John 6:60-66, Hearts of Stone

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

It is said that soft teaching produces hard people, and that hard teaching produces soft people, especially when it comes to teaching about sin and grace, which are the two main theological points in this discourse on the bread of life. In this discourse Jesus’ primary concern has been truth, not numbers, faithfulness, or popularity. Jesus pushes away far more people than he converts, getting an “F” in contemporary church marketing! Perhaps all that these Galileans have heard for years is soft teaching, because they cannot relate to Jesus. They are hard people with a combative spirit. They need hearts of flesh, but they have hearts of stone. Their response to Jesus’ teaching is decidedly negative, and many turn away from him.

As in his encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus turns to the Spirit to explain receptivity to the life of the kingdom offered by Jesus. It is the Spirit who changes hearts from stone to flesh, from unbelief to belief in Jesus. As John Stott writes, “The Spirit of the kingdom of God is encountered in the words of Jesus as well as in his deeds. Here, as elsewhere, Word and Spirit are drawn together, because Jesus and his words are drawn together. There is no Christ other than the Christ of the Scriptures. He is met in his words, and in the inspired biblical writings within which context alone can his words and deeds be understood and interpreted.”

How do you respond to these hard words? Do they lead you into the heart of the kingdom of heaven or in a different direction? Ask the Spirit to work on your heart, drawing you deeper into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.