Jesus Is Difficult. Ya, there is no doubt about it. And those teachings of His! Wow! Isn’t their an easier path? Sometimes the difficult way for anything in life seems foolish (outside of maybe seeking out a sense of accomplishment.) Perhaps…
Something being difficult doesn’t necessarily make it the better or even wiser choice. Why make your own paper out of the dead tree in your yard when you could buy a ream at the store? But sometimes, harder is better! Sometimes taking the easy road is just avoiding the difficult necessities to help us grow and become better people. Recently, I needed support. I have been very emotional, and my depression has been coming back, so I reached out finally to talk, but only after I devolved the conversation into small talk when what I really needed was to discuss something difficult.
Last Sunday, at Mass, I spoke about how Jesus is necessary for us, and we delved deeply into the breath of God and how it structures us and supports us, especially in those moments when life is tough. We cannot remove our sin. We cannot set things right with God and we need Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We need Him, that easy-going Him, but truth is, we need the difficult Jesus more.
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.” That was the hard teaching from last Sunday and this week we hear the ramifications, “Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Jesus often isn’t couching needed lessons in easy-to-understand terms, but He is making all of us face a difficult problem. His followers wanted Jesus to be an easy Savior, one who would save them from hunger, a bread king who would keep them full and satisfied in this life, but that was not why Jesus came. He came to do something more, to do something far better. He came to give eternal life. He came to give his life for the sins of the world. He came to rescue all people from hell and bring them to Heaven, or at least, show them them way.
So, yes, Jesus is difficult. And being around Him and associated with Him means and believing in Him is not the easy path. Following Jesus is difficult, but it is not something we do alone.
See you Sunday. It won’t be easy. Nothing worth while ever is.
Monsignor +Jim