John 6.68 Study notes
Often I wish I could do without. Without God. Without religion, without belief, without having to look for an answer. I wish it didn't matter what I believed or what you believed, that one belief was as good as another. I wish it didn't matter how I lived my life. But every time I lean that way, I get stuck on Jesus.
Simon Peter said, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God." John 6.68-69
But every time, I come back to where Peter was, when Jesus asked the disciples, "Are you sure t you want to believe in me?"
Jesus alone has the words of eternal life.
It goes like this:
Either Jesus is the real deal, or he ranks up there with the McDonald's Fry Guys as a spiritual leader.
Historically, Jesus existed. No historian would ever dispute that. A great religious leader named Jesus walked Palestine around 30 AD. That's true.
So, was he a religious leader, or something more? His teachings are incredible. "Love your neighbour as yourself. When you pray, pray in private so only God hears, not for show. Neither do I forgive you; go and sin no more. Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing." If God were to say something, these are the words I would want God to say. Not syrupy religious talk, but soul God-talk.
But Jesus also said other things. Like, "No one has ever seen God but me, who was sent from him." And "The dead will hear my voice and rise again." Jesus doesn't allow you to accept him as just a good teacher, because he also claimed to be the Son of God. If that's not true, then we're following a good teacher with incredible delusions (if he actually believed he was from heaven), or a good teacher who is conning followers into believing he was from heaven (if he made it all up). So, is this good teacher actually the Son of God, or delusional, or a liar? He's one of the three.
I get stuck on another point: His resurrection. His death is one matter, but his resurrection is something else. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? The scriptures are clear that he did, but they can be disbelieved if you choose. After Jesus' death though, his followers went forward with a single message: "Jesus is alive from the dead!" They clearly believed in the resurrection, having seen Jesus alive after his crucifixion. They took this message throughout the known world in the face of incredible opposition. If it was only a cleverly invented story, why did they never crack? If you made up a story to start a religion, and were told you would spend your life in a third world prison if you didn't recant, would you continue? Moreover, if 12 people said this, would they all continue? Or a group of 500 - could you reasonably expect all 500 people to hold to their story? Remember, Christianity was illegal soon after Jesus' death. His followers were chased, harassed, beaten, and eventually outlawed and killed. It wasn't a popular club to be in. But regardless, they held fast to a single belief: That Jesus was alive.
And if Jesus was alive, he was no mere "moral teacher." It made every claim he ever made truth.
So I believe. In part because I can never shake the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and that makes the whole story astounding - astounding enough to put my life on.
And I believe because I don't think I'll ever find words of such incredible truth anywhere else. Others may have lots of good to say, but only on Jesus rests the words of eternal life.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
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