"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard [difficult to understand] saying; who can hear [understand] it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured [grumbled] at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth [gives life]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." (John 6:60-66)
I find this passage of scripture to be very interesting. Here Jesus was. He had been teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of the people who were following Him heard what He was saying, they could not understand it. The Bible tells us that it was too hard for them.
Jesus knew within Himself that they were grumbling about it and He asked them, "Does this offend you?" (He knew that it did!)
He went on to explain what the problem was. They were trying to understand what He was saying in the flesh, but what He was saying could only be understood in the spirit. He acknowledged that some of them did not believe, and further explained that no man can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ except that the Father Himself had placed that down in them. As a result, many of His disciples turned away from Him and made a conscious decision not to follow Him anymore. Can you imagine?
This passage makes me wonder. How many of Jesus' teachings do we find hard, or uncomfortable, to deal with today? How many of us gripe and grumble about the sermon that the preacher preached on Sunday because we didn't like what he had to say? (And, keep in mind, if you're in a Bible-believing church where scripture is the foundation upon which the sermon was based, then, the preacher was only repeating what God has already said in His Word. And God's Word is His will.)
Don't you think that if Jesus knew what was going on in the hearts of those present with Him back then, that He most certainly knows what's going on in our hearts today? Don't you think that He knows who truly believes and who doesn't? And when we are offended by His words?
How many of us, like the people who walked with Him then, continue to make the choice to try to understand what God's Word is saying in the flesh, or with our intellect?
How many of us truly welcome God's Word, and accept it's truths and challenges, even when it hurts? Even when it convicts us down in our spirit?
And how many of us, when Jesus' words become too hard for us, choose to walk away from Him?
How many of us, due to stubbornness and rebellion, will eventually make the choice to walk away from Him permanently? For eternity?
In light of the fact that yesterday was Resurrection Sunday, which is the perfect time to celebrate new beginnings, I'd like to encourage you today, to, if you've had any doubts at all about where you stand in your relationship with Jesus Christ, to commit yourself afresh to Him and His ways.
If you've found His sayings too hard in the past, or if you've recently (or not so recently) found yourself drifting away from Him, there's no time like the present to ask Him for forgiveness and move on. Ask Jesus to help you to put aside your flesh, and to learn His words and His ways in the realm of the spirit.
Pray for a rock solid faith. A faith so strong that, when His sayings become hard, instead of walking, or drifting away, you dig your heels in, press in hard, and cling to Christ's sayings all the tighter, by faith, if necessary, so as not be counted among those that deliberately chose to walk away.
Have a blessed day!
In Christ Jesus and With All My Love,
~RebeccaI find this passage of scripture to be very interesting. Here Jesus was. He had been teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of the people who were following Him heard what He was saying, they could not understand it. The Bible tells us that it was too hard for them.
Jesus knew within Himself that they were grumbling about it and He asked them, "Does this offend you?" (He knew that it did!)
He went on to explain what the problem was. They were trying to understand what He was saying in the flesh, but what He was saying could only be understood in the spirit. He acknowledged that some of them did not believe, and further explained that no man can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ except that the Father Himself had placed that down in them. As a result, many of His disciples turned away from Him and made a conscious decision not to follow Him anymore. Can you imagine?
This passage makes me wonder. How many of Jesus' teachings do we find hard, or uncomfortable, to deal with today? How many of us gripe and grumble about the sermon that the preacher preached on Sunday because we didn't like what he had to say? (And, keep in mind, if you're in a Bible-believing church where scripture is the foundation upon which the sermon was based, then, the preacher was only repeating what God has already said in His Word. And God's Word is His will.)
Don't you think that if Jesus knew what was going on in the hearts of those present with Him back then, that He most certainly knows what's going on in our hearts today? Don't you think that He knows who truly believes and who doesn't? And when we are offended by His words?
How many of us, like the people who walked with Him then, continue to make the choice to try to understand what God's Word is saying in the flesh, or with our intellect?
How many of us truly welcome God's Word, and accept it's truths and challenges, even when it hurts? Even when it convicts us down in our spirit?
And how many of us, when Jesus' words become too hard for us, choose to walk away from Him?
How many of us, due to stubbornness and rebellion, will eventually make the choice to walk away from Him permanently? For eternity?
In light of the fact that yesterday was Resurrection Sunday, which is the perfect time to celebrate new beginnings, I'd like to encourage you today, to, if you've had any doubts at all about where you stand in your relationship with Jesus Christ, to commit yourself afresh to Him and His ways.
If you've found His sayings too hard in the past, or if you've recently (or not so recently) found yourself drifting away from Him, there's no time like the present to ask Him for forgiveness and move on. Ask Jesus to help you to put aside your flesh, and to learn His words and His ways in the realm of the spirit.
Pray for a rock solid faith. A faith so strong that, when His sayings become hard, instead of walking, or drifting away, you dig your heels in, press in hard, and cling to Christ's sayings all the tighter, by faith, if necessary, so as not be counted among those that deliberately chose to walk away.
Have a blessed day!
In Christ Jesus and With All My Love,
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