Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

 

But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.  --Luke 9:62

Thomas à Kempis was a 15th century German-Dutch Augustinian scholar and author of a Christian devotional The Imitation of Christ.  One famous quotation from this work is "And when he is out of sight, quickly also he is out of mind."  Another is, "If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him."  He also wrote this: "O quam cito transit gloria mundi"--Oh, how quickly the glory of the world passes away.  This phrase has been suggested as the origin of the more popular phrase sic transit gloria mundi, or "So passes away the glory of this world."

As we continue our study of John chapter 6, we see a great falling away of the followers of Christ.  You will remember that the crowds wanted to make Him king because He had fed them all with a few morsels of bread and two small fish.  Jesus then told them to seek spiritual food, and not physical.  He went on to say that He was the bread of life, and that like bread is broken to be shared, so will His body be broken for them.  To the Pharisees he likened Himself to the manna that came down from heaven to feed their forefathers in the wilderness.  Jesus's teaching caused quarrels and divisions among the Jewish leaders, and caused many of His followers to turn away from Him.

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying: who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  --John 6:60-65

The majority of people were what we might call fringe followers.  They were interested in the miracles more than the message.  When the words of Jesus became difficult to listen to, they bailed.  It was as if to say, "Jesus, you've had your fifteen minutes of fame.  It's time for us to move on to the next big thing."

I find it interesting that those fringe followers said, "This is a difficult saying."  The Greek word translated "saying" here is logos, which in John 1 was translated "word."  John had already identified Jesus as the Word.  Now the people were discovering that the Word was difficult to hear, to understand, to follow.  This applies to us today, as well.  Calvary Church in Orlando, Florida has a blog calvaryorlando.org/blog and on March 23, 2025 they wrote this:

Many people assume following Jesus means simply believing in Him, attending church, or being a “good person.” But Jesus gives a much deeper and more challenging definition.  In Luke 9:23, Jesus says: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

They go on to say, "There’s a difference between admirers of Jesus and true disciples. A fan likes Jesus’ teachings but doesn’t commit to transformation. A follower lives out their faith daily, submitting every part of their life to Him."  Many of the people in Jesus's day were merely fans, and when Jesus's words became too hard to listen to or to put into practice, they fell away.  You may know of some people like that today.

Another blogger, Tim Shurfy, wrote in evenifiwalkalone.com this past June, 

Let me state the obvious: following Jesus is hard. If you think following Jesus is easy, my bet is you aren’t following Him in the manner His Word prescribes. It’s easy to say you follow Jesus. It’s even easy to place your faith in Him. None of that requires anything on your part, and you can take it back whenever that decision becomes inconvenient.

These so-called disciples found that following Jesus became inconvenient when He demanded more from them.  Jesus responded to them, "Does this offend you?  What will you do when you see Me in glory?"  If you are offended at this, Jesus said, what will you think when you have to answer to Me in judgment?  David Guzik writes, "Better to be offended now and get over it, than to be offended on that day."

Jesus knew from the beginning who would not believe, and who would betray Him.  He knew that Judas would betray Him over to be crucified.  Jesus still washed his feet.  I find this interesting.  Jesus preached against the enemies of the faith.  In Revelation 2, verses 6 and 15 He expressed hatred of the works of the Nicolaitans, who according to the Church fathers, cheapened grace by teaching that one did not have to repent of sin.  But this man Judas, a traitor, was welcomed to the same table as all of the other disciples, and was served by the same Savior.  I don't know why; maybe because Jesus knew that Judas was a vital link in the chain leading to His sacrificial death and the ultimate atonement for sin.  Paul said that "all things work together for good to them who love God, who are called according to His purpose."  All the other sinners with whom Jesus ate--the tax collectors and prostitutes--He challenged them to repent, to leave their lives of sin, to "go and sin no more."

Is this what He meant when He said, "No man can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father"?  God knows who will come into our lives, for good or for bad.  He also knows their motivation, and whether they will respond to the Gospel that they hear from us.  If they will not listen to the message of salvation, then Jesus told us to leave them, shaking the dust of their town off our feet (Matthew 10:14).  But if they follow you home, then they may just be a thorn in your flesh (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) for the glory of God.

Let's read on.

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  --John 6:66-71

David Guzik's commentary says, "Speaking for the twelve, Simon Peter gave a wonderful statement of faith.

• He recognized Jesus as Lord.
• He recognized Jesus as the preferred alternative, despite the difficulties.
• He recognized the value of spiritual things, more than the material and earthly desires of those who walked away (the words of eternal life).
• He recognized Jesus as Messiah (the Christ) and God (Son of the living God)."

Jesus knew who Judas was, and called him a "devil".  Australian scholar Bruce said, "One of them was a diabolos — the Greek word means a ‘slanderer’ or ‘calumniator’ or ‘false accuser’, but it is probably used here as the counterpart to the Hebrew satan, ‘adversary’.”  Reformed theologian Boice wrote, "There are Judases among the apparent followers of the Lord in our day. They are in our pews, even in our pulpits, and they are sometimes undetected. They betray the Lord and the gospel by both their words and their actions.”

God will undoubtedly bring some Judas into your life from time to time, to test and refine you.  Your job is to be like Peter: to keep your eyes on Jesus lest you sink into sin and despair, and to confess Jesus as Lord, and to hold fast to Him despite the difficulties.  Keep the faith, no matter what the world says.

Worldly glory is fleeting, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.  The world may follow a watered down Gospel, but we must teach the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.  What is truth?  That Jesus is the Bread of Life.  As David Guzik puts it, 

• Seeing a loaf of bread on a plate will not satisfy our hunger.
• Knowing the ingredients in the bread will not satisfy our hunger.
• Taking pictures of the bread will not satisfy our hunger.
• Telling other people about the bread will not satisfy our hunger.
• Selling the bread will not satisfy our hunger.
• Playing catch with the bread will not satisfy our hunger.
• Nothing will satisfy our hunger and bring us life except actually eating the bread. He who eats this bread will live forever.