Some people worry about the so-called hard sayings of Jesus. But at least keep this in mind: no world-class teacher always says that which is expected, predictable, wholly understandable. There are ocean depths to their words and actions. If they truly are great, we should expect that they will say things which are startling, paradoxical, perhaps even, on their face, offensive. Just as a great novel leaves literary critics debating its meaning and significance for years, so it is with a great teacher. And that’s exactly what we find in Jesus.
And so, while we can and should wrestle with all his hard sayings, we should not, for a moment, be perturbed that he gave some hard sayings. Indeed, that is precisely one of the many things that make him great.
