Irvin Wasswa- Tylertown Campus Pastor LHBC
John 6:60-69
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
One of my favorite commercials currently on TV are the Under-Armor commercials with the tagline: The Only Way is Through.” The purpose of the commercial is to highlight the reality within sports that though there are obstacles and challenges that come with playing a sport, the only way through those challenges is to go through them by working harder, eating better, studying more, etc. The circumstances and challenges are always going to be there but the decision of the athlete is to choose to go through the challenges. There is no other way but through. It gets me fired up just thinking about it!
In John 6 we find Jesus sharing a difficult message with those who were following Him at the time. He expressed how through Him (and Him alone) eternal life can be found, which rattled a few feathers amongst the religious elite. He then mentioned how He too was the bread of life, which satisfies the eternal longing of the soul. After preaching there were many who found His statements too difficult to believe and stopped following Him. In the midst of the masses of people turning away Jesus asks Peter about whether He would leave, to which He responds “Where else can we go?” In other words Peter and the disciples resolved to the reality of there being no other option but to follow Jesus because of who He was and what He was going to do!
The apostles here with this statement declared his allegiance to Jesus as Lord. Though they were not perfect, they understood the reality of Jesus being the only way. By the way, that truth still remains true today friends. Jesus still is the only way to a right relationship with God, and also He is the only one worth following. See, for many unfortunately Jesus is just A way for them rather than being THE way. When blessings come their way in life, they are “Team Jesus”. When good happens in their life they are “all in”. However when tough times come, sadly they are gone like the wind. When we see there being no other way but Jesus, we choose to follow Him in every season of life. We choose to give Him praise in the times when we may not feel like doing so. We choose to honor Him by the way we live our life even when it is difficult. Why? Because we know His way being the only way is best.
For those of us who have a relationship with Jesus, we can testify to His greatness. We can rejoice in all the times He has grown us, comforted us, encouraged us, challenged us, moved us and so on. We have this testimony of there being no other way but to walk with Jesus because He is the best way. Do you believe that today? Remember that He is the “Holy One of God” who has saved you, is growing you (sanctification), and wants to use you for His Kingdom work! Choose to rest in the truth today that Jesus is the only way!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for saving me, growing me in You and using me for Your kingdom work. Help me today to see that following You is the only way and best way in every season of life. In Jesus’ name, amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Psalm 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.