When Following Jesus Gets Hard | Pastor Joel King

Hard choices with limited information are part of life. Relationships, jobs, parenting, medical decisions, and faith all bring people to places where they cannot control the outcome or know every detail. Trust becomes necessary when more research cannot remove every unanswered question.

John 6 brings that kind of crossroads into following Jesus. Jesus feeds the crowd, but the crowd wants more bread, more blessing, and a better life on its own terms. Jesus keeps pressing past physical bread and says that he himself is the bread of life. Jesus then says the shocking thing: his followers must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Jesus leaves it hard on purpose.

The disciples call it a hard teaching, not because they merely need better information, but because Jesus challenges what they want. Forgiveness can feel too costly. Honesty can threaten money, relationships, or a job. Generosity can threaten security. Jesus' call to surrender exposes the desire to have his life while still controlling its direction.

Jesus does not soften the words when the crowd grumbles. Jesus asks whether his words offend them, points again to his heavenly origin, and says that the Spirit gives life while the flesh counts for nothing. Human effort, Bible knowledge, church attendance, and religious activity cannot manufacture eternal life. The Father must draw people to Christ, and the Spirit must do what flesh cannot do.

Many disciples turn back and stop following Jesus. Their departure shows that outward participation does not necessarily reveal real faith. The number of people who agree with Jesus does not make his words true or false. Jesus then turns to the Twelve and makes the question personal: “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

Peter does not pretend that he understands everything. Peter does not ask Jesus to settle every hard question first. Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter knows enough about Jesus to keep following him when he does not know enough about the road ahead.

Jesus' warning about Judas keeps the question from staying out there somewhere. Church involvement, ministry service, and Bible study cannot replace personally trusting, repenting, and obeying Christ. The real question remains: does a person want bread, or does a person want Jesus? Eternal life begins now in knowing Christ, choosing his way, and trusting that he alone has the words of life.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Hard teachings test real trust Jesus' difficult words do more than test understanding. They reveal whether faith depends on getting the outcome a person wants. Trust grows when a person keeps following Christ while holding honest questions before him. [12:32]
• 2. The Spirit gives true life The flesh can build habits, gain knowledge, and maintain religious routines, but it cannot create eternal life. The Spirit gives what human effort cannot produce. Grace leaves no room for congratulating oneself as if faith were a personal achievement. [19:22]
• 3. Crowds cannot determine truth Many disciples left Jesus after hearing what he really required. Their departure did not weaken Jesus' words or make his claims less true. Faith must not rest on whether family, friends, or a crowd chooses to stay. [27:57]
• 4. Peter stays without full clarity Peter does not claim to understand the hard saying. Peter anchors himself in the person of Jesus: “To whom shall we go?” Christ's identity becomes enough reason to remain when circumstances and teachings still feel unclear. [31:37]
• 5. Jesus himself is the goal Bread, healing, provision, and good gifts are worth praying for, but they are not the main purpose of following Christ. Eternal life is knowing him now and forever. Christ calls people beyond wanting his blessings toward wanting him.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:15] - Hard Choices and Limited Information
• [05:02] - Following Jesus Beyond Understanding
• [06:56] - The Crossroads in John 6
• [09:23] - This Is a Hard Teaching
• [12:32] - When Jesus Challenges What Is Wanted
• [15:27] - Jesus Presses the Issue
• [19:22] - The Spirit Gives Life
• [24:17] - The Father Enables Faith
• [27:57] - Many Disciples Turn Back
• [30:49] - Peter’s Confession of Faith
• [36:47] - Judas and Outward Religion
• [38:08] - The Personal Question of Obedience
• [41:07] - Do You Want Bread or Jesus?
• [43:44] - Prayer for Faithful Trust

1. What response do many disciples give after hearing Jesus’ difficult teaching, and what do they do afterward? [27:57]
2. What does Jesus say about the Spirit and the flesh, and how does that shape the reason people can come to him? [19:22]
3. When Jesus asks the Twelve whether they also want to leave, how does Peter answer, and what does Peter say he knows about Jesus? [30:49]
4. What contrast does the passage make between outward involvement with Jesus and genuine belief in him? [24:17]

1. Why might Jesus leave a teaching difficult instead of immediately making it easier for the crowd to accept? What does their response reveal about what they wanted from him? [08:01]
2. Jesus says that the Spirit gives life while human effort cannot produce eternal life. How should this shape the way a person views Bible knowledge, church attendance, service, and other spiritual habits? [19:22]
3. Many disciples leave, but Peter remains without claiming to understand every detail. What makes Peter’s response different from the response of those who walk away? [31:37]
4. Judas is among the Twelve, yet he will betray Jesus. What warning does this give about depending on church involvement or ministry activity as proof of real faith? [36:57]

1. Is there a teaching of Jesus that feels difficult because it challenges something deeply wanted—such as comfort, control, security, forgiveness, honesty, or generosity? What makes that teaching hard to receive? [12:32]
2. When facing an uncertain decision, where is the strongest desire for a guaranteed outcome before obeying God? What would it look like to take the next faithful step without having every answer? [34:46]
3. Have the choices of family members, friends, or other people ever made following Jesus feel lonely or doubtful? How can the fact that crowds do not determine truth help a person remain faithful? [29:55]
4. Where might outward religious activity be covering a reluctance to trust, repent, or obey Jesus personally? What is one honest question to bring before God this week? [38:47]
5. What good gift or “bread” is being sought from Jesus right now—provision, healing, a better job, restored relationships, or a certain plan? How can that desire remain a prayer without becoming more important than Jesus himself? [41:07]
6. Peter’s confidence was rooted in who Jesus is, not in having every hard question answered. What truths about Jesus can be remembered when circumstances or Scripture feel unclear? [33:13]