As it turns out, isn’t as much of a deal-breaker to Jesus as we might assume. Why is that? I think it’s because he understands how much of what he says is quite unbelievable and hard to swallow. In the gap between what he knows and what we are able to wrap our minds around we experience his great patience.
Like a good father talking to his toddler daughter about how plants grow.
Like a good teacher explaining a mind-boggling mathematical equation to her students.
Like a good economist giving advice to a teenager about principles of saving and investing.
Like a good doctor explaining a course of treatment to a patient.
Maybe belief happens, maybe it doesn’t. Sometimes a thing is so far above us that all we can do is smile and nod our empty heads. And I think Jesus is not particularly offended by or frustrated with us. His purposes of saving us do not—thanks be to God!—depend on our ability to fully grasp what it is we’re being saved from, what that salvation costs him, or even what life on the other side will look like.
He saves us in spite of even our disbelief.
It’s possible to stay faithful to him even in our disbelief.
Now, outright rejecting Jesus? That’s a different story. It’s possible to stick by Jesus even if our faith in what he says could use a little work. But if we completely toss him aside, well, then even his very words of kindness will one day come back to haunt us.
