THE REAL JESUS: JOHN'S GOSPEL | John 6:60-71 | Leaving Jesus | Christopher Hall

Описание: We Midwesterners are practical. We have this internal compass that points toward being useful. You put your head down, do the work, make yourself valuable. But that same practical instinct quietly shapes our faith. We start looking at the Creator of the Universe and asking: "Is Jesus useful?"

John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." That's not humility. That's the standard. That's how the universe is supposed to operate. Jesus does not come to help you run your life better. He does not exist to support your five-year plan. He does not share the center of the stage with anyone.

We try to make Jesus useful. And Jesus won't tolerate being reduced to "useful." We want Him like a really talented middle manager. "Jesus, handle this family crisis. But don't touch my budget or my schedule." And Jesus looks at us and says, "I'm not the manager. I'm the CEO. We're gutting the entire operation and starting over."

In John 6:60, the crowd hears Jesus talking about being the Bread of Life and says, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" What's hard isn't confusing metaphors. It's the loss of control. Jesus is demanding total dependence.

Then verse 66: "After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him." This is the verse nobody cross-stitches. These weren't skeptics. These were His disciples. They'd watched Him heal people. They knew the Scriptures better than we ever will. But when Jesus refused to shrink down to fit their expectations, they walked.

They stayed for the bread, but they left because of the Baker.

If Jesus decided to stop fixing your problems today, but He offered you more of Himself, would that be enough?

Judas was still in the group. You can be physically close to Jesus and never let Him touch the center of your life. You can know all the right answers and still be running your own show. Judas sold out the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver—about 600 bucks today. A used Honda Civic with 200,000 miles on it.

We still try to make Jesus useful for our tribes. Some of you have a Jesus who has to hate the people you hate. But the Jesus of the Bible doesn't scroll. He doesn't get His theology from social media algorithms. Any time we try to make Jesus fit our tribe, we end up with a Jesus who looks exactly like us. That's not a Savior. That's a mirror. With a halo.

The Outrage Machine—social media algorithms—feed you anger and fear and hatred. The algorithm learns what makes you mad. And before you know it, your entire view of the world is being shaped not by Scripture, not by the Spirit of God, but by an algorithm designed to keep you hooked. Not to help you love more. This is spiritual warfare.

Jesus says in verse 63: "The flesh is no help at all." Your tribal loyalties. Your need to be right. Your anger at "those people." It's no help at all in the Kingdom of God.

After the crowd walks away, Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks, "Do you want to go away as well?" That isn't Jesus being insecure. That's a statement of absolute authority. Jesus will not decrease Himself to keep you. The question isn't whether Jesus is Lord. He is. The question is whether you're willing to lose the version of your life where you were still in charge.

Peter says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Peter doesn't say he understands everything. He just surrenders.

So let me apply that directly. If Facebook causes you to sin, delete it. If YouTube causes you to sin, delete it. If a cable news network causes you to sin, turn it off. Because the point isn't to be informed. The point is to be formed.

Who are the people your social media algorithm says you're supposed to hate and ridicule? Chances are, those are exactly the people Jesus died for. Those are the people Jesus is asking you to love into the kingdom.

Two takeaways:

First: Stop asking what Jesus can do for you and start asking who is at the center.

Second: Let Jesus increase beyond your ability to manage Him. This means letting Him love the person whose yard sign you can't stand. The person the algorithm taught you to hate. Jesus died for them too.

"Lord, to whom else would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life."