Why Are Some Bible Sayings So Hard?
In John chapter 6, Jesus explains the
importance of partaking of His flesh and blood, meaning that making His will our
will and living according to His will is to eat of His flesh and drink of
His blood – to make His life our life.
Many of His disciples just couldn’t grasp His meaning, and in verse
60 say, “This is an hard saying, who can hear
it?” I want to offer some reasons why some sayings of the Bible are so
“hard.”
1. Some are hard to receive because the ones who receive them
are unwilling to obey them. Recall the rich young ruler of Matt. 19.
He asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life and Jesus told
him, “...sell what
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven.” Instead of this, he “went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” He was unwilling to obey the
Lord’s command. Therefore, it became a hard saying to him.
2. Some sayings are hard because they’re objectionable. We began this brief
study with John 6. Prior to verses 51-60, Jesus had fed 5000 then later
crossed the sea into Capernaum. The next day, the multitude crossed
and came where Jesus was and in verse 26 He says, “Verily, verily
I say unto you, Ye seek me not because ye saw the
miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” He
speaks of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, meaning atonement must
be made followed by adopting His manner of life (following Him). Those who fail to do these things will
not see heaven. That was objectionable to the hearers, and thus, a hard
saying of the Bible.
3. Some
sayings are hard because they appear foolish from man’s standpoint. Many think that baptism is foolish and
refuse to do it, even though God has commanded it and didn’t make it
optional for man’s salvation (Acts 2:38, I Peter 3:20-21). It’s foolish from man’s standpoint
because he sees it as just “getting wet” and doesn’t understand the
importance of obedience and therefore, it becomes a hard saying to receive.
4. Some Bible sayings are hard because of what they require. Matt. 6:24 – “No man can serve two masters.” Relate
this to Matt. 10 where Jesus says, “He that loveth
father, mother, son or daughter more than Me is
not worthy of Me” (v. 37). Jesus must come first before all else! This is a
hard saying because it makes great demands.
5. Some sayings of the Bible are hard because they require us
to think. Any scripture that causes us to re-think what we believe or
what we’ve grown up believing, or
especially change what we’re so used to, becomes a hard saying for
us and many people don’t like that. Vast multitudes who have been
introduced to the Lord’s one church walk away because they’re unwilling or
too lazy to put forth the effort to learn the truth and unlearn the error
they’ve been taught
6. Some Bible sayings are hard because they’re doctrinal. Most people hold strong convictions
about some particular doctrine they’ve been taught and have their hearts
set on. We either let the Word of God change our doctrine, or our doctrine
becomes the means through which we read and understand the Word of God. We
must change our doctrine to mirror Bible teachings, not distort the Bible to fit our
beliefs.
7. Other
sayings are hard because of spiritual immaturity. If you’re going to talk about
something, but it’s “over their heads” because of spiritual immaturity,
then whatever advanced Bible teaching you might impart becomes a hard
saying (Heb. 5:10-14).
8. Some
Bible sayings are hard because we read into the scriptures more than is
actually there. In
John 21:22, Jesus said to Peter concerning John, “If I will that he
tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” The next verse says he took that to mean
that Jesus was saying that John would never die. The point was,
what business was it of Peter’s to worry about John? Jesus wasn’t implying
that John would never die! Thus, we read into the scriptures more than is
actually there and make them hard to understand because we make them say
more than the Lord intended for them to say.
9. Some
sayings are hard because they sift the multitudes. Consider baptism. Baptism is the
dividing line of water between the sinner and the saved (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4, I Peter 3:21). Those who believe and have been
baptized will be saved, those who haven’t will be lost eternally (Mark 16:15-16).
I pray you’ll study your
Bible with an open mind and glean the truths God would have you to
understand. The Bible is not as hard to understand as many people make it. R.W.
