When Something Is Hard (1)
“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’” John 6:60
Not everything Jesus said was easy to understand. Peter even wrote that some of the things Paul wrote about are “hard to understand” (2 Pe 3:16). The most important question is, what do we do when we bump into these things in Scripture that are hard to understand?
In John 6, where Jesus said things people thought were hard to understand, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (Jn 6:66). Do we stop studying the Bible, stop trying to understand when it gets difficult? This can take different forms…
Intentionally not studying specific topics because they are difficult to understand or personally apply. This can stunt our spiritual growth – keeping us “babes,” not growing and maturing, and being “unskilled in the word of righteousness” (He 5:12-13).
Categorizing and devaluing Scripture. Although it is true that there are first principles and milk and meat of the word, it doesn’t mean that some parts of Scripture are unimportant, unhelpful, or that God doesn’t care if we ignore them. He caused them to be written for us – so we need to learn!
Allowing others to study and understand for us when we struggle to understand. This means trusting our preachers and teachers, books written by men, and church traditions without it being our own personal understanding and faith. This is faith in men, not faith in God through His word (Ro 10:17).
Stopping studying completely. Maybe this is where all the other things above are eventually headed (whether we realize or intend it or not). It’s what Jesus described in Mt 13:15: “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”
Stopping following Jesus. This is what happened in John chapter 6. They didn’t understand or like what Jesus said, so they quit following Him. It should be startling that anything Jesus, the Son of God, could say or do could keep us from listening and following, but it happened and it happens. Let’s not let that happen to us! dd
Next week: What keeps people faithful when it is hard.