Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
We are called to trust in the LORD and in his words and not to lean on our own understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). If we rely too much on our own understanding than the words the LORD speaks become incomprehensible. We need to be cautious every time we feel like saying, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" At such times we need discernment. Not all hard sayings are true. Not all true sayings are hard. But some saying are both difficult to understand and emphatically true. And they are often among the most important. Rather than trying to figure it what's what on our own we should rely on the Spirit.
It is the spirit that gives life,
while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.
We who have accepted, to some extent, the truth of Jesus, may think we are free to ignore this point. But to what extent have we accepted him? To what degree has he transformed our lives by this belief? Even if it is a great deal there is always more. And it is more that can only be received by hearts open to the Spirit.
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (see First Corinthians 2:14).
When we rely on the Spirit for discernment we find a new freedom that we cannot know when we rely on our own understanding.
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one (see First Corinthians 2:15).
The LORD wants to ask again, "decide today whom you will serve". He wants to know if we will ultimately choose the path of the natural man who cannot accept the wisdom of God. He says, "Do you also want to leave?" Or will we instead choose the path of the Spirit, understanding the truths of God by the power of the Spirit he gives us, even when the flesh is of no avail?
Jesus wants to cleanse the Church by water and word so that together we can be without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless, completely united to him. This is why he has come. It is a spiritual truth. May his Spirit impart it to our hearts today.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
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