Some in the crowd comment, “Come think
of it, isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter? Don’t we know his mother and his father? Who
does he think he is when he claims, ‘I come from heaven’?” John 6:42 EFP
In all fairness
to these humble Galileans, it must have been more than a bit challenging for
them to get their minds around the thought of Jesus being “Bread from heaven”
or someone who had “come from heaven.”
He was, after all, one of the boys from Nazareth—that underbelly-of-a-town
in dusty Galilee.
It seems to me
they were willing to go as far as many today are willing to go with Jesus’
claims. He is a great man. He is a great preacher. He might even be a great miracle-worker. But to claim he is somehow from heaven. To speak of God as his personal father. To declare implicitly, if not explicitly, that
he is the Son of God! That is
lunacy—crossing the line into blasphemy.
The scenario remains in place 2000 years later. It is not enough to accept his teachings and
advice. It is not enough for me to
concede his place in history. It is not
enough to see in his life as a model worthy of imitation. It is pointless unless I believe he is the
Son of God. The son of Mary and Joseph
is the Son of God—the Savior of the world. That is easy for me to say it, but to truly
let that sink in and take hold is not easy at all. There is a cost and the road to which it
leads me is fraught with danger. This
Palestinian crowd is wrestling with the same decision everyone will have to
face at some point in their lives.
Lip-service will not do.
No comments:
Post a Comment