The Difficult Sayings Of Jesus

The Difficult Sayings Of Jesus

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Introduction John 6:60 NASV Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it? Jesus said many things that people could not easily understand. Even His own disciples had difficulty understanding Him sometimes. Many times those who were following Him followed Him no more because of the things He said being too hard to understand. So, why did Jesus use such language that was hard to accept? A clue may be in how he responded to the parable of the sower. Mark 4:10-13; 21-25 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? And he said to them, Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he said to them, Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. One reason Jesus was not always plainspoken is that he was separating those truly interested from those otherwise minded. The words of Jesus begin making judgment of people even before they get to the final judgment on the last day. Page 14 A second reason Jesus suggests in these verses is to bring out of people development in learning by effort put into it. Giving all the page 3

answers easily is not the best way to learn and grow spiritually. Harder sayings may cause further thinking, meditation and study, which is good. This short study is not exhaustive. Nor is it looking at difficult sayings to believe and accept. Sometimes the easiest of passages to read and understand, are hard for many to accept. Rather, this short class is looking at some of Jesus saying that are simply hard to understand. Peter says that Paul also wrote such things sometimes. II Peter 3:15-16 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. But, that is another study. The bible intentionally includes both milk and meat statements easy to digest and others which require chewing on. Hebrews 5:11-14 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. That there will be hard to understand portions of the Scriptures is something that we must accept. We must not let the hard to explain parts of the solid food portions of God s word, defeat our faith, or cause us to fail to grow. Rather our minds are being used to discern good from evil, through our chewing on the meat of the word. Now, let us begin to consider some of the more difficult sayings of Jesus. page 4 page 13

Luke 22:36-38; 49-51 He said to them, But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: And he was numbered with the transgressors. For what is written about me has its fulfillment. And they said, Look, Lord, here are two swords. And he said to them, It is enough. And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, No more of this! And he touched his ear and healed him. This appears so contradictory. Get a sword. Put away your sword. How do you explain this? Which way is it? John 6:52-56 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Is this cannibalism? And we can t eat His flesh now anyway, as he is in heaven. What do you make of this? How readest thou? Luke 9:59-60 To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. How is it even possible for a dead person to bury anyone? How could Jesus be so insensitive as to provoke a grief-stricken seeker to forego a proper burial for his parents? Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God, the Father deserted Him when on the cross? That does not sound good for Him to do. Isn t there a Bible passage that says He will not leave His soul in Sheol, or something like that? And does God say He will never leave us? So, how is this right that He forsook His only begotten Son on the cross? Or did He? Luke 14:26 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. page 12 page 5

What?! Hate my parents? Hate my family? This sounds contradictory to the Bible s teaching elsewhere about honoring father and mother. But, the Scripture cannot be broken or made to break another part of Scripture (John 10:35). How is there then no contradiction in what Jesus is saying? Was it literally three days and nights? Was he crucified on Thursday? Wasn t He crucified on the day before the sabbath, which is what we call Friday? And where are three days AND nights in the counting? Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. What?! No man can be perfect. We all sin. It sounds like He is asking the impossible. Is this true? Matthew 19:27-28 Then Peter said in reply, See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. What do you make of this? Isn t Jesus alone the judge of all men? Jews will stand before the twelve apostles? What is this all about? Matthew 11:12...And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. What?! How can heaven suffer anything of the world, much less violence? And people can take it by force? Do you get what He is getting at? Mark 10:21-22 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Does Jesus really mean that we re supposed to sell all that we have? Take a vow of poverty? Really?! page 6 page 11

Mark 10:17-18...And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. That s not true, is it? I m good. You are good. We know lots of good people. So, what does Jesus mean? Matthew 12:1-10 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. Is Jesus condoning sin if it is in extreme circumstances? Or sin is ok, even if there is no extreme circumstances, if someone is just hungry? Is this a principle that sins of all sorts can sometimes be ok with God? Luke 16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Why does he call money unrighteous and then tell us to make friends of it. Would not that be asking us to condone something sinful? And we are told elsewhere in the Bible not to have any fellowship with unrighteousness (II Cor. 6:14). Explain. Luke 17:37...And they said to him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Huh? Matthew 12:40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. page 10 page 7

Matthew 20:1-16 So the last will be first, and the first last. This is both easy and hard at the same time. A paradox if there ever was one. Elaborate, if you are able. be true, can it? He is the Prince of peace. So, how can this be? Why does Jesus seem to be ok with splitting up families? Luke 10:18 And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. When, how, why? What is this all about? Matthew 18:8-9 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. We are supposed to maim ourselves to avoid sinning? This just cannot be true can it? Luke 12:49-53 I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-inlaw and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. This is loaded with difficult words. Came down from heaven to cast fire on the earth? What? He has yet to be baptized? He already was baptized by John the baptist. What is He saying? He did not come to bring peace on earth, goodwill to men? That can t page 8 Matthew 5:33-37 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply Yes or No; anything more than this comes from evil. It s wrong to swear an oath in court, or to join the military? Seriously, it is wrong to say, I swear to God.? Never make a solemn oath? page 9