Have you ever had a “friend” who only seemed to be your friend because of what you could give them or do for them? I think we have probably all had at least one friend like that in our life. Then, we would be able to understand at least partially what Jesus is saying in today’s text. The text in John 6 takes place the day after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 men; therefore, it was probably a crowd between 10-12,000. Jesus and His disciples had gone over the sea of Galilee to the city of Capernaum. The next morning, the crowd is looking for Jesus, but they can’t find Him. So, they got into boats and came to Capernaum themselves. There they found Jesus. Despite their flattering words to Him, Jesus diagnosis why they were so desperate to find Him. Jesus says in John 6:26, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you at the loaves and were filled.” Jesus was saying they came looking for Him, not because they believed He was the Messiah, but because He could feed them. He could give them what they wanted. The problem is, they didn’t see or desire what they truly needed, what Jesus, and only Jesus could give them. This is why Jesus begins to teach what is commonly referred to as the “bread of life” sermon. I had a professor point something out about Jesus’ methods years ago, and I have never forgotten it. We were studying this text, and he said, “Have you ever noticed what Jesus does every time the crowd following Him gets big? He pulls out one of His hardest teachings, and that instantly thins the crowd.” His point was that it wasn’t Jesus was against big crowds following Him. Rather, He wanted them to know what it meant to follow Him. He knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Being a disciple of Jesus was going to cost them something, in reality, it would cost them a lot. What about us? Do we know that?
Following Jesus today is the same as it was when He walked on earth. Being His disciple is going to cost of us something. He says in Luke that we must be willing to die to ourselves, take up a cross daily, and follow Him. In Matthew, Jesus says that we must be willing to lose our life for His sake in order to be His disciple. Those are hard words to hear sometimes. Unfortunately, they are not words that permeate much of the teaching we hear from pulpits these days. What we are used to hearing is this easy-believism, false Gospel that says Jesus wants you healthy and wealthy. This false Gospel says that if you come to Jesus, everything will be fine and life will be great. What we see is that this false Gospel isn’t something new. That is the exact thing we are seeing in the text. The people coming after Jesus were only doing so because of what He could give them. They wanted blessings in their life. They didn’t want to have to worry about anything. Yet, Jesus tells them how they can come to Him, but He is also clear on what it will cost them. I think it is worth asking ourselves, why do I love Jesus? Is it for who He is or is it because of what He can give us? Maybe you are wondering, how could I truly know the answer to that question? We can know the answer by how we react in difficult times and seasons of life. Anyone can love God when things are going well. Anyone can obey God when things are going well. The real test, the real proof is seen in our love and obedience when life is difficult. Do we still love God and obey Him, when doing so causes us to go against the culture of our day? Do we still love God and obey Him when it costs us friends or relationships? That is when we begin to see why we love Jesus. I want to encourage you to spend some time today or this week examining your relationship with Jesus, and answering the question based on concrete evidence of your life. It may be painful, but there will be blessing even in the pain, because God will reveal the truth to us. Why do we love Him?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin