This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The History of Salvation” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 28, 1990.
Tonight we are reading from John’s Gospel, the sixth chapter, and we will start our reading with verse 51. Listen to the word of God. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews therefore began to argue with one another and say, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the Father gave and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.
These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where he was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray him.
And he was saying, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. Jesus said, therefore, to the twelve, You do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Jesus answered them, Did I myself not choose you as well and yet one of you is a devil. Now he meant Judith the son of Simon of scaring for he one of the twelve was going to be trained.
Our Father, what a blessing your church has proved to be to us. We know of your great love for your people, for the church, and how you have sent your Son to die that the church might be established and redeemed. And Father, we rejoice in the order that you have given to the Church, for the Church is your new creation. And as the first creation had order, so the second creation has order. And as the Spirit came and moved upon the face of the waters and led to that first creation, that order, that deliverance from chaos, so now the Spirit has come. That spirit has come as the spirit of order for the new creation. And we are blessed that in this order which has been conferred upon the new creation, the church, there is also that liberty for the children of God who have been called into the assembly which you yourself have established.
We praise you, our God, and thank you. and ask that those who are called upon to rule well might do that, and that for the benefit of your children throughout the world. May it please you to grant good and strong elders to your people, and may they rule well toward those who have been called. May they be diligent in their service. May they be honest in their dealings with the people, just and forthright, and may we respect the office that encourages Lord so that we would respect the men who fill those offices. Where your church is weak are we not assured that the eldership is weak. We pray our Lord therefore that you would revive the eldership of your people and that they who are called to office may study your word that they may also give themselves to an understanding of the history of your people, so that they might know how to be disposed towards those things that arise in the circumstances present. O Lord, we ask these things now, giving you thanks, that you have given many good and strong men to the church of which we are a part, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And may you, for the years to come, grant her great leaders.
We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now as Jesus’ ministry becomes more intense, we are walking through the Gospels, and we are looking tonight at John 6, but also at those passages in the Synoptic Gospels that will move us from the 10th chapter of Matthew through the 15th chapter of Matthew. So if you want to keep your finger in John 6, that’s where we’ll end up. You may want to look at Matthew 10-15 as we make our way through this message.
Jesus’ ministry, indeed, becomes more intense. His impact is registering far and wide. The word about his messages, about his works, the word about them has been broadcast so that, yes, in Galilee, also in Judea, but in the regions beyond, there are many who hear.
Then in that 10th chapter, you have Jesus sending out his disciples with the message about the kingdom. You’ll note in that 10th chapter that they were sent forth with the same message with which he himself came. Notice the 7th verse. They are commissioned to preach this message, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it? All right, well, now the disciples are sent out, And they are set out with this message about the kingdom of God, and the influence of Jesus is extended far and wide, even through their ministering.
At the same time, you will note that the imprisonment of John the Baptist is dragging on. As you move from that tenth chapter to the eleventh, you find John in prison, having been placed there by Herod, who has authority over the regions of Galilee. So all these things are taking place, and simultaneously, opposition to Jesus is increasing. So you have these collateral movements that are going on. the intensity of Christ’s ministry, the fact that his words and message, his works are registering on more and more, the effect is broadcast, the influence of his disciples is extending, John’s imprisonment drags on, and opposition to Jesus is increased.
You see, through this, the continuing theme of Jesus’ great popularity. There are those who are intensely interested in Jesus. He is a genuine personality. He is attractive in many ways. He is magnetic. He is charismatic. He has drawing power. He is definitely a religious interest, a religious personality, a celebrity.
So, the nation is astir with words, reports, rumors about Jesus. But note, note, note, what we have already said. Even though this is true, Opposition to Jesus will also intensify. Jesus will himself ferret out that hesitation and condemn that which lies beneath the surface within those who are apparently devoted, seemingly committed. followers. You recall what Jesus does. We described it last week in our evening message.
You recall what Jesus does in the case of Nazareth, his hometown, the record of which we have in Luke’s gospel, the fourth chapter. How there in his hometown he exposed the condition of the hearts of those people in that community. and calls them into account.
They’re all above. He has them in the palm of his hand. But then he goes after them and exposes the true condition of their heart. They were regular church attendants. They were there morning and evening. They wouldn’t miss a servant. But Jesus goes after even these apparently devoted folks, these that seem to be devoted to Him. They’re amazed by Him.
And He exposes them. He knows the heart. But then it seems that Jesus doesn’t know enough to leave well enough alone. He leaves his hometown of Nazareth, he goes down to the lake region, and he ministers there four times. But he follows the same pattern.
He comes delivering a message about the appearance of the kingdom of God, his wonderful sermons, his teaching, his grace, he’s performing many signs and wonders, But then he proceeds to castigate these people who live in the cities of that region. Note chapter 11, the close of it in Matthew’s Gospel, beginning with verse 20. For all their interest, for all their apparent devotion, for all the commotion that Jesus has caused and the interest that he has stirred, The fact that these people may even seemingly appear to be devoted to him, he tells them they won’t repent. And they are given virtually the same treatment as those who live in Nazareth. It’s scathing what he says. Scan those last verses of the eleventh chapter of Matthew. Woe to you, Corazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Woe to you, Capernaum.” That’s the town he’s living in now. He’s set up shop in Capernaum.
“‘Woe to you,’ he said, “‘it will be more tolerant for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than it will be for you. It will be more tolerant for the city of Nineveh. It will be more tolerant for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for you. For have the work that had been performed in you, been performed in them, they would have repented long ago.
But you refuse to repent. Now, not only is Jesus seemingly merciless now in regards to the folks of these towns going after them, the battle with the Pharisees is also in joy, in earnest. There have been those encounters, those exchanges with the Pharisees already. Jesus has made his bold claim back in chapter 9 in Matthew. That bold claim is that he has the authority to forgive sins. You remember the response of the Pharisees in that passage? Who but God has the authority to forgive sins?
Jesus now launches into a direct frontal assault. We move into the twelfth chapter of Matthew. There is that confrontation in the grain field. You remember the sermon we had on that story some time ago as we reviewed the section out of Mark’s gospel, the parallel passage. So now Jesus launches his direct frontal assault in a grain field over the turf of the Sabbath.
Sabbath belongs to us,” says the Pharisee. Jesus says, no, it belongs to me. I am the Lord of the Sabbath. Not only does he forgive sins, this one’s claiming that the Sabbath is his own personal property. His disciples are presumed to pluck a little grain, and they are rebuked by the Pharisees. Jesus now comes to their rescue as the Lord of the Sabbath.
Then later on, as that twelfth chapter continues, Jesus appears as the champion for the doing of good on the Sabbath day. The law itself is not at odds with the command for mercy and love. Jesus, then, is the champion for the doing of good on the Sabbath as he heals the man with the withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And as you move through that 12th chapter, another instance.
He exhibits his power, he demonstrates his kindness to one demon-possessed. But this brings on the counterattack now. The counterattack from the Pharisee. An attack that is born of rage and envy, and a zeal to defend their tradition, to defend the law, if you will, as that which is personally theirs. They charge, Jesus, this man, they say, casts out demons only by deals above the ruler of demons. Why, they blast him. And through this charge now, Jesus counters with his awesome, powerful statement, if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, and the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Verse 28 of that 12th chapter. You have Jesus’ interactions with the multitudes, with the various cities, the crowds that gather and come. You have his confrontations with the leaders. Have we left anybody out? Are you ready for this shocker? What about his family? We know what has happened in our time. To the extent that we will worship our families, our families will fail. That’s what’s happening.
Parents who worship their children, who actually see their children at the goal and end of life, who will sacrifice anything for the sake of their child, even their faith, and their faithfulness to God. The kid doesn’t want to go to church, so you don’t go. The kid doesn’t want to go to Christian school, so you don’t send him. The child that ends up being God. And the parents tremble because they worship family. The God of family was strong in Israel. Do you know any Jews? Do you know any Jewish family today? Have you seen it? It’s still alive and well in Jewry presently. It’s not just Eastern culture that worships family.
There is the matter of family, and as you come to the end of the twelfth chapter of Matthew, there it is for you. You see, his own family is bewildered by him. In fact, in one text we are told that not even his brothers believed in him. That’s in John 7, verse 5. But here, in Matthew 12, his brothers, together with his mother, Seek him out, and what happens? They are rebuffed. What’s wrong with this man? What is wrong with him? He has multitudes eating out of the palm of his hand, he turns on them, he makes himself seemingly obnoxious to the religious rulers of his day, and now, when his family comes to seek him out, he rebuffs them.
You know how the story concludes at the end of that twelfth chapter. He points to his disciples, and he says, Behold my mother and my brother. Those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven, they are my mother and my brother. There are new ties. relationships that are being established.
That’s why, you see, family cannot be ultimate. It cannot be worshipped by us. It cannot be placed at a level that is so far above all other considerations, since Jesus himself will come and tell you that you have to forsake your family to follow him. Jesus then alienates the crowd, he antagonizes leaders.
He boldly and shamelessly declares a new day. As far as the law is concerned, the Sabbath belongs to me, I will interpret it, he says. And he distances himself from those four family connections, those traditional Jewish family connections. that control the life and the mentality of Israel, if not other cultures and civilizations throughout the world.
His disciples, then, as we see, are those who do the will of his Father in heaven. And these are those to whom the mysteries of the kingdom are being revealed. These are the elect. These are the chosen. You are not elect merely because you have a certain heritage. That is not what makes you elect. The mysteries of the kingdom then revealed to these, the chosen, the elect, who are called out while brothers and sisters stay behind, while sons and daughters hesitate and linger. There are those who are called out, and to them is revealed the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 13. The listing of the parables. How does it go in Matthew 13? That’s where you have all of those parables collected for you. On the one hand, Jesus tells his disciples, I will give everything to those who stand on the outside. I will give everything to them in dark sayings and in parables, in mystery statements. Actually, the parables serve many purposes for God.
That Jesus gives these parables now indicates the arrival of a new day of revelation, a new day of discrimination by virtue of that revelation given. There is the quoting of Psalm 78, verse 2, in that 13th chapter. of Matthew, the thirty-fifth verse. And in quoting that seventy-eighth psalm, Matthew tells us that the time envisioned in that time, in that psalm, has now arrived, a time in which the ancient mystery, the parabolic nature of God’s dealings with his people in the world, is expounded. So the parables come. as an indication of the arrival of the day of unprecedented revelation.
But secondly, the parables are a sign of judgment. Jesus himself applies the horrifying sentences of Isaiah 6 to his parabolic teachings. You remember those statements? They’re listed for you there in the thirteenth chapter, as you look at verses fourteen and fifteen.
We are told there, in that prophecy, in those statements given to Isaiah by God himself, that God will deliberately obscure the kingdom to those who are perishing. He will hide it from them. The parables will in fact explain the kingdom to those who have ears. But Israel continues not to hear. Jesus then discriminates. How unfair it is. How sectarian. How narrow! Jesus discriminates. And he says in the eleventh verse of that thirteenth chapter, to you, my disciples, it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them, the multitude, it has not been granted.
So then the seven parables in line. And you rattle them off, the sower, the wheat and the pears, the mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure in the field, the priceless pearl, the dragnet, and other stuff. The seven parables collected by Matthew there in that chapter lend symmetry. symmetry to the message of perfection concerning the exposition of the mystery of the kingdom. Jesus, scrutinizing all, He comes in contact with. Jesus, seeing through them, having figured them out, He knows us through and through. We reach then a transition point as we reach the 14th chapter of Matthew.
That is the account of the death of John the Baptist. And this then will bring things to a head as Jesus then will begin to withdraw. Previously he was moving amongst The city’s in villages, he’s in contact directly with the people, seeking them out, if you will. But now, he will deliberately withdraw. John the Baptist is executed at the sign of the coming judgment upon Israel as a whole, and Jesus is beginning to withdraw.
Still, the crowd follows. They’re interested. Jesus is gracious, is he not? The crowds gather, they follow Him. There’s 5,000 men assembled at one time. He feeds them as He shall feed His own who come to Him out of the world. You can see that in the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the feeding of the 5,000. But now His heart is turning. It’s turning toward the fullness of His mission and His destiny in Jerusalem.
It is John that will give us the fuller account of what transpired between Jesus and the multitudes at this time, and that’s why we have read this evening from John’s Gospel, the sixth chapter. John tells us that the multitudes found Jesus the next day after the miraculous feeding. after the multiplication of the loaves and fish. He tells us that they found him the next day, but no Jesus reaction.
True to form? He obviously knows something that is not obvious to us. True to form, in keeping with the description we have seen in the other Gospels. Jesus chides these worshipful folk because he knows they are seeking earthly bread, not spiritual. They had their bellies filled. Their appetites were satisfied. what they want in their religion as well as in their life. Jesus in this context then goes on, as we have seen and heard this evening, he goes on to tell the crowd that he is the true bread that comes down from heaven, the bread of life, If they are to have life, they are to feed upon Him.
And so difficult is this statement, and Jesus’ exposition of it, that He says that none can come to Him except the Father draw them. It will only be those to whom it has been granted by the Father. It will only be those who understand the significance of what Jesus is saying at this point, the true significance. There will be those who completely misunderstand. There will also be those who muddle it, who are confused by it, who don’t get it straight, who think, yes, this is something along the lines of the ancient mystery religion.
We will have to eat the body of the God and drink His blood in order to have life. And that is a literal thing. So in that magic moment, In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the Mass, when the words of the priest are uttered, that wafer will become the body of Christ literally, and that wine will be transformed into the blood of Jesus. There will be a new sacrifice, and that’s why in the Roman Church it’s an altar, not a people. So do not understand That is why it’s such a serious matter, the difference between the Roman Church and the Protestant Church. That is why this time of year is important to you, for God was pleased to revive His Church through the Reformation, and to tell you, by root of that Reformation, it does make a difference what you believe happens in the Lord’s Supper.
The one form is gross idolatry. You worship a piece of bread and liquid in a cup. That’s what happens. That is literally what happens. In the other, you understand that the bread and the liquid The why are signs and feelings which Christ in His Spirit is pleased to bless to the faith of those who receive those elements. For Christ in His Body has ascended.
What shall you say then if you see the son of man ascending to where he was before? That’s exactly what he tells you in John 6. If he’s not here in his body and blood, how will you believe that you are feasting upon his body and blood? is this saying that Jesus says that none, none will accept it except it is granted to them by his Father. He goes on to tell us in his exposition of the feasting upon the body and the blood, that such must be their intimacy with him, that they are seen to be drawn into such communion with him through the means of feasting upon his flesh and drinking his blood.
He means by this a spiritual way, not a corporal or carnal. And so offended were many, even of his disciples, that they withdrew, and they walked with him no more. Verse sixty-six of that sixth chapter. When Jesus asked the twelve if they too would leave him, Peter answered, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. before the things that confound you? Are you still clinging to Christ because He has the words of eternal life? Here then is the turning point in Jesus’ ministry. It is a point to which He deliberately works, to which He deliberately comes. And will you not note the obvious difference now between him and those ever-too-predictable religious personalities, celebrities?
No clever, no churchwise, streetwise preacher. deliberately challenges his constituency. It is not politically wise. It isn’t smart. You don’t tell the people off who are paying the bills. You don’t dare. You ain’t smart business. Jesus isn’t worried. He tells the truth. No smart religious leader challenges his constituency. Because smart religious leaders are basically politicians. And they don’t do it either. You know how they vote. No smart religious leader calls his audience’s bluff. No smart religious leader exposes his audience’s shallowness or corruption. No smart religious leader provokes his audience, antagonizes them. After all, we all know that the smart religious leader has been called to a career. And in careers you don’t move from popularity to obscurity. from acceptance to rejection.
You’re a professional. You’re on your way up. You’re not on your way down. Only a fool chooses to go down, not up. Only a fool chooses against popularity and acceptance. No, you move the other direction. You move towards wider acceptance, greater popularity. Yet Jesus moves in precisely the opposite direction. And it’s not a matter of faith with him, it’s a matter of choice. He chooses it. He moves some popularity to ignore me. from great acceptance to rejection.
And do you know why? Small is the gate, narrow is the way that leads to life. The few who will enter in by that gate will follow in the wake of the one who has gone before, Jesus himself. He entered into life through that gate, along that way. And now you who are the servants of this master, you who know the mysteries of the kingdom, you who have accepted him, you who are not offended by his rejection, you who love him, will come in by that gate, by that very same way. And it will be proved that the Father has drawn you as he draws all those who truly believe.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.