Jesus Followed For Wrong Reasons
I want to look at John 6 this week where Jesus feeds the 5000 famous story and it starts with these words. In the first few verses, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee. And a crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick.
Now, most commentators seem to think that these people who were following Jesus on this day didn't really have any sort of true faith, but they were just interested in seeing Him do these amazing things because you see when the signs and miracles of Jesus stopped, so did their faith. When the cross happened, and when He spoke hard truths, they left. More and more people left. In fact, at the end of this chapter, after Jesus had taught some difficult teachings, John says in John 6:66 that many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.
Shallow Faith
So there were those who came for the thrill and when the thrill wore off, they left. Jesus said to the 12 in verse 67, “You don't want to leave too, do you?” But Peter knew who Jesus was and they all stuck around with Him.
So before we even get into the story, I think let's place ourselves in these characters. We like the great crowd following Jesus because it's exciting. But when the excitement wears off and when it gets difficult, we leave. I hope not. I hope you and I are not following Jesus for the wrong reasons, just for the benefits and the blessings, without any of the sacrifice, without any of the difficulty.
A Faith That Lasts
Follow Jesus like a disciple. Close to Him, spend time with Him, pray, read the Word, don't just look for the thrills and then turn away from Him when the thrills are gone. That's not a real faith.
But a real faith follows the words of Jesus in Mark 8 when He said, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Me. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it.” Lose your life following Jesus, friends, and you'll be filled with such joy.
