John 6 and apostasy
I have been using the storying model of evangelism for a while now with Turkmen and with people in general. I still pass out Bibles and DVDs to all who want to take them, but have found this has been an effective way of reaching out to people who cannot or will not read. One of the stories that I found that was not illustrated was that of the story of the great apostasy of John 6.
We are all taught the story of Jesus giving the bread and fish to the thousands of people. If you read in in John 6, you find that Jesus preaches to them and that all though they follow him for a period of time, they end up leaving. This story is VERY important to share with Muslims as after the death of Muhammed we also see a great apostasy, but with a different response.
It might be good to recap the story of Jesus feeding the thousands before getting into the Story. You can find that story and image set here: Jesus feeds thousands
After Jesus had fed them. The disciples had left by boat, and Jesus had crossed by walking across. When they found him they said “When did you come here?”
Jesus responded “You want to be with me because I fed you not because you understood the miraculous signs” (verse 6:26)
The demanded that Jesus show them miracles. Jesus told them “I am the bread that comes from heaven, whoever eats from me shall never be hunger , and whoever believes in me shall never thirst”.
Many of the disciples got very angry at these words and said “These words are hard, who can take this new teaching?
Jesus said to them, “You too do not wish to leave?
To who should we go? You have the words of Eternal life, and we believe that you are the Holy one of God.
Did I not choose you the twelve of you? But one of you is a devil. He was speaking about Judas the one who would later betray him.
I would suggest comparing this story with the following story Ridda Wars
Filed under: bible stories