Receiving Jesus as Life (John 6:22-59) 05.10.26

Years ago, a good friend of mine who was my Sunday School teacher and in my community group walked away from the Christian faith and his young family. It was heartbreaking for me to watch. If you’ve ever seen something like that, you know that it also causes you to ask yourself some hard questions about the faith and about Jesus. Questions like ‘Why was Jesus not enough for him? Will Jesus always be enough for me? If he can’t finish his faith race, what makes me think I will?”

And that’s exactly what John is helping us wrestle with in John six. But, before we even get there, John has already told us this is coming. When John opens his Gospel in chapter one, he tells us exactly what is going to happen. The light has come into the world. People see Him. People hear Him. People are drawn to Him. But then John says, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” - Jn 1:11 In other words, Jesus will be clearly revealed…and widely rejected.

Now, when we get to John six, we’re not just reading a story, we are watching what John told us would happen in chapter one actually unfold. In this chapter, a crowd finds Jesus. They see Him do the miracle of feeding 5000. They listen to Him. They even call themselves His disciples. But, by the end of this chapter, many of them walk away.

So, the question this passage forces on us is not, ‘Are you around Jesus?’, but ‘Have you actually received Him?” John six shows us something very unsettling. You can be close to Jesus…and still not receive Him. You can seek Him. You can listen to Him. You can even call yourself His disciple…and still, eventually, walk away. And that raises three questions this passage is going to answer for us:
1) Why do people seek Jesus and still not believe? 22-40
2) What does it actually mean to believe in Jesus? 41-59
3) Why do people walk away from Him? 60-71

If we don’t understand those questions, we won’t understand what happened to people like my friend, what’s happening in our own hearts, or what it really means to follow Jesus to the end. 

1. Why do people seek Jesus and still not believe? 22-40

The crowd goes looking for Jesus in verse 22. They cross the sea, track Him down, and ask some reasonable questions: “Rabbi, when did you come here?” - 25 “What must we do?” - 28 “What sign do you do?” - 30 On the surface, this looks like faith. But, Jesus sees what’s under the surface and says, “You are seeking me…because  you ate your fill of the loaves.” - 26

What Jesus does here is expose what’s really going on beneath their questions. In verse 26, He tells them their motive is off. They are not seeking Him because they see who He is, but because they got their fill of the loaves. In verse 27, He shows that their pursuit is misplaced. They’re working for food that perishes instead of seeking what endures to eternal life. They are more enthralled with the gift than the Giver. In verse 28, He shows them their framework is wrong. They immediately default to, “what must we do?” as if life with God can be managed, earned, or controlled. And in verse 30, their demand was wrong. They ask for another sign, even after witnessing a miracle. As if Jesus must continually prove Himself on their terms. When you put it all together, you begin to see the deeper issue: they want provision without Person, help without surrender, and a Savior they can use. Not One they must actually receive. The true lie of self-deception is that it doesn’t feel like rebellion, it feels like sincerity.

Then Jesus responds by correcting their entire framework. They ask what they must do, and Jesus redirects them: This is the work of God, that you believe in him who he has sent. In other words, the issue is not performance, but trust. Not achieving, but receiving. And then He makes it even more clear: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger…” - 35 Jesus doesn’t just give what satisfies, He is what satisfies. But even with all that clarity, they still don’t believe. Jesus says plainly, “You have seen me and yet do not believe” -36. This is exactly what John told us back in chapter one: They have seen the Light, they have heard the Word, they have been around Jesus, but they have not received Him. They are near to Him, but they have not trusted Him. 

But even more so, John says that, “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. That means the Jewish people. The people ‘most like’ Him culturally, linguistically, even genetically. Even His own people did not receive Him. And that means it is possible for any type of person to be very close to Jesus and still not receive Him.

Then Jesus pulls back the curtain and gives us the deeper explanation. All that the Father gives me will come to me. - 37 and at the same time, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out. And even more that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. - 39 There’s a tension here that runs all through the passage: no one comes unless the Father draws, and yet everyone who comes is fully received. And everyone who is received is forever kept. 

People don’t reject Jesus because He’s unclear. They reject Him because they don’t want Him on His terms. They want what He gives…but not who He is. As for my friend I told you about. He was getting his PhD and rising in the world of academics and while I’m sure there is a lot that I couldn’t see in his heart, what was clear was this: following Jesus was not a way to fit in in that world and rise up to the top. So, my friend chose social acceptance in a lost world over receiving Jesus for who He is. He was so close to Jesus for so long, but where it matters most, he was so far away. So…

II. What then does it mean to believe? 41-59

Here is where the tone really begins to shift. The crowd begins to grumble. Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph…? -  42 They stumble over His identity. He feels too familiar, too ordinary. And instead of softening His message to make it easier to accept, Jesus intensifies it. He explains why they cannot come: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him - 44 This is not an information problem, it’s a heart problem. But, there is also a promise. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. - 45

Then Jesus presses even deeper into what belief actually is. He says again, “I am the bread of life” - 48 But, digs in even deeper…The bread that I will give…is my flesh - 51 Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. - 53 He’s really winning this wary crowd back. But, if we stay close to the text, the meaning becomes clear. Without Him, there is no life. But, abiding in Him, there is true life: Whoever feeds…abides in me, and I in him - 56 Whoever feeds…lives because of me - 57 Whoever feeds… will live forever - 58

What Jesus is describing is not agreement, curiosity, or admiration. It is total, life-sustaining dependence on Him. Like food…you don’t stand over it and analyze it. You take it in. You depend on it. You live by it. Today is Mother’s Day, at some level, it should remind us that none of us begin life self-sufficient. We begin life dependent, fed, and sustained by someone else. That physical reality so many years ago now for us, is our current spiritual reality today.  

And that helps us answer the question we started with: Why was Jesus not enough for my friend? Why is He not enough for your friends? Why is He not enough for your parents or children? The answer in this passage is not that Jesus wasn’t enough. It’s that Jesus was never received as life. Because Jesus will not be a supplement to your life or a helpful addition. He must become your life itself. If Jesus is merely helpful, you will eventually outgrow Him. If He is merely useful, you will replace Him. But if He is your life, you will depend on Him. 

Now, let me say a word to those of you who hear this and feel unsettled. Not because you’re resisting Jesus, but because you know you don’t depend on Him the way you should. You might hear this and think, “I don’t feel that kind of constant reliance.” But you need to see the language Jesus uses even more clearly: Whoever feeds….abides in me. - 56 That feeding is not a one-time act, and it’s not a perfect act. It’s an ongoing dependence. Real faith doesn’t mean you never struggle. It means you keep coming back. You keep feeding. You keep depending. 

The difference in this passage is not between people who struggle and people who don’t. It’s between people who ultimately walk away and people who keep coming because they know they have nowhere else to go. Faith is not measured primarily by intensity of feeling. It’s measured by the direction of dependence. The question is not, ‘Do I struggle?’ but ‘Where do I go with my struggle?

So, what happens when people realize that following Jesus requires that kind of dependence? Third question…

III. Why do people walk away from Jesus? 60-71

Here is where the tension in the passage finally peaks. The large crowd of disciples say, This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? - 60 That word hard doesn’t mean confusing. It means offensive. The crowd considers it unacceptable. They understand exactly what Jesus is saying and they don’t want it. Offense is often what truth feels like before it heals you.

And at this point, many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. These are the people who had been following Jesus, listening to Jesus, watching Jesus do miracles, and even publicly identifying with Jesus. And now they are walking away.

Not because they misunderstood, but because they understood. They realize that Jesus isn’t offering improvement, assistance, or a manageable version of the faith. He’s saying they must depend on Him as their life. And that is just too much for them.

I’m a 90’s kid which means I grew up watching Baywatch. Don’t recommend it, but beneath the slow-motion running and questionable plot lines, they did actually get one thing right. How dangerous rescue can be. Not because the lifeguards aren’t strong enough or in shape enough, but because of how a drowning person reacts. When someone is drowning, they don’t think clearly. They grab, climb on, or push down anything near them just to get air. And they can actually pull others under even if they are trying to save them. Which is why when Eddie or Shauni didn’t have a buoy, they would grab someone’s surf board before they made a rescue. That’s the picture here in John 6…stay with me…the issue isn’t that the drowning people don’t need saving, it’s that they aren’t willing to stop trying to save themselves. You can’t be rescued while insisting on staying in control.

And this is what Jesus is getting at when He turns to the 12 disciples and asks, “Do you want to go away as well? - 67 He’s not chasing the twelve down. He’s calling for a decision. He’s been clear that it is only the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. There is nothing to do. No one can come to Jesus unless it is granted by the Father. It isn’t something we can create in our hearts. So this isn’t an evidence problem or a clarity problem. It’s a spiritual problem. People don’t walk away because Jesus is insufficient. They walk away because they don’t want to need Him that much. The hardest part of following Jesus is not understanding Him, it’s surrendering to Him.

And here is where Peter comes in with an answer that actually isn’t terrible. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We should appreciate this answer because Peter isn’t saying that this is easy or that he understands everything. He rightly says, ‘there is nowhere else to go.’ You don’t stay because it’s easy, you stay because everything else is empty. This is not certainty, but it is clarity.

Peter has this humble, settled conviction. He isn’t clinging to Jesus because he’s figured everything out. He’s clinging to Jesus because he’s come to see that Jesus alone has life. He’s tasted enough to know that every other option comes up empty. And that is what keeps a person from walking away. Not stronger willpower. Not clearer evidence. But a deepening realization that even when it’s hard, even when it’s offensive, Jesus is not just one option among many. He is the only source of life. It’s like finding a weird looking well in the desert with odd inscriptions and drawings. You may not fully understand it, but your life doesn’t depend on your understanding of it; it depends on drinking from it.

Now to answer the question from the beginning. If my friend couldn’t finish, what makes me think I will? Here’s the answer. You don’t finish because you’re stronger, more disciplined, or because you’ve read more books. You finish because you have come to see that Jesus is your only source of life. So, even when it’s hard, even when it’s confusing, even when it’s uncomfortable…you say, “Lord, where else would I go. You have the words of life.”

And after Peter stays, Jesus says something very sobering. Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil. - 70 Even among the 12, not all truly believed. So again, hear this clearly: Being around Jesus is not the same as receiving Him. 

By the end of John six, there are only two kinds of people. Those who are around Jesus. They follow Him for a time. They benefit from Him. They stay as long as it’s comfortable. But eventually they walk away. Then there are those who receive Jesus as their life. Not because following Jesus is easy or comfortable, but because there really is nowhere else to go. He isn’t the easiest option, but He is our only source of life. 

Some of you are thinking about someone right now. Someone who walked away. And some of you are wondering if that will be you one day. Here is the hope of this passage. And it’s easy to miss if we’re not careful. Your hope is not that you will hold onto Jesus tightly enough. Your hope is that Jesus holds onto you.

Earlier in this same chapter, Jesus made a promise: Whoever comes to me I will never cast out…and I will raise him up on the last day. -37,40 That means if you have come to Him, however weakly, however imperfectly, with however many questions…He has received you. If He has received you, He will keep you.

So, yes, this passage is a warning. There are people who are around Jesus…and they walk away. But, it is also a promise. Those who receive Him as life, He keeps. Not because their grip is strong, but because His is. So, however hard it gets and however weak you feel, you don’t look inwardly and ask, ‘Am I strong enough?’ You look to Christ and say, ‘Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life.’ You keep going back. He is both the source and the assurance of our faith.

The One who said, “Whoever feeds on me will live forever” is the One who gave His flesh for you. The One who was completely emptied so we could be filled with life. The One who experienced ultimate spiritual hunger so we could feed. 

So, no, Jesus is not the best of many options. He is the only option. And if you have Him, you have everything you need to make it to the end. 

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