Thursday Devo
Scripture Reading:
John 6:60-69
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
6:60 It was a hard saying because they wrongly interpreted Jesus’ statements literally
6:63 The flesh (i.e., human nature including emotions, will, and intellect) is completely incapable of producing genuine spiritual life (see Rom. 7:14–25), for this can only be done by the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit works powerfully in and through the words that Jesus speaks, and those words are spirit and life in the sense that they work in the unseen spiritual realm and awaken genuine spiritual life.
6:64 Jesus’ divine omniscience is shown by the fact that he knew the status of everyone’s heart and therefore he knew who those were who did not believe. He also knew the future because he knew who it was who would betray him. Only God could know these things.
6:66 Many of these early disciples were not genuine disciples of Christ, for they turned back. Their initial “faith” was not genuine and they were perhaps following Jesus only because of the physical benefits he gave, such as healing and multiplying food.
6:67 This is the first reference to the Twelve in this Gospel (cf. vv. 70, 71; 20:24). Their existence and appointment are assumed from the Synoptics (cf. the reference to Andrew as “Simon Peter’s brother” in 1:40).
6:68 To whom shall we go rightly implies that there is no other teacher who can lead people to eternal life and to true fellowship with God himself.
6:63 The flesh (i.e., human nature including emotions, will, and intellect) is completely incapable of producing genuine spiritual life (see Rom. 7:14–25), for this can only be done by the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit works powerfully in and through the words that Jesus speaks, and those words are spirit and life in the sense that they work in the unseen spiritual realm and awaken genuine spiritual life.
6:64 Jesus’ divine omniscience is shown by the fact that he knew the status of everyone’s heart and therefore he knew who those were who did not believe. He also knew the future because he knew who it was who would betray him. Only God could know these things.
6:66 Many of these early disciples were not genuine disciples of Christ, for they turned back. Their initial “faith” was not genuine and they were perhaps following Jesus only because of the physical benefits he gave, such as healing and multiplying food.
6:67 This is the first reference to the Twelve in this Gospel (cf. vv. 70, 71; 20:24). Their existence and appointment are assumed from the Synoptics (cf. the reference to Andrew as “Simon Peter’s brother” in 1:40).
6:68 To whom shall we go rightly implies that there is no other teacher who can lead people to eternal life and to true fellowship with God himself.
Study Questions:
- We learned on Sunday that FOLLOWERS are committed to GIVING. FANS are committed to RECEIVING. In Scripture, the crowd is always wanting something from Jesus, whether it be healing or food or just to see the show. The same is true of the crowd today... they're in it for what they can get. The problem is that the faithfulness of the crowd is always dependent upon whether or not they are receiving what they want. Disciples' faithfulness, on the other hand, is based solely on their relationship with Jesus. Fans aren't willing to sacrifice, but followers are. If we are going to be faithful followers of Jesus, we CANNOT be like the crowd in the Gospels who turned away from Jesus when his messages got too difficult to hear. We have to be like Peter. When Jesus asked the disciples if they were also going to leave him, Peter said, "We have nowhere else to go. You have the words of LIFE!" So, having said all of that, it's time to look in the mirror and be brutally honest with ourselves. Are you a FAN or a FOLLOWER? Maybe a little of both? I'm not asking what is in your heart or what you wish to be true, but what do your actions and decisions say about you? How does one move from FAN to FOLLOWER?
- We all start out as fans, we just can't stay there. At some point we have to be willing to grow spiritually. The sad part is that MANY Christians never cross over, they never move beyond the consumer mindset, never truly submit their lives to Jesus, take up their cross and follow him. We have turned faith into an activity, into a program or a social activity; into a consumer-based model. We've all been there... church shopping and church hopping. And church buildings everywhere are full of those shoppers, sitting on pews, consuming the content until they get dissatisfied for any number of reasons and start the process over again. They look buttoned up on the outside, but their hearts are far from him. This is a dangerous place to live. What could God do through you and IN you if you were to be one that follows? No matter where you are in your relationship with God, he has MORE! Spend some time praying and asking God to show you where you can take steps forward with him.
Pray:
- That you would move past being a FAN to being a true FOLLOWER of Jesus.
- That your heart would be set on fire for him.
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