Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68
We often see and hear things differently. That was brought home to me when I visited with a 5th-grade teacher. She told me about an experiment she had conducted with her class. She had given them the first half of some common proverbs and sayings; then she asked her students to complete them. The results were most interesting:
The teacher said, "Strike while the…"
The student responded, "…bug is close."
The teacher said, "It’s always darkest before…"
The student responded, "…daylight saving time."
The teacher said, "Children should be seen and not…"
The student responded, "…spanked or grounded."
The teacher said, "Better late than…"
The student responded, "…pregnant."
The children have their own unique points of view concerning these proverbs, don’t they? In some cases, I actually prefer their new way of seeing things over the old.
I can’t say the same when it comes to people’s perspectives of the Savior. There is, you know, more than one way for people to look at Him. For example, you can by the power of the Holy Spirit believe on Him as God’s Son, your divine substitute who has conquered sin and Satan so that you might have salvation. Or you can believe Jesus is something else. Either His words are true and He is God’s Son, the world’s Savior, or else Jesus was a lunatic, a liar, a fake, a fraud, and a fool. Having said that, we must acknowledge there is only one real way to see the Savior. We must see Him in the picture painted by God’s Holy Word. We must see the Savior as being God’s Good News of great joy. He is the prophesied sacrifice who alone has “the words of eternal life.”
Because this is true, the disciples, along with millions of Christians since then, knew that it was foolishness to try and reduce God’s Son to being a teacher or philosopher. No, Jesus must be, as He has always been, “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). According to man’s perspective, there are many ways to see Jesus. According to God’s point of view, there is only one right way—to look upon Him as “the Resurrection and the Life” (John 1:26). When we see Him in this way, when we believe on Him this way, we will never die.
Excerpt from The Lutheran Hour sermon preached on September 14, 2003
The Prayer: God, I want to see You with purity and awe through the eyes of a child. Please remove all my past hurts, regrets, anger, and confusion seen through my adult eyes. It is not for me to understand everything, and I take solace in knowing that You do. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Today's Bible Readings: Leviticus 14 Mark 8:1-21
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