Monday, March 8: John 6-things too hard to believe.

I found myself thinking about Jesus as the Bread of Life, His call to eat his flesh and drink His blood and the result that “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (66).

I wondered not so much about the immediate context and Jesus’ call to eat His flesh and drink His blood, which I believe is a spiritual picture not a literal one (cf. verse 63). Instead I pondered all that Jesus taught and asked, “Does His teachings challenge me to the point that I would consider bailing on Jesus?” And I didn’t stop with a simple answer.

It was easy to quickly answer, “Oh no, I would never quit on Jesus.” But I pushed my thinking, “Do I say that because I simply avoid Jesus’ hard sayings? Sayings like “it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God… (after all I am rich by world standards).” Or even the Lord’s prayer petition, “forgive us (me) our debts as we forgive our (my) debtors.” Really do I want to pray a conditional prayer like that since I am quite capable of harboring unforgiveness against others?  Do I really want Jesus to hold unforgiveness against me!”

I hope I am not rattling your faith.  For me this was a positive time with Jesus but one that caused me to honestly think about the depth of my faith in following Him and my willingness to believe what He says, all of it and not just the parts I like.

Jesus, there are parts of Your teaching and the Bible’s teaching I don’t fully understand. There are parts that are hard for me to accept… yet not my will but Yours be done in my life day by day until am called to be with You, the Father and the Spirit in heaven for eternity! Jesus I am ‘all in’ with You, as the 12 said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (68-69). Amen

 

More calls to believe

Verse 29 is yet another direct call to believe and it is only one of a few in the latter portion of this chapter. John is not subtle about his agenda, which is why I believe John’s gospel is helpful for new believers to read early in their Bible reading.

 

 

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