Things I Wish Jesus Never Said

In Genesis 22, God calls to Abraham, and Abraham replies, “Here I am”. This simple exchange between God and Abraham sets the stage for one of the most well-known stories in all of the Bible; God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Two thousand years later, Jesus provides us the ultimate example of what obedience to God looks like; through His life and in His death on the cross. This Sunday we will explore how to apply Christ's example to our lives and to learn together what it means to say, “Here I am”.

Throughout this series we have heard the invitation of Jesus for His followers to find their identity in God so that they are free to live a life like Jesus’. This invitation is extended again as we hear Jesus’ words on forgiveness and are called to live out a response to the radical forgiveness God has extended to us.
 

For a few weeks now we have grappled with the challenging words of Jesus. In them we find both confrontation and consolation as Jesus relentlessly calls us to life. Repeatedly Jesus calls all those who would follow Him to be defined by God - to hold God as the center. Again we hear that challenging call as He speaks to where we find our ‘rightness’ before God.

Throughout the ‘difficult sayings’ of Jesus, the theme of absolute connection and devotion to Him is pervasive. Relentlessly, the message is proclaimed that there is one place that humanity finds oxygen for its soul: in Jesus. In our passage today He once again invites us to lay down anything that keeps us from unreservedly following Him

In one extraordinary moment Jesus modeled the kind of love that He wants His followers to live out. It was a love that laid aside the normal methods of influence, power, and control. It was a love that served and fought for the good of the receiver of that love.   

Jesus spoke many challenging words that we struggle with still today; all of which can be summed up in the simple ‘follow me’. We often lose sight of the fact that Jesus was human, just like we are called to be. He lived a life that perfectly matched the path of life that God has always laid out for His people to follow.  What does it look like for us to take seriously His command to follow Him?