John 6:66-71
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.
70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Observations for living today:
Jesus proclaimed the message God sent Him to give mankind. When the people heard the truth they began to openly reject it. Jesus had answered each question, teaching His listeners what was required and how God would love those who believed Him. He had tutored the crowd patiently and encouraged all of His disciples to remain steadfast even as some turned away in disbelief. God cares deeply for every soul; when so many disciples turned away, rejecting the words of God (Jn 12:50; 14:10, 24, 1; 17:8), His messenger was clearly frustrated. He gave voice to His pain asking His closest disciples what they wanted to do. Peter’s observation, while absolutely true, did little to lessen the anxiety Jesus was facing, but evoked another deeper lament. Jesus, the exact representation of God’s being (Heb 1:3), who chose the Twelve openly warns them—one of them is a devil. The questions of vs 67 and 70 reveal the character of God, His genuine concern for each soul, while at the same time demonstrating each soul must believe God or perish: not even the Son of God can stop you from rejecting God’s truth (Jn 17:12).
“Will you also go away?” was an interesting question for Jesus to ask. He always knew what was in their heart, who believed and who did not (Mt 12:25; Mk 2:8, 12:15; Lk 5:22, 6:8, 11:17; Jn 2:24). Clearly the question was not a request for information, rather, a way to focus His closest disciples on one of His greatest and most challenging teaching points: one must believe God or perish. This truth has been from the beginning (cf. Gen 3:17; 4:7). Fact was, even then eleven of them were not fully convinced and one would never believe God’s message.
Jesus knew frustration. This is just another example of how unbelief and its consequential disobedience evoked a visible response from God. Other examples of unbelief include:
< When His disciples could not heal a sick child--“O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Mt 17:17)
< After delivering a series of “woes” to the teachers of the law and Pharisees--“how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Mt 23:37; Lk 13:34).
< As He entered Jerusalem on a colt, he wept for the city--“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace” (Lk 19:42).
< Twice upon entering the temple area driving out sellers and money changers with a righteous indignation--“It is written, ‘My [God’s] house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Lk 19:46; Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11).
< After the last supper with His closest disciples--“You believe at last! But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (Jn 16:31).
God wants us to believe His words/message. Man was created in God’s image and each is a child loved by the Father. All of John 6 screams God loves you and will take care of you, believe it and live forever; reject this truth and you will perish. God knows disappointment and sorrow—He wants His creation to know and understand He loves us—longs for and is waiting patiently for each child to come to his senses and believe what He says. God’s will, spoken by Jesus, gives life to those who believe, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And the Holy Spirit taught Peter, God’s forbearance of immediate justice is a demonstration of His desire/will—“not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (Jn 3:16; Mt 18:10-14; 2 Pe 3:8-11)
God works hard to make the truth readily understood. One can only imagine the abruptness of this remark after teaching His followers of the bread of God. The Apostles were closest to Jesus, being witnesses to everything spoken and done; they were specifically chosen and taught by the Son of God to take His message to the whole world (Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8). While we do not know why Judas was chosen, we do know Jesus always knew who he was and what he would do (Jn 6:63-65). This forbearing of a single obstinate child shows God’s character; God’s mercy is to make the truth plain, i.e. shine a light revealing the truth, even while we prefer darkness (Jn 3:19-21). This light/truth was made to shine on the Apostle Judas no less than the other twelve.
< He was baptized by John (Lk 7:29).
< He was chosen by Jesus to be an Apostle—blessed no less than the others with gifts to serve (Mt 10:4; Mk 3:19, 6:7; Lk 6:16.
< Jesus washed his feet the night He was betrayed—showing him the full extent of God’s love (Jn 13:1-17).
< He participated in the first Eucharist (Holy Communion) with the Christ instructing the Twelve on the significance of the His body and blood; telling them to do this remembering Him (Lk 22:14-23).
But Judas did not “believe” the warnings given by Jesus, giving Satan the opportunity to enter and command Judas to do what he clearly knew to be wrong.
< Scripture records Satan entered Judas twice, once when he planned the betrayal (Lk 22:3) and once when he began to execute the plan (Jn 13:2, 27).
< As he betrayed with a kiss, Jesus called him friend/comrade, leaving the door of reconciliation open (Mt 26:50; Lk 22:47; Mk 14:44).
< Even before Jesus was tried/convicted by Pilate, when Judas recognized his miscalculation of what would happen—Jesus would in fact be killed though entirely innocent—he tries to change the outcome by returning the money to the Sanhedrin (Mt 27:1-11), showing he still did not believe Jesus’ prediction that He would be put to death but rise on the third day (Mt 16:21; Mk 8:31; Lk 9:21).
Judas could have repented and known God’s forgiveness had he believed what Jesus said about God. Just as Jesus called Peter Satan, telling him to get out of His way and get his mind off the things of man and onto the things of God, so Judas was warned many times. Jesus plainly told the Twelve everything about what was going to happen to Him—Peter and Judas heard the same truth. The difference between Peter and Judas: Peter believed what Jesus said about God’s character, while Judas could not see himself being reconciled to God.
Reality in Christ:
Jesus’ question paraphrase: Do you believe me?
His question remains significant for us today and the reality of a life in Christ demands serious thought be given to how we answer. Saying “I believe God” is not enough. To give God an honest intelligent answer, we need to comprehend the environment we are immersed in and understand what the correct answer would look like.
The Environment. The people heard Jesus speak clearly God’s message and they realized it was not an easy lesson to learn. From the very beginning, everything God spoke to us, from His commandment given to Adam to the message proclaimed by Jesus has been understandable; every command and each lesson a simple concept to grasp, albeit a challenge to apply.
The Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) captured this principle of life in his military writings: “Everything is very simple in War, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen War.” (ON WAR Vol I Chapter VII Friction in War)
We are involved in a celestial war against God, waged by the powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, which were defeated already by God in Heaven and yet continue to attack those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus here on earth. On the surface, believing God is an easy concept, but doing it becomes a lifelong challenge when one realizes every ascent to God becomes a life threatening challenge to His enemy Satan. Satan is making a last stand against God; each challenge/engagement (both yours and mine) by him is strategically and tactically designed to extinguish our confidence in God’s words (Rev 12; Eph 6:12; Gen 4:7).
Do you also want to leave? What the correct answer looks like.
It is more than saying no; it is saying I follow because I believe you with certainty. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me . . . For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30). Weary and burdened, Christians looking for rest will always find a tempting alternative presented by the deceiver (Satan); such is the nature of the conflict sin presents in this world. Make no mistake, Jesus’ words are true, but they will not negate anything else He taught; a deliberate choice must still be made and followed through on by each Christian living in the reality of Christ—there is a yoke to be worn and you must learn from it—the simplest thing will most likely feel difficult.
A clear example of this conundrum is found when comparing what Jesus said regarding Judas (one of you is a devil!), to what He said to Peter, immediately following Peter’s inspired response to Jesus’ question to His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” (Mt 16:15; Mk 8:29; Lk 9:20).
Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” was an intellectual response to a question versus an emotional response to an event; it revealed what Peter believed—what he understood from all he had experienced in his life up to that day; i.e., all of what had been revealed to him by the Father and how he interpreted it. Notice it was on this fact (rock of truth), this conviction of belief/understanding of Jesus, which the church would be built on, not on Peter. Soon after this, when Jesus explained what this reality would look like when implemented, Peter still believing Jesus is the Christ, pulled the Son of the living God aside and said to Him, “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus responded quickly and definitively: “Get behind me, Satan! . . You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mt 16:21-23) He then turned immediately to the disciples and taught them a simple formula for success/failure for living in the reality of Christ: “whoever wants to save their life/soul will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. . . For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then He will reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Mt 16:24-27)
Who was Peter really? He was called “Satan” by the Son of God in the moment, but not identified as a “devil” as one of the chosen twelve was later known to be. Peter had yet to learn the truth of God’s words if you try to save your life you will instead lose it! It was simple to say Jesus was the Son of the living God until Peter heard what difficulties would come walking down that road. It takes courage and confidence in the power and love inherent in God’s character to face the threats of the experience not yet lived.
Not all are called to be like Peter, but all are to live by faith and be able to explain their faith when called upon (Jas 1:2; 1 Pe 1:6; 2 Pe 1:3); simply put, this is what and why I believe it—why I live the way I do! You cannot lie about it to God, but you can trick yourself and perish (Jas 1:14f, 22-25). This requires a serious belief in God; not a feeble attempt at saving yourself from something, but entrusting yourself to someone who really knows and cares about you. Trust God and believe what He says and you will learn the most wonderful things; how much He loves you—just like He loved His one and only begotten Son Jesus (Jn 17:20-26).
Remember all the words of God are absolute truth and will happen: “Behold I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Rv 22:12)
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.
70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Observations for living today:
Jesus proclaimed the message God sent Him to give mankind. When the people heard the truth they began to openly reject it. Jesus had answered each question, teaching His listeners what was required and how God would love those who believed Him. He had tutored the crowd patiently and encouraged all of His disciples to remain steadfast even as some turned away in disbelief. God cares deeply for every soul; when so many disciples turned away, rejecting the words of God (Jn 12:50; 14:10, 24, 1; 17:8), His messenger was clearly frustrated. He gave voice to His pain asking His closest disciples what they wanted to do. Peter’s observation, while absolutely true, did little to lessen the anxiety Jesus was facing, but evoked another deeper lament. Jesus, the exact representation of God’s being (Heb 1:3), who chose the Twelve openly warns them—one of them is a devil. The questions of vs 67 and 70 reveal the character of God, His genuine concern for each soul, while at the same time demonstrating each soul must believe God or perish: not even the Son of God can stop you from rejecting God’s truth (Jn 17:12).
“Will you also go away?” was an interesting question for Jesus to ask. He always knew what was in their heart, who believed and who did not (Mt 12:25; Mk 2:8, 12:15; Lk 5:22, 6:8, 11:17; Jn 2:24). Clearly the question was not a request for information, rather, a way to focus His closest disciples on one of His greatest and most challenging teaching points: one must believe God or perish. This truth has been from the beginning (cf. Gen 3:17; 4:7). Fact was, even then eleven of them were not fully convinced and one would never believe God’s message.
Jesus knew frustration. This is just another example of how unbelief and its consequential disobedience evoked a visible response from God. Other examples of unbelief include:
< When His disciples could not heal a sick child--“O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Mt 17:17)
< After delivering a series of “woes” to the teachers of the law and Pharisees--“how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Mt 23:37; Lk 13:34).
< As He entered Jerusalem on a colt, he wept for the city--“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace” (Lk 19:42).
< Twice upon entering the temple area driving out sellers and money changers with a righteous indignation--“It is written, ‘My [God’s] house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Lk 19:46; Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11).
< After the last supper with His closest disciples--“You believe at last! But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me” (Jn 16:31).
God wants us to believe His words/message. Man was created in God’s image and each is a child loved by the Father. All of John 6 screams God loves you and will take care of you, believe it and live forever; reject this truth and you will perish. God knows disappointment and sorrow—He wants His creation to know and understand He loves us—longs for and is waiting patiently for each child to come to his senses and believe what He says. God’s will, spoken by Jesus, gives life to those who believe, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And the Holy Spirit taught Peter, God’s forbearance of immediate justice is a demonstration of His desire/will—“not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (Jn 3:16; Mt 18:10-14; 2 Pe 3:8-11)
God works hard to make the truth readily understood. One can only imagine the abruptness of this remark after teaching His followers of the bread of God. The Apostles were closest to Jesus, being witnesses to everything spoken and done; they were specifically chosen and taught by the Son of God to take His message to the whole world (Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8). While we do not know why Judas was chosen, we do know Jesus always knew who he was and what he would do (Jn 6:63-65). This forbearing of a single obstinate child shows God’s character; God’s mercy is to make the truth plain, i.e. shine a light revealing the truth, even while we prefer darkness (Jn 3:19-21). This light/truth was made to shine on the Apostle Judas no less than the other twelve.
< He was baptized by John (Lk 7:29).
< He was chosen by Jesus to be an Apostle—blessed no less than the others with gifts to serve (Mt 10:4; Mk 3:19, 6:7; Lk 6:16.
< Jesus washed his feet the night He was betrayed—showing him the full extent of God’s love (Jn 13:1-17).
< He participated in the first Eucharist (Holy Communion) with the Christ instructing the Twelve on the significance of the His body and blood; telling them to do this remembering Him (Lk 22:14-23).
But Judas did not “believe” the warnings given by Jesus, giving Satan the opportunity to enter and command Judas to do what he clearly knew to be wrong.
< Scripture records Satan entered Judas twice, once when he planned the betrayal (Lk 22:3) and once when he began to execute the plan (Jn 13:2, 27).
< As he betrayed with a kiss, Jesus called him friend/comrade, leaving the door of reconciliation open (Mt 26:50; Lk 22:47; Mk 14:44).
< Even before Jesus was tried/convicted by Pilate, when Judas recognized his miscalculation of what would happen—Jesus would in fact be killed though entirely innocent—he tries to change the outcome by returning the money to the Sanhedrin (Mt 27:1-11), showing he still did not believe Jesus’ prediction that He would be put to death but rise on the third day (Mt 16:21; Mk 8:31; Lk 9:21).
Judas could have repented and known God’s forgiveness had he believed what Jesus said about God. Just as Jesus called Peter Satan, telling him to get out of His way and get his mind off the things of man and onto the things of God, so Judas was warned many times. Jesus plainly told the Twelve everything about what was going to happen to Him—Peter and Judas heard the same truth. The difference between Peter and Judas: Peter believed what Jesus said about God’s character, while Judas could not see himself being reconciled to God.
Reality in Christ:
Jesus’ question paraphrase: Do you believe me?
His question remains significant for us today and the reality of a life in Christ demands serious thought be given to how we answer. Saying “I believe God” is not enough. To give God an honest intelligent answer, we need to comprehend the environment we are immersed in and understand what the correct answer would look like.
The Environment. The people heard Jesus speak clearly God’s message and they realized it was not an easy lesson to learn. From the very beginning, everything God spoke to us, from His commandment given to Adam to the message proclaimed by Jesus has been understandable; every command and each lesson a simple concept to grasp, albeit a challenge to apply.
The Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) captured this principle of life in his military writings: “Everything is very simple in War, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen War.” (ON WAR Vol I Chapter VII Friction in War)
We are involved in a celestial war against God, waged by the powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, which were defeated already by God in Heaven and yet continue to attack those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus here on earth. On the surface, believing God is an easy concept, but doing it becomes a lifelong challenge when one realizes every ascent to God becomes a life threatening challenge to His enemy Satan. Satan is making a last stand against God; each challenge/engagement (both yours and mine) by him is strategically and tactically designed to extinguish our confidence in God’s words (Rev 12; Eph 6:12; Gen 4:7).
Do you also want to leave? What the correct answer looks like.
It is more than saying no; it is saying I follow because I believe you with certainty. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me . . . For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Mt 11:30). Weary and burdened, Christians looking for rest will always find a tempting alternative presented by the deceiver (Satan); such is the nature of the conflict sin presents in this world. Make no mistake, Jesus’ words are true, but they will not negate anything else He taught; a deliberate choice must still be made and followed through on by each Christian living in the reality of Christ—there is a yoke to be worn and you must learn from it—the simplest thing will most likely feel difficult.
A clear example of this conundrum is found when comparing what Jesus said regarding Judas (one of you is a devil!), to what He said to Peter, immediately following Peter’s inspired response to Jesus’ question to His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” (Mt 16:15; Mk 8:29; Lk 9:20).
Peter’s declaration, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” was an intellectual response to a question versus an emotional response to an event; it revealed what Peter believed—what he understood from all he had experienced in his life up to that day; i.e., all of what had been revealed to him by the Father and how he interpreted it. Notice it was on this fact (rock of truth), this conviction of belief/understanding of Jesus, which the church would be built on, not on Peter. Soon after this, when Jesus explained what this reality would look like when implemented, Peter still believing Jesus is the Christ, pulled the Son of the living God aside and said to Him, “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus responded quickly and definitively: “Get behind me, Satan! . . You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mt 16:21-23) He then turned immediately to the disciples and taught them a simple formula for success/failure for living in the reality of Christ: “whoever wants to save their life/soul will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. . . For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then He will reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Mt 16:24-27)
Who was Peter really? He was called “Satan” by the Son of God in the moment, but not identified as a “devil” as one of the chosen twelve was later known to be. Peter had yet to learn the truth of God’s words if you try to save your life you will instead lose it! It was simple to say Jesus was the Son of the living God until Peter heard what difficulties would come walking down that road. It takes courage and confidence in the power and love inherent in God’s character to face the threats of the experience not yet lived.
Not all are called to be like Peter, but all are to live by faith and be able to explain their faith when called upon (Jas 1:2; 1 Pe 1:6; 2 Pe 1:3); simply put, this is what and why I believe it—why I live the way I do! You cannot lie about it to God, but you can trick yourself and perish (Jas 1:14f, 22-25). This requires a serious belief in God; not a feeble attempt at saving yourself from something, but entrusting yourself to someone who really knows and cares about you. Trust God and believe what He says and you will learn the most wonderful things; how much He loves you—just like He loved His one and only begotten Son Jesus (Jn 17:20-26).
Remember all the words of God are absolute truth and will happen: “Behold I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Rv 22:12)
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