seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 6:60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
I gotta say, I'm sure glad Simon Peter said something [Verse 68] 'cause he was on my mind all day yesterday! Remember the story of Jesus walking on water? Well, the version someone passed on to Matthew, has Simon Peter walking out to meet Jesus. I know Judas was of the devil [Verse 71] .... and Jesus only called out Judas to be the devil [Verse 70], but let's face it, I think Simon Peter's story was a little inflated, too!Yep, you got it. I think Simon Peter lied to someone about the night in the boat when Jesus walked up on water. I think Peter put himself on the water to inflate his own role in the story after the fact. Remember, Matthew wasn't in the boat, John was, and John didn't mention Peter's miraculous walk.... which leads me to believe it didn't happen, but Simon Peter romanticized the story for Matthew's publication.
OK... this is also hard to write about. I brought up end times in another forum and the answers were surprising to me. So many are laughing it off. We know when the cherry blossoms bloom it's about to stop snowing and become spring like weather in Southern Maryland. Why can't anyone ask about end times? Haven't there been signs.
How are the church numbers now? Are people still going to church? How many stay home because they don't want to take a chance at being a victim of a shooting? How many stay at home because they don't want to be prejudiced by the association? How many people stay home now because of the old mask wars in churches? Is the church being persecuted? Is that a sign of the times too? Preachers seem to be afraid to teach that some just won't make it to Salvation because they aren't meant to receive it. Most preachers avoid these hard lessons. Have the churches grown fluffy like the Temple back in the day when Jesus was teaching?
Who teaches that people didn't like some of the Sermons Jesus taught, so they went to follow someone else?
Who teaches that God enables those He chooses to accept the Gospel? What Sunday School doesn't teach the church is universal in its acceptance of anyone who wants to Believe? Seen any gays in church lately? How comfortable do some of our political leaders look in church? Do you think Xi or Putin knows the scriptures? Do you think they were chosen for their roles?
The followers of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah wanted someone to run Rome out of Israel. They wanted another king David. They wanted a warrior; they got a comforter. When they saw that Jesus wasn't going to be a political king, they went to find another leader who would bend to their will. To them, Jesus was the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, and they wanted a David type to take down Goliath once more. Jesus didn't fit their mold. So they went to find someone who did.
Many of His disciples left after He talked about the "flesh" and the "blood" of Christ. They didn't get it. He was too heavy for them. It appears they wanted to end the Roman occupation, not to be turned into cannibals.
Giving up on the church, you are not alone.
A lot of His disciples left.
