Why do you follow Jesus today?

Good morning and happy Monday and blessings.

The purpose of John writing his Gospel account is so that people will believe in Jesus. But we could also point out that there’s a secondary purpose in today’s chapter (John 6:22-29) that John stresses and emphasizes for us. And that is: Not everyone who is interested in Jesus is actually a true believer, or a true follower of Christ. In-fact; Jesus even says that one of the 12 Disciples isn’t even a true follower, of course He’s talking about Judas. So we have Judas, and we have the religious leaders, and we have the crowds, and we have Peter, and they are all showing us that just because a person says they are following Jesus, or just because a person shows an interest in Jesus, that doesn’t mean that they’ve truly been born again by the Spirit of God.

So, a bunch of false disciples have gathered around Jesus. They’ve been attracted to Him for a number of reasons. First of all, crowds tend to draw larger crowds. Initially Jesus drew a crowd because of His healing miracles, and the water into wine… so He drew a crowd, and then people started coming to see what the crowd was all about, and the crowd got bigger. And of course; false disciples are attracted by crowds. They’re easy to hide in, and it’s easy to remain anonymous if you want. But they’re interested in what they think Jesus is going to be to them and Jesus calls them out. They do not have a serious commitment to him.

In addition, false disciples have their minds set on worldly benefits. Remember from last time, Jesus feeds over 5000 people, and they all of a sudden want to make Him their king. We focus on seeking Jesus as He is the greatest treasure, the only meaningful gift, not necessarily what He gives us, but He, Himself. It is not so much what Jesus can give me but rather what I can give Jesus.

This passage from today's Gospel lets us see another reality and that is that false disciples have either no interest, or a twisted interest in building a healthy relationship with Jesus. It’s all either, God You are really blessing me, or, God WHY AREN’T You blessing me? They have no interest in matters of peace and righteousness, or repentance and holiness, prayer, or truth. The message centers on all of this is that we can be looking for Jesus for the wrong reasons. Let me put it this way: You need to seek Jesus for the right reason, by the right route, and through the right relationship. I cannot deceive God.

The difference we see in Scripture today is that true disciples, true followers of Christ, those who have truly been born again and saved by the grace of God, they stumble, they fall, they make mistakes, they sometimes act foolishly and sin. But when they stumble, they stumble forward, when they fall, they rise up again. They actually fight against their sin, and when they do sin, they repent. They persevere in the faith. And as they continue to walk with Jesus, they begin to realize more and more, that Jesus is the real treasure. Jesus is the real prize. Knowing Him and being known by Him, they realize, it’s all about Jesus.  So, God knows if there is sincerity and honesty in my intentions to serve him or if I am full of hypocrisy.

Today I invite you to take a spiritual inventory and discover the reasons why you follow Jesus. Are you ready?

Blessings

Fr. Luis+