Jesus, The Misunderstood One
John 6:14-27
This morning we sawhow Jesus has the power to satisfy your soul, And we looked at perhaps the most famous miracle in the Bible.
He took what was given and used it to feed a multitude.
It didn’t matter that He was tired, it didn’t matter that He was grieving.
He took the opportunity to show the true self-sacrificing love that characterized His life.
But it really all goes down hill from there.
For at the start of this chapter all are enamored with Jesus, By the time the chapter is over, all will have abandoned Him.
The reason is because there is no person in the course of history who has ever been more misunderstood than Jesus.
This chapter is a better picture of why men miss Jesus
Than any in the entire Bible,
And soon we will find that the miracle He worked this morning was certainly a sign, but also a set-up.
Vs. 14, “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
It would seem that all is well, and that the people are on the right track.
They saw the sign and they gave the proper interpretation.
This is something that people also do today.
Certainly there are some in the world who argue the deity of Jesus,
But by in large, most people in our day are willing to agree that Jesus is God’s Son, the Savior of the World.
Most people we talk to will acknowledge the power of Jesus,
And the miracles of Jesus, and the work of Jesus.
Most are in hearty agreement with this crowd.
But that is not enough.
James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
It is not enough just to know who Jesus is, or to have an intellectual belief about who He is. Satan knows that.
Jesus is looking for far more.
So many I talk too in the world will tell me they believe Jesus is the Savior.
Yet there is no fruit to their lives.
I hear statements like:
“I know God has always been with me”
“I have a very real belief in God”
That often leaves us stumped as what to say.
How do you argue with a person who claims to believe in God, and who gives God honor for always being with them?
I’ll tell you how.
There is no doubt that God is with them. The fact that they are still breathing proves that. It is not about what God has done for you,
It is about what you are doing for God.
These people here knew the facts about Jesus,
And that it was Jesus who fed them,
BUT THAT DIDN’T MAKE THEM SAVED.
Verse 15, “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
These people missed the point completely.
This is evident because they try to command Jesus
Instead of submitting to His commands.
These people intend “to come and take Him by force to make Him king”
By now, you ought to know
This is not the proper response to the revelation of God.
When Peter first saw the power of God in Jesus, look at his response.
Luke 5:6-8 “When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
Luke 5:11 “When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.”
When the woman at the well was convinced, look at her response.
John 4:28-29 “So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”
When you are allowed to see who Jesus really is,
You don’t come to Him in selfishness,
You come to Him in submission.
When Jesus reveals Himself to you.
The proper response is to totally yield to Him.
The improper response is to use Him for your own selfish gain.
That is what these people did,
And that is what so many do today.
They recognize the power of Jesus,
But they come to Jesus with improper motives.
Our command in the Bible is to Love God with all our heart.
Yet many come to Jesus in lust.
James 4:2-3 “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
These people came to Jesus in selfishness,
So Jesus is forced to flee.
Vs. 15 says, He “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
And then our story progresses.
Vs. 16-17 “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.”
We can draw some conclusions from what John said,
1) We know Jesus told His disciples to cross the sea, or they wouldn’t have at all.
2) But they selfishly waited until dark.
3) Their slothfulness got them in trouble.
Now they were in the middle of night, in the middle of dark, in the middle of the lake, in the middle of a storm.
Mark helps us understand that this is the case.
Mark 6:41-52 “And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”
Jesus told them to “immediately” get in the boat and go.
No doubt Jesus knew the storm was on it’s way,
But the procrastination of the disciples proved costly.
Now they were not just in a storm, “they were straining at the oars”
Can we ever get ourselves in trouble by not listening to Jesus?
When we fall out of a submissive mindset into a selfish mindset,
We are asking to be caught in the middle of a storm.
But even then, the grace of Jesus proves supreme,
For when He comes walking on the water, and they receive Him, all is well.
“Sometimes He calms the storm, other times He calms His child.”
But there is another key word we find in John’s gospel.
Vs. 21, “so they were willing to receive Him”
This ties right in with the problem of the multitude.
Jesus is not recruited, Jesus is received.
We don’t force Jesus to do anything,
We submit to what Jesus wants to do.
Let’s not forget who is in charge.
When a person alters their thinking from selfishness to submission,
Then they are ready to receive the salvation of Jesus.
John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”
John 4:45 “So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.”
When you try to selfishly manipulate Jesus into being a way
To meet all your selfish desires, you will never find Jesus.
So many in our world think that Jesus is there
To fulfill all our desires, and to yield to our requests.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH
We are here to fulfill the desires of Jesus
And to yield to His requests.
This is where so many people misunderstand the person of Jesus.
He came to this earth and He served man,
But do not misunderstand, Jesus is Lord.
He served to give us an example,
He didn’t serve because you are the boss.
BUT THE CROWD COULDN’T GET PAST THAT
Look at verses 22-24
“The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.”
Crowds from both sides are going miracle crazy
JesusMania is at an all time high!
And even this happens today.
I remember in Jr. High Jesus got real popular for a while. Every kid signed their notes “Jesus loves you”
Then in college He got real popular again as WWJD swept the nation.
Sometimes JesusMania breaks out,
Not because people are submitting to Him,
But because in their utter selfishness people think Jesus is the answer to all their problems.
But it is at this point that the crowd unleashes their first of 8 questions / statements that will open the door for this next sermon of Jesus.
Verse 25, “When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Notice they even call Him Rabbi. They are buttering Him up. They are acting concerned. Right now Jesus is a novelty and they don’t want to miss anything.
And at this point Jesus begins His second sermon
That reveals His real purpose and how men must really come to Him.
And in this first leg of Jesus second sermon, we are going to examine four simple attributes of Jesus, but in these learn what Jesus says to those who simply have “JesusMania”
4 attributes of Jesus
#1 THE PERCEPTION OF JESUS
John 6:26
Now this crowd has come to Jesus buttering Him up,
And has now followed Him from who knows where.
But when they get to Jesus, He seemingly stops them cold with this statement.
“You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”
Now as you remember, Jesus is the Heart Reader.
John 2:23-25 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”
Jesus had them pegged.
They had no intention of living for Jesus
They had no intention of submission
They just wanted Jesus to keep meeting their physical needs.
THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM THAT WE SEE TODAY
You have to be very careful preaching sermons like the one this morning.
I believe they are true, but be careful offering too much benefit and not enough cost to your salvation message.
We have too many willing to jump on board
With an all benefit no cost Jesus.
We call them the WEEDY SOIL.
Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
There are many who want a Jesus who is all benefit and no cost.
But that is not the Jesus of the Bible.
This is why Jesus always made people count the cost.
He never told people to jump without thinking.
If you’ll remember that’s what got Peter in trouble all the time.
TURN TO LUKE 14:15
When people only come to Jesus in selfishness seeking their benefit, they are destined to fall away and Jesus knows it.
But it’s not as though Jesus wants to run them off, look at the next point.
#2 THE PLEADING OF JESUS
John 6:27a
“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life,”
Now think about this crowd for a second.
They had traveled from who knows where to get to Jesus.
They were just committed to the wrong thing.
They were working hard to gain their selfish desires.
People will push themselves to unthinkable limits
For a little MONEY, for a little PRESTIGE, for a little POWER.
But Jesus says, don’t work for those things,
But work for the food which endures to eternal life.
What is it Mark Cahill says?
“If it doesn’t matter 100million years from now, it doesn’t matter.”
Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus said:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Suppose a kid graduates highschool and determines
To do whatever it takes to make a million dollars.
I can give you two absolute facts in this scenario.
1) Acquiring the million dollars is only possible
2) Leaving the million dollars is absolute
Don’t work for what perishes.
TURN TO PSALM 73
Jesus said don’t work for what doesn’t last,
BUT WORK FOR THE ETERNAL FOOD.
Hebrews 2:1-4 “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
“pay much closer attention” translates PROSECHO
“to moor a ship or tie it up”
“drift away” translates PARARHEO
“refers to a ship that has been allowed to drift”
Luke 13:23-25 “And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.”
You have to work and focus to enter salvation.
But don’t stop there, because if you do your theology will be off.
#3 THE PURPOSE OF JESUS
John 6:27b
“which the Son of Man will give to you”
You see Jesus tells you to work for salvation,
But He is very open and honest in the fact that you cannot earn it.
However, Jesus will give it to you by His grace.
WELL HOW CAN IT BE THAT I AM SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR IT IF I CAN’T EARN IT?
Because if you will work for it,
You will be ready to receive it when Jesus offers it.
Consider this story.
Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Neither could earn it, but you can see that one
Was far more ready to receive it.
You must be focused on eternal things and on your need
For the salvation that only Jesus can supply.
When you are, then you are ready to receive Jesus.
Otherwise Jesus will always just be a novelty
That you think exists to meet your needs.
The purpose of Jesus is to give salvation.
The purpose of Jesus is to save you from sin.
#4 THE POWER OF JESUS
John 6:27c
“for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
Jesus here tells you why He has the power to save you.
He has been given the seal of God.
You know what that means.
When a king would send an ambassador, particularly one with authority, he would send his seal with Him.
When someone stamped an order with the king’s seal,
Many times even the king could not reverse it.
Remember Darius in the story of Daniel?
Well Jesus holds this seal.
SO WHAT IS IT?
Ephesians 1:13 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”
The seal of God is the Holy Spirit.
It is the power of God on Him
That reveals He has the Father’s authority.
IS THIS NOT WHAT HE ALREADY SAID?
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”
Can you see the point Jesus is making?
You don’t come to Jesus wanting some carnal, fleshly desire met.
You come to Jesus in total submission seeking salvation from your sins.
When you come to Jesus like that,
He will save you for He has the power from God to do so.
Yet many don’t see this.
Many do not understand the true Jesus.
You come to Jesus when you submit to Jesus.
SO HOW HAVE YOU COME TO JESUS?
Is He just a novelty that will always be there any time your boat gets tossed, or is He the absolute Lord of your life?
To come to Jesus in selfishness
Will cause Him to depart alone up the mountain,
But to come to Him in submission will cause Him to get into the boat And take it safely to the shore.
John 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
