No Longer Following

It sounded like He was advocating cannibalism. What Jesus had just said was so unexpected, so repulsive in its seemingly literal meaning, that ...

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'
"Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.'
"From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." ~ John 6:61-66

Was it literal? Was it hyperbole, exaggeration, symbolism, prophecy, a foreshadowing? They could not have known about a Lord's Supper before He began it. Did He mean to pique their interest so that they would follow Him to learn His meaning? Did He mean to winnow out the ones who could only see reality in literal terms?

He seems to have been angry that some had demanded a sign like manna though He had just fed five thousand; that they grumbled as He sought to explain that He was the true Bread from heaven, the One that gives life without end. So He turned to the ones closest to Him:

" 'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve.
"Simon Peter answered him, '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.' " ~ John 6:67-70

So they kept following.

Even though He said one of them was a devil.

Do we abandon Him when His manner seems harsh or His words abstruse, hard to understand?

Jesus Called Them ... Two by Two

The children's Bible School song notwithstanding - "Jesus called them one by one ..." that's what Mark's gospel seems to indicate, at least for the first few disciples.

"As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him.

"When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. ~ Mark 1:16-20

Perhaps He recalled His Father's wisdom in the garden that it was not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) Perhaps He recalled the wisdom of the law, that the credibility of every matter must be established by two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15) Perhaps He recalled the wisdom of the Preacher that two have a better return for their work. (Ecclesiastes 4:9) Whatever the source of the wisdom, He chose them by twos - and sent them out by twos (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1)

Perhaps we should call on that wisdom as well - and work together when seeking to help build His kingdom in this world.

The Toll on the Narrow Way Road

05/15/2008 - Jesus was not evasive about the costs of pursuing a life of worship - not to a would-be follower; not even to one who was already following Him.

"When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.'
"Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'

"Another disciple said to him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.'

"But Jesus told him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.' " ~ Matthew 8:18-22

Nor was He any less harsh in winnowing out huge numbers of people who sought to follow Him:

"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.' " ~ Luke 14:25-27

There is a cost to following Jesus.

And it isn't cheap.

The Harvest is Plentiful

05/14/2008 - In our labor to serve the Lord, to tell His Story and draw souls closer to Him, it's easy to become discouraged when there aren't immediate results, or when we can't see them, or when we realize how huge the task before us is. We'd do well, in our moments of public and private worship, to remember the words of encouragement that Jesus shared with His followers:

"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.' " ~ Matthew 9:37-38

Do we ask?

They Went and Did

05/13/2008 - It's a short sentence, a short verse among many others. But it contains a principle you see over and over again in the gospels and the book of the Acts of the Apostles:

"The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. " ~ Matthew 21:6

When He sent them off with many instructions by twos by the dozen or six dozen, they went and did what He asked. (Luke 9:6)

When He sent them with simple instructions to prepare the Passover, they did exactly as he asked. (Matthew 26:19)

After He died and returned briefly to encourage them and give them their last set of instructions, they went into all the world and preached the gospel (Acts 8:4), even if it took tough times and persecution to scatter them from the infectious joy of the inbreaking kingdom in Jerusalem.

Even Judas went and did quickly what he had resolved to do and was told to do quickly (John 13:27-30.

Whatever He asked, no matter how strange or precognitive, they went and did.

It became the definition of "disciple."

Whatever You Do

05/12/2008 - While decrying the practice of feasting at the table of man-made "gods," Paul the apostle nevertheless will not legislate a combative attitude toward pagans who might invite Christians to dinner or sell them food in the market that might offend their conscience - nor will he legislate a fast from dining with pagans. He asks pointedly, "Why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience?" and recommends eating with thankfulness and a clear conscience:

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31

Embedded in this specific advice is a larger principle found scattered throughout early Christian writings: "... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

It is both a license to be obedient and a law to be free to put God's glory first in everything we do.

The Mothering Nature of Jesus

05/11/2008 - On perhaps two different occasions - or on one told differently by two authors - Jesus displays a hint of His Father's motherly nature, brooding prophetically over the holy city's refusal of Him in these words:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" ~ Luke 13:34; Matthew 23:37

It is with that same protective instinct He watches over God's children now, and for His protection we should always be grateful.

The Mothering Nature of God

05/10/2008 - We call God our Father in our prayers and our private meditations, but we don't often think of Him in "motherly" terms. Yet, that is exactly how God chooses to express His tender affection and compassion toward His children when Isaiah speaks for Him in chapter 66:

"For this is what the Lord says: 'I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you, and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.' " ~ Isaiah 66:12, 13

In another setting, Isaiah's words reassure Israel that God has not forsaken her:

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" ~ Isaiah 49:15

As we approach Mother's Day, it would be worth a moment of our time to praise God for the motherly aspects of His vast heart.

More Rules Taught By Men

05/09/2008 - The openness of our hearts to God and His Word is directly related to the depth of our worship:

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.' " ~ Isaiah 29:13 (quoted by Jesus in Matt. 15:9, Mark 7:7)

Rules for worship devised and taught by men have no real power to draw us closer to God's heart – but His Word shares what will bring us closer.

A Complicated Relationship

05/08/2008 - Our relationship with God is complicated. While it can be intimate as a parent's relationship with a child, there is also a sense in which God's holiness inspires an awe and a kind of distance that patriarchs respected - and that the Lord commanded:

"Then he said to Moses, 'Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.' "

So it might be wise to be wary of trying to establish a relationship with God that is too "chummy;" too informal; too casual. He is worthy of our praise. And He longs to draw us close to His heart.