let’s be wheat
I came across something interesting, maybe nothing, but I thought I’d post it anyway. This is John 6:51-66 (NKJV.)
“51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.Many Disciples Turn Away60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Whatthen if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.“
Hm, right? Deep stuff I know. That is a strange teaching, metaphor, etc. What’s the last verse number? Look’s like…John 6…verse 66? So, 666? Wow. And in this “666″ verse, many people walk away from Jesus because they couldn’t grasp – or handle – what He was saying. Looks like a separation of the wheat from the chaff as told in Matthew 3:12 concerning Jesus and the end times:
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
People have walked away from Jesus since He began teaching on earth almost 2000 years ago. More and more people fall victim to the devil’s way of thinking, to society’s empty and “no line, no wait” promises.
Not gonna lie, a relationship with Jesus isn’t a quick fix for your problems. It is, however, a line in the sand telling the world you are done being a rag doll. You’re pulling a 180-degree turn and walking in the light towards righteousness. A true, heartfelt relationship with Jesus is your only rescue from an eternal life as chaff.
What is chaff anyway?
Chaff (
/ˈtʃɑːf/[1] or /ˈtʃæf/) is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely choppedstraw. Chaff is inedible for humans, but livestock can eat it and in agriculture it is used as livestock fodder, or is a waste material ploughed into the soil or burnt.
/ˈtʃɑːf/[1] or /ˈtʃæf/) is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely choppedstraw. Chaff is inedible for humans, but livestock can eat it and in agriculture it is used as livestock fodder, or is a waste material ploughed into the soil or burnt.Thanks, Wikipedia!
So, chaff is basically scaly nastiness. I don’t want to be scaly nastiness. Do you want to be scaly nastiness? I didn’t think so. We need to be the wheat that gets harvested and put in the barn (Heaven.)
Now, back to that “whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” part…
I’m no Hebrew/Greek/English/Latin/Aramaic/Anything scholar, but it seems reasonable to think that Jesus was not saying filet his body up on the ol’ BBQ pit and get to eating so they could be saved forever. Nope. It seems that His words – remember, He is the Word – were the flesh He spoke of. The spirit of what He was teaching was the blood.
Now, it’s true His blood – real life blood – being shed at the cross through His temporary earthly death was what paid the price of sin for all time for those of us who wish to recognize that form of payment for Salvation, but He really didn’t want us to drink it, rather “drink it in” like you would the best teaching you’ve ever heard. Let it absorb into your brain. Swim in it. Soak it up. Make it part of yourself.
So, back to me originally seeing this “666″ verse and noticing that people turned from Jesus at the most crucial point of His teaching. He was giving answers to the final exam and students were leaving to go play frisbee golf in the park because they didn’t like or get what He was saying.
Sometimes it’s better for us to work a little for something rather than it be handed to us for doing nothing. We appreciate it more. It helps to keep us thinking and our brains from turning into jelly due to non-use. (I was told that as a kid and kinda believed it for a while.)
Society has programmed us (Matrix, anyone?) to assume we deserve whatever we want. We see Jesus’ parables and bark that He didn’t come right out and say what He wanted to say. His 12 disciples even asked what He meant on many occasions because they wanted quick answers instead of lasting wisdom. You can’t fault people for being curious, but you can fault them for being lazy.
So, these frisbee-golfing ex-followers of Jesus. What about them? They still have a chance to pass. For now, there are still spring courses and maybe even a class or two in the summer. However, at some point, and no one knows when, the school will be closing. The teachings will have been taught. The last parable will have been told. The wheat will go one way, the chaff will go another.
Let’s be wheat.
