Embrace His Truth

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 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 will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:41-51).

Jesus identified Himself as the bread of life that came down from heaven. Many in the crowd believed His words and wanted more of Him… “They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always’” (John 6:34). But others in the crowd whom John identified as Jews grumbled about Him. These two groups of Christ followers were so close together in the same crowd, yet they were so far apart in their understanding of Jesus. What they believed about Him would separate them in the days to come as well as in eternity. In the immediate future, the believers who followed Jesus would become disciples. They would be called Christians as they embraced His teaching and became part of His church. They would turn the world upside down as they shared His gospel with others… “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also… and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:6-7). Meanwhile, the unbelievers who followed Jesus, whom John simply called Jews, would remain critical and blind to the truth He revealed through His words and the signs He performed. They would remain Jews because their hearts were veiled by their idolatrous theology and tradition… “But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14). Disciples are followers who reject deceptive tradition and embrace His truth.

These Jews were probably religious leaders and they grumbled for two reasons. First, they could not accept that Jesus came from heaven because they believed they knew the facts about where Jesus came from. As far as they knew, He came from Joseph and Mary. Either they had not heard the story of Christ’s miraculous birth… “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35) or they rejected the veracity of that report. They formed their opinion about Jesus Christ based upon false information gathered by their religious traditions. Jesus confronted them often… “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

 There are many Christ followers today who, like the Jews, follow church traditions but do not earnestly seek God’s truth in the scriptures… “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). They do not seek the Holy Spirit to lead them to the precious truth of the scriptures… “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). These Christ followers are saved because they prayed a prayer of faith, but their lack of hunger for “the bread that came down from heaven” testifies against them and keeps them from becoming true disciples of Christ.

Second, the Jews believed God was too holy to be clothed in sinful human flesh. They clung so stubbornly to the theology of God’s holiness that they could not see the beauty of God’s love. God is holy. When it comes to sin, God is a consuming fire… “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). But when it comes to sinners, God is a loving Savior… “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us” (Titus 3:4-5). The Jews could become disciples only if they replaced studying Christ with loving Christ.

As we grow up into Christ we mature as disciples as we reject the traditions of man and…

Embrace His Truth.