March 2016 Spare Change
The Tough Sayings of Jesus
People like to paint a mental picture of Jesus being all loving, inclusive, and accepting of everyone. Of course Jesus is loving and accepting, but is that the whole picture of the personhood of Jesus? What do we think when we hear the tough sayings of Jesus? What do we do when he talks about commitment, about counting the cost, or about sacrifice? Let me show you what I mean:
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:53-54 ESV)
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple … So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27; 33 ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 ESV)
These are just a couple of examples that caused followers of Jesus to turn away. Jesus seemed to have a lot of fair weather friends. When the teaching got tough or the commitment too great, they were nowhere to be found. Being a Christian or a follower of Jesus requires commitment. Understand that salvation comes only from Jesus, it is a work he does in our heart. Jesus redeems us by his sacrifice on the cross and the resurrection from the grave. Salvation is only accomplished through faith. Unfortunately, many people end there. They think once they have their “fire insurance” they are good to go. They are not seeking true life change; they just simply don’t want to go to hell.
There were many people in Jesus’ day that came to observe him or to see what they could get. Only a few actually wanted to follow him. That is the difference between true salvation and just an emotional response. When the gospel is truly applied to our hearts, we begin to change. It is then we gladly follow Jesus. Being a Christian should not feel like a burden. There are definitely hard days, but overall we are filled with peace, joy, and hope because of our faith in Christ.
We need to be fair to the whole person of Jesus. He is loving and accepting, but He also calls us to obedience and commitment. Even in that calling, He enables us by His spirit to change and grow to be like Him. Our job, as it always has been, is simply to trust. We must continually place our faith in Jesus, day by day. Growing in faith consistently is what Jesus wants. Ultimately, the commitment is one of faith. When we come to these tough sayings of Jesus we need to learn them, meditate on them, and be encouraged by them. Don’t walk away like so many fair weather friends have before. Seek to follow Jesus even in the tough stuff.