Two scenarios here.
Scenario 1:
You can quit Jesus if you want. That’s a fact. People do it every day.
There’s that famous Tom Hanks line from A League of Their Own: If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.
Here’s a secret: You want know why not everybody follows Jesus? Because he says HARD stuff. Difficult. Challenging. Incredulous. Straight-up backwards. Seemingly impossible.
It says so right there in the Bible. People quit Jesus. Sometimes I read these Gospels and think the Jesus in these Gospels intimidates. Because what Jesus does next is turn to the twelve with, “Why haven’t you quit yet?”
I imagine an awkward silence. Shuffling feet. Nobody makes any eye contact with nobody. Jesus arches an eyebrow. More awkward silence. And since Peter is the one who just can’t deal with awkward silences, he pipes up.
Because I can’t count the number days I thinking quitting could be a good idea. But I won’t. Like Peter, I’m one of those that just hasn’t figured out how. Like Peter, I throw up my hands and tell Jesus, “You got any better ideas? You may be nuts, but you’re the best thing going around.”
Scenario 2:
Can you imagine growing up with Jesus as your big brother? Here at the beginning of chapter 7, we get a brief glimpse into Jesus’ family life. He’s not some mystical healer who came out of nowhere. He’s a regular dude with brothers! And they’re sarcastic brothers, at that.
I can only imagine how much of their childhood was spent under the stern gaze of Mary, “Why can’t you be more like your brother Jesus? You know, your older brother who’s the perfect Son of God?”
I bet that got old.
John gives us a particularly human portrait of Jesus, a guy misunderstood by his own family. I think it makes Jesus that much more approachable, relatable.
What about you? What do you see?
Fiftyeight 