Hard Sayings of Jesus

Many who lived during and listened to Jesus’s public ministry found his sayings hard to accept. In many instances, those today who read his sayings or hear them read also find much of what he said difficult to accept. The authors of Hard Sayings of the Bible rightly describe many today, saying:

It is all too easy to believe in a Jesus who is largely a construction of our own imagination—an inoffensive person whom no one would really trouble to crucify. But the Jesus whom we meet in the Gospels, far from being an inoffensive person, gave offense right and left. Even his loyal followers found him, at times, thoroughly disconcerting. He upset all established notions of religious propriety. He spoke of God in terms of intimacy which sounded like blasphemy. He seemed to enjoy the most questionable company. He set out with open eyes on a road which, in the view of “sensible” people, was bound to lead to disaster (Hard Sayings, 10; Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, and Manfred T. Brauch).

It is indeed true that many today construct Jesus in their own image and expect him to fit their mold. But that is not the Jesus of the Gospels.

Still, there are those who receive the words of Jesus like honey and embrace them as life itself. One of Jesus’s most controversial sayings appears in John 6:53–59, when he insists that the people must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Many found his words offensive and turned away from him (John 6:60, 66). After the crowds’ bewilderment, Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). Peter emphatically replies, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68–69).

We do not embrace the hard sayings of Jesus over against the other teachings of the Bible, as if there are the words of Jesus and then the words of the rest of Scripture. Rather, we affirm that all of the Bible is the Word of God—both the words directly spoken by Jesus and those written and spoken by others.

Our view of Scripture is not one of an authority within an authority. There are no levels of authority within the Bible such that some parts carry more authority or truth than others. All of God’s Word is true.

However, we also recognize that the most well-known figure in the world lived a perfect life on earth and spoke many life-altering words in his brief 33 years. Much of what he said was polarizing—not because it was wrong, but precisely because it was right.

Much of what he said was countercultural and polarizing because it did not meet the expectations of his day.

We pay attention to Jesus’s words because he speaks life—he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He speaks life because he himself is life.

He often said things that shock us when we first hear them:

• Eat my flesh and drink my blood — John 6:53
• Hate your father and mother — Luke 14:26
• Sell all you have and give to the poor — Luke 18:22
• Let the dead bury their own dead — Luke 9:60
• If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out — Matthew 5:29
• Turn the other cheek — Matthew 5:39
• Love your enemies — Matthew 5:44
• Many are called, but few are chosen — Matthew 22:14
• Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect — Matthew 5:48
• The last will be first, and the first last — Matthew 20:16

As we take the good news of Jesus across the street and across the sea, some of his words will indeed jolt and polarize people. Yet there are times when those same words will be life to others. Indeed, we have come to believe that Jesus has the words of eternal life. May we both heed his words and faithfully share them with others.