John 6:60-71
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Matthew 13:10-23
Jesus Spoke in Parables
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
John 16:25-33
A Time is Coming When Jesus Will Speak Plainly
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 1:1-3
All Things Are Made Through Jesus
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
God with great precision designed our universe and our earth...In the symmetry, and triangles, and equations math is everywhere in the universe...Creation is awash with beauty in its precision and design and in math...Math is in the details of what and all He created...In His Divine Math, we see the beauty of a Divine Design...
God made the world in the beginning and Jesus was with God in the beginning, when creation happened...And through Jesus all things are made; without Him nothing in the universe was made that has been made...
Some math students often wonder about math and some even wonder how math fits into the scheme of life...Does math really relate to life and reality?...Does math really relate to what I want to do everyday?...But if we look at the symmetry of trees and their leaves, plants and flowers, and animals and the body itself -this symmetry is there and makes life beautiful...Two arms, two legs, two eyes, and two ears, the symmetry of life...Wouldn't we look odd if all were born with only one eye and one leg, and maybe one ear, or only one nostril?...The beauty and importance of symmetry often gets overlooked...Imagine just half a tree growing...There is this symmetry and design and beauty in what God designed...God has carefully placed math in our lives...So math and life are somehow related by God...Even scientists believe that math plays a very important role in understanding the universe...And the more they look, the more they are finding in nature and the universe...But it is hard to see the real world in terms of math...
When God sent His Son to us and He spoke the way He spoke in a why that was often hard to relate to life and reality and what we do everyday...And the Disciples, Jesus' Twelve Students got these lessons first hand...And I am sure they questioned how many of His lessons could relate to what was going on with their lives and everyday experiences and how these things related to their days...Jesus is such a complex Man and Speaker...And even though Jesus spoke to them often and I believe He explained many things to them, the Disciples must have had a great feeling, when He said I AM going to speak to you plainly...Jesus said "a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about My Father...In that day you will ask in My name...I AM not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf...No, the Father Himself LOVES you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God...I came from the Father and entered the world; now I AM leaving the world and going back to the Father.”...
Even this is mysterious...But Jesus is a reality and part of the real world...He is in nature, because all things are created through Him...Without Him nothing was made that has been made...And as we read the Bible, and study in the beginning, it seems what is a mystery to us, is completely understood by Jesus and His Father...And so it is...But often we have a hard time seeing and understanding the real world, we have a harder time understanding the Two who were there in the beginning, creating these things...