In Modern Terms

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coolduude

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Bear with me 🙂

So you’re walking down the street one day and see a street preacher standing on the corner shouting about God. He has a small crowd around him of about 30 people. You walk by and hear him claim he is God! :eek: ok, now you just have to stay and see what this crazy man says next.

You get closer and recognize his face: he’s been in the news as this miracle worker guy who does, well, miracles. As a matter of fact, you know someone who was healed by him, so you aren’t too skeptical. But still. “I am the Son of Man” could be pushing it.

Anyway, you listen in. Today’s “sermon” is on the ‘Bread of Life’. He says “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

You find this a little hard to comprehend yourself, and maybe you’re a little lost on the meaning (he does seem to speak in parables a lot). You look around yourself and one or two people leave the crowd. “Obviously they haven’t seen this guy on the news” you think to yourself.

You turn back and someone shouts something at him: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother I know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?!” You agree with this man.

This “Jesus” responds and says: “Stop grumbling among yourselves, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

You turn back to the crowd and hear more grumbling and whispers. Now the meaning of this wise mans word’s begin to sink in. “I think he literally wants us to eat him. Him! This man! This guy’s flesh and blood! Ew!! But hold on now. How can he give us his flesh? This doesn’t make any sense. :confused::confused:”

Apparently someone else is thinking the same thing you are, because they shout out at Jesus (and the crowd) and say: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus again responds with all patience: “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”

“Alright, man, you’re a disgusting hobo” someone says. Everyone gets up and leaves. You hear people passing you say things like “He really wants us to do that?? Not in a million years!”

Only a handful of men remain (about 12).

But now it’s you turn. Do you accept this preacher, or follow the crowd and leave him because of this teaching? You have seen his miracles on the news and by personal experience, but will this one teaching be too much?

Will you follow Jesus?
 
coolduude said:
Bear with me 🙂

So you’re walking down the street one day and see a street preacher standing on the corner shouting about God. He has a small crowd around him of about 30 people. You walk by and hear him claim he is God! :eek: ok, now you just have to stay and see what this crazy man says next.

You get closer and recognize his face: he’s been in the news as this miracle worker guy who does, well, miracles. As a matter of fact, you know someone who was healed by him, so you aren’t too skeptical. But still. “I am the Son of Man” could be pushing it.

Anyway, you listen in. Today’s “sermon” is on the ‘Bread of Life’. He says “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

You find this a little hard to comprehend yourself, and maybe you’re a little lost on the meaning (he does seem to speak in parables a lot). You look around yourself and one or two people leave the crowd. “Obviously they haven’t seen this guy on the news” you think to yourself.

You turn back and someone shouts something at him: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother I know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?!” You agree with this man.

This “Jesus” responds and says: “Stop grumbling among yourselves, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

You turn back to the crowd and hear more grumbling and whispers. Now the meaning of this wise mans word’s begin to sink in. “I think he literally wants us to eat him. Him! This man! This guy’s flesh and blood! Ew!! But hold on now. How can he give us his flesh? This doesn’t make any sense. :confused::confused:”

Apparently someone else is thinking the same thing you are, because they shout out at Jesus (and the crowd) and say: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus again responds with all patience: “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”

“Alright, man, you’re a disgusting hobo” someone says. Everyone gets up and leaves. You hear people passing you say things like “He really wants us to do that?? Not in a million years!”

Only a handful of men remain (about 12).

But now it’s you turn. Do you accept this preacher, or follow the crowd and leave him because of this teaching? You have seen his miracles on the news and by personal experience, but will this one teaching be too much?

Will you follow Jesus?
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Pretty good. Has Jesus already been here 2000 years ago or is this the first time we hear about Jesus?
 
rev_kevin said:
Pretty good. Has Jesus already been here 2000 years ago or is this the first time we hear about Jesus?
Click to expand...
First time 🙂

The idols (Roman gods) can be substituted for TV, games, phones, anything we put in place of God.

🙂

Also, the Jews would still be here so there could be a chance you would have heard of God (if you chose not to be a Jew in my analogy).

Get it?
 
coolduude said:
Bear with me 🙂

So you’re walking down the street one day and see a street preacher standing on the corner shouting about God. He has a small crowd around him of about 30 people. You walk by and hear him claim he is God! :eek: ok, now you just have to stay and see what this crazy man says next.

You get closer and recognize his face: he’s been in the news as this miracle worker guy who does, well, miracles. As a matter of fact, you know someone who was healed by him, so you aren’t too skeptical. But still. “I am the Son of Man” could be pushing it.

Anyway, you listen in. Today’s “sermon” is on the ‘Bread of Life’. He says “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

You find this a little hard to comprehend yourself, and maybe you’re a little lost on the meaning (he does seem to speak in parables a lot). You look around yourself and one or two people leave the crowd. “Obviously they haven’t seen this guy on the news” you think to yourself.

You turn back and someone shouts something at him: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother I know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?!” You agree with this man.

This “Jesus” responds and says: “Stop grumbling among yourselves, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

You turn back to the crowd and hear more grumbling and whispers. Now the meaning of this wise mans word’s begin to sink in. “I think he literally wants us to eat him. Him! This man! This guy’s flesh and blood! Ew!! But hold on now. How can he give us his flesh? This doesn’t make any sense. :confused::confused:”

Apparently someone else is thinking the same thing you are, because they shout out at Jesus (and the crowd) and say: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus again responds with all patience: “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”

“Alright, man, you’re a disgusting hobo” someone says. Everyone gets up and leaves. You hear people passing you say things like “He really wants us to do that?? Not in a million years!”

Only a handful of men remain (about 12).

But now it’s you turn. Do you accept this preacher, or follow the crowd and leave him because of this teaching? You have seen his miracles on the news and by personal experience, but will this one teaching be too much?

Will you follow Jesus?
Click to expand...
nope. nowadays, they would just leave and form their own group without this teaching of Jesus. 😃 peace
 
coolduude said:
First time 🙂

The idols (Roman gods) can be substituted for TV, games, phones, anything we put in place of God.

🙂

Also, the Jews would still be here so there could be a chance you would have heard of God (if you chose not to be a Jew in my analogy).

Get it?
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. In order to answer this we would have to erase everything we know about Jesus and that would not be easy and because of us already knowing who Jesus is so the answer would be yes we would follow him. Now at first I thought it was like the second comming and that would be very hard to answer. I just can’t seem to erase what I know about Jesus. But if I say I would not follow him because I don’t know him. That would put my faith into question today. How could you follow Jesus today if you would not accept him then. But if you say yes you would follow him it would be only because you already know about him.
 
coolduude said:
Funny 😉
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glad you liked it:)peace but seriously, i think Jesus would have a harder crowd to day because of the secular nature of our society. even if a person is religious, there many times is an element of secularism in their thinking. with all the moral relitavism even in some parishes, i think the number of people who would follow him would be very small. sad. but true.peace
 
benidict said:
glad you liked it:)peace but seriously, i think Jesus would have a harder crowd to day because of the secular nature of our society. even if a person is religious, there many times is an element of secularism in their thinking. with all the moral relitavism even in some parishes, i think the number of people who would follow him would be very small. sad. but true.peace
Click to expand...
Well that’s how it was at first, right? There was the 12, His Mother, and maybe a few others. So it was small back then, too. 🙂

But to the Protestants (for whom this thread was created):

Will you follow Jesus?
 
I know you haven’t gotten many really serious replies to your scenerio, and so I will answer you truthfully. I have often thought about what would happen if we were put in just this position of hearing the Good News from Jesus himself and for the very first time.

I honestly believe that given the scenerio you describe, I would walk away with the crowd. In fact I have little doubt that most of us would.

However, we would be blessed later by something wonderful because if your scenerio is followed to it’s logical conclusion, then this preacher will be killed and rise from the dead. His followers will begin spreading His teachings to all who will listen.
And - -
Perhaps, among those teaching about him there will be one who sounds a chord with me that I didn’t hear before. Perhaps then I will be filled with His spirit and wish to follow that which I had previously rejected.

I certanily Hope that I would.

Peace
James
 
This is an excellent question, and I would hope that you also ask it in frame of the Second Coming as I’ve posed below, like Kevin alluded to…because such would really create an interesting list of responses.

If I were back then, I would’ve been brought up under the chief religion of the time (Judaism)…So this man comes and begins to tell & share strange things; things that aren’t mentioned in the ancient text or practiced in ancient tradition of my religion; things I haven’t been nurtured to know as “truth” during my time as a youth. Religion is what we hold so tightly onto, so the true question is “will I follow someone who’s words seem to oppose my religion - even if he seems miraculous - or will I follow my religion and deny this man as a heretic or demonic?”

A better question I would need ask myself is, "is the ‘truth’ I know somehow incomplete?

I couldn’t answer this question without listening to him a little more; seeing how he lives and what he says in certain situations. For this reason, I would follow him.
Kevin also brought up an interesting idea…[Remember this is still hypothetical]

There’s no way of knowing whether the fisherman were religous people or secular people, but evidence points to them being more secular than anything (while the Pharisees represented the religous).

So I think in order to best answer this question, many on this forum (Catholics, Protestants, etc.) would have to put themselves in the shoes of not the regular folk, but the Scribes & Pharisees…since we all know so much about our own religions as they did.

Since it’s pretty difficult to answer this question as is, I think it’s fair to run a few parallels to replicate the situation of the past for the present:
  • Judaism was the chief religion of the past, as Christianity is the main religion of today.
  • Judaism believed in Messiah Ben David who was to come, as today’s Christianity believes in Jesus Christ who is to come.
Now - if you’ll indulge me - what if I said to you, “I am Joshua, son of David and the Son of God…not only is my earthly father named David, but my lineage traces back to the Jewish king David. My hair is curly, not straight. My skin is bronze, not fair. My face is ethnic, not presbyterian. My name has never been nor will it ever be Jesus Christ. I never meant for you to eat of me literally, but to always feed on me spiritually, wholy and completely. I did not come to change or undo my Father’s law - especially the Sabbath - but to see that it is fulfilled. I have come to reunite the two branches of my Father’s house: The houses of Judaism and the many houses of Christianity, before the time when my Father will pour out his cup of wrath on all those who would deny my name. My name is above all names as it is the name of my Father, I Am…Salvation!”

If you were to hear me say this to you - today - what would be your reaction?
And to James – I admire your honesty. For that alone, I believe God will bless you.
 
I will 😛

if I heard you say that… I would probably be driven away at first. But then I would check the Scriptures and prophecies and things like that. From there I could confirm or deny if you were sent from God or are God Himself.
 
coolduude said:
I will 😛

if I heard you say that… I would probably be driven away at first. But then I would check the Scriptures and prophecies and things like that. From there I could confirm or deny if you were sent from God or are God Himself.
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Yeah! If this were to happen to me specifically in modern times I would be taken aback in clear doubt also, especially because we have history of cults springing up in our world run by some real nuts *.

This is a very good thread and none of us should have a problem with answering your question, but it may be too strong for many because - as I said - it draws one to question the very fabric of one’s faith (religion).

Personally, I feel religion should be “an expression” of one’s faith, but for many I think it eventually turns into “the foundation” (root) of their faith, which is why I think the Pharisees had such a big problem with accepting the Messiah. After centuries of branding a specific image of the Messiah in their heads, when the Spirit of He arrived they didn’t recognize him because of his outward appearance:

They believed he would be a warrior king who would charge in and subdue the kings of the earth, and yet He arrived on a donkey as a carpenter. And even throughout his ministry, they would mock him and challenge him with their knowledge of scripture to attempt to prove him wrong…but he would only prove to confuse them even more.

It also happened with John the Baptist prior to the Messiah:

All religious scribes believed in the return of Elijah to Herald the coming of the Messiah, but when John the Baptist was born - claiming to possess the spirit and power of Elijah - they denied him too…because it wasn’t specifically Elijah.

We are charged to do exactly like you say, Coolduude, and that is confirm or deny using scripture & prophecies…however, such is difficult in today’s world because (a) we have so many “truths” touted by so many religions, and (b) religion “is” faith for so many people, and (c) not many religous people read their scripture to know anyway.*
 
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