Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Uncomfortable


Introduction

As most of you know by now, I’ve been away for a few weeks on a mission trip to Mexico with my daughters. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us this past week. God moved in tremendous ways in the lives and hearts of all who received new homes and in all those who gave of themselves to serve those in need. I must confess that I still can’t keep from crying when the finished house is presented to the waiting family. This year, the conditions seemed more extreme than I remember them. Our building site was high up in the rocky hills where there was very little flat ground on which to build. Add to this the fact that we were building a house twice the size as usual in the same amount of time with a team of missionaries where approximately 75% had never participated in a mission trip. The bathroom that was available for us to use during the day was at least a quarter mile away from our building site. It was really hot during the day and freezing cold at night. Everyone, young and old, labored under the conditions yet refused to quit. I had an opportunity to reflect on this in the evenings when we finally had a chance to sit down beside a warm fire. I watched as sunburns received cooling salve and cuts and scrapes where bandaged all the while praising God with music. You know what I realized not just about this trip but about all the other trips from previous years? It was Uncomfortable! Think about it, doesn’t this define the life of a true Christian—Uncomfortable? Living in what I have called the already/not yet of the promised Kingdom. Living as saved and still being saved at the same time. Living as sinner and saint at the same time. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, about living the Christian faith is comfortable if we are to be a light in a dark world. I see it all the time in friends who give up their personal time to care for friends and neighbors—they are Uncomfortable. I see it in my wife who brings a biblical worldview to her secular university setting—she is Uncomfortable. I see it in my daughters who refuse to chase after the things that might make them more popular as college students—they are Uncomfortable. I see it in Christian parents who are purposely out of step with the popular culture so they can show their children a better way—they are Uncomfortable. I see it in people (especially young people) who refuse to compromise their sexual purity until they are officially married—they are really Uncomfortable. I saw it specifically this week when a local pastor of a very popular mega-church ignited a firestorm when he took the biblical position against same-sex marriage by emphasizing that Jesus made it clear that marriage was between one man and one woman—he was Uncomfortable. I know it exists among some of you who live in countries hostile to Christianity yet you cling to your faith—you are Uncomfortable. I am encouraged by all believers and leaders who are committed to following Jesus even when it is Uncomfortable; in the face of criticism from foolish unbelievers and biblically ignorant Christians (also foolish); they have sold-out to Jesus and abandoned any other options. Jesus has always had an amazing ability to make people Uncomfortable with his teachings and I’d like to look at one of those moments for this week’s lesson.

Subject Text

John 6:53-68

            53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64Yet 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. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Context

            As always, the context here is critical to understanding what Jesus is saying in our subject text. Earlier in chapter 6 Jesus’ disciples begin rowing across the Sea of Galilee at the end of a day that saw Jesus feed 5,000 people with just five small loaves of bread and two little fish. As they rowed toward Capernum, they were engulfed by a strong storm. After battling the storm for three to three and a half miles, they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water! When Jesus got into the boat, the text says they immediately reached the other side. Well the people that Jesus fed knew he didn’t leave with the disciples so the next day, they went looking for him. Finally, they got into boats and rowed to the other side where they found Jesus. Knowing that no other boats travelled across the lake after the disciples left, they wanted to know how long Jesus had been there. Not an unreasonable question if you think about it but Jesus got to the root of why they came looking for him in the first place. Jesus confronts them with the true motivation behind their interest in him; they weren’t following him because he fed 5,000 with a few small loaves of bread and a couple of little fish, they were following him so he would feed them again! That’s when Jesus teaches them an important lesson about himself. If we are always going to seek Jesus for what he can give us, we miss his entire purpose; Jesus doesn’t want to give us stuff, he wants to give us Himself! Jesus tells the people that while Moses provided their ancestors with bread from heaven to eat, Jesus describes himself as the bread of God who has come down from heaven to give life to the world. Jesus tells them that whoever comes to him will never go hungry and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty. It doesn’t appear that anyone at this point believes that Jesus is a literal piece of food to be eaten or a drink to be consumed but by the time we get to our subject text this seems to change for some reason. However, before we get to that point, the Jews enter the discourse and begin to “grumble” about Jesus’ claim to be the bread that has come down from heaven because they claim to know Joseph and Mary to be his parents. Jesus admonishes them with one of his clearest claims to divinity when he says that he is the only one that has seen the Father because he came from the Father and that those who believe that will have everlasting life. Jesus reminded them that the manna that was consumed by their forefathers served to feed them; it couldn’t save them. His flesh, on the other hand, was the bread that would give life to the world if eaten. It is at the point where Jesus makes the correlation between eating bread and eating his flesh that things become Uncomfortable and we run headlong into our subject text.

Text Analysis

            Jesus has clearly landed on something that has irritated the Jews specifically when he refers to himself as the bread of heaven that should be eaten and then tells them that his flesh is that bread. To this point everyone seems to understand that Jesus is not referring to himself literally as food but that Jesus’ reference to being the bread from heaven is a symbol of divine provision not for what will sustain their bodies in this life but what will sustain their souls for eternity. Nevertheless, they have gotten themselves twisted around the idea that Jesus wants them to eat his flesh. So Jesus uses the opportunity to turn up the pressure in vv. 53-57 when he says that unless they eat his flesh and drink his blood then there is no life in them; they do not have eternal life. Jesus has made a transition from eating bread to eating flesh but is he saying something different than he was earlier and what exactly is he saying? Although the event has not occurred yet chronologically in John’s gospel, we know what Jesus is saying don’t we? Think about it; I’ll bet you know it—“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Mt 26:26-28). Ah yes, Jesus’ words at the last supper with his disciples! But try not to read into Jesus’ words in our subject text an understanding from a later text if you want to try and understand where Jesus’ critics were coming from in our subject text. Nevertheless, it’s very difficult, maybe impossible, to “unknow” what we know Jesus is saying; there can be no half-hearted commitment to following Jesus—he must become part of our lives in the most intimate ways possible! “This passage should be read as a call to follow Christ even into places of suffering and death…The context of John 6:51, where Jesus has just spoken of giving his flesh for the life of the world through his own impending passion and death, creates a similar setting for reading these verses as a discussion about discipleship. Eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood then would be related to the appropriation of his sufferings in some way.”[1]

Additionally, Jesus’ reference to the drinking of his blood has special significance in relation to our individual sins. “Blood is sometimes used fig. [figuratively] for the atoning work of Christ (Rev. 19:13; Jn. 6:53-56), the part being used for the whole saving act and work of Jesus (Eph. 1:7). In most of the passages that have been cited one cannot, however, simply substitute the death of Christ for the blood of Christ. ‘The blood of Christ means more than this. It stresses the close links between the death of Jesus and both his life and his triumph in his resurrection and exaltation.’ The blood means the application of the death of Jesus to the individual…In the OT community this was carried out visibly with the blood of an animal. In the NT church it is an invisible spiritual reality through the blood of Jesus (1 Pet. 1:2; Heb. 9:13f.; 10:22). As the believer appropriates the blood of Jesus, the power of his sacrificial death becomes his in all its effects.”[2] Although the full extent of Jesus’ reference to the appropriation of his blood as the atonement for our sins is not fully developed in our subject text, it is important not to overlook Jesus’ resurrection promise in v.54 and what the Jews understood him to be saying about himself. “Jesus is presented in the Gospel against the backdrop of the Jewish concept of agency and, furthermore, against the understanding that there is one chief agent through whom God acts…Clearly the Word [Jesus] is understood as God’s chief and exclusive agent in creation (Jn 1:3). He is shown exercising the divine prerogatives in judging, in raising the dead (Jn 6:54), and in working on the Sabbath, deeds which, according to various Jewish authors were permitted to God alone. Because Jesus is the chief agent of God, when one confronts him, one confronts God.”[3] It is only after Jesus’ blood is shed on the cross for the sins of humanity that his words in our subject text come into sharper focus.

            In v. 57 Jesus is extending the offer of life in relation to Him analogous to his life in relation to the Father. There is a continuum of life that flows from the Father, through Jesus by the power of the Spirit. As the Father is the author of life so Jesus likewise becomes the author of life through this continuum. “The Father sent Jesus, and he is the living Father, the God who has life-in-himself (as in Jn 5:26). This living God, in sending the Son, established that he would also have life-in-himself…Jesus lives because of the Father, i.e. because of the Father’s determination that Jesus should have life-in-himself (5:26); those who feed on Jesus live (Jesus says) because of me…Clearly, they live because of the Son’s determination, but unlike him they never have life-in-themselves, but only in him. For the Christian, eternal life is always mediated through Jesus.”[4] Finally, Jesus, teaching in the synagogue (v. 59), the place that should have been the first to recognize him as the one the Scriptures foretold of, circles back to referring to himself once again as the bread of heaven in v. 58 that paves the way to eternal life unlike the manna provided by God to their forefathers that served only to sustain them during their short years of life on earth.

            Is it really any surprise that in v. 60 we see some of Jesus’ followers (“disciples”) complain that Jesus’ teaching is too difficult to accept? Remember, these “disciples” are not “the Twelve,” these were the same people that came looking for him after he fed more than 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and couple of fish. Do you see the irony? They have no problem accepting Jesus’ blessings but when it comes to hard truths, they suddenly find it hard to accept him. We find ourselves wagging our fingers and shaking our heads at “those” people. But we know “those” people don’t we? Some of us are “those” people! “Those” people: Accept that God exists but won’t accept that Jesus is God; They believe in heaven but not in hell; They believe God only loves and never judges; They believe right and wrong are relative unless you disagree and then you’re absolutely wrong; They accept blessings as the way of faith but not suffering; They accept that those who believe in Jesus will be saved but won’t accept that those who don’t believe in Jesus won’t be saved; They absolutely believe there are no absolutes; They want to hear the truth but not if it is Uncomfortable. In v. 60, “The motive behind Jesus’ harsh words is not difficult to see—he wanted people to count the cost of following him. His words shocked and challenged. They were not comfortable half-truths, but hard-edged truth. Those who follow Jesus in hopes of feeling good will always be disappointed sooner or later. Only those who find in Jesus the rock-solid truth will be able to weather the difficulties of living in this fallen world.”[5]

            As usual, Jesus knows in v. 61 that his disciples are having trouble accepting what he has said about himself. The Greek word that is translated as “offend” is more literally translated as “stumble” so that the text would literally read “Does this cause you to stumble?” It is a word that is used to describe someone who falls away into unbelief (cf. Matt 13:21; 24:10; Mk 6:3; Rom 14:20-21). I generally prefer this translation as it is more consistent with Jesus’ teaching about himself that he would be the stone/rock over which people would stumble and smash their lives (1 Pet 2:8).

            Jesus asks an interesting question in v. 62 when he asks those who doubt if it would make any difference in their ability to believe if they saw him ascend back to the place where he came from. I don’t think Jesus was all that interested in what it would take to make them believe. I think it was a rhetorical question intended to show that even if they saw him ascend to heaven, they still wouldn’t believe. Of course history has proven Jesus to be correct (again!). Don’t believe me? Let me illustrate: Jesus really existed; Jesus really did perform countless miracles; Jesus really was crucified; Jesus really died; Jesus was really placed in a tomb; Jesus really rose from the dead; Jesus really ascended to heaven; Millions of lives have been transformed by their faith and trust in Jesus. All these things are true according to the biblical and extra-biblical record and eyewitness testimony, yet countless millions did not/cannot/will not believe in Jesus. “They who stumble at the doctrine of the descent of one who calls himself the Living Bread, who gives himself for the life of the world, are to be confronted with a terrible and awesome phenomenon: they will see the Son of Man ascend where he was before. We have learned about this earlier. The Son of Man is to be ‘lifted up’ (Jn 3:14), and the world will be divided before him (Jn 12:31-32). They who deny the descent will look upon it as the final ground of rejection, whereas they who can ‘see’ signs may see in this event the ultimate sign which illuminates all their problems; for that ‘lifting up’ by human hands of Jesus on the cross will be recognized as the exaltation by God of the Son of Man, via resurrection, to the throne of God, so making a blessed eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of the Son of Man.”[6]

            Jesus’ reference in v. 63 to the Spirit as the one that gives life and that the flesh counts for nothing seems like a non-sequitur to what he said previously that he was the one that gives life and specifically to those who partake in his flesh. So what is he saying now? The key is in the second part of what he said. Specifically that he was talking about being connected to him to receive spiritual life not physical life. Jesus’ primary concern is our eternal, spiritual life not specifically our temporal, physical life. For those who had ears to hear what Jesus was saying, this answered the Jews’ question in v. 52: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus wasn’t talking about physically eating his flesh but becoming connected to him spiritually for eternity. “For John ‘eating the flesh’ and ‘drinking the blood’ of the Son of man is the continuing sign of participation in his life by faith and to share in it is to continue to acknowledged the full reality of the incarnation of the divine Logos [Gk. ‘Word’].”[7] Jesus goes on to confront the continued unbelief of some in v. 64. We shouldn’t breeze over this portion of our subject text too quickly because it sets up Jesus’ teaching in the verses that follow. I have yet to meet a believer who has faithfully shared the gospel with unbelievers who hasn’t been frustrated with people who stubbornly cling to their unbelief in the face of a mountain of evidence to the contrary. If that’s you and you’re frustrated that your efforts haven’t yielded much or any fruit, consider the fact that there were countless people who were first-hand witnesses to Jesus’ life (miracles and all!), death and resurrection who still didn’t believe. How is this possible? Jesus reminds us in v. 65 of something he said right before our subject text in v. 44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Let me just say that there is an entire lesson contained in this one statement. Some use this as support for their position that only some people, those called by the Father, are “predestined” to be saved. However, I believe that is reading something into the text that doesn’t really exist; it is using a text to support a position that has been established in advance. Does God take the initiative in the life of humanity to enable belief? Yes! Does God only initiate this in a select few? I don’t think so. Let’s use the text that compliments our subject text and this lesson which occurs later in John’s Gospel that I referenced earlier. Specifically, in Jn 12:32 Jesus says that when he is “lifted up,” a reference to his crucifixion, he will draw all people to himself. Does God take the initiative in the life of humanity to enable belief? Yes, and he did so at the cross. It is now up to us, as believers, to point people to the cross and then it is up to those who hear the message of the cross to either believe and be saved or not. “The limits of human knowledge are recognized in the New Testament. It is not through wisdom that the world knows God, but rather through the divine initiative (Gal. 4:8-9). It is through the kerygma [Gk. Proclamation of the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ] that humans can know God (1 Cor. 1:20-25). Spiritual discernment is not the result of profane reasoning (1 Tim. 6:20). God’s revelation in Christ has made knowledge of him possible.”[8] Nevertheless, even though we can know God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, some will still refuse to keep following as we see in v. 66 where many of Jesus’ disciples turned away and no longer followed him. It is interesting to note that we sometimes picture these “disciples” as never really being followers to begin with because real followers would never stop following would they? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there are countless people who have stopped following Jesus sitting right next to you in church every Sunday. People who don’t serve others have stopped following; People who expend most or all of their resources primarily for their own enjoyment have stopped following; People who refuse to condemn leaders who support killing babies have stopped following; People who are sexually active outside the context of marriage have stopped following; People who accept homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle have stopped following; People who are afraid to stand up for Jesus Christ and biblical truth have stopped following; People who can’t accept outsiders to the faith have stopped following; People who won’t share the gospel with unbelievers have stopped following; People who willingly remain biblically ignorant have stopped following and there are countless others who have, for countless reasons, stopped following Jesus even as they sit in church singing praises to Him. “I am naïve if I think that the confusion, anger, and outrage of the disciples at the end of the chapter is something unique to them, as if they have some deficit, some blindness, or some spiritual malady that makes them incapable of embracing the profundity of Jesus’ revelation. Hearts that are religiously inclined can become angry when the formulas change, when things don’t show up as predicted, when conventions become upset. It is religious rebellion that in some fashion disguises itself as piety, as light—but in the end is darkness nonetheless.”[9]

            Seeing some who were following him turn away, Jesus turns his attention to “the Twelve” in v. 67 and asks them if they planned on leaving as well. Jesus answers his own question at the end of the chapter when he reminds them that he chose them, they did not choose him. Peter, always the brash and the brave one, is the first to speak up and confess in vv. 68-69 that they have nowhere else to turn. They have committed to following Jesus and were convinced that he was not just someone important; not just a wise man; not just a good man; not just a good teacher; not just a prophet; he was the “Holy One of God.” Nevertheless, “Jesus knew their weaknesses and how little they really understood. He knew that one of them would not only go away, but betray him also…We can’t stay on middle ground about Jesus. When he asked the disciples, ‘Are you going to leave, too?’ he was showing them that he was not taking their faith for granted. Jesus never tried to repel people with his teachings. He simply told the truth. The more people heard Jesus’ real message, the more they divided into two camps—the honest seekers wanting to understand more, and those rejecting Jesus because they didn’t like what they heard.”[10] Peter says something else very important in v. 69: They “believe and know” that Jesus is the Holy One of God. “Faith and knowledge (Jn. 6:69), knowledge and faith (Jn. 17:8; 1 Jn. 4:6), are not two processes distinct from each other, but instructive co-ordinates which speak of the reception of the testimony from different standpoints. Faith alone which receives the testimony possesses knowledge; he who knows the truth is pointed to faith…The hearer should understand that both are involved in salvation; acceptance of the testimony as well as personal response and reformation that conforms to the testimony.”[11]

Application

            Dr. Larry Crabb writes, “The more clearly you see Christ, the more willing you will be to suffer any loss for His sake. Kingdom living consists of radical servanthood (the end of entitlement to personal comfort) and self-denying suffering with the hope of joy forever.”[12] As many of you know, I love books. One particular genre that is very dear to me are books that tell real life stories of believers who have endured terrible physical, mental and/or emotional suffering as a result of their faith. I know that describes some of you out there and I want you to know that I recognize that and I praise God for you. There is something very, very special about you; you are a shining example of a faithful follower of Jesus Christ! Here in America, and many other places in the world, Christians are free to worship and practice their faith without much, if any, interference or oppression. You would think that this freedom would provide the perfect environment for the intelligent, bold and faithful proclamation of biblical truth (kerygma). But nothing could be farther from the truth. Instead, this freedom from oppression and suffering has had exactly the opposite effect—an environment of ignorance, passivity and compromise. But why? The answer is very simple—people want to be liked; people want to be comfortable. What’s wrong with being like? What’s wrong with being comfortable? Nothing, in and of themselves, but I challenge you to take a long look at Jesus’ teaching and show me where he expected or told his followers that they would be liked or comfortable. You can search, but you’ll search in vain. Jesus told his followers that they would have trouble in this world; that they would be hated; that they would be put to death. Jesus was right. All but one of the Apostles were martyred and millions of Christians since have also been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. I can describe their faith and obedience with one word—Uncomfortable! When they were ridiculed, they were Uncomfortable. When they were hated, they were Uncomfortable. When they were oppressed, they were Uncomfortable. When they were imprisoned, they were Uncomfortable. When they were tortured, they were Uncomfortable. When they were dying, they were Uncomfortable. What would it take for you to become Uncomfortable? You have countless opportunities and I’ll bet you don’t even have to go to extremes to exercise those opportunities. I want to challenge you this week to do at least one thing that is Uncomfortable and then next week do another and then another until your life is no longer marked by the desire or the pursuit of personal comfort. Here’s a really easy one that everyone can do—share this website and lesson with as many people as you can, not just believers but unbelievers as well. Some of you are already feeling your anxiety increase at the thought of doing that; you’re becoming Uncomfortable. Go visit a neighbor you have never or rarely talked to and ask them how they are doing and if there’s anything you can do for them. If you have a neighbor you don’t particularly like, pick them and you’ll be Uncomfortable. Speak up to defend someone who cannot defend themselves; there are many that qualify but try something other than the politically safe ones like the poor, or minorities. There’s nothing inherently wrong with defending the poor and minorities. In fact, doing so was highly prized by Jesus during his earthly ministry. However, in our modern American culture, it has become a means to become popular and well liked. How about if you allow yourself to be labeled a kook or a religious nut and defend the unborn; then you’ll be Uncomfortable. Use the majority of your resources from the week, (i.e. time, talents and especially money) and invest them in someone not in your immediate family; that will be Uncomfortable. Take the opportunity to stand up for the biblical truth of marriage between a man and woman, sexuality within the context of marriage, or salvation through Jesus Christ and no one or nothing else and you’ll be Uncomfortable. Share the gospel message with someone in your life; a stranger, a friend or a family member. Tell them your story of salvation. Tell them why you put your faith in Christ even if it is sad, tragic or embarrassing; you might be very Uncomfortable. If you are in a relationship that you know does not conform to biblical truth, change whatever you have to so that that relationship and your behavior conforms to what you know to be biblically correct; that will be Uncomfortable. Be willing to stand up for biblical truth at any expense to yourself. This week, be a radical, be a revolutionary, be a real and faithful follower of Jesus Christ—be Uncomfortable!


[1] David A. deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 429.
[2] Colin Brown, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), p. 224.
[3] Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall, eds., Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), p. 377.
[4] D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), pp. 298-299.
[5] Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 402.
[6] George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary, John, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 96.
[7] Colin Brown, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), p. 535.
[8] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), p. 458.
[9] Gary M. Burge, The NIV Application Commentary, John, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), p. 215.
[10] Bruce Barton, et al., Life Application Commentary, p. 402.
[11] Colin Brown, ed., DONTT, Vol. 1, p. 603.
[12] Dr. Larry Crabb, 66 Love Letters, A Conversation with God that invites you into His story, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009), pp. 214-215.

No comments:

Post a Comment