's just style (or lack thereof). Nobody at home got in a tizzie when I shaved my head. Who cares? But if I took my eye off the ball in trying to be the kind of person I believe Jesus is changing me to be? Sooner or later, lots of people would notice. I know my wife and family would certainly notice.

And when it comes to truth, neither should we. Purity will always be purity. Truth will always be truth. Justice, standing up for the poor and voiceless, will always be justice. Moral integrity, staying who you are when no one's looking, will always be moral integrity. Compassion will always be compassion. Do you know what I mean? Following Jesus will always require purity, truth, justice, moral integrity and compassion. Those things will never go out of style.

For 2011 and beyond we need to be like Jesus in this regard. We need to stand for truth--His truth. Miriam's parents bought her a wonderful DVD for Christmas called Letters to God. And it's all about this little boy who's battling cancer. And at one moving part of the film, this wise, old, yet sometimes grumpy man tells this little boy, "You are a warrior. You are a warrior for God. You are a warrior for truth and humility." My friends, we need warriors like that. We need warriors for truth and humility.

The Manhattan Declaration, a statement of faith on the issues of life, marriage and religious liberty puts it this way: "We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right--and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation--to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty."

There's a second really encouraging thing about how Jesus reacted to the crowd's offence. He goes on to say in vs.65, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." In the last century, there may have been a sweet spot perhaps in the early '50's when it was kind popular or "in vogue" to be a Christian. But those days are long gone. But it brings into a relief a powerful, powerful truth: if you are a Christ-follower today--it is no accident. You and I certainly won't win any popularity contests by being so. But if you have come to believe in Jesus--no one less than God the Father almighty has enable you to do so. Isn't that an encouraging fact?

If you know Christ as Savior and Lord that is by far and away no accident. Indeed, far from being any kind of fluke you have been drawn into relationship with God through His Son Jesus by nothing less than divine appointment. There's tremendous security in that fact. God's got you and I--and He will not let go!! For along with knowing Jesus, we get to know His life as well.

Jesus puts it this way in vs.63: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." I'm reminded of that old hymn we sometimes sing, "Wonderful Words of Life". Do you know it? "Christ, the blessed one, gives to all, wonderful words of life; sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life; all so freely given, wooing us to heaven. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life..." It's a neat, lilting hymn, and would make a great illustration were it not for the fact that Jesus' words don't just "woo" us to heaven, they have the power to take us there themselves.

Jesus says the words He speaks to us are spirit and they are life. Not only are they powerful enough to take us to heaven, to give us eternal life, but they are life for us right now. The Spirit, He says, (and we can be positive He's talking about the Holy Spirit here, ...the Spirit) gives life. There's a creative power to Jesus' truth and to His words. They are life.

In his book Chasing Daylight Irwin McManus writes this: "Moments are to be treasured--not just the moments that you've already lived, but the moments brimming with life. I can say with confidence this is your moment. There may well be many moments waiting behind this one, and though the most significant moments of your life may still be moments away, the moment you're in right now waits to be seized." And then he goes on to say, "At the same time, we have the image of the atomic hidden in the moment. Within the atomic, there is nuclear capacity derived from the rapid release of energy in the fission of heavily atomic nuclei. There is a disproportionate power in relationship to size. Fission is the act or process of splitting into parts. When you seize divine moments, you instigate an atomic reaction. You become a human catalyst creating a divine impact. The result can even be earthshaking." (E. McManus, Chasing Daylight, pg.10,11)

I was reflecting on words like these this past week, and I came to a conclusion. This is all self-motivational fluff, were it not for the fact that McManus is writing from a Christian standpoint. These words may seem powerful, but they aren't really powerful at all, were it not for the fact that the power of Jesus' words are behind them! When we embrace and believe the Word of Jesus something truly atomic happens! There is real power behind His Words--power not to destroy but to create and heal!! Just as God's Word in Genesis 1 speaks life into being, so God's Word in Christ speaks life into us! New Testament scholar George Beasley-Murray says that the accent here falls on the life-giving Holy Spirit.

So powerful is this Word of Jesus that new life gets formed in us, the moment we trustingly and believingly say His Name! In Romans 10:9-10 Paul put it this way: "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

And so the whole conversation crescendoes to this great exchange between Jesus and Peter (who in this case is acting as a spokesperson for the Twelve disciples). Starting at vs.67: " 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Priceless. Just priceless. Australian scholar Leon Morris points out that Peter can be at times impetuous and downright inept (see Matt. 16:22-23), but he's also capable of "reaching astonishing heights". And he does so right here. Jesus says, "You guys aren't going to leave too, are you?" And speaking for the Twelve, Peter responds, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"

If I can speak personally for just one moment, we've said good-bye to 2010. Another year has rolled by. It's amazing how the years gain momentum, isn't it? When I was younger, I used to be fearful that I'd waver when it came to Jesus. I thought I'd get more liberal as I got older. I've seen it happen many times over to others. I thought it'd happen to me. But as I get older, the more sure I become that the only viable option for me is Jesus. Over time I am becoming more convinced than ever that He is the Only Way and there really is no other.

"Lord, to whom shall we go? We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." The verbs "believe" and "know" are of an on-going and continuous nature--as in "we have come to a place of faith and continue there; we have entered into knowledge, not just head knowledge, but a place of intimate relationship, and we continue on there." We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. The Holy One of Israel is Jesus the Holy One of God. He is God in the flesh. And there is no other way than through Him.

Consider the context of this remarkable confession: Many, many people, most probably thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, followed Jesus up to this point--until things got hard. Crowds and crowds followed until it became clear they had to stake their lives on Who Jesus is. And then, only a few were left. What about you? For 2011, what about you? Will you stand for truth and stand for Him? Or will you back down and walk away? There can be no neutrality to Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?"

In our book study book, Atonement, there's a stirring account of well known pastor in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland--his name was Alexander Whyte. It was the turn of the last century, and Whyte was came to be known as a virtual monomaniac because it seemed that all he preached about was sin and salvation. He was became aware of the fact that this emphasis was becoming increasingly unpopular. And he tells of how he was tempted to muffle the note of preaching on sin and the cross in order to gain acceptance from his hearers. It's a temptation I know all too well!

One day, while taking a stroll in the Scottish Highlands, Whyte describes how he heard a voice say with commanding power, "Go on and flinch not. Go back and boldly finish the work that has been given you to do. Speak out and fear not. Make them see themselves--at any cost--in God's holy law as in a mirror. Do this, for no one else will do it. No one else will risk his life and his reputation to do it, and you have not much of either left to risk. Go home and spend what is left of your life in your appointed task of showing my people their sin and their need of salvation." "And so," said Alexander White, "I will finish as I had begun, I will preach the cross of Jesus Christ." (Atonement, G.N.E. Fluhrer, ed., pg.124)

In my study of this passage I read of two top-notch biblical scholars express the view that Jesus' allusion to His ascension in vs.62 is really an allusion to the cross, resurrection and ascension because they're all really one unit. We need to be faithful to Jesus and to the message of salvation through the Cross alone. There is no other way! "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

I recall an scene I read about once--from a real-life account. There's a coliseum. There's a kindly looking, harmless old man. He's a bishop. In fact, he's the last living link with the Twelve apostles, as he had once studied under John, the same person who most probably wrote the gospel we are now studying. And as the crowds go insane the old man hears a Voice that says, "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." As he stands in the middle of that ring, another man of great authority snarls at him, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar. Take the oath and I will release you. Curse Christ!" And the old bishop firmly states this: "Eighty-six years have I served the Lord Jesus Christ, and He never once wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?" They say that as he burned, a sweet smell of incense or some other precious spice filled the air. (dc Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs, Jesus Freaks, pg.136, 137) "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

For 2011, will you take your stand for Him? To whom shall we go? We all suffer temptations. We all feel the constant, even pressure of culture of unbelief around us. But ultimately, are those really sustainable, life-giving options? Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Timothy Keller writes, "Remember this--if you don't live for Jesus you will live for something else. If you live for career and you don't do well it may punish you all of your life, and you will feel like a failure. If you live for your children and they don't turn out all right you could be absolutely in torment because you feel worthless as a person. If Jesus is your center and Lord and you fail him, he will forgive you. Everybody has to live for something. Whatever that something is becomes 'Lord of your life', whether you think of it that way or not. Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive him, will fulfill you completely, and, if you fail him, will forgive you eternally. (T. Keller, The Reason for God, pg.179)

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Vance Havner put it well when he wrote, "Jesus is all we have; he is all we need and all we want. We are shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence!" (1001 Quotes, Illustrations & Humorous Stories..., E.K. Rowell ed., pg.97)