Dear Friends,
One of the most useful books in any preacher’s library is The Hard Sayings of Jesus by F. F. Bruce. And this week, we probably have one of the hardest teaching moments in Jesus earthly ministry in John 6:56-69.
When they heard what Jesus had said about consuming His body and blood, and that He was the bread sent form heaven. This was their reaction,
“60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?””
John is not just writing of the twelve but the larger group of disciples. And what they were saying was not that it was hard to understand, but hard to accept. Sadly, many of them began to drift away because they were fair-weather followers. For them, when the going got tough, they wilted, wandered off and returned home.
Jesus had spoken about this response to His teaching in the Parable of the Sower and these behaviors were described in those whose hearts were like the shallow soil when it got hot, and the soil where weeds crowded out the good seed. It is a sad fact that in humanity, there will always be some who wilt under pressure.
Many of you will be familiar with tales from the military or sporting arenas. When the weather is fair, the real character of you and your team-mates is not tested. There’s a saying in the army, “If it’s not raining, it’s not training”. But the true test is when the conditions are tough, that is when you know the caliber of the person next to you.
Away back in my youth, I was just starting out in rugby and I remember my mother agreeing with my aunt and Granny that it would be good for me because it would be character building, and sure enough it was! The same would be true in the rowing squad. For, whether you are locked in the middle of a rugby scrum or have your feet strapped in a boat on the water, there is no way out except to grit your teeth and do your utmost to win for the team.
Jesus knew that not all who followed Him would last the course.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
But their response remained faithful, because they knew that He offered the most important thing, not easy answers or soft options but that He was the real deal. For them, there was no going back, no turning back and no easy way out.
“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.””
Let us all pray that we never become fair-weather Christians who fall away when we hear the inconvenient truth from God.
Pastor Cliff