Jesus: It Matters Who We Believe He Is

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “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 6:66–69 ESV)

 Who do we think Jesus is?  

In the first three Gospels, this is the question Jesus asked of the disciples (Matthew 16:13–20, Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–21) “Who do you say that I am?” The disciples had been following Jesus for a long time. They saw him heal the sick and make the lame walk. They heard him teach with such authority that wind and waves and evil spirits had to respond to Him. And yet, Jesus believe it was important to for the disciples to answer this question. Why? Was He testing them? Was He trying to teach them something? Why was Jesus so concerned for His disciples to answer this question? We can discover the heart of Jesus here in John 6. Let’s take a closer look at this passage. 

In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus doesn’t ask the question He does in the Synoptic Gospels. But He does say - do you want to go away as well?

So let’s consider this - why would we ever leave Jesus?

For many of us, Jesus is our saviour. He saves us by meeting our needs. He saves us by being our provider. He saves us by giving us a meaningful existence. He is a saviour… until he stops saving. And then Jesus becomes useless to us. It is when He stops being for us what we need Him to be, that we leave Him. We leave Him so that our needs can be met. We leave Him so that our wants may be fulfilled. We leave Him to find the life that we desire.. the life that we believe we need, the life we believe will make us happy. And this is the fundamental problem for all of us. If Jesus is only someone who meets us need, we will always have the possibility of ‘leaving Him’ and to leave Him, is to leave Life.

If Jesus is just someone who ONLY give us life that we want - then He is less than He truly is; and we will forever be lost. We will always be searching, and never truly finding, We will eating, but never filled. Drinking but always thirsting. We will always be living in a constant state of fear and shame and frustration. We will be in a perpetual state of non-life - the living dead.

The only way to escape this perpetual state of non-life, is to recognise Jesus not just as the one who gives us life, but the one who is Life Himself. This is the meaning of Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question in John 6:68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus is not just a friend. He is the Friend that generates Friendship with all. He’s not just a miracle worker. He is the Miracle that ends all our need for miracles. He’s not just someone who can meet needs. He is the one in and through whom, we are no longer ever in need. He is not just someone who can give us what we want, He is the One who ends all our wants. He is Life Himself.

Who do you think Jesus is? Who do you say Jesus is? May you know Him, as the One with the words of Life. The One we would never leave.