Will You Also Go Away?

Will You Also Go Away?

Marsha Deveaux Johnson www.livinjoyministries.com, http://hepzibah40.blogspot.com

Read St. John Chapter 6

As the darkness of this world increasingly comes to light, the body of Christ must saturate itself in the teachings of Jesus Christ.  These teachings are written in scripture and written in our hearts when He speaks to us.  We must become not only “hearers”, but “doers” of His word (James 1:22).

As the popularity of Jesus grew when He was here on earth, many people began to follow Him.  The crowds flocked to Him because of the miracles of healing (John 6:2).  He was also feeding them at these teaching events free of charge. If He left an area, they got into boats and followed Him to where He had gone (John 6:23-24).

 Because of the Holy Spirit’s power in Him, he knew the hearts of the people who followed Him (He knows your heart today).  They did not always have good intentions (John 6:26).  At times when Jesus spoke they seemed genuinely interested in His teachings about the God-life (John 6:28).  He spoke to them in parables (earthly situations) so that they could grasp the reality of spiritual truths.  They listened to Him literally because their interests were in the sense realm (see, touch, feel, hear, and taste).  Even though He went so far as to interpret the symbolic meanings of His words, they still missed it or doubted (John 6:41). 

 An example of their misinterpreted focus is revealed in the discourse recorded in John 6:31-40 when He spoke of Himself as the “Bread of Life”.  Some Jews took issue with Him referencing Himself as such.   He was also being questioned about His intimate relationship to the Father.  They wanted to make Him “the son of Joseph” and not “the Son of God” (John 6:42). Although Jesus labored to help them understand who He was and His relationship to the Father, they still doubted (John 6: 43).

This spiritual revelation about the “Bread of Life” and His relationship to God and man “blew up” in John 6:53-58 when Jesus told them “You cannot have life in you except you eat My flesh and drink My blood”.  He spoke these words in a synagogue (John 6:59).  Soon many of the disciples who followed Him left and returned to their old associations (John 6:66).

Jesus was firm in His knowledge and mission and was not troubled the least bit by those who either interpreted it incorrectly, chose not to believe, or chose to walk away.  His message was fixed in eternity and therefore unchangeable (Psalms 119:89).  There was no plan to “compromise the truth” or “go after” those who had left.  He simply did a “fact check” or “reality check” of His most intimate followers (the 12 disciples) that remained with Him. He simply asked them “Will you also go away?” (John 6:67)

The twelve disciples of Jesus did not always get it right, but this time Simon Peter nailed it.  He said “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

Now the question for the body of Christ today is, “Will we also go away from the forever settled word of God and start perverting it with our “sense” realm interpretations?”  These sense realm interpretations rationalize and bind us to the ungodly and perverted ways of men. 

The reason some of the disciples walked away from Jesus is because they said His teachings were “hard” (John 6:60).  “Soft teachings” of compromise and rationalization justify man but are an abomination to God.  “Soft teachings” lead to death (spiritual and physical).

God is not troubled by the ruthless affairs of men.  He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).  We (Christ’s body) have a poignant question to answer in these times of darkness before our Lord returns.  “Will we walk away from God’s truth or will we understand that His truth does not change, cannot be rearranged, and does not validate disobedience, compromise, hatred, injustice, and sin?”

Will you also go away?