Hard sayings

Jesus said things that were hard to understand. And he said some things that were understood, but were hard to accept. The prime example occurs on the day following the feeding of the 5,000. The crowd came wanting more free food and Jesus rebuked them for it, then went on to talk about eating his body and drinking his blood. This was appalling language—and still is. The result? “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’… After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (John 6:26-69)

There were other hard things Jesus said. A young man wanted to know what he should do to gain eternal life. The response: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Matthew 19:21-22) It was a hard saying for this young man, but Jesus went on to address everyone:

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:23-25)

Wealth gets in the way of following Jesus. Most of those reading this live in prosperous countries. We may not think of ourselves as wealthy, by comparison with the ultra-rich. But in fact we enjoy a level of wealth unimaginable in the time of that young man. What Jesus has to say to us here is a hard saying. Probably we don’t go away sorrowful. We’re more likely to ignore it as if it didn’t apply to us—which is worse.

About a third of Jesus’s parables are about the judgment to occur at his return. Every one of these ends with a hard saying for someone. For example, the parable of the tenants of the vineyard ends: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants.” Was this a hard saying? The religious authorities thought so. “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.” (Matthew 21:33-45) Jesus was telling them that a miserable death awaited them.

The parables of judgment all end with the rejection, banishment or destruction of some, while others enjoy salvation. It’s real easy to put ourselves into the “good” group and think the “bad” ones are someone else. But who did Jesus speak those parables to? Indeed, some were addressed particularly to the hypocritical religious authorities. But a lot of them were spoken to the disciples and the crowds who were followers of Jesus. We’re followers, right? In the parable of the various soils (Luke 8:4-15), we might think of ourselves as the good soil, just because the seed of the gospel has sprouted in us. But the Lord cautions us, there’s such a thing as rocky soil where the seed sprouts, but then withers when trouble comes. And there are brambles—the cares and preoccupations of this life—which choke out the seed’s growth. What Jesus has to say here isn’t an easy saying. He intends us, I believe, to take it as (potentially at least) a hard saying. Something to make us look within, to see if the gospel is withering or choking.

Another hard saying. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27) We are prone to softening this. Or simply not looking at it.

I hope I’m not being too depressing here. I’m not suggesting we wallow in guilt because we aren’t perfect, we have failed. Yes, the standard is set very high by our Lord. But he also said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) He wants us to be the good soil, the sheep not the goats, the ones who find the narrow path. He wants us to be the tree that bears good fruit, and he’s willing to put in the labor to dig around and fertilize, giving us every chance. (Luke 13:6-9)

The hard sayings are meant to motivate us, to keep us from just coasting. Remember, it’s the wide, easy way that leads to destruction. The hard sayings are, well, hard. The Lord intends we not just gloss over them. That we put some effort into understanding them. That cautioned by them, we choose the less easy way, the way to life.

Love, Paul