Or, The Need for Spiritual Initiative
Scripture: John 6:60-65
Date: July 15, 2012
Speaker: Sean Higgins
Men are good at overestimating what they deserve and what they can do. In John 6, the crowd expected Jesus to provide bread for them as He had the previous day. They acted as if they were entitled to it. The crowd also expected that they could figure Jesus out, that they could determine if He really was someone they should pay attention to. In fact, they figured that if Jesus did whey they deserved (that is, made them easy food), then they would know what to do.
They overestimated what they deserved because they thought that they already had life. But Jesus told them that they didn’t have true life, eternal life. They also overestimated their abilities. But they weren’t able to measure Jesus. They saw His miracle(s) but couldn’t see who He really was. They heard His invitation but couldn’t come. They hungered but had no taste. They grumbled and quarreled rather than understand. And then they left (verse 66).
The audience gets smaller as the chapter gets longer.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60, ESV)
A group of so-called disciples left the synagogue (see verse 59) and were thinking about what they had heard (the aorist participle suggests, “having heard” or “after hearing”). These men were “followers” of Jesus without really following Him. This group of disciples must also be distinguished from “the Twelve” in verse 67.
Because of verse 61, we know that these “disciples” were not taking their questions to Jesus. It is always easier to complain about a person than to that person. They said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” Or, it is a “harsh word,” a σκληρός λόγος. That it was hard doesn’t mean that it was “difficult” to understand (as the NAS translation suggests), but that it was tough to accept. They didn’t like it.
What is the “hard word”? It seems to be the whole idea that Jesus came down from heaven (paralleled with talk about Him ascending in verse 62) and also that Jesus would give His flesh for others to eat and His blood for others to drink. They didn’t appreciate His claim to heavenly, divine origin or the connotations of His metaphor. That meant that there was no such thing as a free meal with Jesus; He was the Messiah. They asked for earthly food, not eternal food. They wanted breakfast and lunch, not the Bread of life.
In the question, Who can listen to it?, the word listen is the same Greek verb as at the beginning of the verse, when many of his disciples heard it. “Many who heard said, ‘Who can hear?‘” Or, their ears were open enough to open long enough for them to close them. What Jesus said was unacceptable and they objected. In our day we might hear someone say, “My God isn’t like that.” The play on words points out that hearing is not enough, especially when it’s not what you want to hear.
The remaining verses of the paragraph are Jesus’ answer along with a couple extra insights about Jesus’ perspective provided by John. Here are four responses that underline the need for spiritual initiative.
Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t need to hear them to understand completely that they had a problem with Him.
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? (John 6:61–62, ESV)
Just as the crowd grumbled (verse 41, from γογγύζω), these disciples also grumbled. Jesus knew in himself, He knew because of divine omniscience, not just because He saw them pouting off in a corner with fussy faces. Jesus knew the heart of men (see John 2:23-25) because He was God.
Jesus asked first, “Do you take offense at this?” He knew the answer. They were grumbling because they didn’t like it. Jesus points out that they were about to fumble what they most needed to hold onto. To be scandalized (σκανδαλίζει), to be offended like this is to be on the precipice of downfall, at the crossroads of walking away. They didn’t like His truth, His life, or His authority. But without Him, they would remain in darkness, death, and slavery to human reason.
The bread that came down from heaven was there, right in front of their faces and they couldn’t see it. Jesus’ second question, “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”, leads to the rhetorical answer. The point is, they would miss that and find a reason to grumble about His ascension, too. Their reasoning wasn’t getting them anywhere, their senses were broken, and they weren’t going to whine themselves out of ignorance or offense.
They think that they have what they need. Jesus says that they don’t.
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63, ESV)
Here is the first time in the chapter that Jesus mentions the third member of the Triune life-giving team. Not only is it important for us to know who gives life, but it is even more important for us to realize that someone else must give life. The flesh is no help at all. The flesh provides no “assistance,” no “aid” in giving life. Whatever the flesh can do, the flesh is useless to bring life. No amount of investigating, reasoning, or working enables a man to get life for himself.
The Jews, and especially these followers of Jesus, had every possible fleshly advantage. They were in the presence of the Son of Man in the flesh, hearing the words of the Word of God, watching His wonder-working power. They had the Old Testament, they knew the Scriptural promises, they even knew the importance of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. In terms of human advantages, no one had more. And what good did their flesh do them? They couldn’t hear Him, come to Him, or believe Him. Their flesh was no advantage. They could not make themselves a life.
Instead, It is the Spirit that gives life. Actually, it’s another substantival participle: “the Spirit is the one making living.”
Why say this here? What does verse 63 have to do with how they would react if they saw the Son ascending? Because the Spirit is the life-giver and therefore the Spirit is the difference-maker. Because if they had life, they wouldn’t be grumbling and they wouldn’t be offended. They weren’t understanding because the Spirit hadn’t given them life. They could no more get life than a baby can birth itself or a dead man can resuscitate himself. It’s harder than you think. In fact, it’s impossible for the flesh. Every man needs spiritual initiative, that is, for the Spirit to initiate life.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t cooperate with life already in us, the Holy Spirit initiates life absolutely in us.
What does that have to do with the next statement? The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Jesus was telling them the best possible news and they had no taste for it. He was offering life to dead people and, surprise surprise, they didn’t want it.
Does that mean that the words weren’t effectual, that the words weren’t actually spirit and life? Does that mean that Jesus failed? No, it means that the Word of God works by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit gives life and enables a man to receive the food of the Holy Word.
He knows. Nothing is hidden from Him.
But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) (John 6:64, ESV)
Jesus has explained why men don’t believe throughout chapter 6 and now He exposes that many of these disciples don’t believe. He knew it all along.
They John adds a parenthesis. For Jesus knew from the beginning not only those…who did not believe but also the one who would betray him. Why introduce such a negative theme here? Why insert a comment about the betrayal so early in the story? Jesus will mention Judas in verse 70, which John expands in verse 71. The betraying-one is the foremost example of the unbelieving-ones. Jesus saw current invisible realities as well as future history.
Their inability is their hope, because what they need is what His Father does.
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” (John 6:65, ESV)
Jesus repeats His own point; it’s the same melody with a slight twist on the lyrics. He said in verse 37 that the Father gives a group of men to the Son.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37, ESV)
He said in verse 44 that the Father draws the ones He’s giving to the Son.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. (John 6:44a, ESV)
Now He states that the Father gives the coming-ability as part of His drawing. In light of verse 63, He does it by making a person alive in the Spirit.
It’s why coming to Jesus is no drag even though God is sovereign from the beginning to the end of the process. In fact, not a single person would ever take a step toward Jesus unless the Father and Son and Spirit initiate. Jesus repeats human inability and the grace of God, that God changes the wants, overcomes willful resistance, and overcomes their inability to change their will themselves.
No one comes to Jesus who does not believe; they come because they want to. No one wants to unless the Spirit gives them life; they believe because the Father grants them belief. They need spiritual, that is, the Spirit’s initiative. Otherwise, now would have been a fine time for Jesus to say, “There are some of you who do not believe, I’ve known it all along, and I don’t know what else I could do to help you.”
This is a hard saying. Who can accept it? It is even harder than you think.
What’s hard here? There is no salvation without Jesus. Believing Jesus means receiving who He is—the Son sent from heaven, and identifying with His death—eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Accepting the exclusivity of salvation is hard. Accepting the bloody sacrifice is hard. And you can’t accept any of it unless the Father gives you life by the Spirit. Accepting the truth of His sovereign initiation is hard.
You can’t do it on your own. You can’t hear and accept (verse 60), you can’t believe (verses 63-64), and you can’t come (verse 65) without God. You can’t live without God. Knowing who Jesus is is harder than you think (verse 60). Understanding Jesus’ words is harder than you think (verse 63). Believing in Jesus is harder than you think (verse 64). Coming to Jesus is harder than you think (verse 65).
God is sovereign. The Father draws and gives. The Son knows hearts, knows the future, gives His flesh, and guarantees to raise His gift on the last day. The Spirit gives life. We can do none of those things. “God saves sinners.”
God’s sovereignty is a stone of offense to the pretentious, a staff of correction to the forgetful, and a sanctuary of refuge to the trusting.