Saturday of 3rd Week of Easter
Jesus has a lot of hard sayings, doesn’t He?
In the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, which we have been reading and studying, Jesus makes some demands of us regarding faith in Him and the communion sacrament. His clear teaching is that if we don’t follow Him all the way, we won’t have eternal life. Many, perhaps most of the disciples refuse to accept His word, because they think He is asking them to become cannibals. They don’t realize the Master is speaking of supernatural truths, spiritual realities. And when they turn away, He doesn’t stop them, saying “Hey, guys, I’m using metaphors here.” He lets them go. He even turns to the Twelve, the apostles, and asks them if they would also leave. Peter, always the spokesperson, and never slow to speak, tells Jesus what we all should say to that question, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You are the One with words of eternal life.”
What are some of the other hard sayings of Christ? The Gospels even point them out so we can’t misinterpret. The young rich man asks what he should do to attain everlasting life, besides keeping the ten commandments. Jesus probably looks at the other disciples and says, “sell all your possessions and come follow me.” Jesus discerned that this is what would take to make the young man a saint, but it was too much for a fellow who was in love with his horses and chariot and fine food. So he walked away sad.
On another occasion somebody asked about divorce. Jesus was clear in His response–no divorce, unless the marriage was invalid from the beginning. He even cites Genesis and the creation of man and woman, reminding His hearers that the two become one flesh.
St. John recalls that Jesus was at the pool of Bethesda one Sabbath, and saw a fellow who had spent decades waiting for the angel of the pool to cure his paralysis. Do you think it was easy for him to hear and obey the Lord’s command to get up, take his mat and walk? That required a true leap of faith. Moreover, it eliminated his only source of income–begging from compassionate passersby.
It’s not always easy to accept the whole truth of the Gospel, is it? Aeneas, living at Lydda, was probably not a Christian. After all, he had a well-respected Roman name. But paralysis had kept him in bed for eight whole years. Peter saw him and discerned that the Lord wanted to heal him. I don’t think it was ever easy for Peter to imitate his Master and say to a man like that “Aene'as, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” But he did it, and the whole town was converted to the Way of Jesus. I can’t imagine it was easy for Peter to pick up and go all the way to Joppa and take the Holy Spirit’s prompting to tell Tabitha to rise from death! But he followed the promptings of the Spirit and did just that. I imagine the Tabitha-Dorcas then made a whole lot more tunics for the church there until she finally fell asleep in Christ for good.
So, yes, following Christ in faith is not going to be easy for us, either. Look at your own history and remember it's impossible to make repayment to God for all His good. Faith and following is hard. But it’s the only way to spread the good news here on earth, and make our way into the eternal kingdom of God.
