Hard Teachings

Hard Teachings

Read: John 6:41-69

“You do not want to leave too, do you?”

John 6:67

“Discipleship is more than getting to know what the teacher knows. It is getting to be what He is.”

—Juan Carlos Ortiz

IN WORD A huge controversy is brewing on the lakeshore. Jesus has begun to talk about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, mentioning also that He came straight out of heaven to this planet. There are people there who cannot handle it. Not just observers, but “disciples”—people who have followed Him devotedly. They leave. And Jesus asks the Twelve if they plan to do the same.

The benefits of following Jesus are incredible. There are miracles to be seen, lives to be changed, hearts to be softened, and deep, deep teachings to be absorbed. But it is a difficult path to follow. It involves recognizing who He really is, a theological stumbling block for many. It also involves not just following Him as a separate individual, but consuming His flesh and drinking His blood—absorbing all that He is and taking on His own character and nature. And it inevitably involves moving in the direction of the Cross. (The Resurrection, too, of course, but the Cross comes first and often looms larger to human eyes.) The benefits of discipleship are great, but they come in a package with hard faith and a rejection of our own nature. It’s a difficult package to carry.

IN DEED Do you know people who are into Jesus for the benefits but shun the difficulties of discipleship? At all costs, avoid their example. They are like the disciples of John 6:66 and the seeds of Matthew 13:20-22. They follow Jesus in their minds but are far from Him in their hearts. They seem to have it made, enjoying the benefits of Christ and His body, but they probably do not really know Him—not with any depth, anyway. Jesus offers you a better way.

His way is more difficult. It means wrestling with His words just as the twelve disciples did. It means partaking in His flesh and His blood, with all its blows to the human ego and its abandonment of worldly goals. We cannot just observe Him; we must become His flesh and blood. But there is truth and resurrection in His way. It is the way to life.