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Crazy talk! There are things that Jesus said in this passage that sounded ludicrous both to the general crowd as well as to Jesus’ own disciples. They kinda sound crazy to me – and I know who Jesus is. Imagine hearing some of this stuff without the benefit of belief.
Imagine hearing someone (who you knew grew up just down the road and whose parents are friends of your parents) say that he came down from heaven (v.38). Imagine hearing him say, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” (v.35). Imagine hearing, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (v. 54). Just plain crazy talk.
Imagine you are one of the disciples and you have spent 3 years with Jesus and this band of brothers called The Twelve and Jesus says, “one of you is a devil.” (v.70)
It is not surprising that many people who had been following Jesus up to this point “turned back and no longer followed Him.” (v.66)
There is much about Christianity that must sound absolutely crazy to the unbelieving world: The whole idea of sin sounds crazy when you are brought up to believe that people are basically good. The notion that one person had to die for the sin of the world is sheer lunacy. The concept of an eternal hell and a lake of fire is just nuts. Crazy talk.
This is why Jesus’ words in verse 43 makes so much sense: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” and again in verse 65, “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
It is God who must give us understanding to the crazy talk. It is God who must open our hearts and our minds. It is God who who must draw us to Himself that we might believe in Him. Unless God captures our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection then everything that the Word of God says is just crazy talk.
“Father, thank you for opening up my heart and for giving my dull mind the comprehension that I needed to believe that Jesus is indeed the Way and the Truth and the Life.”
Next Week’s Passage: John 7:1-24