The Challenge of His Sayings -- They Weren't Supposed to Be Easy!

Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope
May 10, 2008
Larry R Evans

Quiz for Reflection

1. Jesus was more strict than Moses when it comes to divorce and remarriage. [Mt 19:3-12] True or False?

2. The willingness to forgive and the greatness in God’s kingdom are linked. [See Mt 18:21-35 and 18:1-9. Also 18:10-14 and 15-19]. True or False?

3. Selling our possessions to meet the needs of the poor as well meeting other needs of the church was the financing method used in Christ’s days but not ours. [Lk 12:27-34; 18:18-25; Acts 4:32-37] True or False?

4. Perfection was not really what Christ was teaching in Mt 5:48. [Mt 5:43-48; Jn 15:1-5; Lk 16:1-4; Lk 6:32-36] True or False?

5. Jesus taught that it was wrong to go to funerals. [Lk 9:60; 1 Tim 5:5,6; Lk 15:31-32; 7:11-15] True or False?

6. Jesus taught that true disciples would break family ties so that they might serve better. [Lk 14:25-35; Jn 19:25-27; Mt 10:34-39; 1 Tim 5:8] True or False?

Reflective Review

Jesus started an epidemic. He did, you know. According to Malcolm Gladwell there are three important factors or characteristics in place for an epidemic to occur: (1) contagiousness, (2) the fact that little causes can have big effects, and (3) that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment. “The name given to that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once is the Tipping Point.” (Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point, p.9) Consider His times, His life, His ministry, His death and His resurrection. Can you identify times when the three factors were at work? I think I can.

This week’s lesson speaks about some hard sayings, challenging-sayings of Jesus. They weren’t intended to be easy. They were intended to cause us to pause, to challenge our assumptions and certainly conventional wisdom. These sayings accompanied by his own Person authenticated His words. The combination of His words and His life changed not only the thinking but lives all around Him and beyond, and He did it in less than three years! He did so by challenging family (divorce and remarriage) and interpersonal (forgiveness) relationships. His teachings about personal commitment (selling all) and how to live among others (perfection) were revolutionary then and still are today. He even challenged how we think about life and death (funerals for example). A vital principle for him was always to make first things first (God before even family). The seeds were sown for a new kind of revolution. The threshold for an epidemic of change and a renewed faith in what true religion is all about were planted. It would now take only a cataclysmic event (the cross and the resurrection) for a contagious faith supported by a new understanding of God to take place. Soon it would be said, “the world was turned upside down.” Radical discipleship was inspired by the words and life of the God who came to live among them.

Robert Kennedy paraphrased George Bernard Shaw when he said, “There are some people who look at the way things are and ask ‘Why?’; there are others who look at the way things could be and ask ‘Why not?’” Jesus saw the obstacles and He sought to bring about a change. The hard sayings, I believe, were part of His plan. Enmeshed in His plan was hope because He truly believed people could change. It didn’t happen all at once but it did grow. It did happen. It became an epidemic of faith.

“In Isaiah 6 the prophet speaks of a vision of God as He is and then as a vision of Israel as it could be, from which we can draw a contemporary parallel: without a vision of God as He is, there is no vision of the church as it could be; without a vision of the church as it could be, the reality of our vision of God comes into question.” (Leith Anderson in Dying for Change, p.168) Jesus had both. He had a vision for the Church because He had a true vision of God. The challenge is not in His hard to understand sayings, but in our dullness to comprehend another world’s perspective. The good news, however, is that the One who created an epidemic of radical discipleship promises that what began as a small mustard seed would emerge with His Church being glorified by His presence. That day is soon.

“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.” (Gladwell, p.259) Maranatha!

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