Sooner or later it will happen to you… You’ll read something in the Bible you don’t agree with or that bothers you! Or you’ll hear Biblical truth proclaimed or taught and it will “tick you off!” Something about it just doesn’t sit right and you’re tempted to argue, fuss, and reject it outright! I mean, after all, you and I have the knowledge, the judgment, and the right to pass judgment on what the Bible – no, more than that – what God clearly teaches, right?
I’ve just finished reading John 6 and there’s some stuff in the last part of that chapter that bothers me… that I don’t fully understand… truth that at “first blush” makes me want to say “Hold it a minute! No way – I can’t accept that!” But Jesus, God’s Son, didn’t ask me before He said those things – I wasn’t consulted for permission to edit His manuscript… [Incidentally, you should read “those things” – vss. 22-59.] And believe me, you or I weren’t the only ones bothered by some of the teaching in that chapter – important teaching – teaching upon which our eternal destiny depends!
So what to do? I think the last verses of that chapter give us a clue! In fact, I would argue that, believe it or not, impetuous Peter’s response guides us on issues like that… Here it is, right out of the passage:
“When many of His disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? … It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life!’ … After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ SIMON PETER ANSWERED HIM, ‘LORD TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE! WE HAVE BELIEVED, AND HAVE COME TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD!”
Want to know what I take from that? When you don’t understand – when God’s word teaches something that offends you – when you’re faced with Truth that perplexes you… Trust the source – Trust the Lord, depend on the fact that He understands the end from the beginning and His understanding is inscrutable (beyond our understanding)! “TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE! YOU ARE THE HOLY ONE OF GOD!
Seems like good advice to me, Peter – thanks for sharing it!
Coffee With The Lord 