The sixth chapter of John’s Gospel concludes with a soaring declaration of faith along with a sobering reminder.
In verse 67, Jesus turned his attention from the many to the few. For most of this chapter, Jesus was focused on the multitude. He had compassionately and skillfully revealed Himself to them and led them to a decision point regarding His Messiahship. But when they reached that point, sadly, most of them chose to remain in their unbelief and walked way.
Then, as the crowd was deserting Him, He turned and confronted the Twelve – the capital “D” Disciples – and asked if they were going to abandon Him as well. Peter’s response was literally one for the ages. He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And then he said, “We have come to BELIEVE and KNOW that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
His statements are so powerful! And I’d like to draw your attention to his use of two specific words: believe and know. With them, he articulated the breadth of what it means to have faith in Christ. The word translated as believe is pisteuo, and it describes a belief that chooses to commit. The other word, know, is translated from the word, ginosko, and it refers to a knowledge that is more experiential than intellectual.
The faith Peter described is the result of both a choice and an experience, a decision and a relationship. We can’t have one without the other and we can’t reverse the order. Without choosing to commit, there can’t be an experience. And a decision to believe that doesn’t result in a relationship is incomplete.
Behind me is a wedding chapel. And it’s a good backdrop for this because true faith is like a marriage. It begins with a choice to commit, but unless that decision results in a relational experience, something’s seriously wrong.
And that’s why on the heels of Peter’s soaring statement that he assumed was true for all of them, Jesus’ next question is a sobering reminder. In a sense He used the question to say, “Peter, the faith you’ve so eloquently defined is not true for all of you.” And we’re told He was referring to Judas, who would eventually betray Him.
Now, it’s not possible to know exactly what was insufficient with Judas’ believing that allowed for his betrayal. But it’s clear that he’d made some kind of commitment to follow Jesus. That’s why he was there that day counted among the Disciples. But my hunch is that something was deficient in his pursuit of an experience with Jesus.
May that not be true of you and me, dear one. As we close this chapter, let’s invite the Holy Spirit to reveal anything about our faith that looks like a commitment without a relationship. Let’s daily choose to pursue the One who has invited us into a belief that results in an experience.