We see this all the time: Lopsided and agenda-driven portrayals of Jesus, only partially quoting him and/or quoting him out of context in order to prove a point, rather than to share Christ’s full Gospel.

Yet, I present these to you to help balance what is often a soft-pedaled picture of Jesus who only said things we can all agree on. Jesus isn’t to just to be admired, he is to be worshipped. He certainly is the Prince of Peace who lived a life marked by love, but he’s also the King of Kings who taught a message marked by Truth – and we would do well to remember that.

I present to you five quotes of Jesus that should keep anyone from thinking he is the flower-laden-do-whatever-you-want guru that society wants to paint him as.

Using the English Standard Version of the Bible, I pulled at least one quote from each of the four Gospels. Yes, I will provide some context with each verse, but if anything – I do so just to further emphasize these statements are clear on their own.

And so, here are five things that Jesus said that everyone would rather just soon forget.

Matthew 7:21

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Simply put, calling Jesus “Lord” does not prove he truly is your Lord, nor does it convince Jesus that you see him this way. Actually obeying God is how we show that we truly love and trust Christ with our hearts, lives, and salvation. Of course, we will never do this perfectly, which is exactly why we need a savior in the first place.

Matthew 10:33

“…whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Personal, yes, but Jesus is not in the business of his followers having a “private” faith. Without question, Jesus wants us to be peacemakers. Without question, Jesus calls us to be humble and kind. But make no mistake, Christians are meant to shine the light and make disciples – and that means, announcing his name as the name above all names. If we don’t align ourselves with him in the presence of men, then why would Christ align himself with us in the presence of God?

Mark 1:15

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Oh, the word we want others to live by, but seldom do ourselves: Repent. Jesus called people to repent; to turn from their sin and to believe the gospel. Jesus did not call us just to love, he called us to repent; to turn from the life we are living and to follow him as we trust in the promises of the Gospel for salvation and eternal life.

Luke 14:33

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Wow… wait, Jesus. What about the American Dream? What about being with who we love? What about, what about, what about…? Jesus is clear in this: He is to be before all things in our lives. To renounce does not mean live with nothing, it does not mean don’t get married and have kids, it does not mean go live out the rest of your days in solitude as monk in a monastery… It does not specifically mean any of those things, but here’s the notion – it might. In Luke’s account, the word used for ‘renounce’ is “ἀποτάσσω” (apotassó) and it means “to bid farewell, to take leave of,” meaning, we are to lay aside the life we’re living and follow Jesus in his way of life.

This is the beauty of discipleship, we all are to follow Jesus and to place everything a his feet. Yes, each of our lives as a disciple of Jesus will have some distinction (some called to be pastors, missionaries, stay at home moms, school teachers, but all laying all things before his feet) as we yet have complete unity in him. What we must always do, especially with verses like this, is to hold them in the light of the full breadth of Jesus’ teaching – and when we do we’ll see the clear message: Christ is to be first in our lives.

John 10:30

“I and the Father are one.”

We hear it all the time: “But Jesus never claimed to be God.” Wrong! Truly, you won’t find the exact words “I am God” in that exact order ever attributed to Jesus anywhere in the Bible. But this is because we get an even more profound and pronounced statement from Jesus: He and the Father are “one.”

Notice, Jesus doesn’t say, “I am the Father” and he doesn’t say, “I and the Father are the same.” Rather, Jesus, using language with which we can begin to understand the Trinity, says, “I and the Father are one.”

If you think that this is too vague, then you’re not understanding the context. When Jesus said this, he was almost immediately killed for it because His first audience knew exactly what he was saying: Jesus was claiming to be God. It’s hard to overstate how much this changes everything: If this is true, then Jesus Christ is not just a prominent historical figure, he is the most important person who will ever have lived. If Christ is God, this nullifies every other religion, philosophy, or ethic.

There should be no submission to following Jesus’ teaching that doesn’t includes a discussion about his most defining claim: That he and the Father are one, that he is God in the flesh. If God, Jesus should be worshipped. If lying, Jesus should be forgotten.

WORDS GOT JESUS KILLED

Remember, it wasn’t what Jesus did that led to his crucifixion. It was what he said. Jesus was crucified for blasphemy.

People want to look only at Jesus’ life (and a perfect life, it was), but we must also reckon with what Jesus said: All of what he said. Our lives are to come into conformity with him and what he taught; not the other way around.

And so, while these five verses may be challenging, even feeling like Jesus is drawing a line in the sand, we must also see their power as they beautifully demonstrate why Christ is like none other – and personally, why I put my faith in him and none else… even if some of his teachings are massive challenges to both my heart and the status quo.

So, these may be things that Jesus said that everyone would rather just soon forget, but these are words of Jesus that make it so we can’t forget him – but rather, so that we put all of our trust in him.