“I’m never going to wash this hand again!”  That might not be good advice these days with the Coronavirus scare and all, but that is often how people feel when they’ve met someone famous.  They’ve shaken hands with a celebrity and it’s a life-changing event. Some of you may remember Beatle-mania when they first invaded America in the 60s’.  There are videos and photos of people screaming and passing out. You may have attended a concert or other live performance recently and you notice that people are just fanatic.  You may have been one of them.  That’s why we call it being a “fan.”  

How important is Jesus to you?   We talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus, but do you view it as more of a one-way relationship: you to him? More like the relationship avid fans have with their idols. We know everything about celebrities, but they don’t know anything about us.

Maybe that’s a common feeling among Christians.  People may not say it. They may not even consciously think it, but we all start to wonder how God feels about us.  That is especially true when things get tough in life and we wonder if God has forgotten us.  Are we really forgiven?  Are we loved?  Does God even like us?

Friends, have no doubts!   You are very important to Jesus. You mean the world to him. And beyond.  You are more than just his biggest fan!  That’s the thought we will explore this evening by taking a closer look at these verses from the Gospel of John:

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

John 6:66-68

It looks like Jesus was losing his fanbase and this grieved Jesus. I sure that sadness came across in how Jesus spoke.  When he asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” I can’t help but think Jesus was crushed. After all, these were disciples, his followers, his friends who were rejecting him.

Why would they do this? A few verses before our text, we read, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”” The hard teaching was Jesus’ declaration that he is the Bread of Life – that whoever feeds on him will live forever. A couple of days before this, Jesus had fed the 5,000.  There we learn that the people were more interested in Jesus feeding them physically than spiritually. Thus, their comment about his hard saying.

Sometimes, famous people will say things that aren’t hard, but just plain dumb.  Or controversial. That’s when they begin to lose their fan-base.  Now, Jesus never says anything foolish, dumb, or out of place.  He never makes gaffs or misspeaks.  He does say things that are hard; hard to understand and hard to accept.  For centuries, people have wrestled with questions like why some are saved, and others aren’t. Or how can Jesus’ true body and blood be present in the Lord’s Supper. No matter how hard we try, we can’t fully understand these things.

Most often people reject Jesus because they understand what he is saying but are unwilling to accept his words as truth.  Everyone struggles with this from time to time.  Even Christians do.  We don’t all struggle with the same hard sayings.  They can be unique to each of us.  Someone might struggle with the idea of a 6-day creation. Someone else might struggle with the Bible’s teaching about the roles of men and women.  

Maybe you struggle with Jesus warning to not put family before him. Or that living together outside of marriage is sinful. The list is long. Whatever is on your list, know upfront that there will be some biblical teachings you will find extremely challenging. Expect them. Don’t stumble because of them. Don’t allow them to turn you away from Jesus.

Everyone will wrestle with Jesus’ hard sayings.  Sometimes, people will reject Jesus because of his hard sayings.  People can unfollow or unfriend Jesus even though he once was the most trusted and important person in their lives.  When our text says they no longer followed him, the literal words are they no longer walked with him. One translation put it this way: they went back to the lives they had led before they followed Jesus. Many people might not even have noticed that they left.

This still happens today. Most of us have seen people doing this. Many of us have had good friends or family members do this. At one time they were on fire for Jesus. But then their attendance at church and Bible study became more sporadic as they got caught up in the busyness of daily life. Maybe they began wrestling with one of those hard saying. Whatever the reason, they attended church less and less often. Their Bibles became dusty. Until months or even a couple of years later, they no longer spend any time with Jesus. They no longer are walking with Jesus even though they might still think and say they are.

Nobody plans to leave Jesus when they begin to follow him. But many slowly drift away. It often happens so gradually that it’s not very noticeable. But it’s so tragic. Jesus is no longer famous to those people.  He isn’t even noticed.  He’s all but forgotten in peoples’ minds.  

This is not only tragic for people, but sad to Jesus. It hurts Jesus when people reject him because each person is so important to him. We see just how important when we step back and see how he reacts to being rejected. This is not the first time people reject him. John makes several references to this rejection of Christ in his Gospel In fact, rejection was what Jesus often experienced. In the first chapter of his Gospel, John begins with this summary:

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” 

John 1:11

This rejection came to a climax in the days of his Passion. Judas, one of the 12, betrayed him! Peter, one of his closest friends, denied him. The rest of his close disciples deserted him. All the leaders – both Jewish and Roman – condemned him. Vicious people yelled “crucify him”. And then on the cross we hear the unthinkable – his Father forsakes him.

But, in the face of all that rejection, Jesus remained faithful. He didn’t throw up his arms in disgust and reject us. He didn’t act like a “drama queen” or a “snowflake” and get all offended that you are offended by his faithfulness and ready to reject him for his hard, truthful sayings.  Jesus didn’t act like we would.  We would not dedicate our lives to save a world that hated us.  We would not pursue people who wanted nothing to do with us. We’d walk away and say, “Not my monkeys; not my zoo!”  We don’t see any self-centered, second-guessing in Christ. We only see rugged determination. Instead of saying “to hell with them” because that is exactly what would have happened to everybody if he quit, he said, “I will go to hell and conquer it for them”. 

And that is what he did! Jesus was punished for these disciples’ sin of rejection. Jesus was punished for Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial and all the other sins and temptations with which we wrestle.  That is how important you are to him. That is why rejecting him grieves him tremendously.

The truth is that you are so important to Christ; so important that you mean the world and eternity to him! Jesus loves it when we trust him and are his biggest fan.  He is our one, true obsession. I wonder how Jesus reacted when Peter said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” I’m quite sure this warmed Jesus’ heart and put a smile on his face. For just as much as our rejection grieves him, our trust delights him. It gives him great pleasure especially because we are so important to him.

Peter’s reply not only delighted Jesus, it also gives us solid direction on how to prevent rejection of Jesus. The cure to rejection is keeping the main thing the main thing. In other words, always keeping in mind that the most important thing in all the world is eternal life. There is nothing that compares. Eternal life is supreme because eternal life is life with God himself. 

It’s not just being noticed by him. Think of how honored people feel when they are mentioned by the president in a speech. That becomes the highlight of their lives.  Think of getting backstage passes to a concert and actually meeting famous people you admire. How about going out to eat with them and really getting to know them?  That would be THE experience of a lifetime!  “I’m never going to wash my hands again.”  

Being with Jesus is not just a back-stage pass experience.  It’s more than just being mentioned in a speech. Being Jesus’ fan extends beyond this life.  Look again at what Peter said. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” I don’t think I have to emphasize that the Bible is the only “scripture” that informs us of eternal life. Every other religious system, in some way or another, makes the after-life dependent on what a person does. Only the Bible makes it completely dependent on what Jesus did for us. We all know this.

We need to keep a tight hold on eternal life is through regularly being in contact with God’s Word. Unlike Pontius Pilate we do not wash our hands of Jesus.  We have the words of eternal life. The Word not only brought you to faith, it keeps you in the faith and enables you to grow in the faith. “Faith comes from hearing the message.” But believers commonly forget this. They think they can remain in a good relationship with Jesus without much contact with the Word.  It’s like being a fan but never listening to any albums, reading any books, or going to see any movies. It’s the same with Jesus. People think they have a good grasp on eternal life even though they have allowed other things to take precedence over hearing and reading God’s Word. 

That doesn’t work. You can’t maintain a healthy relationship with Jesus only through casual contact with the Word. Your faith can’t be healthy without it being regularly fed. And the only thing that feeds faith is God’s Word. 

And nothing makes Jesus happier than seeing his people feast on his Word. He is thrilled to see our Bibles dog-eared and worn out. He beams when he hears us discussing biblical truth with each other. Think of how you feel when you hear your loved ones paying attention to you, loving and thanking you. Jesus loves it when he sees and hears us, his loved ones, doing that with him.  That’s because we are more important to him than just his biggest fans. 

Friends, you are eternally valuable to Jesus. In fact, you are so important he makes you family.  You are his fellow brothers and sisters.  That’s far more close, connected, and comforting that just being a face-less, nameless fan in the crowd.  Continue to focus on him – continue to learn about him – continue to praise and thank him – that is Jesus’ greatest joy. That means you are more than just a fan. You are family.  Amen.