I was reading John 6 today and came across a passage that reminded me of something Olivia Pope said on Scandal last week.
The disgruntled former Assistant U.S. Attorney, David Rosen, no longer wanted to retain her “fixing” services in last week’s episode after he was set up for a murder. He asked Olivia, “How much do I owe you?” She smugly replied, “You can’t afford me” and walked out of the door, leaving him speechless. I’m pretty sure Shonda Rhimes must have been reading John 6 for this one because Jesus makes an awesome statement there: “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” Confused (same kind of confusion the former Assistant U.S. Attorney experienced), the crowd asked: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Yeah, because you have to do something to earn this food Jesus is talking about, right? In essence, they were asking, “How much do we owe you?” And Jesus replies, “This is the work…believe in Him who He has sent.” Summary: “You can’t afford it.”
That’s it? I aint gotta do nothing? Okay, okay. What’s the catch Jesus? But there is no catch. Jesus’ entire purpose was to fulfill the righteous requirement that we can’t work off if we had an eternity to do so (Romans 8:3-4). Unfortunately, we’re always trying to throw our checkbooks at God. I went to church for four weeks straight. I tithe regularly. I went on a “missions” trip to Rio (and packed five bikinis). As much try, we can’t afford it. Which is where the Gospel intervenes. Knowing that we couldn’t afford it, Jesus decided to take on flesh, be beaten, mocked, flogged, and crucified—only to be resurrected three days later. We’re now called righteous—because he COULD afford it. And that’s good news.
