"Many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him." There is no indication that Jesus tried to stop them, or to soften the challenge of his teaching that day. Unlike what we might have done, there is no evidence that Jesus pursued those who left. However there is a sense of pathos when Jesus asks the twelve, "You do not want to leave also, do you?" Jesus was human and it must have been disheartening to see so many turn away.
Peter's response is brilliant and through the years has often been helpful to me when I've felt momentary doubts. "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." John 6:66 - 69
Like most people, I sometimes entertain doubts. Occasionally they have wandered into my mind even as I was preparing a sermon. "What if this is false? What if the commitment I've had to Jesus these many decades is to One who was not who I believe Him to be? What if the Christian faith I preach and teach is not the one eternal Way on which all of us should build our lives?"
When that happens - for those kind of thoughts are not unfamiliar - I pause and ask the question. It is usually a paraphrase of Peter's question. "What choice do I have? If Jesus is not the Way, Truth and Life - what will I choose?" No other world religion comes close to offering what is found in the true Christian faith. A life of agnosticism or atheism provides no comfort, no ultimate purpose and no meaning in the universe. Our world offers a great deal of evidence that living for your own selfish pleasure or ego attainment always ends in dust. Yet each of us must choose: as long as we are alive we are living with some world view, some lifestyle, even if not consciously chosen. We cannot not choose.
And when once again I face this reality, I recognize that all other world views, all other belief systems, all other lifestyles seem to pale and seem empty compared to life with and for Jesus.
I conclude, if not a life offered daily to Christ, to whom shall we go? The answer always seems pretty obvious: I see no comparable option. As a result, over the years, my misgivings and doubts normally have lasted for only a few moments at most. My conclusion is always the same.
If this is not the Truth, then there is none. If this is not the Way, if this is not the Life, then there evidently is none. No one and nothing comes close to making sense of the world, of life and of death like what we have found in Jesus.
So I stand confidently (except for those passing moments of doubt) alongside the early apostles and the historic church and gladly confess Christ as Lord of the Universe and Christ as my Lord.
Peter's response is brilliant and through the years has often been helpful to me when I've felt momentary doubts. "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." John 6:66 - 69
Like most people, I sometimes entertain doubts. Occasionally they have wandered into my mind even as I was preparing a sermon. "What if this is false? What if the commitment I've had to Jesus these many decades is to One who was not who I believe Him to be? What if the Christian faith I preach and teach is not the one eternal Way on which all of us should build our lives?"
When that happens - for those kind of thoughts are not unfamiliar - I pause and ask the question. It is usually a paraphrase of Peter's question. "What choice do I have? If Jesus is not the Way, Truth and Life - what will I choose?" No other world religion comes close to offering what is found in the true Christian faith. A life of agnosticism or atheism provides no comfort, no ultimate purpose and no meaning in the universe. Our world offers a great deal of evidence that living for your own selfish pleasure or ego attainment always ends in dust. Yet each of us must choose: as long as we are alive we are living with some world view, some lifestyle, even if not consciously chosen. We cannot not choose.
And when once again I face this reality, I recognize that all other world views, all other belief systems, all other lifestyles seem to pale and seem empty compared to life with and for Jesus.
I conclude, if not a life offered daily to Christ, to whom shall we go? The answer always seems pretty obvious: I see no comparable option. As a result, over the years, my misgivings and doubts normally have lasted for only a few moments at most. My conclusion is always the same.
If this is not the Truth, then there is none. If this is not the Way, if this is not the Life, then there evidently is none. No one and nothing comes close to making sense of the world, of life and of death like what we have found in Jesus.
So I stand confidently (except for those passing moments of doubt) alongside the early apostles and the historic church and gladly confess Christ as Lord of the Universe and Christ as my Lord.
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