It can be discouraging to see others leave the faith. Many of us have hopelessly watched people we love decide they can’t follow Jesus anymore, and it’s heartbreaking. Not only that, but it seems to sow seeds of doubt in us as well. Our own foundations on Christ feel a little shaky. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the disciples after a massive horde of followers left him. No doubt the pressure on them was powerful. Yet something compelled these twelve men to hold onto their trust and devotion for Christ.
Peter answered for the whole group: “to whom shall we go?” In other words, “what other option do we really have?” Once you’ve really experienced the life giving Word of God in its full power, once you’ve come to really know Jesus’ holiness, it becomes clear that nothing else will ever be good enough. How could we ever leave his side, the faithful disciples ask, when we know so clearly that the glorious gospel of Jesus is true? Better yet, how could we ever leave seeing that nothing else is?
When Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 attempted a voyage across the Antarctic Sea in 1914, they’re ship got stuck in the ice and they stayed stranded for a full year. Shackleton jumped into action to direct his crew on rationing their resources, keeping one another alive, and finding hope of rescue. Every man on the ship found that their only hope of survival was to trust in Shackleton’s leadership even when hope seemed impossible. I imagine that’s how the disciples felt when faced when the question of whether to keep following Jesus. They knew the alternatives. They knew that eternal life could not be found anywhere else.
Against the worst odds, every last man of Shackleton’s crew made it out alive. Trusting their leader in spite of discouragement paid off, as it did in infinitely greater measure for the disciples. So even when the world seems to be abandoning Christ, follow the disciples’ example and don’t let discouragement stop your faith! There have always been those who have walked away from Jesus, none worse than Jesus’ own close friend Judas; and yet the global family of believers have never ceased to prosper, because our God has never ceased to be sovereign. To whom else shall we go? Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. We have tasted and seen that to be true. So how could we ever turn away?
