John 6, Psalm 16 - To Whom Shall We Go?
How would you respond if you were asked to forsake Jesus? I mean, just walk away. Take your life back into your own hands and live as if Christ is nothing to you. Do you want to turn back? Do you want to walk away? Do you want to abandon Christ? How would you respond to such questions?
In some ways, we are confronted with this exact question whenever we hear about someone else leaving the faith, whether it be someone from our past, someone in our church, or some high-profile celebrity claiming to be "deconstructing" their faith.
Whomever it may be, their defection confronts us with serious questions, "Do you want to turn back too?" "Do you want to go away as well?"
How do you answer such questions? And why do you answer them that way?
This morning as we look at John 6 we find a follower of Jesus confronted with these exact questions and we are treated to his remarkable response.
First, let's read what led up to this confrontation…
John 6:53-66 So Jesus 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 you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Throughout Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse he has presented himself as the one sent by the Father with the exclusive power and authority to give life to whomever believed in him. He used the metaphor of food and drink to illustrate what it meant to believe in him. The one who believed in him would receive spiritual life. A life sustained by their continual dependence upon him. He compared his flesh and blood to bread and drink because it was through the offering of his body on the cross as a substitute that made such spiritual life possible.
To feed on Jesus then is to have persistent faith in him. It is to live as one wholly dependent upon him for spiritual life.
Many in the crowd however couldn’t accept his teaching that he was sent from heaven by the Father, or that he would give his flesh and blood for the spiritual life of others. Look at verse 60:
60 ¶ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
Like their Jewish ancestors who grumbled against Moses who was sent to bring them out of captivity, the Jewish crowd grumbles against Jesus who came to deliver them from sin. They are offended by him. He continues his response to them in verse 62:
62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
Here, Jesus calls himself the “Son of Man.” He is invoking Daniel’s vision from Daniel, chapter 7.
Daniel 7:13-14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
It’s as if Jesus is saying, “You are offended by the idea that I’ve been sent by the Father from heaven? Then how will you believe when I am resurrected and ascend back to the Father to receive all dominion? If you can’t believe I’ve descended, you’ll never believe when I am ascended.”
This statement strikes right to the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Upon his death, his disciples all became powerful witnesses of what? His resurrection. Every time the disciples are called witnesses in the book of Acts, they are witnesses of his resurrection.
Many in the crowd were following a Jesus of their own mind more than the Jesus of scripture. Theirs was a domesticated Jesus. He was a political Jesus. A moral Jesus. A wise Jesus. Maybe even a powerful Jesus. But he was not the almighty Son of Man who stands before Yahweh to receive all dominion, and glory, and an everlasting kingdom in which all peoples will serve him. If they can’t believe he’s come from the Father, they will never believe when he returns to the Father.
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is essential to salvation and a mark of every genuine disciple.
Jesus continues:
63 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.
The words of Jesus have life-generating power, just like the creative words of Yahweh. The Spirit of God works through the words of Jesus to make individuals spiritually alive. It is not enough to have some sort of intellectual acknowledgement that Jesus is some of what he was revealed to be. You must be born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus said to a prominent Jewish teacher in John 3:
John 3:5-8 … “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
You feel you’ve made an intellectual decision to follow Jesus, who in your estimation is a good, moral and wise teacher? According to Jesus, the flesh is no help at all. The Spirit of God must bring to you a spiritual life which generates a faith in him as the divine Son, sent by the Father to give eternal life to the world and then to rise again to receive all power and dominion.
By pointing out the difference between an intellectual belief in a deficient Jesus of one’s own making and a genuine Spirit-wrought belief in Jesus as the sent Son who came to bring eternal life, Jesus exposed many in the crowd. He continues:
64 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.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
There are many today who claim to be following Jesus, but they aren’t.
· Their Jesus is not a historical figure.
· Their Jesus is not divine.
· Their Jesus is not a miracle worker.
· Their Jesus did not confront sin.
· Their Jesus did not love sinners.
· Their Jesus did not die as a substitute.
· Their Jesus did not bear the wrath of God.
· Their Jesus did not rise again.
· Their Jesus is not currently ruling and reigning.
· Their Jesus is not going to return.
In short, their Jesus is not Jesus. What these individuals need is to be confronted with the Jesus of scripture. They need to be disabused of their false Christ and exposed for what they are – false converts following a false Christ. Does that sound harsh? That’s exactly what Jesus is doing in our text. Look at the response from the crowd:
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
This tells us something about the term “disciple,” right? These people were following Jesus and claiming to be his disciples. Yet, when they were confronted with who Jesus really was, they were offended, turned back and no longer followed him. Not all who call themselves disciples really are disciples.
This also tells us something about the importance of preaching scripture accurately and authoritatively. It’s only by confronting people with the real Jesus that the true state of their souls will be exposed.
[TRANSITION]
Well, it’s at this point that we come to our main text this morning. After many turned back and refused to follow Jesus any longer, he turned to his twelve disciples and asked them a question. Look at verse 67:
John 6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
This is why we started by asking, “How would you respond if you were asked to forsake Jesus?” This is the exact question with which Jesus confronted the twelve. Would they join the crowd by turning back as well? Would they decide that his teaching was offensive and forsake him, too?
Of course, Jesus already knew who genuinely believed and who did not (that is clear from verse 64), yet he posed the question anyway. Why? Because it was an opportunity for the disciples to crystalize in their own minds the genuineness of their faith in, love for, and loyalty to Jesus.
This is exactly what this question served to do for Peter.
In this moment, Peter considered all that Jesus had been teaching, all that many others had refused to believe, and determined how he might respond.
He recalled that Jesus promised that if anyone came to him, they would never be cast out. That is, that Jesus provides security.
He thought about Jesus’ promise that those who believe in him would never experience spiritual hunger or thirst again. That is, that Jesus provides spiritual sustenance.
He thought about Jesus’ words about not labouring for fulfillment in the fleeting things of this world and instead finding perfect satisfaction in him.
He considered Jesus’ promise that those who believed in him would not face judgment but would instead receive salvation. That is eternal life.
He thought about the fact that it is only through Jesus that one might have a relationship with the Father.
He also remembered that Jesus and Jesus alone could promise future resurrection for those who believed in him.
As he thought on these things, Peter welled up with conviction and gave the only answer he deemed appropriate.
John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
What an awesome confession! Go away? Where would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life. Besides this, we have come to be fully convinced that you are the Holy one of God!
When I read this, I was struck with the similarities between Peter’s confession to Jesus and a similar confession in the Old Testament. In fact, I’d suggest that perhaps Peter actually had this Old Testament passage on his mind as he considered how to respond. Turn to Psalm 16.
[PSALM 16]
It’s not a stretch to think that Peter had David and Psalm 16 on his mind when he considered how to respond to Jesus. David in Psalm 16 considers the awesome benefits of serving Yahweh, much like Peter in John 6 considers the awesome benefits of serving Jesus. He has put his pen to paper to express his love and loyalty to his God and to provide a song to be sung by all who share the same commitment. It may very well be this song that came to Peter's mind when he was faced with the question of whether or not he would remain faithful to Jesus or abandon him like the others.
Further, we know Peter was very familiar with this text because, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, he preached a sermon on the resurrection and used Psalm 16 as one of his main texts. He clearly meditated on this Psalm often and deeply. So much so that when he was filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, it’s this text that came to the surface.
Let’s read Psalm 16 and consider how Peter might have found it relevant to how he would answer the question, “Do you want to go away as well?”
Psalm 16:1-11 ¶ … Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Yahweh, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
5 Yahweh is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless Yahweh who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 ¶ I have set Yahweh always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
David begins by stating that God is his source of security. “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” That is, when the storms of life rage or the enemies surround me, I run only to you. This is quite the confession from David, who could have found security or refuge in many areas. He was a military commander. He was a king. Yet, he knew that his security ultimately rested in Yahweh.
As Peter considered Psalm 16, he could well have thought about how Jesus had promised to be his security. He had promised that whoever came to him in faith, he would never cast out. He would preserve him through a continual supply of spiritual life like a continual supply of bread and drink might preserve a physical life. Through Jesus, Peter would forever be kept secure within a relationship with God. Jesus for Peter, like Yahweh for David, was a refuge.
Next, look at what David says in verse 2, “I say to Yahweh, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” Yahweh, you are my Lord – my authority, my master. There is no use in trying to find good apart from you.
Notice what Peter said in John 6, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus, you are my Lord – my authority, my master. There is no use in looking beyond you for eternal life.
Both David and Peter are expressing a total submission. They have presented their lives to the master as an act of faithful allegiance. “Here I am Lord to serve you and you alone. There is nothing outside of you which compels me to serve or to offer my allegiance.”
Next, look at what David does in verses 3 and 4. It’s as if he has put before him two paths, the path of the saints, and the path of the unbelievers, for the purpose of making his commitment to Yahweh clear.
Psalm 16:3-4 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
David is saying that he has contemplated the way of the unbeliever and the way of the saints and has determined that the saints are the excellent ones. He delights in those who are also committed to Yahweh. On the other hand, he rejects the path of the unbelievers. So much so that he even refused to utter the names of their gods. He is like the Psalmist in Psalm 1, who wrote:
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2, ESV)
Remember that in John 6, it’s this very question which has confronted Peter. Would he go away with the unbelievers, turning back and forsaking Jesus? Or would he continue in faithfulness to him? Of course, he chose, like David did, to remain faithful to his God.
For both David and Peter, this was a conscious decision as they considered the philosophies, values, priorities and lifestyles of people in the world. Would they be better off to live as their own Lords? Devising their own path? Relying upon their own power? Developing their own worldview? Satisfying their own desires? Should they live like the world around them?
The decision for both David and Peter was clear. For all the talk about freedom and happiness by those who reject God, it is clear that the end of their lifestyle is sorrow. David says, “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.” This sounds like the Psalmist in Psalm 73:
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:25-28, ESV)
As Peter considered the choice before him, to turn back and join those who forsook Christ or to continue with him, he may well have thought about the Psalmists and specifically David, who had already considered the ways of such people and then answered back with an unabashed commitment to God.
Next, look at Psalm 16:5. David says, “Psalm 16:5 Yahweh is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” Remarkably, David is invoking the metaphor of food (portion) and drink (cup) to express his dependence upon and satisfaction with Yahweh.
It’s the picture of someone looking over an endless buffet and choosing a portion. David says I have chosen Yahweh. I have entrusted my sustenance, satisfaction, and fulfillment to him and him alone. “You hold my lot,” he says. That is everything that I have, everything that I am, and all that will happen to me is in your hands.
Of course, Peter in John 6 also had his mind on food and drink as a metaphor for spiritual sustenance and satisfaction because that’s the exact metaphor that Jesus used to illustrate these things. He is like bread and drink. Peter is saying, “Like David, I choose you.” “You are my chosen portion and my cup. I will entrust my satisfaction, fulfillment and spiritual sustenance to you.”
David continues in verse 6, “Psalm 16:6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Because David had chosen Yahweh as his portion and entrusted everything to him, he could look forward to a beautiful inheritance. What is this inheritance? Look at Psalm 16:10:
Psalm 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
David was looking forward to resurrection. He had the confidence that because he served Yahweh, he would not be left in the grave forever. Because he has chosen Yahweh as his portion and his cup, he would receive an eternal inheritance.
Of course this rung true for Peter as well. He knew that Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54).” Those who have chosen Jesus as their portion would not be left in the grave forever but would be raised.
John 5:28-29 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
By the way, as an aside. David’s use of portion in verse 5 and inheritance in verse 6 is a clear allusion to the priesthood. When God instituted the priesthood, he said to Aaron:
Numbers 18:20 ¶ … “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.
God did not allow the priests to own land so that they might remain entirely dependent upon him for provision and so that they might remain single-minded in their service to him. When David invoked the idea of God as his portion and inheritance, he was indicating that he was fully consecrated to God, and full committed to serve him, just like a priest.
Peter would later pick up on this same theme in his first epistle. He wrote to believers:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9, ESV)
For David and Peter to properly worship God is to present oneself to him as wholly consecrated. Jesus would say, not lukewarm, but hot. A life fully devoted to the service of him.
Next, David says in verse 7, “Psalm 16:7 I bless Yahweh who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.” Here, David blesses Yahweh because he has experienced the Lord, granting him wisdom and insight. In other words, David felt that he had been taught by God.
This could put Peter in mind of Jesus’ words in John 6:45, “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—”
Next, David says in verse 8, “I have set Yahweh always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Here, David speaks again of his total commitment to Yahweh. He intends to forever remain loyal to him. He will live every day with a conscious awareness of Yahweh’s presence. There is no compartmentalization. There’s no real division between the spiritual and the secular. He will walk with the Lord his whole life long and will be able to face whatever comes his way because he knows that he is with him.
As Peter thinks about Jesus, he might recall that he said,
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. (John 6:55-56, ESV).
The language of feeding and abiding communicates the same thing as Psalm 16:8. To follow Jesus is to live with a conscious awareness of him. It is to live in a way where the reality of Jesus and salvation in his name permeates every aspect of life. It is to live in continual dependence upon him. Peter would live with Jesus always before him and with the confidence that because of Jesus, nothing could separate him from God.
Well, in Psalm 16, we come to a “therefore” in verse 9. What is the happy consequence of David’s total commitment to Yahweh? When he meditates on God as his only good, how does he feel? When he considers that his whole life has been entrusted to the Lord, what is his response? When he thinks about the promise of future resurrection and inheritance, what does he say? Look in verse 9:
Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
David is expressing complete satisfaction and fulfillment as a result of his total commitment to Yahweh. Look in verse 11:
Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Eternal gladness, joy, security and pleasure. That’s the consequence of David’s total commitment to Yahweh. He is fully satisfied with him. In Yahweh, David says he has found genuine life. He says, “You make known to me the path of life.”
I think that as Peter considered this passage, his mind would have gone to Jesus’ words,
John 6:35 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
This is full satisfaction as a result of attaining genuine life. Peter expressed as much in his response to Jesus. Return to John 6:68:
John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Like David, Peter had come to know the “path of life.” So, when considering whether he would follow the men and women who turned back and refused to follow Jesus, Peter could only answer one way – “to whom shall we go?” In other words, there is no choice. There is no other valid answer. It’s really not a question at all. It’s not something to be debated. It’s not a tough choice. The conclusion is obvious. I could never turn back because “You are my Lord, and I have no good apart from you.” I could never turn back because “You [alone] have the words of eternal life.”
This morning we should recognize that in the life of believer he is confronted repeatedly with the same question.
Every time we hear about someone who once claimed to be a believer choosing to turn away from Jesus, we are faced with the same question, “Do you want to go away as well?”
Every time we are exposed to someone claiming to be deconstructing their faith, we are confronted by the same question, “Do you want to go away as well?
Every time we learn about some other Christian leader who has renounced the faith, we are faced with the same question, “Do you want to go away as well?”
For genuine believers, the answer is obvious.
Jesus, you are our refuge
Jesus, there is no good apart from you
Jesus, your people are my people
Jesus, you are the source of genuine satisfaction
Jesus, my life is in your hands
Jesus, you have an inheritance waiting for me
Jesus, you are my counsellor
Jesus, you are my constant companion
Jesus, you are the source of genuine joy
Jesus, in you alone, is the promise of life after death
Jesus, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.
Well, in conclusion notice that when Peter responded to Jesus, he responded on behalf of all twelve disciples. He said “to whom shall we go” and “we have believed.” Little did he know, he wasn’t speaking for everyone. Look in verse 70:
John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Here, we are reminded that when some false believers publicly turn back and refuse to walk with Jesus any longer, some others continue within the community of believers. Judas’ charade would continue for some time and during that time he would be accepted by the other believers as one of them. He was spared from having to answer Jesus’ direct question because Peter spoke up on his behalf, but it would have done him well to have to answer.
This morning we do well confront ourselves, and one another with the same question, “Do you want to go away as well?”
