Chapter 6 starts off with one of the most familiar Sunday school stories of all-time: Jesus feeding the multitude. Very few people have not heard this story. Jesus is teaching, the people are hungry, Phillip is beside himself, right? Luckily, one person out of thousands thought, "I'm a human, I eat...packing a lunch might be a strong idea." Jesus takes this lunch, miraculously feeds the entire crowd, and has leftovers (shame they didn't have Tupperware). From there on, Jesus becomes a "rockstar" and people are following him like he's The Grateful Dead or something. They find out where he's going and strike out for Capernaum for the encore performance.
However, in Capernaum Jesus starts laying out exactly what the meaning of the feeding miracle was. He starts claiming to be the "meal" that would ultimately satisfy the people. As Jesus makes statements about being the "bread of life" and saying those following him must "eat of his flesh" and "drink of his blood," folks start wondering what Jesus had been drinking prior to this speech. As my friend D. Becker pointed out, these claims offended ideas of how a first century Jew could/could not worship God.
Ultimately, many of them simply said, "This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?" With that, they left, never to return. The "Jesus Show" they wanted so badly to be a part of had stopped meeting their immediate need for entertainment and a free lunch and had started demanding them to embrace/reject some huge realities of who Christ really was. Sadly, this was too much and the best option in their minds was to head out looking for a new show somewhere else.
Here's where the story really gets me. Jesus, just deserted by a crowd of people who he had come to save, turns in a moment of divine humanity and asks his inner circle, the Twelve, "What about you? Are you leaving, too?" (paraphrase). When I listen in my mind, I hear Jesus not asking this in a challenging way, but in a manner that shows he knows what it is to be rejected, even by those he was trying to save. Later we see a similar act of humanity when he feels the pain of his friends at Lazarus' death and weeps alongside them. In short, God in the flesh knows what it's like to be me. He was rejected, he shed tears in agony, he felt anger in the temple, he faced the impending reality of a physical death.
Some people have a tough time w/ Jesus' divinity. Was he really God as he claimed to be? I don't struggle with that. When he drops "before Abraham was, I AM," in John 8, I'm with him. I'd say it has been more of a struggle for me to accept his humanity. Passages like those above remind me of a truth expressed best by Pastor Matt Chandler when he said, "God knows it's scary to be me." That's the kind of God I want to serve. One who would humbly step down into the mess w/ his people and know their suffering, face every temptation they faced...and win.
However, there's more to the story...Peter and Judas.
Peter is an astounding person in my opinion. Peter is the gung-ho, "let's do this" type of guy who is ready to take on the world at the side of Jesus. The second Jesus asks them if they're also going to bolt, Peter's bold reply is essentially "Where else would we go? You are the Son of God and your words ARE life." Score one for Peter. However, for every "right answer" he gave Jesus, he also had some huge moments of egg on his face. When Jesus asked who the disciples believed he was, Peter was the first one raising his hand and affirming Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I like to picture Peter pumping his fist for nailing that one. Still, right after that Jesus taught that he must suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders. Peter, not having any of it, argues w/ Jesus (note to self: do not argue w/ Jesus). Jesus replied by essentially calling Peter "Satan" and saying that Peter was on the side of men, not God. Wow. Peter would later go on to chop off a dude's ear (as if Jesus needed his protection) and then deny Jesus three times after promising not to.
Here's what's awesome; by the end of John, we get the story of Jesus gently restoring Peter and leaving him with the reminder to "feed his sheep." No condemnation, no "I told you you were going to deny me, bro." Instead, Jesus picked him up and got him back about the work of His kingdom. Result: Peter drops a sermon in Acts 2 after which about 3,000 folks repent and follow Christ. If there's hope for Peter (yes, the guy Jesus called "Satan"), I believe there is hope for all of us.
Still, there's a sad part to this story as well: Judas. After Peter assured Jesus that the inner circle were with him to the bitter end, Jesus noted that he chose them, but that there was a proverbial "wolf" in sheep's clothing among their number. Someone was not who they seemed to be. This person is Judas who, let us not forget, was chosen by Jesus to be part of the Twelve. Of all the people in history, Judas was one of the closest to Jesus during his time on Earth. However, despite the fact that he had a front row seat to Jesus' ministry, he missed the show. He saw Jesus heal, heard him teach, shared meals with him...and missed the whole point.
But, don't we do that, too? We may not sell Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver, but don't we sell him out for other things? Don't we sit in church somedays, sing the songs, take copious notes, drop a check in the plate...and never once encounter Jesus for who he is? I have. We end up like Judas and the crowds who are just taking part in the "Jesus Show", but missing the point.
There's plenty more to unpack from this one chapter, but these are the things that stick out most to me. I'm not some amazing biblical mind, so these are not home run theological points, probably bunts at best. Here's what I need to remember from this passage.
- We are not called to be groupies at the Jesus Show. We're called to know Him for who He is and to follow with what will often seem, in our American mindset, like reckless abandon.
- Our God knows what it is to be human and has conquered any fear or temptation we may face.
- Peter was no scholar and his failures are as well-documented as his successes...yet Christ used him in mighty ways. There is hope for the rest of us.
- It is entirely possible to live your life in church and eat/sleep/drink "Christian culture" and never know Christ for who he is (Matt. 7:22-23)
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