Turning Back? Why?

"After this many of his disciples turned back and longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?'" John 6:66-67 (ESV)

I spoke today at a noon Lenten service hosted by our local Presbyterian church, using the above text in my sermon. While reading this passage of John, I have often wondered why the many deserted Jesus, and yet the few remained. Here are some clues that I have discovered in and around the passage that surrounds these verses:

1. The "many" would not listen to Jesus. The trouble begins in verse 60: "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'" What is "it"? The conversation of the preceding verses, most likely the intense statements of verses 53-58, dealing with Jesus' body and blood. Unless we listen to Jesus, we are, in his own words, "not of God" and "not of the truth". In their minds, it was easier to leave than to deal with the hard, harsh, and sometimes bizarre sounding words of this crazy Galilean. So they went away.

2. The "many" failed to embrace Jesus as Lord. They refuse to acknowledge the absolute authority of the One they have been following. When we come to a working understanding of lordship, we welcome the entirety of Jesus' teaching into our lives. But please don't misunderstand! Welcoming does not mean that I like everything and never have questions, reservations, and sometimes terrible struggles with God's revealed will for my life. But because He alone is Lord, I press on, doing what He wants me to do, understanding that He has every right to make demands of my mind, emotions, and will. Which leads to the next point:

3. The "many" missed the eternal significance of what was being said. Read Peter's words, expressed in verses 68 and 69. The Twelve know that Jesus is speaking as God! And, although greatly imperfect at times, they listen to Jesus as the voice above all other voices. He alone has the words that lead to eternal life. When we miss Jesus, we miss the things that he says. And when we miss the things that He says, we miss Jesus. The "many", failing to recognize the true identity of Christ, treated His teaching as dispensable. It is not-because Jesus is Lord!

4. Peter seems to distinguish between the "many" that left and those that remained by way of the word "believed" in verse 69. Those that believed stayed and followed Christ. Those that didn't believe went away. This is why an accurate and continual explanation of the gospel is essential in making certain that "believers" really do believe. Because if they don't, they will "turn back and no longer walk" with Christ.