Why Following Jesus Won't Always Be Easy | The Gospels | John 15:18-27
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Why does following Jesus often feel harder than expected?
Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmouth. Our guide Mudie laid out the map on a square table in the gathering room of our bed and breakfast. An hour ago we were sitting at that table, four of us, drinking coffee and wondering what lie ahead. We had chosen this trip, and now that we were here, we were discovering for the first time what we had really wondered. Gotten ourselves into. I mean, it's one thing to train for a week running on mountain trails when you live 250 feet above sea level. It hits differently when you're on another continent at elevation and preparing for a week-long run through the mountains. Muty was old school.
He didn't use all trails on his phone. He had a worn map, creased where he folded it, and put into his Running vest, along with his crackers and his water filter. All he needed for several miles and hours in the wilderness. We were wanting a bit more information than what we gathered from Yudi and the map. What's the elevation? How many miles on the way up? How many feet are we climbing every mile? What kind of nutrition should we pack in our running vest? What's the temperature up there? Muti was calm. The trails were, to him, like going on a run in his backyard. He assured us that he would bring up the tail of the group, and we would all make it back. It will be hard on the way up, but I've got you. We'll enjoy a beer when we get back.
Doing hard things brings people together. It also works on our perspective, our endurance, and our understanding of our own weaknesses. When we encounter challenges, we realize something important. With few exceptions, we make it through. John 15 is more than a goodbye and I love you from Jesus to his followers. His commandment to love one another dominated the earlier section, but once we get to chapter 15, verse 15, Jesus' words are almost scary.
How does the mountain‑trail analogy illustrate the challenges of discipleship?
If he was laying out a map on a table, the disciples would have been worried about what to pack for the journey ahead. Jesus says to them, If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. He says, They will do all these things to you on account of my name. He says, The one who hates me also hates my father. This is not a bright, sunny picture of the disciples' future calling. I really do though love the honesty of the Bible. I like how it doesn't paint a picture that isn't true to what we experience. I am glad it doesn't ask us to deny the reality of our experiences or our feelings. The Bible is full of flawed people, grueling circumstances, and undeniable evidence of the brokenness of the world.
But it is also saturated with hope and amazing grace. And so are Jesus' words to the disciples in chapter fifteen. He reminds them again and again of his ongoing presence with them. Remain in me and I in you verse four. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. Verse nine. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete. Verse eleven. He assures them that he will not leave them, but will send the Holy Spirit, whose ministry provides ongoing comfort and counsel. This world can be a tough place to be. There are circumstances we dread. There are situations that we don't know our way out of. There are people who don't like to hear us talk about the hope and peace we have in Jesus because it makes them angry or uncomfortable that we admit that we are lost.
Yeah. There are times when people don't like our boundaries or our choices. There'll be times when you feel like you've been singled out. But in all of this, there's a real reason to have peace and hope. It's not the peace that comes from people pleasing or from circumstances working in our favor. It's not the peace that comes from having margin in our time and money that makes us feel comfortable. There's a sturdier peace to be found in Jesus' words here. It comes from knowing your rescuer is not afraid of what makes you afraid. It comes from knowing your savior was not defeated by what you think has the power to defeat you.
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