“Will ye also go away?” - Chambers, Oswald
Notes of a sermon
john 6
Five thousand men fed with five loaves and two fishes! The fame of the miracle-worker spreads like wildfire and the crowds blaze with enthusiasm, men and women hasten eagerly from afar to come to him, scrambling over land and scudding over sea. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, verily, verily, i say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. . . . I am the bread of life. . . . The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he said, i am the bread which came down out of heaven (RV). The enthusiasm begins to abate it is most offensive presumption. Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, i came down from heaven? And the bread that i will give is my flesh, which i will give for the life of the world. . . . The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Listen to him; how can he claim such impossible things? Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. . . . Many therefore of his disciples when they heard this, said, this is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, doth this offend you? . . . From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. The crowds have passed now, you are alone with your lord, and he bends through the gloom of your weakness and blindness and says you are not going away too, are you? Men are still offended at Jesus; they hear gladly his follow me and enthusiastically leave all to fol- low, but when the way becomes narrow, and to fol- low costs shedding of blood, they begin to waver. As long as it means peace and joy we will follow Jesus, but when it costs us dear we are tempted to go back and walk no more with him.
1. The offence
Blood was, and is, the offence. You Christians wallow in blood, it is objected, could no other word be used? There is something so offensive in the word blood. And why talk so much about sin? Sin is but a defect, slowly being outgrown in the evolution of man. Blood, the vital life-streamoffensive! Is there nothing offensive in sin, that devastating thing which poisons the very fountain of life, which makes the world a howling wilderness and our cities unendurable to thought a defect! The evolutionary idea sounds all right; it is the thinker himself who is wrong. Sin has alienated man from god, and the story
Of the ages is an accumulation of wrongdoing and of judgement days; there is an utter hopelessness in any attempt to meet the righteousness of god; but let a man begin to realise what sin is, then, the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin, will be a holy word to his soul. The cross and the blood of jesus are indeed names for profound mysteries, but when a soul shattered by the crushing sense of his guilt believes that through the blood of Jesus there is forgiveness for sins, he receives a new life-energy, he is purged from his old sins, and with the spirit of jesus in him, he begins to work out his own salvation. Then begins the true evolution of a mans soul.
2. The offended
It is a serious thing to be offended with jesus; it means stagnation of character. Jesus Christ can never save an offended man, because the man who is offended with Jesus shuts up his nature against him; he will not see in him, the son of god, his saviour; he will not hear his words of life. God has so constituted human nature that the man who will not, ultimately cannot, but every man who is willing to come to Jesus and is not offended in him, is saved and receives forgiveness. Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will i never be offended. Do you recall the time when you talked like that? Do you recall how jesus met you after that night of bitter despairing? Do you remember most of all how he pressed the kiss of forgiveness on your brow, you feel it yet, glowing like a radiant star, and how he spoke strong words of comfort, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren? Blood is an offence not only at the beginning of the christian career, but in the midst of it. Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. . . . Doth this offend you? Said Jesus: except you are crucified with Christ until all that is left is the life of Christ in your flesh and blood, you have no life in you. Except your self-love is flooded away by the inrush of the love of Jesus so that you feel your blood move through you in tender charity as it moved through him, you have no life in you. Except your flesh becomes the temple of his holiness, and you abide in christ and he in you, you have no life in you.
3. The offender is Jesus himself
He is despised and rejected of men. Jesus offended many; his own home-folk were the first to be offended. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, he is beside himself he assumes too much for his humble position. When he preached in the synagogue, they were astonished, but is not this the carpenter? . . . And they were offended at him. The Jews were offended at Jesus because they looked for a warrior king in their coming messiah, and the carelessness of Jesus over temporal positions and hon- our did not commend itself to them. The pharisees were offended at him because his teaching showed up the hollow emptiness of their profession. His own disciples were offended at him all ye shall be offended in me this night (RV )they all for- sook him, and fled; one betrayed him; and another denied him. Why did Jesus offend so many, and why does he offend so many to-day? Because men are half- blind by sin; the offence comes through their short- sightedness. Jesus offends men because he lays emphasis on the unseen life, because he speaks of motives rather than of actions; he reveals men to themselves, and because that revelation means hopelessness they turn away from him who is their only hope. He offended men because he taught that they were lost and could only be saved through him for the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Finally, he offended men because his own life was blameless, and his very presence disturbed their low-level contentment.
The word blood, which offends so many, speaks of forgiveness of sins. The carpenter, who offended so many, is the disguised son of god, full of majestic power and condescension. We marvel, not that he performed miracles, but rather that he performed so few. He who could have stormed the citadels of men with mighty battalions of angels, let men spit upon him and crucify him. The faithful few, who are an offence to our great organisations, are the disguised citizens of the kingdom of god, their step is strong with coming triumph, they walk, a mighty concourse of the redeemed; angels are their servants, the almighty is set for their defence; Jesus himself walks with them day by day, a constant friend. From the east and from the west shall come multitudes who, passing through great tribulation, have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb.