10/23/21

 “Where would we go?”

            Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet 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. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled them.”

            From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.  “You do not want to leave too, do you,” Jesus asked the Twelve.

            Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

                                                                                                                     John 6:61-69

             Most of the time I make fun of Peter and his Speak then Think approach to life.  But in this interaction with Jesus, I resonate deeply with what he says.  Jesus asks if the 12 are going to leave and Peter simply responds by asking where they would go.  Who else could they follow who has the keys to Eternity?  Who else is the Word of God?  Where could they go where they would find purpose and miracles and power that transforms the world? 

            Faith is hard.  Before this passage starts, Jesus gives some brutal teaching that drives most of His followers away.  Being a disciple means giving up some of the best things that life has to offer.  It means allowing your very identity to be torn apart and reshaped.  It means allowing your heart to be broken by the pains and sufferings of the world.  It means loving those who oppose you and forgiving those who have wronged you and killing some of yourself so that you can become more like Jesus.  Faith is hard and many choose to leave.

            Here is the problem that Peter faces:  He knows too much to walk away.  He knows that God is real.  He knows that God is embodied in Jesus and he has seen lives changed and the world transformed.  He has heard the words of life and been changed by the power and presence of the Messiah.  If Peter were to walk away, he would do so knowing that he was walking away from the only thing that mattered.  He would live the rest of his life trying to forget the goodness that he left.

            Following Jesus is hard, but it is also absurdly good.  The love that the world is desperately searching for?  It is found with Jesus.  The purpose that people try to find through relationships or work or money or activities?  It is found with Jesus.  Healing from the external pains and internal struggles that reduce us to limping through this life?  It is found with Jesus.  Belonging and acceptance and hope and joy and freedom?  They are all found with Jesus and nowhere else.  Jesus gives the disciples an out; He gives them a chance to leave and they all stay.  Where else could they possibly go that offers such riches here on earth and then, on top of that, Eternal Life?  There is no one else out there that is offering a better deal than that.  Not in the Ancient World and not here today.  I know.  I’ve looked.

             We know too much to walk away.  I ran away from home once when I was little.  I made it about a block and a half and then had a moment of clarity.  I looked at the road ahead of me and realized that there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that was ahead of me that was as good as what I had back at home.  So I turned around and walked back.  That is true of our Faith as well.  There is nothing in the world, no matter how many delights that are promised...there is nothing in this world that is as good as the life that Jesus offers us.  Even if that life includes children with special needs and the struggles that accompany them.  If that calling is where Jesus is, then that is where I will be and it will be the very best life that I could live.

            I know too much to walk away.  No one else has the words of life.

A moment to reflect:

If you were not a Christian what would your life be like?  What are the words of life that Jesus has for you?