I Have Seen, Therefore... Do I Believe?

by Jordan Smucker

In John chapter 6, we find Jesus telling his disciples, his followers, to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The craziest thing about Jesus’ bizarre statements of cannibalism is that he doesn’t explain himself. Jesus, standing before a huge crowd of would be, could be devoted followers, out of left field, tells these people that if they want to experience eternal life, they have to EAT his flesh and DRINK his blood.

Imagine this for a moment. . . We all love and respect Pastor Noah. We believe him, we trust him, we follow him. We could say that we are followers of Pastor Noah (I just used ‘we’ a lot in the last 3 sentences). One Wednesday night, Pastor Noah is teaching and out of nowhere he says “Okay listen everyone, I am going to cut my fingers off and I want each of you to take turns chewing on one of them.” We would all stare at him for awhile to see if he was joking and just by the time we realize that he’s not he continues. “If you all choose to chew on my fingers and eat them, I will personally ask God to give you eternal life”.

I realize that this is a little far stretched but that’s pretty much what Jesus said to this huge crowd of people! These laid back country folk looked at Jesus and said “Who are you? You are just an average man like us. Sure we have seen you do a few miracles, but how can you give us eternal life. And do you realize that you are asking us to eat your flesh and drink your blood?”

We know that Jesus wasn’t speaking literally here and the truth is, these people knew that too. It wasn’t difficult for them to understand that Jesus wasn’t literally telling them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It was difficult however, for them to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one and true living son of God. See, they saw Jesus as a baby and knew his parents. They saw him trip on a rock and stumble through his words. It was tough for them to grasp what Jesus was saying because He seemed just like them.

Many people deserted Jesus that day. They left, they quit following him because they didn’t want to believe that Jesus was sent by God and had the words of eternal life. Jesus even says “You have seen me but you don’t believe me”. These folk saw Jesus do all sorts of miracles but still didn’t believe him. At last, Jesus looks at his closest friends, the infamous 12 disciples and says “Will you leave me too?”.

Peter is the first to speak up. . .”Jesus, how could we leave you? You are the true, holy, and living son of God. You alone have the words of eternal life. We believe them, and we KNOW that you are the holy one of God.”

Peter KNEW Jesus and BELIEVED that if he followed Him, he would receive eternal life. The difficult words that Jesus spoke of earlier didn’t cause Peter to stumble because he had a relationship with Him. Contrary to the popular belief of that time, Peter was sold out for Christ.

Do you really KNOW Jesus, or do you just pretend to know Him. Talk to him like you would your best friend. Spend time with Him. When you have a real relationship with Him, nothing will cause you to stumble because you know that Jesus has got your back.

Are You Fruity???

Are You Fruity????

Let me start off this entry by addressing the title- I’m well aware of the many implications that this phrase may bring about, all of which I’m upfront letting you know are not applicable here….read on and you’ll see.
When I read through the bible and I come across interactions that God has with individuals, it’s interesting to me how often the idea of increase is brought about. Now I am the first to say that I think the “increase/prosperity” message has gotten extremely out of hand and off base in the past couple of years, but you also can’t ignore bible. You see, first God says to Adam to increase and then just a few chapters later in Gen 9:1 God says to Noah "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth…”.
I am very aware of the fact that multiple people of different ages subscribe and/or read this blog- but I want to for the next few moments gear this towards young people. We live in a crazy culture, a distraught society, and what in the natural seems to be an “unsure” economy. I’m not always sure that adults and the media understand the importance that young people play in the future development and success of this country, and I’m not sure young people do either.
I was home recently in Wisconsin for a funeral, (one of my grandmother’s went home to be with the Lord), and I was in discussion with my little brother (who’s really not “little” anymore- he’s about 2 inches taller than me and about 80 pounds heavier than me- and really, he could kick my butt in a second if he wanted) - and we were discussing his work. He used to wash windows- like the guys that’d get up on tall ladders or scaffolding and do big buildings, etc…- then he became a bouncer for a while (again, reference to strength and him not really being “little”)- and now he’s back to the window deal again. But in my talks with him he was sharing about how he was doing side work, and the work was pretty decent, and then he said that he would just like to do it on his own, not have to work for a company, no boss, make up your own hours, and get paid well. And we ventured down this road of self-employment for a bit, and through this conversation I realized something. Most young people have a desire in them to create, to venture out, to build their own thing. I run across a lot of young people (especially in my role as a pastor) who are desiring not to work for a huge company or anything like that, but to break out and start something of their own. I think it’s amazing- I think it’s great, but then 2-5 years pass and the economy starts to become more real to them, the responsibilities of marriage, college, kids- all starts to play a roll- and let’s not forget the thing that helps us make 99% of all life decisions once we are adults……our mortgage.
And I think it’s sad, I think it’s heartbreaking, I think…….I think it’s not what God intended. When God shares with individuals throughout scripture to “be fruitful and multiply”- I believe he’s encouraging creativity- he’s encouraging ambition- he’s wanting people to go out there and do what they desire- and be FRUITFUL!!!! Too many people give up on their initial dreams- …..DON’T!!!- God wants you to increase and be successful- one scripture says “God gives us the power to get wealth”- power to me means the ability, the dream , the drive- it’s not all about money- but it’s all about independence about being fruitful, about fulfilling the dreams we have to not be tied down by something like a mortgage, or some boss breathing down their neck- but taking the opportunity to get out there and create….so the question today is……are you being fruity???? As a young person- are you fulfilling what your heart is leading you towards, what God is leading you to do????? ……apple anyone?

For Him,

Noah