Asking questions is part of any discovery process. But questions can also be used as diversion tactics. During this week our devotional team has explored potential motives behind questions asked of Jesus in John 6:25-70 as he dialogued with a mixed crowd who had observed his miracle of feeding the 5,000 recorded in John 6:1-15. During that dialogue, he expressed in several ways that he is God.
In verses John 6:53-58, Jesus elaborated on the following opening statement:
Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Not surprisingly, verse 66 records this result of his challenge:
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
We then find Jesus turning to address the Twelve, (John 6:67-69 NIV).
"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. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."
Peter's question is the ultimate question followed by the ultimate answer that committed disciples of Jesus find themselves confirming over and over.
Jesus' seemingly outlandish claims to be God, and his call to radical covenantal commitment have repulsed fair weather disciples for centuries. However, temptations to slow or shut down one's walk with Jesus are much more potent for committed disciples when trusted followers from their "inner circle" prove to be worse than charlatans. Jesus provides a glimpse of what is yet to come.
Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) John 6:70-71 NIV
So Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, purposefully and knowingly picked "a devil" as one of the Twelve? Scholars have ruminated on his reasons, but the aggregate of most of those reasons don't fully explain Jesus' choice. However, Judas-type personalities have plagued the Body of Christ throughout history. So Jesus' choice of Judas is, at least, a warning to true disciples.
Contemporary news reports and social media reveal new Judas candidates far too frequently. Distressingly, those unmaskings have prompted a considerable number of churchgoers to become Lone Ranger Christians.
When such urges tempt you to throw in the towel and lick your wounds, meditate on Peter's question and notice he's not asking it just for himself.
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."
by Kathleen Petersen
