Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Greetings, dear ones.
It’s a little alarming to see the time. I certainly wanted to be farther along by now. But it’s already been a busy morning. A lot more busy is to come. I particularly want to knock out a sign job.
I did a jog alone with Dandy. Becki was too bound by the little boys—then the need to get Kaden back to his school bus stop. He only spent one night. Nicholas will be returned this afternoon.
The voting and elections didn’t go real great in Oregon as per our limited opinions. It’s good to know Who’s in charge in spite of it all. But I would vote for you to have a blessed day.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Is something going amiss here—or are things being corrected? I judge it to be the latter. But to be sure, the ideas Jesus had just presented about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (6:53-58) were so shocking and revolutionary—so disturbing to the comfort zones of shallow casual disciples—that this Jesus movement is now showing signs of being divided—to the extent that, “…many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (6:66—666?). Sad. Those that turn back, of course, are not the inner circle of the 12, but the larger group of followers who were caught up in the sensational fun and excitement of a miraculous healing and evangelism crusade. Yet, not even the inner circle fully embraced the attitude expressed by Peter when Jesus asked them if they’d like to bail too. Peter had responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (6:68-69). Jesus discloses the exception in advance—“Have not I chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (v. 70). What? Think about that! A disciple gone devil! Have you ever seen a disciple become a devil? How do you explain that?
It occurs to me sitting right here that perhaps we’re all a bunch of devils. Maybe it can be another way of describing the NATURAL SIN NATURE of fallen mankind. So the promise of the Biblical gospel is that dirty devils have the opportunity of being transformed into disciples. What a deal! The terrible outcome of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was simply a demonstration of how his choices produced a return to his default setting—returning him to the status of being like a disciple the SIN NATURE—which is like being a disciple of Satan—thus a devil. That’s scary! And, you know what?—it’s supposed to be! (Philippians 2:12)
Consider again the question the shallow casual disciples raised—“Who can accept it?” That is, who is willing to embrace such a deep and drastic concept as to seek and find positive meaning in Jesus’ words where He claims that “…my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (v. 55)? Answer: Only those who recognize His deity and accept His “words of eternal life”—those who recognize their desperate need for a savior from their sin condition—those who are willing and committed to going all the way with Jesus—those who are not satisfied with being a shallow and casual follower. However we spin the details of this account, I think we have here a good indication as to why the most common and popular form of Christianity at large in our world today is the shallow casual kind. Why? Because it’s just so much easier on the NATURAL SIN NATURE—it allows one to have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:5)—side-stepping the requirement of confession of sin, full commitment to Christ as Savior and Lord, full belief that His Word is TRUTH and worthy of obedience, and the essential of a changed life (BORN AGAIN—John 3).
Cutting to the core of the matter, let’s understand that Jesus really doesn’t want much from you—all He wants is all of you! While our human nature leads us to believe that we’re some kind of a big deal, we’re really not much against the big picture of all time, all humanity, and all eternity. See what I mean?—He doesn’t really want much.