A day in the life of any celebrity seems to be a fascinating thing. There are tabloids that dig up and publish
every minute detail. What time did she
wake up? What brand of yogurt does he
prefer? Who made her dress for tonight’s
benefit? Who did they call while idling
at the red light? (Does that sound
outlandish? One only needs to read about
scandalous news mogul Rupert Murdoch in London to learn that excavating these
petty details is a multi-billion dollar industry. The only thing sadder than such unscrupulous
reporting practices is the fact that we buy it by the truck-full.)
But a day in the life of a Jesus is beyond fascinating. It started with a high score on the “wow”
chart, but with every sentence of explanation that Jesus gave and every
response that the crowd volleyed back the fascination quickly became perplexing,
upsetting and troubling; a real “game changer” to many of the people who would
have called themselves followers just a few hours previously … people who upon
closer inspection where not really followers at all, but fans. And like all fans, who want to get close
enough for an autograph, for a “Kodak” moment, for a story to post on Facebook,
for another sign, but not close enough for sacrifice or transformation or a
paradigm-shifting reality check, they soon were looking for the “exit” signs.
This day in the life of Jesus which I have in mind is found in John 6;
and it was quite a day. I suspect that
it could have been any day in any town, but the Apostle highlighted this day
for the edification of his readers; that’s you and me. This day wasn’t even the day of His
crucifixion, or the day of His resurrection—it was exactly one year earlier,
but nevertheless full of teachable moments and forks in the spiritual road of
discipleship. This day is worthy of
deep contemplation as we begin this Holy Week. This day seems a lot like … well … today.
Consider the context. Jesus has
been teaching and healing and demonstrating that His teaching and power were
absolutely in a category above that of the present day religious leaders. In Capernaum especially Jesus had developed
up quite a fan-base. People were
flocking to see Jesus and hear Him and maybe experience some of His miracles.
“After these things
Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw
the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there
He sat down with His disciples” (John 6:1-3).
But shockingly, Jesus was not interested in a fan-base. He shuns the popularity. He speaks in enigmas so as to filter out the
ones who only want to chase the party.
And, as we will see in just a few moments, Jesus actually “put an edge”
on His tone and His demands resulting in a great departure of fans; an “exodus”
if you please. This exodus was eerily
like the historic exodus (Exodus 16)—full of grumbling, demanding for a sign
and the appearance of manna which only produced more grumbling and whining and
talk of going back to Egypt after the initial buzz wore off.
Jesus, if I may put my commentary onto this day in His life, became perfectly
impolite. Later in this day Jesus feeds the 5000 (vv. 4-14) with the miraculous produce from the five
loaves and two fish and their immediate response is “to come and take [Jesus]
by force to make Him king” (vs. 15). But
He slips away, walks on water, calms his disciples, reaches Capernaum, teaches
that He is greater than Moses and offers Himself as the Bread of Life that is
better than the Manna in the wilderness.
“Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who believes has eternal life. I
am the bread of life. Your fathers ate
the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of
heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of
this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the
life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:47-51).
There is an edge to Jesus. He is
not a pawn in our chess game, but Lord of all.
And the reaction of the fan-base to this sterner side of Jesus is
captured in verse 66, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and
were not walking with Him anymore.”
“He rejects their attempt to force Him to be a political king. His demand for personal faith, His teaching
on the atonement, His stress on total human inability and on salvation as a work of God [alone] all proved to
unpalatable for many people” (The Bible
Knowledge Commentary).
We often think of politeness as part of the gospel; of niceness as part
of righteousness. I assure you that I am
not saying that Jesus sinned; may it never be.
But I am saying that He was not holding the door open for any and all
who might be the slightest bit interested in His message by the end of this
day. He was pinching the door closed,
pressing on raw nerves, stepping on traditional toes and making it very clear
that He is not interested in a fan-base but in persistently faithful followers
even in the face of difficulty and difficult sayings.
We don’t often have this impression of Jesus—that He made it harder to
follow instead of easier. We also don’t
often think that our social values of politeness and niceness are actually competitors
to the gospel if they keep us from the cross instead of lead us to the cross. Sometimes it is our politeness and niceness
that keeps us from recognizing our desperate need for the Savior. “Oh, she is so nice.” “Oh, he is so polite … surely that must count
for something.” No! It doesn’t for count for anything. Heaven and hell do not hinge on manners; they
hinge on belief in the Son of God. This
is exactly what Jesus says on this memorable day. It is not about seeing or tasting in the
physical sense. The kingdom of God is
about believing the Savior and receiving His word. Jesus is not so polite to prevent them from
leaving.
We are so consumed with our appetites we fail to recognize that the Bread
from Heaven is in our midst. We are so
preoccupied with our living we fail to grasp that Life is in the room. We are so concerned with the now we fail to
see Eternity is within the reach of faith.
Only Someone from elsewhere—from heaven—can take from us that which we
cannot shake loose, our sin, and give us that which we cannot achieve, eternal
life. Yet we squabble over and even sometimes
bow before niceness or politeness and miss entirely the Bread of Life Himself.
Peter’s reply, even as
Jesus’ fan-base was dwindling, is the reply of faith. He, as spokesman for the rest (except Judas
who was only feigning faithfulness), picks up the point that Jesus has been
making all day long: the priority of belief. Jesus masterfully
used the disbelief of the many to refine the belief of the few.
“So Jesus said to the
twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have [the] words of eternal life. We have believed and
have come to know that You are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:67-69).
Our response is placed
before us. Do we want to go away
also? Shall we say from the core of our
being, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have [the] words of eternal life.” We
may have questions about Your difficult sayings, but You are still the One and Only. “We have believed.” (Perfect tense: past action with ongoing
results.) “We have come to know” (perfect
tense again: past action with ongoing results) “that You are the Holy One of
God.” This belief is the work of God
(John 6:29) and the second greatest miracle of all time; the first being the
resurrection of Jesus. Do you want to
chase miracles? Then chase belief all the way
from its source, through its reality, to its destination—Jesus Christ.
