John 6:66-72
These short verses contain a lot of information. I am going to mention two of those pieces of information.
The first is the turning back of many of the disciples. This is not referring to the twelve disciples, but many of those who followed Jesus around. Much of what is contained in John 6 is hard to comprehend. For humans with their sinfulness and the desire to control everything, the idea of someone else giving us the means to eternal life, but at a cost, is hard to take. Jesus freely gives us eternal life, but we must accept His death on the cross and His resurrection. Without His selfless gift, we have nothing. That means we lose control. Our survival depends on someone else. Not an easy thing for us to do. The other challenging aspect of what Jesus said is His statement that we can only come to God if He draws us to Him. For many people this takes some of the choice away. The knowledge that no amount of willpower will bring us near to God unless he allows us to come is hard. This forms the foundation of much debate in the Church since the reformation. Are people pre-destined to believe in God, or is it possible to save anyone? Much harshness in Church doctrine has been incorporated in to that debate. Personally, I believe that we do not know the answer and it doesn’t matter that we don’t. What matters is that we do not know who is or is not going to be saved. Jesus never treated people badly, even though they turned away from Him. He loved them all, and He calls us to do the same. Even the Pharisees who felt the lash of his tongue were still loved. This means that, as followers of Jesus, we should approach all people with the love that Jesus approached them. If we shine Jesus light into the world, some will respond and others won’t. That doesn’t mean we should not shine that light. It just means not everyone we witness to will be saved, and many will be saved but not at the time we witness to them. When I talk about witnessing, I don’t mean haranguing people. I mean behaving in the way Jesus did and being ready to give His message if we are called to.
This leads me to the second piece of information. Peter’s statement in verse 68-69 “to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know you are the Holy One of God”. Peter and the other disciples (according to him) accepted that Jesus was the only one to be with. He had the words of eternal life. I often meditate on verse 68 “to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It is so true, we have nowhere else to go. Whether we chafe under the weight of carrying our cross, there is nowhere else to go. Only Jesus has the words of eternal life. All those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus and accept that He is the Holy One of God have nowhere else to go. To reject Jesus means to step into nowhere.

At the end of this week I am making another trip to Central Queensland to visit my daughter who works there as a paramedic. I will be taking more of her belongings to her in her new house. I am not taking my laptop with me so will not be able to post a blog on Saturday. I will however be back the following Wednesday. 

In the interim, may God fill your thoughts with His truth "to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" John 6:68

John 6:60-65
These verses follow Jesus’ pronouncement about the need of his disciples to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. For the Jews it was taken literally to imply they had to eat Him. For many Christians it is taken literally in a different way, in that they believe Jesus requires us to partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion in order to be saved. Neither of these interpretations is correct. Jesus is actually referring to the need for faith in response to testimony. He knew a time was coming when the people would see Him die on a cross and they would hear eye witnesses saying He had risen from the dead. He knew the people needed the faith to believe this and respond to it. For many of Jesus’ followers, his teaching was hard to accept. Jesus was requiring them to accept the spiritual and they found this hard. He knew that many would stumble at the foot of the cross, unable to accept all that happened there and in the time thereafter. They would not be able to comprehend Him ascending to heaven.
I imagine the people felt very unsettled. I have been reading and hearing a lot lately about being unsettled. When God unsettles our complacency it is hard to take. Yet we need that constantly. God is not some tame deity we can place in a box and deal with at a time of our choosing. He is God and nothing He does is predictable. This is largely because we have no idea what His plan is or how He wants us to fulfil His plan for our lives.
I am wondering how many people reading this will find 2012 is a year of great unsettling. I feel it will be that way for me and I look forward to it with a mixture of excitement and fear. I don’t like uncertainty and my faith is not always equal to the challenge of being able to accept what God sends my way. I am reading the book of Job at the moment and finding I can so relate to it. Here is a man going through a hard time, refusing to condemn God for it, but also wondering what he has done wrong to be going through it. This is so often the way I take difficulties. Of course, sometimes difficulties are about God correcting us. More often those difficulties are about God directing our path in the way He wants us to go.
A few years ago I went through a terrible time where doors kept slamming in my face and I became very depressed about it. Looking back, I realise those doors were ones I wanted to step through and God had allowed me to try in order to demonstrate to me that I was not to go there. When I had nowhere else to go, He opened the door He wanted me to step through. I can see that now and am thankful for what He did, but it doesn’t stop me feeling a little fearful of facing trouble. I do however think that every time I face trouble I am better able to cling to God and trust Him a little more. How do you feel when trouble comes your way?

John 6:52-59
This is a very tricky part of Jesus speech. I can understand the people listening to Jesus’ words and being horrified. Here he is telling people they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. At this point, what Jesus said was taken literally. We know that this refers to Jesus as the sustainer of our life and the one who gave us eternal life through His death on the cross. To the people of Jesus’ time it was harder to understand. The people were being introduced for the first time to a very confusing statement. For me, this statement is a joyous one. It tells me that Jesus has died for me to pay for my sins. For me, this statement is one that gives me relief, a strong sense of security and a deep gratitude for a gift I will never be able to earn but accept gratefully. What Jesus was offering to the Jews was a permanent replacement of the sacrifices they had to make frequently in the temple. These sacrifices were made in place of the promised salvation and had become extremely legalistic. But now Jesus was announcing that instead of the frequent sacrifices He would be there. There would never be a need to sacrifice again because Jesus had made that sacrifice once for all. From my vantage point of understanding Christian doctrine, and knowing the end of the story, it is easy to understand Jesus’ words. However, I wonder what I would have thought if I had been one of those Jews hearing the words for the first time. I would have had no idea where the future would lead. I would not have understand or comprehended that Jesus would die on the cross. It is so easy to judge others and criticise. But Jesus did not criticise these people and He did not judge them. One of the most destructive things Christians do is to judge others. It is one of the reasons Christians are seen as being harsh and judgemental and why God is given such bad press. Think about the love Jesus displayed to people. His patient, gentle love did not involve harsh judgements and negative words. His love involved great patience and words of love.

Before I start, I want to send a blessing to everyone who reads this today. May God bless you richly in 2012 and may you know a year of great delight as you grow in faith and knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

John 6:41-51
On this, the first day of 2012, we look at the continuing conversation Jesus had with the people on the other side of Lake Galilee. Jesus told the people to seek the bread of life and they were fixated on the manna their ancestors ate in the desert, which they attributed to Moses. In this area where so many people knew Jesus they had trouble accepting His words. After all, they knew His father and mother. They didn’t believe that He came down from heaven. Jesus answer was that they would only believe if God enabled them to (v45). I find that knowledge really comforting when I have discussions with non-believers. So often their interest in the conversation is to tell me what I should believe and not listen to what I do beleive. I have also had conversations with genuinely interested people cut short by non-believers blocking the conversation. My comfort is that if God intends a person to believe, He will draw them near to Jesus, the bread of life. Because the Bible in these verses tells us that whoever eats of the bread of life will live. Jesus here indicated what was to come, that the bread is His flesh which He will give for the life of the world.
It may seem a bit of a quantum leap, but it reminds me of the mad planning of New Year resolutions that so many people participate in. It is not a bad idea to have some plan for the future rather than drifting through life. New Year is certainly a good time to consider the future. Sadly many never follow through on their plans. Jesus, however, remained resolutely on track to complete His plans. He achieved this through the support of His Father in Heaven to whom He prayed constantly and who gave Him the strength to continue. So if you have New Year resolutions have you prayed about them to make sure they are in line with God’s will? Have you committed them to God? If so, you are very likely to succeed, providing you never forget to draw on God’s strength to complete them.
This year, I have decided to read the Bible chronologically. I found a schedule on the internet and have decided that I will read the Bible from my main Bible, an NIV translation and also from The Message. I am so excited about this as it has been many years since I last read the Bible from start to finish. I know that in the course of a year, I probably read most of the Bible, but it doesn’t mean the same as when it is read from front to back. I am eager to see what messages my Father has for me this year.
What plans do you have to grow your faith this year?