TROTS: FICKLED OR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS

TROTS: FICKLE OR FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS? John 6

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Well, I plan= to wrap up this series of messages from John’s Gospel next Sunday, the Sunday before the 4^th of July, by looking at what Jesus says about “freedom.” WeR= 17;ll celebrate our freedom together next week—I hope you can be with us.

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So that only= leaves today—which made it difficult to decide which passage to turn to this morning—there are so many good ones.= But I finally arrived at John 6.&nb= sp; I couldn’t choose just one passage, though—so…sort= of like a stone skipping across the water, we’re going to touch down bri= efly several times this morning as we make our way through this great chapter.

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Our topic to= day is “Fickle or Faithful Followers?” Which are WE when it comes to our relationship with Christ—are we fickle…or faithful…or may= be somewhere in between?”

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Those of you= who have been part of our Wednesday Bible studies have heard over and over again the purpose of John’s Gospel (John 20:31): “But these are writt= en that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

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John tells u= s that his heart’s desire is for us to believe in Jesus Christ, to follow him faithfully, and to find fullness of life, abundant life, in Him. To this end, he urges faithfulness= as opposed to fickleness, and the sixth chapter of John happens to be a very g= ood place to see the difference between the two. So let’s dive in together (V= BS?):

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1. The People Are Flocking to Jesus: John 6:5-14--5When Jesus looke= d up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where sha= ll we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each= one to have a bite!" 8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and t= wo small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in th= at place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took= the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as th= ey wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered = them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left ov= er by those who had eaten. 14After the people saw the miraculous sign th= at Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to co= me into the world."

Okay, we kno= w what’s happening here--a miracle. On= ly in John’s Gospel, it’s called a miraculous sign—which weR= 17;ll get back to. For now, the people are exc= ited because of what Jesus has done—we call it “the feeding of the five thousand.”

Mostly, though, I think their excitement is based on their EXPECTATIONS. You talk about folks wanting a lea= der who can bring about change—well, these folks were sick, and they were hungry. Jesus was healing peo= ple and feeding them, so you better believe he was getting their vote! Life would be so good with Jesus as their leader—their king.

The people are excited—but their bubble is about= to burst. Their excitement, you = see, is based on false assumptions about Jesus—the belief that Jesus has c= ome to be their political leader, that He has come to make life easy for them a= nd to simply give them what they want. There are still folks who think of Jesus in this way.

How does Jesus respond to all this excitement? Well, first, He sends His disciples away. He doesn’t want t= hem to be influenced any further by the views of the crowd.

The disciples, you see, also want Jesus to be a politi= cal leader. They want Him to move them from the bottom of the social ladder to = the top. They want power and infl= uence.

They’re human--so for their own good, Jesus send= s them across the lake to get them away from all this excitement. This is when a storm comes up and = Jesus walks on the water and stills the storm, but, unfortunately, we have to skip over that part. For now, just= focus on the fact that “the people are flocking to Jesus,” and this is why:

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2. The People Know What They Want from Jesus: (24-3= 1)

24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25W= hen they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, = when did you get here?"

26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because y= ou saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do= not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which= the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of appr= oval.

28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the on= e he has sent."

30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may s= ee it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Well, the people keep looking for Jesus, pursuing Him—so Jesus confronts them about why they are doing this. “It’s only because you= ate the loaves and had your fill,” he tells them.

Jesus is saying ‘you are excited about all the w= rong things and following me for the wrong reasons. I gave you a miraculous sign. Within that miracle was a message a= bout who I really am, but you totally missed the point.’

In December 1903, after several attempts, the Wright Brothers finally succe= eded in getting their "flying machine" off the ground. They sent this telegraph to their s= ister back home in Ohio= : "We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas."

She hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message= . He read it and said, "How nice= . The boys will be home for Christmas."&nbs= p; He totally missed the point: man had flown! The people following Jesus were al= so missing the point—which we’re getting to now:

3. Jesus Offers the People What They Need

(vv. 32-34, 51) 32Jesus said to them, &quo= t;I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bre= ad of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." =

34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (Then down to verse 51:)

51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this brea= d, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the lif= e of the world."

There are 7 miraculous signs in John’s Gospel. And there are 7 “I Am” sayings. After Jesus feeds the 5,000, he then tells them “I am the bread of life.” The physical food, the miracle of multiplied bread, happened to point them to a greater gift, the Bread of Li= fe, the Savior.

Jesus came to offer life in abundance—to offer H= imself as the bread of life that satisfies forever. But they were blind to his message.= They had preconceived ideas of what Jesus should be and do for them. They tried = to put Jesus into their own mould—which we still try to do today.

It’s possible, you see, for us to get excited about Jesus—not t= he real Jesus, the One revealed in the New Testament--but the one we have assu= med Him to be. Jesus has to confr= ont those mistaken notions. He question= s why we are following Him. Jesus s= earches our hearts and tests our motives.

His challenge may come to us through a sermon or a Bib= le study. It may also come throu= gh the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit during a time of personal prayer and devotion. It may come through= some event in our lives that shakes our faith.

Jesus begins to address their false assumptions, and they, in response, beg= in to grumble. “Moses gave= our forefathers manna in the wilderness! Can you match that?” You see, it was commonly assumed t= hat when the Messiah came, he would give the people manna like Moses did. “So Jesus, if you want us to = follow you, show us the manna!” Give us more bread.

Have you ever tried to make Jesus do something before = you would follow Him? You know—let’s make a deal, LORD!&= nbsp; Listen--Jesus has already done everything He needs to do to prove His love for you and to expect you to follow Him. “Greater love has no one than this, that He would lay down His life for His friends.”

Jesus has nothing more to prove. No miracle, no answer to prayer can compar= e to His demonstration of love for us on the cross. On the basis of that sacrifice and = the miracle of His resurrection, He expects you and me to follow Him.

The people are trapped in a materialistic mindset—much like we are—but Jesus is offering them something eternal—something of m= ore value than anything this world offers.&nbs= p; But they are so fixated on bread, they cannot hear Jesus’ mess= age.

Carl Marx said that religion is the opiate of the mass= es. Could it be that the opposite is true—that materialism is our drug of choice? Our stuff deadens us to our true spiritual condition.

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.” = From the burning bush, Moses heard God’s name, “YAHWEH--I AM.” So Jesus, the Son of God, one with= the Father, says, “I AM”:
John 6:35     &= #8220;I am the bread of life.”
John 8:12     &= #8220;I am the light of the world.”
John 10:7     &= #8220;I am the gate for the sheep.”
John 10:11   “I am = the good shepherd.”
John 11:25   “I am = the resurrection and the life.”
John 14:6     &= #8220;I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
John 15:1     &= #8220;I am the true vine.”

Jesus offers Himself as the bread that gives eternal life. But instead of feasting on this br= ead of life, they grumble. So what do we see here about them--and = about ourselves?

4. The Fickle Flee and the Faithful Follow (66-68)<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> <= /p>

66From this time many of his disciples turned ba= ck and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”=

Jesus has already told them in verse 51, “...This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” He has the cross clearly in mind wh= en He says those words—“my flesh...which I will give for the life of = the world.”
Again, the people grumble: “This is a hard teaching, Jesus. Who can accept it?” They were not saying they couldn= 217;t understand his message. They were saying, “We understand it, but we do not accept it.” They di= dn’t like what they were hearing.

So, Jesus asks them, “Does this offend you?” They were no longer excited. They were now offend= ed. FICKLE PEOPLE! And verse 66 sadly says, “Fr= om this time many of his disciples (not the twelve, but others) turned back an= d no longer followed him.”

Just like today! When we follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, when we’re all exc= ited about Jesus, but that excitement is based on false assumptions, what happen= s?

We’re offended when Jesus doesn’t fulfill our expectations of H= im. Or, more likely, when we think He&#= 8217;s expecting too much from us. F= riends, we need to be honest about what it means to be a follower of Christ.

We may initially be drawn to the Lord only because we want a free lunch. Maybe our early understandings of J= esus are all about us and what we want and need. But if we follow Jesus only because= of “what’s in it for me,” we have missed the point.

Christianity is not about using Jesus to fulfill our desires. It’s not about getting God to= give us more and make life easier. Th= at may be a byproduct of our relationship with the Lord, but it’s not the objective. We don’t need loaves and fishes, we need the great “I AM.”

We need Bread from heaven. We need Jesus! It is all ab= out knowing Him, loving Him, following Him, obeying Him—and along the way, finding that we are content, that our spirits are whole and life is good.

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Feast on the Bread of Life. Take Him into your heart, follow H= im faithfully, and He will satisfy forever the hunger of your soul!