Can We Trust Jesus?
Posted on Aug 01, 2018 by
This past Sunday, we began a five-week series of readings from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. This series of readings focuses on one thing, and that is that Jesus is “the Bread of Life.” When it comes to healthy living, nutrition experts tell us that we should eat certain amounts of foods from the various food groups — vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, poultry, fish, and dairy. In other words, if we want to be healthy, then we need a balance of all of these things in our diet.
But when it comes to our spiritual life and how we choose to live in community, Jesus says we need the “Bread of Life,” which is Jesus. In other words, the one staple we need in our life, in our diet, is Jesus. In fact, next week we will hear Jesus say, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (6:35). Jesus says that if we include him in our lives that we will never need anything else. I love that, but I wonder if we, that is, those who proclaim to be Christian, truly believe this.
In this text, the Greek word we translate as “believe,” is “pisteuo.” And although it can mean “believe,” it was more commonly used to convey a “trusting relationship.” That is, this line might be better understood today to be, “Whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.” In other words, Jesus is saying, to truly live life to its fullest, we need to follow in the ways Jesus has called us to live. Jesus has said, love as I have loved, love your neighbor and your enemy, care for the poor, feed the hungry, welcome the immigrant, and so much more, and when we trust Jesus and do things as he did them, it is then that we will come to know the fullness of God’s love and mercy.
But to be honest, as I watch the news and as I participate in community events, I wonder if most of us who proclaim we are Christian really trust that the ways of Jesus truly are the ways we ought to live. It is not a surprise to me that many look at Christians and see hypocrites. All too often, people from other communities, whether they be from other faith practices (Jews, Muslims, Hindu…), or the LBGTQ community, the immigrant community, or so many others, look at Christians and see people who say the words of Jesus with their lips, but don’t trust that they can and should practice those words in real life.
Brothers and sisters, so often God calls us to move forward and to trust God’s ways, even when we can’t see the how or the why, but too often we say “no” because we want all the answers. Jesus says he is the answer, he is the Bread of Life, and if we are going to fulfill God’s call for our lives, for our faith community, then we need to learn to trust in God and God’s ways, even when they don’t necessarily make sense.
Shalom, Pr. Dave