Several weeks ago I pulled out a brand new weed eater that has been in my basement for a year, but never used. I carefully mixed the gas and oil making sure that the proper ratio was followed (40:1), for I know by experience that a bad mixture can be detrimental to one’s trimming experience (indeed fatal!). After filling the tank, I proceeded to follow the curious and somewhat humorous steps attached directly to the shiny shaft. It did not start after the first attempt. “No problem”, I thought. So I tried a second time but had no success. I reasoned that this was a new weed eater that probably required three tries or so before it got warmed up. “Third time is a charm”, I said to myself, as I proceeded through the same steps again. The result: nothing. After several successive attempts I began to break a sweat. I found myself intensely angry with the weed eater in a manner that makes my little league coaches look like choir boys. After about twenty minutes of persistent, aggressive, and violent cracks to get the wicked, weed eater started I decided that it was not worth my time. I walked in the house and began venting to Corie with a sermonette that consisted of several arguments as to why the weed eater was somehow manufactured with defects. As I preached I became more convinced that I was right. I concluded that the weed eater was indeed faulty, and needed to be taken back to the store promptly. I had successfully convinced myself that this particular weed eater was not worth my time. It simply could not get the job done. I must take this one back, and look for another one- one that would meet my needs and get the job done. As I walked outside to load the weed eater into the car and head to the store, something told me to give it one more shot. Reluctantly, I picked the weed eater up (all the while focusing on the tremendous degree of grace that I was manifesting to an imperfect weed eater by my noble desire to give it another chance) and began following the required steps for starting it yet again. “This is your last chance, weed eater”, I thought to myself. I followed the steps as I did before. The result: it started! I trimmed for an hour or so with no problem. I concluded that it was not defective. Rather, I had probably flooded the machine in my insistent attempts earlier. The problem was not the weed eater, but me. I had protested the weed eater’s worthiness because I did not want to admit that I was doing something to prevent it from starting. In short, I did not want to admit that I was the real problem. At the end of John 6 something sad occurs. Many of the disciples who had attached themselves to Jesus end up deserting Him. This comes only after our Lord’s provocative claim repeated over and over again, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day” (vs. 54). I have argued in previous posts that this robust declaration by Jesus did not lead most of His listeners to think that He was speaking literally. Christ was using a metaphor. As I have shown before, Jesus’ claim is a call of complete surrender. It is a call to acknowledge, believe, and trust that Jesus is your greatest need. Eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood is a figurative way to express the need for sinners to place their faith in Christ, trusting that His obedient sacrifice is the only thing worthy enough to pay the price of redemption. It is to recognize that sin is our greatest problem, and Jesus is the only remedy. It is to see that the void in our soul cannot be filled with water from broken cisterns, but must be filled with streams of living water (cf. Jeremiah 2:13). It is to see that Jesus is the true bread that gives true life- life that is both long and qualitative. It describes repenting of sin through the power of the Spirit, and following Jesus in complete dependence. Indeed, to eat and drink Christ is simply to recognize Him as King of King and Lord of Lords, repent of sin, take up one’s cross, and follow Him.
How do we know that Christ’s original listeners understood Christ’s message for the most part? Verse 60 helps us. Christ’s followers responded, “Therefore, many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’” Verse 61 continues, “But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, ‘Does this cause you to stumble?’” It is interesting to point out that the word “hear” in vs. 61 literally means “hear with appreciation” (The Gospel According to John, Leon Morris, 338). Certainly there were parts of Christ’s message that were difficult to grasp. However, there existed much that they understood all too well (and thus heard), but simply rejected (thus did not listen with appreciative attitudes). They thought it blasphemous for Christ to claim that he came from heaven. For (they reasoned) this is our fellow Galilean whose parents are Joseph and Mary (vss. 41-42). Furthermore, they were offended by the fact that Jesus was claiming to be the source of eternal life, even speaking in terms that made God His Father. He even claimed that His Father would draw people to Himself and that He Himself would raise them up on the last day. They understood that Christ was subtly attacking their works salvation philosophy, calling for their complete dependence on Him to give life. Indeed, this was a hard pill for them to swallow! Therefore, they concluded that His claims were far too difficult to “hear with appreciation”. To be sure, these disciples heard, but not with appreciation. In short, they were marked by a lack of faith, refusing to appreciate who Christ claimed to be.
When Jesus asked them in vs. 61 if His words caused them to stumble, He highlighted the inward turmoil they were faced with. They understood as never before that they must either follow Christ permanently, or desert Him permanently. The word “stumble” was a Greek word used to refer to the bait stick in a trap that springs the trap shut (New Testament Commentary- John, William Hendriksen, 246). It literally means “cause to fall into a trap” (Morris, 339). Essentially, Jesus told them that they were caught between a rock and a hard place. They were trapped because they had witnessed His miracles, love, and convincing sermons, yet all of this could not convince them of His worth. They had witnessed the overwhelming evidence of His identity as Messiah. They knew of His worth by firsthand experience. Still they were simply not ready to trust Him in the manner Jesus was calling them to. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that their hardness of heart persuaded them to reject what they outwardly knew to be true about Christ. In a sense they knew of Christ's worth, but they were unwilling to follow Him. This is what birthed inner turmoil. Their inner turmoil no doubt led to an important question. Would they view this Jesus they had followed for months as worthy of His claims, or would they desert Him and discount Him permanently? They reasoned, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
Thus, we find, as we keep reading, that many of these so called disciples did indeed desert Christ (vs. 66). We will never hear of these people again. To be sure, their problem was not Jesus, but their hard hearts. They did exactly what I did with my weed eater. I determined, contrary to any evidence, that I had an imperfect weed eater that was not worthy of my trust. In reality I possessed evidence which suggested the exact opposite (the weed eater was brand spanking new) . Nevertheless, I began convincing myself of its unworthiness. I had a high view of my ability and worth, but a low view of the weed eater’s. As I found out later, the weed eater was worthy of my trust. It did an excellent job trimming. The problem was that I had hardened my heart against the notion that it was worthy. Thus, the problem lied in my reasoning, not the adequacy of the weed eater. These disciples convinced themselves that Jesus was not worthy to place faith in. The One whom they had rigorously followed for months (discipleship in the first century was quite a committed process to say the least) they would now reject. They simply could not accept His claims. He had “gone too far” in His claims. This is not what they signed up for. So they convinced themselves that He simply was not worthy- “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” They lacked faith, which means they lacked eyes to see the glory and beauty and worth of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).
Jesus was clear to Nicodemus in John 3 that one must be born of the water and the Spirit in order to receive eternal life (cf. Titus 3:5). In 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, Paul tells us that the Spirit must open a sinner’s heart to see the value of Christ. Without this special enlightening by the Spirit, a person will always “stumble” at Christ. He will always stumble at the Gospel message. The reasoning will be the same as it was for these artificial disciples of Christ. Man, apart from the salvific work of the Spirit, will always resort to protests of unworthiness regarding the person of Jesus Christ. This is really nothing more than an active dulling of the conscience. It is the suppression of truth (Romans 1:18 ff.). And it ultimately results in eternal death. The implication of this passage is obvious. If eating and drinking Jesus (i.e. placing faith in Him) results in life, then not placing faith in Him results in death- eternal death. Man's reasoning will always be fatal apart from God's light shining on the glorious worth of Jesus Christ.
My weed eater experience is just one event that helped me stop and be thankful for the regenerating work of the Spirit. It reminded me that every sinner will reason against the worth of Christ regardless of compelling evidence. It is said that Erasmus would debate Martin Luther on this very point. Luther held very strongly to God's sovereign grace in salvation. On the other hand, Erasmus argued more strongly for man's free will in the process of salvation. Erasmus would illustrate by saying that God draws sinners to Himself like an owner of a donkey will get it to move by holding a handful of carrots before its nose. The owner draws, but obviously the will of the donkey is involved. However, Erasmus was wrong. Scripture calls us dead (Ephesians 2:1), helpless (Romans 5:6), slaves of unrighteousness (John 8:34; Romans 6:6), blind (2 Corinthians 4:4), and hostile to God (Romans 5:10) just to list a few ways in which God views our relationship to Him as sinners apart from Christ. The evidence in Scripture proves the exact opposite of what Erasmus argued. If Erasmus' argument is true, then it was those who lived during the time of Christ who were in the most privileged context to be persuaded by the "carrots" in Christ's hand. Yet the vast majority were unmoved in their hearts to follow Christ. Even Christ's own disciples (fake though they were) deserted Him. Were it not for the specific work of God through His Spirit (i.e. regeneration) in changing our hearts Godward, we would never see Him for who He is- the Bread of Life! We would never truly love Him if He had not first loved us. In other words, we would never see the worth of Christ, were it not for God showing us His worth. As wicked sinners, we are blind. God must open our eyes. The healthy realization of God’s work of regenerating grace lays the foundation for gratitude toward God, which ultimately motivates living obediently to our Lord and King. It works like this: realizing that salvation is a work of God’s complete grace prompts gratitude. And gratitude (i.e. a thankful heart) propels obedience. This realization also gives us confidence when we share Christ with others. It is ultimately and only the Spirit that will convince a wayward sinner of the beauty and worth of Christ. It is only God who can convince a depraved sinner of His worth, beauty, glory, and profound efficiency in providing ultimate joy, peace, and satisfaction (the Bread of Life!). In His grace, God uses His elect children to point people to Christ by our words and life. We, therefore, must not neglect this task. Nevertheless, we can rest with utter confidence that God has marked out His people. He will draw them to Himself, save them, and raise them on the last day.
“And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness’, is the One who has shown in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).
– Blessings, Andy
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