The Gospel of John 6:41-71

Let me first go through. slides here. I think there are some really interesting things to take a look at. We're looking at Jesus had gone from Jerusalem up to Galilee. And we're going to finish verses 41 through 71 in John chapter 6 here. This is a little closer shot of the Sea of Galilee area and Capernaum at the north end and just to the west of where the Jordan River, who was in the Sea of Galilee. I was just talking with Randy.

He and I both have ridden bicycles around Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe, interestingly enough, is about the same shape as the Sea of Galilee. Lake Tahoe is rather different though, in that it's 6,200 feet above sea level. This is about 700 feet below sea level.

So quite a bit of difference. Andrew, who was here and had a a tour in Afghanistan, took a break from Afghanistan and went to the Sea of Galilee and rode a bicycle around it. A little bit easier trip than what Brandy and I did going on Lake Tahoe. It was smaller and much lower in elevation. At any rate, here's the Sea of Galilee.

Here is a shot looking at old Capernaum. Capernaum has been entirely excavated. What you see here is a covered area over what is believed to be Peter's house. from Bethsaida, which is just to the right over here, and then during the time of Christ's ministry, had a house there in Capernaum. This does appear to be Peter's house, not absolutely confirmed, but the indications are. This is the synagogue talked about here in this passage with special clarification that we'll make here shortly. All around what you see are these walls left over from the earlier development, the excavation. The area around Capernaum is basalt flow. Basalt is a dark colored, very hard rock. And so all the houses that were originally built in the original synagogue were built with dark material. So you can imagine, what color do you like your house? I hope you like dark because that's what it is. Everybody gets a dark house.

And by the way, they put the windows up high and they were not big. So here's a closer shot of some of the walls that were excavated and a few items that were found. There were household items here and there. And then this is a portion of what is called Peter's house.

Here is the synagogue. Looking at the aerial, there's the aerial of the synagogue. Here is the synagogue closer up. And I made a distinction here. In the second century, they took the top part off of the synagogue. It was dark material, and they imported a lighter colored white limestone material and built the synagogue that you see there now. Right underneath it here was the remains of the previous synagogue which was out of basalt, darker material. So that's the dividing line between the two. So what we'll see described here as the synagogue is in the same location But it is not the light colored synagogue that you see here. It's the darker colored one that was there before. So here's an artist rendering, as Jesus said, there of the synagogue in Capernaum. So Jesus says, in this action of the previous passage, but he continues on with the magnet bread of life.

And then you'll have this on the front of your handout. And something else we'll be taking a look at here, a closer look, is what does he mean by eats my flesh and drinks my blood? That's one that's been controversial over the centuries. So anyways, let's take a look at the handout, and we'll step our way through the passages here.

John chapter 6, 41 through 42 is where we start. This is the interaction that continues after Jesus had fed the 5,000 on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, and then walked on the water, and then the people who were so excited about, boy, lots of free food, we'd love this, right? And they liked seeing the various signs and things. They would come trying to find, where's Jesus? And then wondering how he got there so fast, right? When did you get here, you know? They looked down at their sundial watches, I'm sure.

So anyway, John 6, 41 through 42 says, therefore the Jews were grumbling about him. That's more grumbling, by the way, in that chapter. And the grumbling doesn't stop. because he said I am the bread that came down out of heaven they were saying is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how does he now say I have come down out of heaven so the Jews heard that Jesus made this claim I am the bread that would imply deity because the I am phrase is used pretty consistently in the Greek Old Testament for things that God himself says.

One of the prime examples we have noted at the bottom of that inset is in the Greek Old Testament, Exodus 3.14. Moses is talking to God and speaking out of the burning bush and he's saying who should I say you know he said me and That's the response they go Amy is the response that God gives out of the burning bush in the Greek Old Testament, so Jesus uses uses that repeatedly he has already used it in John, but he begins using it in John chapter 6 and in a metaphor, I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, etc. So, elsewhere Jesus said, I am, and the Jews were ready to stone him.

We'll see that in a couple chapters in John 8.59. Some people will claim, well, that ego, a me, I am, doesn't mean necessarily deity. Well, why were the Jews ready to stone him, right? It's in fact, it says, because you claim to be God. So it's pretty clear.

As far as what was recorded, Jesus said that he was the bread and that he came down out of heaven. So either the Jews put together from what Jesus said, those exact, those words, they're quoted in verse 41, but it wasn't recorded earlier, or Jesus actually said it, and it wasn't written. Here in the Bible, down out of heaven is exclusively a set of words that John uses. He uses it repeatedly in the Gospel of John, and he uses it repeatedly in the Book of Revelation. So it's a, it's a, and by the way that's typical of John where he uses phrases repeatedly, and he uses them in both the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation. And that's one of them, down out of heaven. So in verse 42, the Jews say that they know who Jesus is in earthly terms, including his lineage from Mary and Joseph.

We know you. Alright, so what's the problem here? Matthew and Mark each record similar statements, but in a different context. It's not in this particular event. You know, hey, don't we know you? Your father's Joseph, your mother's Mary, and actually names the brothers. But then it says he has sisters, but doesn't name them. We have from another document his sister's names.

The Jews couldn't reconcile Jesus coming down out of heaven with his earthly birth from Mary and being familiar with his family members. For Jesus to come down out of heaven as they saw it, he had to have come as described in Daniel 7.13.

Daniel 7.13 describes Christ coming how? This is what we call the second coming.

They're saying, you know, wait a minute, you know, you're not coming like that down out of heaven. Therefore, you must be crazy or not the Messiah or something. Something's wrong with your claim. Because, you know, you didn't come like that down out of heaven.

And in fact, you know, we know your mother, we know your father, your brothers, your sisters, you know, this doesn't sink. So that's what, you know, people will ask, why did the Jews not believe in Jesus by and large? Why did they largely reject him?

And the answer to that is in part this very thing. They're looking for, if you're really the Messiah, then how come you're from Nazareth and we know your mother and father and your brothers and you didn't come with the clouds down out of heaven that way? So you must not be the Messiah. So that's in great part the answer.

It didn't fit what they were looking for, what we would describe as his second coming. It didn't fit, therefore you must not be the Messiah. And all your claims to be the Messiah, to be the King of Israel, to be the Son of God, all those are false. All set aside because it doesn't fit this.

Let's take a look here at the top of page 2. This is John 6, 43-51. So Jesus answered and said to them, do not grumble among yourselves. Interestingly he has to tell them that, right? Yes. What's that footnote on the other page? First page. I put capitals on it. The New American Standard does not capitalize it. And I put capitals on it to highlight that this is not just, it is possible in the Greek to say, you know, I am, and to do it without drawing particular attention to yourself. Literally, this is I, I am. I am. So anyway, that's what that's talking about. I'm particularly noting the ego, a me, using the capital I, capital A, M. All right, verse 44.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. So he repeats it. Your fathers ate the man in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever and the bread also which you will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

Which I will give, excuse me. So look at this, in this passage he has used this I am there twice. So twice as he just spoke to them in these verses made a claim to deity. I am being in fact God, the bread of life. So twice made that claim. So he tells them to stop rumbling among themselves. Why did you do that? Yeah? Did you say why did he do that? Yeah, why did you tell him to stop grumbling? Because when you grumble you focus on yourself and you aren't focusing on the truth. Okay. Yeah, think about the grumbling.

What are several things that it reveals? And there are several things. They don't believe. Yeah, first of all, they don't believe, you know, it's like, okay, he said something and I don't believe what he said. Okay, problem one. What else? Okay, there is an internal dissatisfaction and you're expressing it and you're expressing it among other people. Okay, and it's focused on self. Okay, good. What else? Negativity, okay? There's something wrong and so you're not reaching a positive conclusion, you're reaching only a negative conclusion. Okay? What else?

You spread the negativity among yourself? Certainly, yeah. You're spreading the negativity to other people so that if you're negative, you're impacting this other person and it's hitting them as well. Yeah, good point. What else? He says the magic word, I am. He's saying, I am, in fact, God, and does that calm them down or get them more stirred up? It gets them more stirred up, right?

I would suggest another thing, and that is, were they arriving at solid truth in their grumbling? No, they weren't arriving at solid truth within themselves and they weren't arriving at solid truth between themselves. They weren't getting anywhere spiritually by their grumbling.

So he tells them stop for all the reasons that we've put out here. For all the reasons, just stop it. You guys aren't getting anywhere. There's all this negativity being spread. You guys are not recognizing the truth and by continuing your grumbling, you're not going to get there.

So, verse 44 is sometimes taken by Calvinists to say that the Father draws some and does not draw others based upon God's sovereign election and choosing. The Calvinism idea, just to reiterate, is that God chooses some and doesn't choose others, and those he chooses will be irresistibly saved by grace And that's what God's sovereign grace is. He picks some and doesn't pick others. And those he doesn't choose will go to hell because he didn't pick them. That's Calvinism, in a nutshell.

And so, some will look at that and say, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. So now, let's look at verse 45. Let me read that again. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. So, how does the Father draw people? Through Christ Jesus, but I'm sorry, what? Through his word is really what this is telling us. Verse 45 is written in the prophets, that's from the Old Testament Word of God. So the Father uses the Word of God to draw people. That's where truth comes from.

Why aren't all the Jews responding to that? They see it, and how come they're not seeing the Old Testament and saying, whoa, I get it. How come they're not getting it? Yeah? I think they only read the Old Testament to understand the law and to realize that they were from Abraham and that's all that was necessary.

Think about the Jewish mentality in this context. You're right, they're looking at, what are the rules? Let me get the rules down. So you're going to read it for that. You're going to read it for, hey, I'm descended from Abraham, I am in. And I know that. Matter of fact, we've got this whole bunch of genealogies right there on the north side of the inner temple complex. And I can go check my genealogy. Yep, I'm related to Abraham. Hey, I'm there. So their conclusion is, hey, I'm related to Abraham. Abraham's blessed. I'm descended from him. It just doesn't get any better than that. And I know the law that Moses gave. I mean, I'm cool. So far as they were concerned, they had it covered.

And, think about this, descended from Abraham, is that earthly or heavenly? Earthly. The law, is that earthly or heavenly? Earthly. So everything is stuck earthly, and so part of the problem that Jesus is having with these various people is they're all thinking earthly. When he says, I'm the bread of life, what are they thinking? They're thinking, how do I eat this guy? They're thinking earthly and not spiritually. He's trying to get a spiritual message across to people that are very earthly minded. Very earthly minded. It's the problem we saw with Nicodemus. It's the problem we saw with the woman at the well. It's the problem we're seeing here, and we're going to see it some more. So now, verse 46 is conveying what John has stated before.

Human beings cannot see the essence of God with their physical eyes. Human beings can't see the essence of God with their physical eyes. When the disciples looked at Jesus, who in fact claimed multiple times to be deity, were they seeing God? I see heads going both ways, by the way. They were seeing him, but they were recognizing him as God. Well, what you see is they were looking at the physical Jesus, right? You got your hand up, Stan?

Yeah, I was going to say, the only thing you can see is the manifestation of God, because God is spirit. Okay, yeah, God is spirit in his essence, right? And so here is Jesus, who is expressing God, as we saw in Hebrews 1, 1-4, Jesus is the outradiance, the outradiance of God. No one has seen God's essence because God is spirit. We can't do that with these eyes.

So, Jesus being fully God and fully man expressed God's character and the glory of God, or as Hebrews 1.1-4 puts it, the outradiance of God.

As we saw when we were looking at John 1.14 John writes, and we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory. If you look at it, and what these Jews are seeing, hey, here's a guy, he looks to me like he's got, you know, ten fingers and ten toes and, you know, the usual structure, and we know his mother and his father, and they're seeing all the physical things, they're not seeing his glory. What's the difference between these Jews who aren't seeing it and are grumbling, and John He says, we behold his glory.

Are they looking at a different Jesus or what's going on there? They're looking with different eyes and heart. Okay, yeah. The problem isn't these things, right? It doesn't have anything to do with anything that the optometrist could fix. This is a matter of the heart seeing beyond just what is simply material and physically visible.

So as we look there, John 6.52, then the Jews began to argue with one another saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Again, this is the, you know, taking everything physical, literal, earthly, instead of seeing things from a spiritual standpoint, which is exactly what Jesus is trying to get across to them.

The Jews do not understand things spiritually, but in physical terms, their grumbling among themselves turned to arguing among themselves. Okay, yeah, he told them to stop grumbling, so they stopped grumbling and started arguing, right? That fixed it, oh boy. So their grumbling among themselves turned to arguing among themselves, which was as spiritually useless as the grumbling had been.

Next passage will repeat some themes from previous verses. So interesting, Jesus says some things that are the same or similar and then adds some more things to it. And we're going to come into an important interpretive question. This has been a point of contention among Christians for centuries, at least those who call themselves Christians. Let's take a look at the top of page 3 there, John 6, 53 through 58.

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 yourself. At this point in time, they're going, oh, I get it, right? It's all becoming very clear to them. Not, okay?

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever."

Okay. So. The argument has been that what Jesus is talking about is taking what's been variously called the Eucharist, or communion, or the Lord's table. And that's what he's referring to. And so in Roman Catholic tradition, the teaching has been that you are actually eating the body and blood of Christ, that it mystically changes into the body and blood of Christ as the blessing is set over it. Have you ever heard the term hocus pocus? It's a distortion of the Latin hic est corpus, this is the body. It magically changes this into the body of Christ. You see that? So this is the Catholic tradition. So the question is, is that the right interpretation of this passage? And so what we have is a little inset here showing these parallel passages.

John 6.40, which we studied, was the last verse we looked at last week, is shown there right above John 6.54, which is in this passage we just looked at. And a couple of things that you see that are identical or nearly identical, in the middle of each of those verses will have eternal life or has eternal life. And right below that, I, myself, will raise him up on the last day.

And then in John 6.54, I, and I put in brackets myself, will raise him up on the last day. So those are similar. See that? Make sense? I think we got that up there. OK?

So, what we have looked at, Jesus says in John 6.40, For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him.

And then we have in John 6.54, He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. So what does he mean by eats my flesh and drinks my blood?

Believes. So let's ask this question. Is this chapter, is this set of verses even talking about what we call the Lord's Table? No. It's talking about belief. And that's what Jesus is telling them when he talks about eating my flesh and drinking my blood. He's not talking about a ritual that we go through.

He doesn't even refer to that or tell them how you do that. And of course, actually their thinking, how do I do this, in a physical sense, is a problem. That gets in the way of their what? Their believing. He introduces, you know, drinking his blood, which is in addition to what he had before. And rather than making it more clear to them, they, being very literal minded, have all the more to get confused about. That would have been a great sin for them to even think about such a thing. What's that? That would have been a great sin. Sin for them to think about?

Drinking blood. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, in Judaism, what do you do? You do not drink the blood. Matter of fact, you don't have meat with the blood still in the meat. You drain out the blood. It was forbidden to have, for example, meat from an animal that had been strangled to kill it so that its blood was still in it. So the idea of drinking blood to them was like, oh, was a horrible thought and so now Jesus by introducing this drinking my blood, they were just over the top. This was too much. Alright, John 6, 59-65.

These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. So that's the synagogue that we pointed out here. Noting however that this white upper portion is second century and it's actually the one that was there and that's the part of the foundation remaining from that earlier one.

Yes? It says here that Jesus is going to be the one that gives life. So I assume he says that because that's what happens at the second coming, right? At his second coming? Yes. Because it's actually God who gives life. But the event of his second coming is when that's going to happen, correct? Yes. For the Jews, yes. for the Jews. That's the time of their resurrection. Daniel 12, 1 and 2. And it's looked upon, actually the Jews believe, Orthodox Jews believe, and they did believe that the Messiah, when he comes, will raise the bodies. Right, he's also the judge. Okay, so that means he will determine who has life, correct? Right, and of course the Jews thought, well, I'm the son of Abraham, so I got that covered.

And the third question, in 1 Corinthians, where you talk about the last supper, he talks about in remembrance of me, does that not refer back to this passage? Because that's who he is, the living bread, and life in his blood, so the remembrance of him. But the remembrance is of the actual crucifixion. But not him. Well, it's him at the crucifixion, that's why we take the the use of the breath as we do. Remember his use of body and blood at this point in this passage is having to do with believing. That's what the parallel passages slide is about.

But it's also him, because you have to believe in something. Yes. And so you're believing that he is deity, that he is God, and that he is alive spiritually, eternally. Yeah. It's in him specifically, not just having a belief. So, at any rate, these things he said in the synagogues he taught in Capernaum.

Therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it? What about it was difficult? Why are they calling this difficult? They were earthly. The earthly viewers can hear it and understand it. Yeah, first of all, they were interpreting everything earthly, literally, and not spiritually. They didn't understand anything spiritually. So they didn't have that insight. So this is real difficult. But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, here's more of this grumbling he told them not to do. said to them, does this cause you to stumble?

What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? When's that going to happen? After the crucifixion, burial and resurrection, then he will ascend, right? 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. And by the way, that's willfully do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray him. 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. Let's think about this. So Jesus had disciples, and this isn't the twelve. Jesus had disciples who didn't believe, and as a matter of fact, they didn't believe before. And he had one of his twelve, Judas, who would be the one to betray him. He knew them both. at the outset. He knew them both at the outset.

Why didn't he just say, hey, you know, you're not going to believe, and I know it, and you're going to betray me, and I know it, and so let's just not do this. You can't follow me. I'm not inviting you, and you can't come. Why didn't he just do it that way? Take care of that problem. I mean, wouldn't that have been far more efficient?

It works for everyone. His words for everyone, even the ones who don't believe? Yes. Very interesting, yeah? And also he was put there to accomplish God's ultimate plan. Yeah. So if he would have not accepted you as him as well, then somebody else would have had to deny him. Yeah. The story would have come out different. Yeah.

Isn't it interesting the way God works that You know, here's God who knows in advance who will respond. He knows who is going to take advantage of His death on the cross for their sins. He knows to the person, to the person, not just, okay, I know a certain percentage aren't, but He knows to a person which one will and which one won't believe. Which one will and will not respond to the words that He says. He knows who will betray Him, and yet doesn't seem to treat those any different.

The disciples, all the way to the very end, had no idea that Judas was the one who would betray Him. They couldn't tell. Why? Why could they not tell that Judas was going to be the one? After the betrayal and Judas hanged himself, yes they knew, but up until that moment they didn't. Why not? Only Jesus knew his heart, certainly that, and you're right. Why else?

Time for the foot washing, right? Time for the foot washing. This is getting right near the end. I mean, Judas is a very short time from the foot washing. to the time he heads out to betray. Did they know that someone would betray him? Jesus right here mentioned it, you know, and he talked about it at various times, but up to the last minute they had no idea. They didn't know it would be one of the Well, they probably didn't really understand.

Well, yeah, first of all, they didn't understand, but even though Jesus told them and Jesus knew, I think one of the things to look at is Jesus loved Judas. And He expressed love to Judas, the guy who would betray Him, He expressed love to Judas, and I'll even put it this way, He died for Judas' sins. And He loved Judas up to the very end. I mean, there in the garden where Judas comes up and gives Jesus a betrayal kiss. Could Jesus have just vaporized the guy? Yes. Just whoomp, you know. You're done. But He doesn't do that at all.

And what amazes me, I look at it, Jesus loved Judas so much that the disciples couldn't tell that he was the guy. That is amazing. And here's Jesus up on the cross dying for Judas' sins. Knowing full well this guy is going to be the one who betrays me. That to me shows the amazing, astounding mercy and grace of God. And even right here, here are some people he spent time talking to. He's even interacting with them. Talking to them and giving them the Gospel just right in front of them, just telling them.

And they're not going to believe, but he tells them anyway. And he doesn't do what's efficient or what we might even think is a good way to do things. He doesn't say, well, you guys aren't going to believe, so I'm not going to spend any time with you. And you guys aren't going to believe, so I'm not going to die for your sins.

And here's Judas who's going to betray Him. He loves Judas so much that the disciples can't tell that he's the guy. That to me is just mind-boggling love. Just amazing love. This guy is going to betray you, and you're going to go through the most agonizing pain imaginable. Here's Jesus loving Judas so much that the others cannot tell the difference.

At that particular point in time, is this saying that some of the disciples did not believe in him? Or are all the disciples believing in him and the ones of not? Here is the way I'll summarize it. The eleven believed so far as they understood. Judas did not.

And those others who were hanging around were about to depart. And we'll see that here shortly. So let me point out a couple of things. The bottom paragraph on page 3. There was a time not too long ago when skeptics would have said that there were no synagogues in Israel at this time. That the gospel writers were mistaken. That there were no synagogues. I have some of those books at home. They say the Gospels are wrong. Well, guess what? Since then they've discovered several synagogues and found that this is not correct.

So then it says the disciples that verse 6 he is referring to do not include any of the 12 disciples with the exception of Judas there, but to others who do not believe, verse 64, and will soon stop following Christ, verse 66. So he's got disciples who at this point in time, they're going, I'm leaving.

I can't handle this. This is too difficult. And some of the things to point out is these who tell Jesus that his words are hard to believe, harsh and offensive. That's the understanding of the words they use. The word stumble is the word for a trigger and a trap, a snare. the trigger and the trap, a snare. This is not a stumble that one recovers from, this one snags you for keeps.

They stumbled for good. Permanently. Okay, page 4. John 6, 66-71. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. Okay, permanently. It's not like, hey, I need a vacation, right? But I need to get away and out of I just, you know, I can't handle this. This is too much.

So Jesus said to the twelve, do you not want to go away also, do you? You do not want to go away also, do you? So Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.

Jesus answered them, did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? So he tells them, one of you is a devil. Now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. So it's interesting, he told them, one of you is going to betray me, this was chapters before the end, so he told them one of you is going to betray me, but they could not tell who that was. They couldn't tell who that was. In the Old Testament, it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

Yes. His glory could be revealed. Yes. So what's the difference between that and Judas here? Because through Judas, God's glory was revealed. Yeah. Here's the interesting thing. That passage about God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but if you look at it, Pharaoh had already hardened his own heart several times before that. So real interesting. So God accepted the hardness of Pharaoh's heart? Yes, and God used the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. Was God not going to use the hardness of Judah's heart?

It actually says, and we'll see when we get there, it says Satan entered him. This isn't just a sin nature problem. It says Satan entered him, which is really profound. So think about this, and then by the way, you start looking at this, many of these disciples withdraw, and here are the twelve.

Why didn't Judas bail right about here? He doesn't believe. Why didn't Judas bail right about here? He had a political purpose, first of all. Ah, okay. What was he sticking around for? He wanted to defeat Theronis. If you look at it, Judas had reasons to stick around even though he didn't believe. Even though this was probably snaring him too. This was causing him to stumble, and he would have said it's difficult, but he stuck around.

One, he was the treasurer for the twelve, and what was he doing with the money? He was taking some of it for himself, right? That was part one. So he's taking some for himself, and then when he did the betrayal, what was he going to do? How was he going to get compensated for the betrayal? for more money. So this thing had significantly, there was a money aspect to this thing.

And he was looking also for what kind of advantage might I get out of this? Aside from the money issue, what kind of advantage can I get for myself with this thing? And he finally got to a point where he said, I can't get any advantage. I can't get any advantage. There's money and there's money, and this whole money thing is about to come to an end, so I'll get money from somebody else. So, one of the things here, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked if they would not also want to go away.

Peter said that Christ had the words of eternal life and that they had believed, and by the way that's perfect tense, They had believed, finally, a completed past action, ongoing results in the future. So he didn't just say we believe now, he said we have believed with a result that's continuing on into now and on into the future. And, in the context, it means we have believed and it's permanent. Perfect tense implies permanence unless the context denies it otherwise. So, something else here, Jesus said that Christ had the words paternal life and that they had believed, perfect tense, and had come to know, perfect tense, they had already come to know Him as the Holy One of God.

This name Holy One is used 45 times in the Old Testament. And in almost every case it's clearly referring to God Himself. So Jesus claimed to be Deity and what did Peter just do? He also claimed that Christ was Deity. In at least one case it's clearly referring to Christ being dead but resurrected. That term Holy One.

Let's take a look. Psalm 1610 is in the middle of page 4. For you will not abandon my soul and Sheol. Sheol is the place of the dead in the Hebrew. nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay." So this passage in the Psalm of David was confirmed to be a prophecy about Christ's resurrection, Acts 2, 24-32. Peter quoted this passage regarding the resurrection of Christ, as did the Apostle Paul in Acts 13, 34-37. So Jesus, having chosen twelve and knowing the future of however, are clueless as to who that betrayer will be until after Judah's betrayal is complete. After Judah's betrayal is complete. So does Peter do everything right after this?

No. And by the way, here he says we believe, perfect tense, and we know, perfect tense. I mean, the perfect tense is used deliberately, because it means specific things. So it's chosen deliberately. He used those, and then he turns around and tells the people in the courtyard at Caiaphas' house, I don't even know it. Did he lose his salvation? How do you know?

Yeah, one thing is the perfect tense. The perfect tense is a completed past action. What happened is he had a temporary lapse that didn't impact his salvation. And in fact, the Lord restored him after the Lord's resurrection, met him on the shores of Galilee and said, Peter, do you love me? Yes, yes I do. Yeah. Feed my sheep. And the Lord goes through that three times with him in order to make it all clear.

In Acts 3.14, we point out here, Peter calls Christ the holy and righteous one. So not just holy, but the righteous one. Yeah, I think there's a lot to be taken from this in terms of the character of God's love that God would spend time with.

Here are these disciples following him around, not among the twelve, but following him around and he spends time with them, he talks with them, he even gives them the gospel when he knows that they're not going to believe, not going to respond to it. He dies for their sins. He even tells them, one of you is a one of you twelve. Now that these others have left, one of you twelve is a devil that's going to betray me.

But he loves Judas so much and expresses it so much that the disciples can't tell the difference between the way Jesus treats Judas and the way Jesus treats any of them. So here's John, and by the way, what did John call himself in this gospel? the one whom Jesus loved. So he felt loved, but he didn't see any difference in the way Jesus treated Jews, the one who would betray him.

Isn't that amazing? It really is astounding. Yeah? Can you explain verse 65? For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father." Two things. One is Jesus continually points back to the Father. God the Father did not give Jesus a delegated duty and then just say, you know, let me know how it goes. So that he continually points back to the Father for himself and he continually points back to the Father for everyone else. He does claim a special relationship with the Father, which is appropriate since he's the Son of God.

But the other thing that we noted above, earlier, is that how does the Father draw people to himself? He uses his word. As a matter of fact, he uses praise, as we'll see in John 17, sanctify them. In the truth, your word is truth. Praying to the Father. Praying to the Father. Your word is truth. The Father uses his word to draw people, but not everyone responds to it. Not everyone responds to it.

Here are the Jews pouring over the Old Testament. inspired of the Word of God, it tells about Jesus and they don't see it. They don't see it. Isaiah 53 tells about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, even says that he will be in his death and in his burial associated with a rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, and tells that he would be alongside worthless people, the thieves on the cross. Tells in advance these things seven centuries ahead of time. And they're reading it, and they don't get it. They don't get it.

By the way, until about 150 years ago, the Jews interpreted that passage as being about the Messiah, Isaiah 53. And then they had so much wrangling because of the Christians that they changed the interpretation. It's about Israel. It's about Israel. Okay, let's pray.

Lord, thank you for, as we look at this, for your amazing, astounding love for your care for us. And Lord, You loved the disciples who didn't believe and who left. You loved Judas who betrayed you. You loved him to his face, loved him among the others so that they couldn't even tell who was the betrayer. You loved him on the cross. You paid the price for his sins. This is astounding, amazing love, amazing grace. We do indeed thank you for this demonstration of it that we see here in this passage. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.