[Devotion] John 6:63-65

⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
--ESV

So I was doing my devotions this morning and I just wanted to remark on how crazy this passage is. It's crystal clear now! The Spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all. Literally. There you have it. Why bother trying to incorporate the sinful man into anything we do? Flesh, move out of the way for the life-giving Spirit to minister through us! And there's this point of contention where Jesus knows that even some do not believe. This is Jesus we're talking about here! God incarnate who walked the earth and spoke in spirit and life, in whole truth, perfect in every way and yet there were still some who did not believe. How does that even make any sense?! In one way you could say, "well if Jesus couldn't do it, then why should I bother trying?" But I don't choose that way- I choose instead to ask God to make my words spirit and life by the Holy Spirit. And to pray for those who do not believe to be opened up!

Another part is where it says that Jesus knew from the beginning he who would betray him. Can you imagine this? This is ridiculous! This would be like if I had a posse of friends with me and everyday I walked around knowing that one of them was going to stab me in the back one day. I can't imagine the pressure that would be on my soul to have this on me. But even in knowing this from the beginning, Jesus did not spite Judas, nor did he choose someone else. He chose Judas to be one of the disciples. What humility! What grace! What love! Bah! Mind boggling, I do say.