Jesus, The Stumbling Stone
John 6:60-65
In the Old Testament we are constantly given glimpses of the coming Savior.
Abraham saw the Lamb caught in the thicket
We saw the blood of the Passover Lamb
In the Law we saw the blood sacrifices
Not only that but the prophets spoke of a Savior who was to come.
David in Psalm 22 Isaiah in Isaiah 53
And so as we read the Old Testament,
We are always encouraged by God’s promise to send a Savior.
However, there is another truth that is regularly seen
About this Savior who was to come.
Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”
Isaiah pointed out that this Savior would be the very foundation of life,
So long as you would believe in Him.
However, we know that not all would.
As Daniel foresaw the coming Kingdoms of the world in a dream.
Daniel 2:31-35 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. “The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Daniel saw the head of gold as Babylon
The breasts and its arms of silver was Medo-Persia
The belly and thighs of bronze was Greece
The legs of iron were Rome
Then the feet of iron and clay were the hybrid kingdom of the Anti-Christ
But then Daniel saw a rock that would come and strike the Anti-Christ’s kingdom and destroy it.
This rock was of course the coming King.
However even Daniel saw a unique characteristic about this stone.
This stone “was cut without human hands”
The stone God selected was rejected by the builders.
This was the same thing that David prophesied.
Psalms 118:22 “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.”
And of course Isaiah had a similar vision of the Messiah in mind
When he prophesied.
Isaiah 8:13-15 “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. “Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.”
Isaiah shows us a picture of Jesus, not as Savior, but as a “stone to strike and a rock to stumble over”
Jesus would either be the one fact to bring salvation
OR
Jesus would be the one fact to keep men from being saved.
As we have been studying through John
We have seen many aspects of Jesus as the Savior of God.
Even in John 6, Jesus repeatedly says, “I am the bread of life”
But John 6 is not the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation.
John 6 is the fulfillment of God’s promise of stumbling.
For with this obstinate group we see:
Jesus would not prove to be the One who would save them,
But the One who would condemn them.
He became to them “a stone to strike and rock to stumble over.”
LAST WEEK JESUS REVEALED THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS SACRIFICE
Essential, Eternal, Enjoyable, Effective, Exclusive
A person must partake in the sacrifice of Jesus.
As Paul would put it.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
BUT IN THIS CROWD WE SEE A DIFFERENT RESPONSE
Verse 60, “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Just because they are called “disciples” doesn’t mean they were saved.
A disciple is merely a learner.
We have many today who sit in churches and learn
Without actually submitting to Jesus.
We are called to “make disciples” because only God can make a person saved.
Instead of submitting to Jesus, these phony disciples are grumbling saying, “This is a difficult statement, who can listen to it?”
The word “difficult” translates (SKLEROS) = “rough”
They aren’t complaining that His teaching is hard to understand, They are complaining that this teaching is hard to accept.
THIS HAS BEEN MY OBSERVATION ABOUT JESUS TEACHINGS
People say, “I just don’t know what God wants me to do.”
My problem is not that I don’t know God’s will,
My problem is that I know God’s will all too well.
i don’t usually have difficulty with knowing God’s will,
If I struggle, it is with obeying God’s will.
They understood what He wanted.
He wanted from them the same thing He wants from you.
Humility, Brokenness, Repentance, Faith, Submission, Obedience, Perseverance
But these people responded much like many do today.
“This is difficult” (We don’t want to do that much)
It is the response of selfishness.
It is the response of those who are unwilling to give their all to Jesus.
It is the response of those who want to go to Heaven but not to Calvary.
It is the response of the wide road,
It is the response of the weedy soil,
It is the response of man-made religion at it’s best.
It is just as RAMPANT and ROTTEN today as it was in Jesus day.
And so as we see this 7th response of the multitude,
We also see the 7th point to Jesus sermon.
(Focus, Faith, Figure, Famished, Follow, Feast) – FRAUDULENT
And as Jesus responds to these fraudulent disciples,
He will point out 3 characteristics of the unbelieving everywhere.
#1 STUMBLING
John 6:61
After this crowd openly admits that the requirements of Jesus are too difficult,
Jesus hits them with this question, which is really a statement.
“Does this cause you to stumble?”
The word “stumble” translates (SKANDALIZO) = “to be offended”
It carries the idea of being offended so as to quit following,
Or to stumble so as to quit following.
(John the Baptist)
Matthew 11:2-6 “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
(His Hometown)
Matthew 13:54-58 “He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
(The Pharisees)
Matthew 15:8-14 “THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'” After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
This is what happened to this crowd.
The cost of following Jesus is too high,
It offended them that Jesus would require so much from them.
People today don’t even realize what they are saying
When they get offended when someone tells them the truth..
THIS CROWD STUMBLED
Because stumbling is an attribute
Of those who are unwilling to follow Jesus.
1 Peter 2:7-8 “This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”
AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STUMBLING OVER JESUS FOR YEARS
Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,”
John MacArthur writes a book called, “Hard to Believe: The high cost and infinite value of following Jesus.”
His point is that the message of Jesus is “hard to believe”
It requires self-denial, and repentance, and sacrifice
And therefore many today have not fully yielded to Jesus.
Instead they yield to a less offensive Jesus.
(A happy Jesus, a tolerant Jesus, a complacent Jesus)
THAT IS WHY WE ARE PREACHING THROUGH JOHN
I want you to see the Jesus of the Bible is hard to believe in
And He makes men stumble.
The Jesus of the Bible requires you to completely forsake you,
And to be crucified to the world, and to follow Him.
Luke 14:25-27 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
This is a difficult truth, and many will not listen to it.
It caused the Rich Young Ruler to go away sad.
It caused His hometown to reject Him.
It caused the religious elite to conspire against Him.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Have you been crucified with Christ, or is it just too hard to believe?
I don’t want to give up my money…
I don’t want to give up my time…
I don’t want to go on some mission trip…
The lives of the non-believing are characterized by stumbling.
#2 SUPPRESSING
John 6:62-64a
“What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Now it is obvious that the first characteristic of this crowd is stumbling.
They readily admitted to that.
However Jesus takes their hypocrisy a step further.
They weren’t just stumbling over truth, they were suppressing the truth.
I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT LOST PEOPLE.
Every single person who is lost is suppressing the truth.
Now that is easy to see in a weekly church attendee.
Matthew 11:20-24 “Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
Or take for an example those religious folk that crucified Jesus.
DID THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY JUST DIDN’T KNOW?
Luke 22:70-71 “And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
We see this all over America.
People have heard the message of Jesus, but they act like it isn’t true.
Some even claim that they believe it and suppress it.
Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”
But I want you to know that every lost person is suppressing the truth.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD?
Romans 1:16-25 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
I walked around China.
They are a land that teaches atheism to their children, and yet I have never seen a land with more idols in it, than in China.
They are a people who have never heard of Jesus, and yet they all seem to know who Buddha and Muhammad are.
You see God has made truth evident, but if a person persists in darkness, it is because they are unwilling to see it.
WHY?
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
They don’t want to have to depart from the sin that they love.
It doesn’t matter how much truth a person is given,
If they aren’t willing to listen to a little truth,
They will not be willing to listen to a lot of it.
Which is why Jesus asked, “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?”
Of course the answer to that question is still “NO”.
For look at what Jesus says next.
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
They had everything they needed to come to Jesus, but they refused.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE STORY OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS?
Luke 16:23-31 “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'”
Men who are lost, are so because they suppress the truth.
SOME WOULD ARGUE, “THEN WHY GO ON MISSIONS?”
-if they have a testimony in creation
-if you can’t change their mind
Because some are crying out for truth, and God sends the answer
YOU
However, if a person is unwilling to see the truth,
No amount of preaching will change that.
Their lives are characterized by Stumbling, Suppressing
#3 SCHEMING
John 6:64b
DID YOU CATCH THE THIRD ATTRIBUTE OF THESE NON-BELIEVERS?
It is not enough that they don’t want to believe.
It is not enough that they don’t want to see it as truth.
THEY DON’T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO EITHER.
There are people all over our world who hate the truth,
And want it silenced.
Some will go to extreme measures (ACLU)
Some only do a little (gossip)
But the motivation is the same.
It is a hatred for the truth, and a desire to see it silenced.
Acts 4:13-18 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.”
And there is a reason why lost people are like this with Jesus.
IT IS BECAUSE JESUS IS THE TRUTH
And you cannot simply disregard the truth.
The ACLU doesn’t fight against the tooth fairy.
Because that isn’t the truth, it disproves itself,
And they don’t have to do anything.
But when it comes to the truth,
You either have to fight it or submit to it.
That is why all who refused to yield to Jesus
Have declared themselves in opposition to Him.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”
You either cry HOLY or you cry CRUCIFY
Those who are lost are characterized by
STUMBLING, SUPPRESSING, and SCHEMING
And that prompts what Jesus says next.
Verse 65, “And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Men don’t come to Jesus on their own because:
The cross is scandalous; it causes people to stumble.
The light is irritating; it causes people to suppress it.
The truth is offensive; it causes people to scheme against it.
Jesus is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense to those who will not yield to the truth. Only God can change their heart.
But that doesn’t change the fact
That Jesus is the One you must come to.
Isaiah 28:14-18 “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”
It is Jesus that will either save or condemn every single man.
(THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE IS ALL THAT MATTERS)
For some He is the Chief Cornerstone.
For others He is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.
For some He is the only way of salvation,
For others He is the One thing that keeps them from being saved.
JESUS WILL SAVE YOU, BUT
You must take up His cross and stop stumbling over it.
You must accept this truth is about you and stop suppressing it.
You must submit to the truth and stop fighting against it.
Luke 20:17-18 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’? “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
WHICH WILL YOU BE TODAY?
Will you fall broken on Jesus, or will Jesus break you by falling on you?
Is Jesus your rock of salvation, or the stone that makes you stumble?
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
