“On hearing it, many of (Jesus’) disciples said: “This is a hard word – who can bear to listen to it?” (John 6:60)
Crowds of Jesus’ disciples were facing a crisis of faith at the radical words He spoke which forced them into making a difficult choice. The problem was that Jesus’ narrative did not fit into their paradigm of what they expected the Messiah to be like. Although they desired someone who would free them from the yoke of Roman oppression, Jesus’ bold claims about Himself went way beyond, backed up by signs, wonders and miracles unprecedented since the dawn of time. Who could dispute such things? Yet, for the crowds, Jesus was only be understood in concrete terms as the son of Joseph and Mary from Galilee. To go beyond His humanity was unthinkable. The claim of Jesus to be the ‘Bread of Life,’ if accepted, would raise Him to the level of Divine Messiah, elevated far above all the many ‘messiahs’ who had previously come and gone. For most of Jesus’ disciples, this was just too much…
God provided manna from heaven for the Israelites in the wilderness, yet this was only a temporary solution. However, Jesus was claiming that He was the Bread of Life, a superior provision to the manna because He is the permanent solution to those who are dying from spiritual starvation.
The crowds had thronged around Jesus on their terms as spectators, just to watch and applaud the miracles, enthusiastically anticipating what they expected to be the impending overthrow of Roman tyrannical rule. But, it was not to be.
What does true discipleship involve? Even as Jesus laid down His life for us, so we are called to lay down our lives for Him and for others. Unless we allow Him to have His perfect way in us, not just when it is convenient, we will end up as stragglers constantly chasing after the glamour rather than the substance, with the ultimate end leading to disillusionment and a faith in tatters.
God is chasing after people who are willing to do things wholeheartedly, in His way and in His time frame: unreserved commitment, unreserved love and no hidden clauses. Are you willing to allow Him to take you captive? Here is a story of someone who did.
“At the foot of a hill, I looked and saw, on the hillside above a shepherd who was blowing his horn to call his flock. After the sheep gathered to him, he led them to a nearby trough to water them. While they were drinking, he looked up to Heaven and began to call out loudly,
‘Master of the world, You are so great! You created heaven and earth, and everything else! I’m a simple man; I’m ignorant and unlearned, and I don’t know how to serve You or praise You. I was orphaned as a child and raised among Gentiles, so I never learned any Torah. But I can blow on my shepherd’s horn like a shofar, with all my strength, and call out, ‘The Lord is God!’
After blowing with all his might on the horn, he collapsed to the ground, without an ounce of energy, and lay there motionless until his strength returned.Then he got up and said, ‘Master of the world, I’m just a simple shepherd; I don’t know any Torah, and I don’t know He then began to sing loudly and fervently with all his strength until, again, he fell to the earth, exhausted, without an ounce of energy. After recovering, he got up again and began to call out,
‘Master of the world! What is it worth that I blew on my horn and sang songs for You when You’re so great? What more can I do to serve You?’ He paused for a moment and said,
‘There’s something else I know how to do, and I’ll do it for Your honour and glory!’
He then stood on his head and began to wave his feet wildly in the air. Then he did somersaults one after the other, until he collapsed on the ground, exhausted. I watched this from a distance, in amazement. The shepherd lay there silently until his strength returned. Again, he began to speak and said,
‘Master of the world, I’ve done what I can, but I know it’s not enough! What more can I do to serve You?’
After pausing to reflect, he said,
‘Yesterday, the nobleman who owns the flock made a feast for his servants, and when it ended, he gave each of us a silver coin. I’m giving that coin to You as a gift, O God, because You created everything and You feed all Your creatures, including me, Moshe the little shepherd!’
Saying this, he threw the coin upward and it disappeared into the vast expanse of the sky. At this, I began to understand better how this little shepherd boy had taught me to fulfil the verse,
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.’”
