But That Isn’t What Jesus Said At All

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Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”

Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” So the rumor spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t what Jesus said at all. He only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate.
(John 21:20-24, NLT)

I read this passage in my daily reading this past Thursday and it hit me in two different ways.

The first was the rumors…

Rumors have been floating around in the church since its conception. Words taken out of context. Assumptions made through pieces of overheard conversation. Misconstrued perceptions because of wrong perspectives. Conclusions set in clouds that move off with the wind. Rumors are like a grain of sand made into a mountain that stands on imagination alone.

How do we help to build these mountains on foundations of imagination? Let’s say we have a question, do we go to the source or do we ask someone else that we think might know and simply trust their account and then spread the rumor on? Are we in the habit of talking about others rather than to them? Look how quickly this momentary conversation between between Peter and Jesus spread a misunderstanding and a misinterpretation of Jesus’ words throughout the community of believers.

Think about it. I wonder if John heard this conversation himself or if he heard about it through the rumor of the other disciples? If he heard it through rumor, I imagine that he went straight to Jesus to ask Him if He indeed made this statement. Either which way, in his writings, knowing that he could not chase down the rumor, because rumors are spread  with the wind, he made sure to add the correct information concerning the birth of this rumor.

It’s human fallen nature really to misunderstand words and to make something out of nothing. I don’t believe that every person starts purposefully intended rumors, some do yes, but I don’t believe every person does. For example, just yesterday I posted that 900 kids were pre-registered for our VBS. I posted in full faith that I had understood the information correctly. However, I was off a bit. The number actually included both kids AND workers registered. Our pastor commented on my post and I was able to edit it at that point and correct my mistake.

What would look different about the church if we were willing to let people know when they have misunderstood? What if we were willing to simply be bold enough to NOT believe something the moment someone tells it to us especially if it is in any way second hand information?

This is something my husband and I try to teach our girls. They will come to us with information and the first thing we will ask is, were you there? Then we will begin offering up what if’s and alternative scenarios to the situation. We do so to show them that before they take a side, they might need to get a little more information.

Are there things that we hear going on in the lives of the people we know, that we go to church with, that we work with, that we love that are in our family? Have we pulled them aside alone to ask face to face or are we satisfied with the rumor version? What if we talked to the people we have been talking about? What if we dared to ask the hard questions? What if we were willing to feel awkward so that we could live outward?

The second way this passage hit me was the “but that’s not what Jesus said…”

There is a trend in christendom to open up the Word of God and claim there is some secret hidden message behind all the words of Scripture. There are movies made on the seven deadly sins and the number of the beast. There are traveling television teachers that claim they have some hidden insight that has been revealed to them and if you will follow them they will share it with you. We try to dissect blood moons and mayan calendars and Chinese proverbs with the Davinci Code. We let the latest TBN hyped up preacher give us a “word” that ain’t no where in the Scriptures because he told us we just didn’t get it because we haven’t been anointed in the spirit that he has..

What if we just picked up the words of Jesus and took them for what they are? What if we stopped listening to people who say, “I know the Bible says this, but what I believe it means is…”

Beloved before you can know what a passage of Scripture means you have to first just simply believe what it says. What if we just picked up the Bible and read it as a letter from our Father and Brother and Friend and King and took it for simply what it says? What if we just let God speak and didn’t affix an agenda or a mystery to it so that we could act like we have learned some secret that no one else knows? Or worse, so that we could twist it to make it conform to us instead of us being conformed to the Word.

In 2 Corinthians 4:1-4 we read,

Therefore, since we have this mystery, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Our first step in understanding is simply believing. Just take God at His Word. Don’t add to it. Don’t take away from it. Just let it be and believe it.

Start there beloved. Plain and simple. Just start there.