Many of Jesus' sayings were hard not only to understand but hard to believe. Many of His disciples left Him frequently when Jesus spoke these "hard sayings". They could no longer bear His words so they left. Hard words soften hearts but soft words harden hearts and so here are 30 of the most amazing sayings of Jesus. The amazing things that Jesus spoke turned the world upside down and they often angered many of the self-righteous people, but that was Jesus intent in many cases. Not only is God's grace amazing, but Jesus' words were amazing to both those who would follow Him and those who went away shaking their heads as John wrote, "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it," (John 6:60)? These sayings of Jesus may not make us walk away shaking our heads but they may make us think deeply about what He is trying to tell us. Really, anything Jesus said was amazing but certain things He said stand out. Here are 30 of the most amazing things that Jesus ever said. John 6:54 "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." This shocked even His disciples. Really?! Jesus said they were to eat His flesh and drink His blood if they were to receive eternal life. Some of the Roman authorities who persecuted the early Christians heard this and thought Christians were cannibals! "Many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it'' (John 6:60)? Sadly, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (John 6:66). This was a reference to His sacrifice and the New Covenant of the Lord's Supper or Communion. Jesus asked His disciples, "Do you want to leave too?" but Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68).
Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Can you imagine the God of the universe condescending to be a servant of His lowly creatures us? Wow. Jesus did the lowliest of servant jobs, that of washing feet (John 13). Jesus even washed the feet of the one who would betray Him (Judas). He did this as an example for us to follow so that we would serve others in places of humility. Here is God Himself coming to serve us and not only that, but to make His own physical life be a ransom for us. That is too amazing to even ponder, isn't it? Luke 6:29 "To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either." This is about the most contrary thing you'd ever expect to see in this world isn't it? If someone slaps you, you usually want to slap them back. If they take away your cloak, you'd likely take something of theirs, but what Jesus is saying is that if someone slaps you, offer them the other cheek. The context of this paragraph (Luke 6:27-36) is about persecution or being insulted for His sake and loving those who hate you. This "turning the other cheek" means that we should not retaliate. God says that He will avenge all things (Rom 12:9). Also, if someone steals your cloak (your coat) then you should give them your tunic (a long garment worn under the coat). Maybe Jesus is saying that if someone needs a coat, give it to them. Maybe they don't have one of their own and so why not give them an undergarment along with your coat because Jesus says to "Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back" (Luke 6:30). The idea is that if someone needs something then give it to them because life is more than possessions. Matthew 5:44-45 "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." You will not find this happening much in the world today. If someone is your enemy in this dog eat dog world, you usually try to eliminate them. The last thing you'd expect is to pray for someone who is persecuting you for your faith and then even more difficult, to love the unlovable, but that is what God did for us. Romans 5:8 says that "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" and "while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Rom 5:10a). That is why Jesus said if we love our enemies and pray for them we'll be like "be sons (and daughters) of your Father who is in heaven" because God "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
Mark 10:31 "But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Try cutting into a line at the store and see how well that works. Perhaps Jesus was referring to the Jews who thought that since they were the first ones who had the oracles of God (the Scriptures) and that they were the children of Abraham that they would naturally be the first (or foremost) in the kingdom and that the Gentiles would be left out altogether, but the Bible teaches it's all about grace and not about race. God is no respecter of persons as we read from Peter's experience when he was told that God wants to save the Gentiles too: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fears him, and works righteousness, is accepted with him." The point may be that all believers will share in the blessings of heaven equally and even though some came to saving faith late in life, they too will receive eternal life. John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." This shocked the Jews because they knew what Jesus was saying. The "I AM" was the Old Testament, Old Covenantal Name of God. The "I AM" is the name that God told Moses to tell His people in Egypt about who He was. What was the reaction of the Jews? "They picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple" (John 8:59). In other words, they tried to kill Him. Jesus had basically told them that He was the "I AM" and before Abraham existed, He was! Incredible. Matthew 23:13-14 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." Jesus is basically calling these religious leaders and teachers of the Law of God a child of hell and when they make converts, they're twice that! These religious leaders are not just going to be shut out of the kingdom but they are shutting "the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces" meaning that their religious rules and rituals which are humanly impossible to keep make people think that they could not possibly be saved. If they do make converts, they're twice as self-righteous as they are. Too bad they didn't understand that it's not about religion, rules, or rituals, but about a relationship with Christ.
John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Can you imagine the reaction of the Jews when Jesus said that their father is not really God but the Devil and their "will is to do [their] father's desire" like murder and lie? Jesus was not interested in impressing anyone but always spoke the truth. The Jews had just insinuated that Jesus was an illegitimate child (John 8:41). Jesus responded that God wasn't really their Father but the Devil Himself was. John 8:21 "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." The Jews once again were the recipients of this barb by Jesus. This is the gospel because those who do not believe in Him have God's wrath abiding on them (John 3:36b) and stand condemned (John 3:18) and unless they repent, they won't enter the kingdom (Mark 1:15). Jesus meant that after His death on the cross He would be resurrected and return to the Father and they couldn't go where He was going. The Jews once again inferred something evil toward what Jesus meant when he asked, "Will he kill himself" (John 8:22). They wondered whether He was going to commit suicide. Matthew 21:31b "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you." This astonished the Jews because they had thought that salvation was based on righteous works and not grace. Jesus says that those whom they abhorred the most like tax collectors and prostitutes would go into the kingdom ahead of them. That's one of the most incredible things that these men could have ever imagined because they thought of themselves as being more righteous than anyone. They didn't realize that the very best of human works are nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
Luke 13:2-5 "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." They had just asked Jesus about those whom were murdered by Pilate who had gone so far as to mix the Galilean Jews' blood with the blood of their sacrifices (Luke 13:1). That's amazing in itself but Jesus wanted them to know that they didn't die for being worse sinners than others, but good and evil come upon all men. Jesus reminds them that unless they repent they too will perish. Jesus was not talking about them losing their physical life here, but their souls for eternity. Sadly, we don't hear repentance being preached as much today. Matthew 21:13 "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of thieves." Who says that Jesus never got angry? His anger was a righteous, holy indignation and He had every right. The outer courts of the temple had become a place where people were taking advantage of God's temple and making it like a common market place and they were pricegouging those who came to buy animals or birds for their required sacrifices. They were taking advantage of the people and only to make a bigger profit. John 12:25 "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." This is contrary and the opposite way the world operates because the world tries to save their life and loves life more than anything, but Jesus says that if anyone hates their life in this world, they'll receive eternal life. This means if we hate our own life's interests, wants, and our own will we'll gain eternal life. We have to lose our own life for the kingdom's sake to inherit eternal life. If it's all about us, then it's not about Him.
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." I wonder what Jesus' disciples and those who were listening to Him thought about this? They must have thought that this was just too much. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for them and certainly we should be loving to our parents and those members of our own household. Jesus is using hyperbole (extreme exaggeration) in telling them that by comparison our love for Him should look like hate for everyone else. Matthew 23:33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell." Jesus always spoke the truth and like the Word of God it comforts the afflicted. The Scribes and Pharisees were comfortable in their own skin but Jesus told them, "you are sons of those who murdered the prophets" (Matt 23:31) and called them hypocrites (Matt 23:23) and blind guides (Matt 23:16). The association of the serpent is clear. Satan took the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and collectively, He called these Scribes and Pharisees a brood (or nest) of vipers (snakes). That may be why Jesus told the citizens of Capernaum: "It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you (referring to the hardhearted citizens of Capernaum, and just before that, the unresponsive population of Chorazin and Bethsaida)" (Mat 11:24). Matthew 22:14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen." This might be one of the most fearful of Jesus' sayings because we get the idea that with one third of the world's 7.3 billion population supposedly being Christian, that's doesn't appear to be a few but many. How can Jesus say that many are called but only few are chosen? Maybe that's because many profess to be Christ's but what does He say about those who call Him Lord? A full 2.2 billion people around the world claim to be Christ-followers, but Matthew 7:21-23 gives us a clue as to why many people might be called but only a few are chosen. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." No wonder Peter asked us to make sure of our election and our calling (2 Pet 1:10)!
John 11:25-26 "Jesus said to hear, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" Jesus seems to be contradicting Himself at first glance by saying that whoever it is that believes in Him, even if he dies, he will not only not die but he or she "shall never die." I'm sure the people were shaking their heads over this saying because everyone dies and faces judgment (Heb. 9:27). The latest statistics show that 10 out of every 10 die, but Jesus was saying that if you believe in Him you will never really die, at least an eternal death. The Greek word Jesus uses for "believe" is "pisteuō" and it doesn't mean just to believe because if you believe in Jesus, you've only qualified to be a demon because even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19). No, to believe (pisteuō) means "to think as true, to place confidence in, to be persuaded in." Think of a chair. We see the chair and we believe in the chair because we can see it and touch it, but until we sit down in the chair we are not confident that it will hold us up. To believe is to act upon that belief. It is not just head knowledge but heart knowledge. John 14:6 "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come unto the Father, but by me." This saying does not fly well in today's pluralistic, pragmatic society. This seems very narrow minded to the non-believer, but think of it this way: you're going to have surgery and the surgeon sees the x-ray but thinks, "Well, that's the way the medical books say it should be done, but here's my way of doing it." No, you wouldn't want a pluralistic, pragmatic surgeon operating on you who thinks there are many was to perform surgery. You'd want a narrow-minded surgeon who did surgery by the book, right? All other world religions clash with Jesus' saying here because He is not one of the ways or one of many ways. He is the one and only way. He is not a truth but the truth. There are not many paths to God but only one way and that way is Jesus (Acts 4:12). Jesus destroys the "many paths to God" myth by saying that He is the one and only way because "no man [can] come unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:13-14 "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." When Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, He said that the water that He gives quenches the thirst permanently. Water in Judea was not easily accessible, so there is no wonder the woman wanted to have this water. To never thirst again in a mostly dry, parched land was something greatly to be desired but what Jesus was saying was that this was an everlasting well of water that sprang up to eternal life and never ran dry. This "whosoever" shall drink is still being offered today; have you received it yet? Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The last time I checked I was not perfect and can never be perfect in this life. How in the world can we ever be perfect? We must be made perfect for no sin or impurity can ever enter heaven (Rev 21:27) so surely no sinful person can go there. How can we be perfect since we all still fall short of God's glory (Rom 3:23)? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Problem solved! Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." For the longest time I had difficulty in accepting this because when I was persecuted, I didn't feel very blessed, but what Jesus says to us is not supposed to be based upon feelings but upon what He says. Paul experience persecuted in many forms, but he understood what Jesus was saying because he wrote, "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (1 Pet 4:14). But what about being beaten for Jesus' sake? Peter and "the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:41). If you are blessed for being persecuted for righteousness sake, can we rejoice for even being flogged for Jesus (Acts 5:40)? Apparently so.
Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters." This pretty much destroys the idea about sitting on the fence as to whether to believe in Christ or not. To make no decision is seen as being against Him because He says that if you are not with Him, you are against Him and not only that, if you are not gathering with Him, you are essentially scattering. What did Jesus mean by gathering; gathering what? Perhaps He meant being fishers of men (Matt 4:19). By the way, everyone must choose and by not making a choice, you've chosen to be against Him. That's a bad plan. Remember, there is no middle ground. Matthew 17:27 "However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." The tax collectors had just asked Peter if his master pays taxes or not and whether Peter really knew it or not and he said yes. Perhaps Peter knew that Jesus was a law-abiding person because He knew that we are to render unto God what is God's and what is Caesar's unto Caesar, and this included taxes (Mark 12:17). The amazing thing about Jesus' statement is that he knew where to find the shekel, indicating His omniscience (all-knowing). Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Jesus was talking about judging someone over their sin but the person judging them had an even bigger sin issue. The idea is that the one that is doing the judging has a huge piece of lumber in his own eye, yet he is hypocritically condemning someone else for having a tiny speck of sawdust in his. The language is ridiculous to make a point. Some of the most judgmental people are often those who have bigger sins in their life than the ones in whose sins they are pointing out. John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." Is there really any greater love that one can have for another than to lay down his or her own life for them? Certainly not and this is just what Jesus did. In fact, He did this while we were still His enemies and wicked sinners, (Rom 5:8, 10) but by Jesus dying for us, we now have peace with God (Rom 5:1).
Matthew 19:24 "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." Did Jesus mean that rich people cannot enter the kingdom of God? No, He does seem to be saying that it's a lot harder for rich people because money can become their god. How so? Money can supply every Earthly need; it can bring temporary happiness and it can buy (not authentic) friends. Riches can become a great stumbling block too because it can become our obsession, our goal, our motivation and finally, our god or idol. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matt 6:24). It's not impossible for a rich person to enter the kingdom because Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matt 19:26). Luke 14:33 "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." This is truly a hard saying by Jesus. We must renounce everything that we have or we can't be His disciples? I don't think Jesus meant that we must walk away from family, home, job, etc. but we must renounce all that we have and pursue Him and seek His kingdom first and foremost. In Matthew 6:33 He tells His followers to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Since God will give us "all these things," He can't mean that we should just walk away from every possession we have. Instead, we must seek His kingdom first and not things first. Some people have things and some things have people. Matthew 10:30 "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." For many men who are in the second half of their lives, their hairs are easier to count but Jesus meant that God knows every precise detail about us, so we shouldn't be afraid. Since He cares for even the sparrows, surely He cares for you (Matt 10:31). I think He's also saying that God is involved in even the smallest of details in our lives and nothing escapes His attention. If God "counts the number of the stars [and] he gives to all of them their names" (Psalm 147:4), don't you think He's aware of everything we need?
Matthew 18:2-4 "And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus didn't mean that unless we are being childish but child-like, we won't enter the kingdom of heaven. That's a big difference because here He calls out a child and says "unless you turn (meaning repent in the Greek) and become child-like, "you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" and never is a very, very long time if you know what I mean. What is it about a child? A child is teachable, humble, and contrite of spirit and since God resists the proud, He's only going to give grace to those who are humble (James 4:6). Matthew 21:21-22 "And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Did you know that you can actually move a mountain? You can, but you have to do it one rock at a time. Jesus is telling the disciples that if they have faith, they can do anything (within God's will of course). Whatever we ask in prayer, we can receive if what we ask for is God's will and it glorifies Him. James said, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). God will supply all of our needs but not all of our greed's. It is my hope that these amazing sayings of Jesus will prove inspiring to you and that you can believe what Jesus says. This one man, Jesus, entered time, space, and history and became flesh (John 1) and history became His-story and the world's never been the same. What is amazing about Jesus is that "though He was in very nature God [He] did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:6-11). Is there anything more amazing than that? That's why God's grace is so amazing because that grace came through the amazing God-Man, Jesus Christ. Image Source: CC BY midiman