Why do some unbelievers remain with Jesus?

“Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ ” John 6:70

When Peter answered the Lord’s question about whether they also wanted to leave Him, he said, “Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:69). But Peter was wrong about one thing. He said, “We.” By that he meant the Twelve. But Jesus corrects him, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). Jesus is saying, “No, Peter, there is one here who has not come to know and believe I am the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In these last two verses Jesus exposes the one who “is a devil.”

Here we see the third group of disciples in this whole passage. This group is comprised of unbelievers who remain with Christ (John 6:70-71). Why do some unbelievers remain with Jesus?

A. BECAUSE JESUS SELECTED THEM (John 7:70a). Jesus admits that He chose Judas Iscariot as He did the others. “Did I not choose you, the twelve…?” (John 6:70a). Out of the hundreds who were following Him, Jesus chose one who would refuse to believe in Him and would eventually betray Him (John 6:64, 70-71; cf. 12:4; 13:2, 10-11, 21-30; 17:12; 18:2, 5). What an amazing picture of God’s grace. He desires all people to be saved – even those who will betray Him. The second reason some unbelievers remain with Jesus is…

B. BECAUSE THEY SERVE GOD’S PURPOSES (John 6:70b). Judas had every opportunity to know and serve Jesus like the other Eleven. Yet in the spirit of the “devil,” he actively opposed Christ. “…One of you is a devil.” (John 6:70b). Eventually Judas would betray Christ and hand Him over to His enemies (John 18:2-5; cf. Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50; Luke 22:1-6, 47-48). This was all a part of God’s plan and purpose for His Son (John 13:18-30; 17:12). Judas stayed with the group; he lived with them, ate and slept with them, performed miracles and preached the kingdom message with them, and yet was not one of them. He never was. The third reason why some unbelievers remain with Jesus is…

C. BECAUSE THEY SELFISHLY WANT TO BENEFIT FROM BEING WITH CHRIST (John 6:71). “He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.” (John 6:71). Outwardly Judas was a disciple. Judas was privileged to be in Jesus’ inner circle of friends. He was given a prominent position as treasurer and kept stealing from the money box (John 12:6). No doubt he felt important being associated with Christ who brought hope and healing to so many. Even Judas had deceived the eleven other disciples! They did not know that he was a fake, but Jesus knew. Inwardly, Judas was a traitor, an enemy opposed to all that God wants.

My friends, you and I live in glass houses! I cannot see into your heart and you cannot see into mine, but God sees us just as we are. What does He see when He looks at us? We may deceive each other, but we will never deceive God! He knows where we stand spiritually this morning. There has never been a better incentive for us to look carefully at our own hearts.

 We have looked at three groups this in this chapter. No doubt, most churches probably have representatives of each group. Some of you have been under the teaching of God’s Word, but you will drop out. You want entertainment, not expectations. You will not want to be bothered with studying and searching and understanding. You will not want to follow truth when once you see or hear it. You will rationalize it, ignore it, and eventually you will drop out. You will go off in search of a better deal, something more agreeable to what you want instead of what God wants. It happened in Jesus’s day and it will happen again.

But there are some of you who will never leave Jesus. You cannot quit. You have found too much, you have learned too much about life. You have been ministered to and fed by our Lord. You know the comfort of His presence. You can never give Him up.

But there may be others here who want to stay with Jesus for your own purposes. You want to appear to be a Christian, but you are not. You have never believed in Jesus Christ alone for His gift of everlasting life. Oh, you know the Bible and you sing songs of worship on Sunday mornings. But you do not know the Author of the Bible. You are only out for yourself. You want to use God for your own benefit.

Let’s come back to Jesus question, “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67). Thousands withdrew from Jesus, but twelve stayed, one of whom was unsaved. Not everyone walks away from the Lord. Some people make a total commitment to Jesus Christ and to His will for their lives. I hope that is you. Not everyone walks away, what will you do?

Does your heart say to Jesus, “Lord, to whom can I go? I don’t always understand, I can’t always figure You out, I don’t always like what You do, but Lord, to whom can I go?” That is the heart He is looking for. If you have to say, “I belong to the first group, I’m afraid,” there is still hope. You can ask Him to teach you and open your eyes and lead you forward. You can start right now to obey what He tells you to do. But if your heart is like that of Judas, centered on yourself, all you can hear, I’m afraid, is the word of Jesus, “There is one who will betray Me.”

If your heart is like that of Judas, I believe there is still hope for you. It was not Judas’s betrayal of Jesus that made him unsaved. It was his unbelief toward Jesus that caused him not to be saved (cf. John 6:64, 70-71; 17:12). Before Judas hung himself after his betrayal of Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5; Acts. 1:18), the Bible never says he believed in Jesus for everlasting life.  Therefore, I believe it is a strong argument for Judas being an unbeliever and confined to the Lake of Fire in the future.

But for the sake of illustration, let’s say Judas did believe in Christ for everlasting life before he betrayed the Lord by turning Him over to His enemies and then committed suicide by hanging himself. Would Judas be in heaven? Absolutely, because he would “have everlasting life” (John 3:16) which by definition cannot be lost because it has no end. Judas would be in heaven because no one can snatch him out of God the Son’s and God the Father’s hands (John 10:28-29). He would be in heaven because Christ died for all Judas’s sins including his betrayal and suicide (Colossians 2:13-14). But Judas would not have eternal rewards in heaven which require faithfulness to Christ to the end of one’s life (cf. I Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 2:12; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10, 25-27; 3:11-12).

On the other hand, let’s say Judas did not believe in Christ for everlasting and betrayed the Lord. But instead of hanging himself, he looked to Jesus in faith to forgive all his sins and give him everlasting (John 3:16; Acts 10:43). Would he be in heaven? Absolutely. And if he lived faithfully for Christ to the end of his life, he would receive eternal rewards in heaven (cf. I Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 2:12; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10, 25-27; 3:11-12).

Where does that leave you? If you are not sure you have everlasting life, then take Jesus at His Word when He said, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). It does not matter how you have lived in the past. Perhaps you have pretended to be a Christian. You may have betrayed Christ outwardly or inwardly, but Jesus still loves you and wants to save you from an eternity separated from Him. Simply come to Him in faith just as you are, and He will give you everlasting life and come to live inside of You forever! He can transform you from a fake into a faithful follower of His.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, like the crowd in the synagogue in Capernaum two thousand years ago who heard these wonderful words from Your lips, we, too, fall into one of these three groups. Lord, make us those who love You, who cluster around You, who cling to Your words, who are willing to search them out and understand them and obey them, and believe that they alone are the words that give life. Lord, some of us may be following You from a distance, uncertain and uncomfortable. Help us to give up control and surrender to Your love which never fails. Some of us may find ourselves to be like Judas. We have pretended to be a believing disciple. We know how to look, speak, and act like a Christian, but we do not know for sure that we have everlasting life. So Lord Jesus, we come to You now as broken sinners, trusting You alone to forgive our sins and give us everlasting life. Thank You for the immense grace you have shown to us. Help us to cling to You and Your unchanging Word regardless of how the world responds to You. We ask this in Your matchless name. Amen.