“Stop your belly-aching!” Jesus tells
them. John 6:43 EFP
From my
perspective I see the people struggling with their unbelief. I sense they cannot grasp the concept of the
boy they saw grow up in Galilee being the Son of God. He is the son of Joseph and Mary—not
God! But Jesus sees more.
He sees the
heart of the people making a running commentary on his claim to divinity. What he sees is not people struggling to
understand the miracle of the incarnation, but people who are complaining about
the disappointment of not having Jesus live up to their preconceived
expectations. They are grumbling that
Jesus is “a nobody” who hails from Nazareth and not some sort of heaven-sent
bread for their spiritual souls. What they
want is a physical deliverer—a warrior to lead them against the hated Romans;
one that could feed them when they hunger and heal them when they ache in their
quest for freedom.
When my
misguided expectations I place on Jesus fail to materialize and I am tempted to
complain and lament my situation, I can almost hear Jesus tell me, “Stop your
belly-aching, Ruben. Get over it and get
to know me better. What I have for you
is better than what you expect from me.”
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