Taking Jesus At His Word.

Taking Jesus At His Word

Do you find yourself mentally agreeing with the truth of Jesus’ words—but quietly wriggling out of living them? If so, you are not alone—and Jesus was saddened by that very tendency.

Perhaps you convince yourself that Jesus must have been speaking metaphorically or exaggerating when he said something difficult. Maybe you are telling yourself the hard sayings of Scripture are simply “not for me.”

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Hebrew law did that. The Torah commanded that when your parents grew old and could no longer care for themselves, you were responsible for their wellbeing. You could serve them personally, or provide for it financially. But the leaders of the synagogue found a loophole called korban: if you devoted your time or money to God, it no longer had to be available for your parents. Clever, right? But deep down, it was simply selfishness.

But today, that kind of game continues. We are very happy about what Jesus Christ did - healing people, feeding people, dying on the cross for us, being resurrected, forgiving us, promising us new life. Everything he did is fine by us.

But what he said?

That’s harder. And if you’re honest, perhaps it’s hard for you too.

You Might Recall ...

Jesus said we must love our neighbours as we love ourselves. He told stories to show that our neighbour is anyone in need whom we encounter. But how seriously do we take that?

We tend to look after ourselves with urgency. If we are hungry, cold, or lacking sleep, we act. If our children go without, we scramble. But do we carry the same intensity toward a stranger in need? Often, the answer is no.

And so, we understand Jesus’ words… and quietly fear taking them seriously. We do enough to stay “within the lines,” to align our behaviour with other Christians—but perhaps not enough to risk inconvenience, discomfort, or embarrassment.

Or consider forgiveness. Jesus told the parable of the servant forgiven much, yet unwilling to forgive in return—and said,...

Moreover, Jesus taught his disciples a prayer which we pray every week which reiterated this idea.

Yet we often rationalise, citing church teaching that assures us of God’s forgiveness regardless of our own willingness. We pray for more love, hoping God will handle the rest.

But deep down, we know it's just a cop-out.

And Now It Gets Worse!

The most unsettling challenge of all: Jesus said we are to love other Christians as he loves them. He said this love is the authentic evidence to the world that he was sent by God.

Yes, right. That’s a tough standard. Perhaps this is why the gospel struggles to make a deep impact. Our upbringing, our denominations, our red lines of “real faith”—all give us permission to limit our devotion. Even to those who share our beliefs, are we rarely completely devoted.

Maybe all of us struggle with taking Jesus seriously. It’s hard. So we quietly redefine “following” him so we can continue calling ourselves disciples. But here’s the honest question: if God has poured out the resources we need to obey, should it be this difficult?

A significant part of the problem is our understanding of Scripture. This great mixture of laws, promises, traditions, flawed cultures, accounts of exemplary and shameful behaviour tend to become flattened by simplistic statements such as "The bible says it, so I believe it." So then we have to develop rationales for what to obey, what to ignore, and what to reinterpret. And there are so many convenient escape hatches: superseded covenant, cultural context, hyperbole, metaphor and parable. And sometimes Jesus even used subversion to make a point.

So can we be honest with ourselves? Can we lay our selective excuses aside, just for a moment, and face the challenge of truly living what Jesus said?

In this series, we will attempt to do just that—openly, courageously, and without flinching from discomfort. We will wrestle with the difficult passages, starting with a topic that is particularly confronting: the issue of violence in Scripture.

Are We Taking Jesus Seriously In This?

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