Where Else Will You Go?

John 6:22-71

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69

A large crowd has begun following Jesus. Some would see that to be a positive thing, even within Christian circles. This crowd is following Jesus; literally. They are following the real Jesus. No joke. It would seem that there would be thousands of them.

I have mentioned earlier that people often follow Jesus for something other than Him. These are just such a people, and Jesus knows it. They aren’t there because they really believe, or particularly want to be His. They are with Him because they found a guy who can make food. Jesus even calls them out on it saying, “you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” John 6:26

You might be happy to see that Jesus soon disbands them. He isn’t the sort to be interested in developing a political or social following, at the cost of collecting a band of hypocrites. He’s looking for people who really want to be right with Him. It grieves me to report to you that we as Christian leaders today do not have the discernment of Christ, and so it happens. We have people in our midst who are there because they appreciate the community, or see some decent social value in what the church is up to. Sometimes they feel belonging meets a certain personal need, or think that if they hold on they might receive something special from Him. (I’ve even been known to pray for my sports team to win on occasion)

Even though Jesus isn’t here in bodily form to challenge us to pack up and go, I think those of us who are insincere eventually fall away. Assuming the church is a Biblical church, eventually we figure it out. In time we discover that the church doesn’t exist to suite our needs. The miracles were and are real, but aren’t the whole show. So over time, we eventually lose interest when we uncover the reality that the church isn’t a social justice movement, commune or cure all for what ails us. His works were to be a witness to testify that He was indeed sent by The Father, One with Him and the means for us to be reconciled to the Almighty God. There is peace with God through Jesus Christ. I call that good news.

I’m expecting more from you. There are some who stay even after being challenged. Jesus confronts His closest disciples directly asking if they want to go too. I absolutely love Peter’s response. ‘Where are we gonna go? You’re the only hope we have for eternal life. You’re God’s guy.’ I’ve loosely paraphrased that, but I believe you’ll find that I’ve captured the essence of it.

What other hope do you really have for eternal life? No one else is even about the business of salvation. Do you see the same in Jesus? There is a steadfastness typical of those who have come to realize that there just is no other game in town that gives us legitimate relational access to God Himself, and the eternal life He so freely offers to those who come to be His. I want that for me, as well as for you. Would you want me to strive for anything else?