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Crisis of Discipleship

Thoughts on the Passage

Discipleship faces many crises. 

Jesus in not afraid of having a crisis hit our lives. It reveals our hearts very clearly – and often it is an uncomfortable revelation.

Jesus challenged not only the people in the synagogue, but also the disciples with this teaching. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood bothered a lot of the disciples. It bothered them so much that many chose to stop following Him. Even today, God does things that offend Christians – and many walk away from their faith. Why? Jesus says they cannot discern the difference between the spiritual and the physical. Things in the physical realm offend them and they cannot get past it to the spiritual level where it becomes clear.

Jesus asks the twelve disciples – do you want to leave as well? Jesus was quite willing to start over, and was willing to let all of the disciples leave. That is scary. There is no one who is immune from a sense of betrayal. Every disciple of Jesus could leave. Even more, Jesus knew who believed (and was willing to follow regardless of the challenges of faith) and that Judas would betray Him.

There are a lot of different understandings about Judas. Here are some key things about him.

· He was one of the Twelve apostles Jesus chose. 

· Jesus chose him knowing his spiritual problems – and the fact that he would betray Jesus.

· He had a problem in his life – that can only happen if there is hidden sin and the individual refuses to acknowledge and deal with it.

· Judas was responsible for the money – and he was not diligent in this. He stole money for personal use.

· Judas cared more about money than the people it was supposed to help.

· Jesus exposed Judas gently (no one knew except John). None of the other apostles thought of Judas when Jesus said one of them would betray Jesus.

· In the end, satan was able to “enter” Judas. We do not understand what this means.

When we deal with struggling people, let us remember that Jesus chose Judas to be one of His key followers, even though he had serious spiritual issues unresolved in his life. It is easy to be harsh with people who struggle. Jesus worked with Judas – we can work with people who have issues as well. That is good because we all have issues!

Application

Two things. 

First, is there a hidden undealt with sin in our lives? If there is a continual series of failures with one issue, then we need to go before God and deal with the root of the problem. Otherwise it leads to some serious failure in the future.

Second, how strong is our trust in God regardless of the crisis we face? Can we say with Peter – “where else can we go? You have the words of Life.” Will we hold fast to the words of Life from Jesus in every situation? This means:
-- words of blessing and forgiveness to a world that persecutes us.
-- words of faith in unreasonable difficulties.
-- words of hope in a hopeless situation.
-- words of encouragement to people who have given up.

Time to Pray

Father, You have the words of life. When I do not understand Your ways or even Your heart, help me to hold fast to Your words. They are truth, and they are life. Your words also give warnings. I see in Your warnings something that I do not see in harsh, difficult words from people – unconditional love. Jesus loved Judas as much as all the other apostles, even though He knew this man would betray Him. So today, as I face people who seek to mislead me, speak evil of me, or hide their impure motives, give me the heart of Jesus for these people. I know I need Your heart for these people. So today, that is my prayer. Help me hold tight to Your words and hold tight to Your heart for people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.