Results 1 - 4 of 4
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | Aixen7z4 | 122128 | ||
The single sentence in John 6:63 may be exceptional in the number of thoughts it brings together. How can we possibly understand it or properly respond to it? It seems ironic that Jesus is saying it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand it. And yet, the people who were hearing him were not understanding. Many of his disciples, when they had heard (his preceding statements), had said, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60). I am not sure that Jesus made it any easier when he said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). It seems that the people became exasperated. They walked away (v. 66). The translators are wide apart on their renderings: NKJV It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. NIV The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (GW) Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn't contribute to that life. (LITV) It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh does not profit, nothing! (YLT) the spirit it is that is giving life; the flesh doth not profit anything; (MSG) The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don't make anything happen. (WEB) It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. (NASB) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; . (AMP) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. They all have “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life”, but what does that mean? (NLT) It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Once again I find myself appreciating the NLT as I see how it uses context to bring out meaning. Thank God for it. But the question remains: What was the Spirit doing in this case? On this occasion, He seems to be keeping the people from understanding (as in Romans 11:25). Later, on the day of Pentecost, He would help people to hear words spoken in another language as if it had been spoken in their own language (Acts 2:8), and they would understand and believe and be saved. I wonder what happens here, today, when people do not understand, and turn away. What role is the Spirit playing? One’s attention is riveted every time that God or Jesus asks the question “Why …?”, And in John 8:43 he asks, “Why do ye not understand my speech?” Amazingly, this seems to have resulted in a stalemate. He said they were of the devil, and they said he had a devil. That time, they did not simply walk away. They took up stones to stone him. They had not understood his words. Jesus was full of the Spirit, but the Spirit was not in them to resonate and give meaning to his words. Today, we have the Holy Spirit. But do we understand those words? |
||||||
2 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | JCrichton | 122160 | ||
"It seems ironic that Jesus is saying it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand it. And yet, the people who were hearing him were not understanding. Many of his disciples, when they had heard (his preceding statements), had said, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60)... It seems that the people became exasperated. They walked away (v. 66)... I wonder what happens here, today, when people do not understand, and turn away. What role is the Spirit playing?" Hi, Aixwn7z4! Then and now the problem is not that Jesus is speaking in values beyond comprehension... It is not that the Holy Spirit is making people stumble and closed-minded... The truth is that it is our choice whether we listen to the Holy Spirit and humble ourselves to His guidance! Not all of the disciples left Jesus! Only those who chose not to follow... those who were too proud to let God accomplish His Will with them and through them! There was a loss then, as there is so today, but as Jesus said: ...it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:14) God Bless! Angel |
||||||
3 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | Aixen7z4 | 122174 | ||
I do believe you are correct, Angel. It is clear that the disciples who remained had not understood all he said. But they remained, patiently waiting for understanding. There was a blind man who recieved his sight and said, "One thing I know". There was a psalmist who said, "LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child". And the twelve decided to humbly wait. Their wait was rewarded, for in John 16 we hear them saying "Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God". We do not know what the word of God means except by the Spirit of God as he reveals it. We cannot hurry him. We must wait on him. You know, Angel, I started our asking that question, "How can we understand these words?. But as I wrote it seems that more and more was revealed to me. Still there is a question and a challenge in my mind. How do I know that I have the correct understanding? The sponsors of this program may not like my answer, but I think that the New Living Translation had the most accurate rendition. That is because it uses the context to decide on the wording. I am glad for the reference to eternal life, as it presages the succeeding comments. And it seems that Jesus always had the message of salvation in mind. His words are spirit and life, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I will try now to express the entire thought in my own words. I believe that is a good test of comprehension. Maybe you would like to try it as well. There are questions that remain unanswered. Some of Jesus’ words are very deep (See Psalm 92:5) and cannot be understood from a cursory reading. What happens when we do not wait for understanding, but turn away instead? The folks who did were human like us, and we may sometimes do as they did. What happens then? I think we would do well to ponder more. That in itself might teach us to practice patience. But thank you for a kind response. |
||||||
4 | How do we understand these words? | John 6:63 | JCrichton | 122188 | ||
"How do I know that I have the correct understanding?" Hi, Aixen7z4! This is precisely why Jesus warned: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5) The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to reveal the completeness of Truth... abiding in Jesus we abide in the Holy Spirit who will teach us everything and remind us of Jesus words. Patience is understanding: meaning that as we await for the Lord to reveal His Word to us, through the Holy Spirit, we can be guided to the Truth. The Truth will never deviate from itself! Jesus is the Truth! When we read the Scriptures, we know that we are in the Truth if we do not reinvent the Truth: meaning: if we do not interprete from the Scriptures what we want to find in the Bible but if we just allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten us! The Word testifies to Christ's Divinity, and Christ testifies to the Word's Truth and Eternity: ...The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63) As long as we understand that there is nothing that we can add to God's Word, that there is nothing we can discover on our own, and that we cannot usurp God's authority, we will be able to be humble enough and patient enough to wait for the Holy Spirit to enlightenment us! Personally, I pray that I do not serve to confuse or derail others and that I do not become complacent or proud but that I stay humble and thirsty for God's Word. Knowing that God exalts the humble, my goal is to remain in humility--regardless of how much or how far I feel I've come in the Lord! God Bless! Angel |
||||||