Psalm 107:33-43, 108; Jer. 23:9-15; Rom. 9:1-18; John 6:60-71
The religious leaders like priests and prophets bear a heavy responsibility and therefore come in for particular and greater judgment for leading people astray. They have been called to the Lord’s service, to lead the people to and in the ways of truth. When we not only fail to lead in truth but lead to a lie and to false gods we not only forsake our duty we bear the responsibility for the souls and lives of those we have led astray. The Lord told Ezekiel that his duty was always to be truthful and the response of the people to whom he spoke truth was not up to him but if he failed to speak truth then he was guilty. James wrote that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” We must be careful as leaders to always be first, good followers.
How did Jesus know His disciples were grumbling here? John says He knew it “in himself.” He didn’t hear it, He truly knew His disciples. As a leader it is indeed possible to know in yourself that those under your care are grumbling. When they had seen the 5000 the day before and now Jesus spoke these odd words and ran them off, the disciples questioned Jesus’ methods and His leadership as the people questioned Moses in the wilderness, they grumbled among themselves, not to Him. It is dangerous business to grumble this way, sowing dissension and discord and Jesus won’t have it, confronting it immediately and giving them the option to walk away as well. Peter makes confession of Jesus as the Holy One of God whom they have believed and come to know, they are moving from belief to knowledge in this journey and yet Jesus says not all are with Him still in their hearts. It happens.
The work of election is all God’s work and we can either chafe at that or we can have faith and trust that He is loving, faithful and merciful. It seems unfair to us but we don’t have the knowledge and perspective He has on the matter. We must rest in Him and His sovereignty over all things. Paul is grieving over the reality that those who are his brothers in the flesh, the Israelites, are rejecting God’s love and mercy and says that he would be willing to sacrifice his own salvation for his brothers to have what he knows as truth but trusts in the Lord’s eternal plan for all things. Are we grieving for the lost as Paul does, as Jesus did? Do we love the world as God does? What is there in our lives that we find so important that we allow it to keep us from grieving over the lost? What needs to become less important to us?
Yes, Lord, we believe
That You are the Christ
The Son of God
Who has come
Into the world
And I will raise him up
And I will raise him up
And I will raise him up on the last day
No comments:
Post a Comment