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John 6:30-36: None but Christ…

John 6:30-36: None but Christ…

“30 So they asked him, ‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’32 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’34 ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’35 Then Jesus declared,  ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” NIV

In this passage we meet with one of seven ‘I am’ sayings made by Jesus in the fourth gospel (35). Many commentators take these to be staggering intimations of divinity, reflecting God’s self-revelation in Exodus 3:14. He seems to draw on that rich Old Testament theology.

Don’t you greet verse 30 with a sense of incredulity? Yet it shows how spiritually obtuse we, the human race, can be. These people had been seeking Jesus off the back of the miracle of the loaves and fishes (22-24). They had been so impressed by it, so how could they now ask this?

They were possibly thinking that Moses showed his credentials in the miracle of the manna. Jesus corrected their thinking about it, saying it was not Moses who provided that ‘bread from heaven’, but God the Father. And it was only a type, or shadow of Christ, who was to come (and, who, of course, had now come (30-32).

The ‘bread of God’ is ‘he’, not it (33, 35).

True satisfaction is to be found in Jesus.

Real life is to be found in Jesus.

This life/satisfaction is for ‘the world’.

BUT only those who ‘come’ to Jesus; who ‘believe’ in Him, will receive it (35, 36). In fact, to believe in Jesus gives definition to what is meant by coming to Him.

The crowd had come to Christ in a physical/geographical sense. They had made an effort to seek Him out. But they didn’t really want HIM – only what He had to offer materially. Like the woman at the well (4:15), they took Jesus literally, whereas He intended to be taken spiritually.

”Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?’ (Isaiah 54:2a). That question still comes to us across the centuries with startling force and relevance.

Augustine said, ”Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts find no rest until they rest in thee.” 

There is in every heart a ‘Jesus-shaped hole’, and try as you might, you will not be able to fill that vacuum with anyone or anything else. What keeps you from coming to Him and believing?

Prayer: As the old hymn says, ”Now none but Christ can satisfy; no other Name for me. There’s love, and peace, and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in thee.” There is no one like you Lord, and I love you, and am deeply grateful.

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John 6:22-29: The ‘work’ of faith.

John 6:22-29: The ‘work’ of faith.

“22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realised that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realised that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’26 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’28 Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’29 Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’”NIV

One commentator said about (25), we know the real question is not ‘when’ but ‘how?’

”You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs – and for free.” The Message.

Jesus meets material needs. This is a truth about Him. He cares about our physical condition. But human nature being what it is, we can seek Him for self-centred reasons. Prosperity teaching ‘prospers’ (to the extent it does), because it appeals to selfish motives. However, if we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness ”all these things will be given…as well.” Jesus knows what is ”in a man”. (JOHN 2:25). He sees just where we are coming from (26). We can seek His blessing without wanting His rule. If we just go after what Christ can give us materially, but don’t want Him we will miss out on His best.

Verse 27 is all of a piece with chapter 4: 13. We can ‘eat’ at the world’s heavily laden table; we can ‘drink’ from it’s water supply, and yet go away totally unsatisfied. There is a level of consumption that whilst doing something for the body, does not reach the soul, the spirit. We may ‘work’ hard to fill that God-shaped hole, but our labours will get us nowhere. Everything the world system has to offer ‘spoils’, but what Jesus gives ‘endures’. It is a life that is ‘eternal’ (27)

”Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides.” The Message.

There is one ‘work’ we need and that is to put our trust in Jesus (29). This is a ‘work of God’. When anyone is converted and becomes a disciple; when they really believe in Jesus, that is something God Himself has done. So no Christian can ever boast about it.

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus that you fully satisfy.

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John 6:14-21: OFTEN.

John 6:14-21: OFTEN

“14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’ 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”NIV

”But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 4:16).

What you decide to do ‘often’ is important to you. It is a priority.

In a time of pressure, demand, and possibly dangerous temptation, Jesus again withdrew to a solitary place (15b). This is also instructive for us. Like Jesus, we need to build into our lives a pattern of withdrawal in order to advance. This is not about escapism or laziness. We go away from people and noise, only temporarily, in order to come back in power, and do the will of God. As someone observed, ”You need to learn that if you’re going to minister effectively to people, you can’t always be with people.”

Time away from the pressure and clamour of the crowd will help you to regain composure and perspective.

Jesus, in God’s time, descended the mountain and walked on the lake to save His terrified followers (16-21).

Do you have a solitary place you can go to on a regular basis? Matthew Henry has commented that we are never less alone than when we are thus alone – alone with the Father. Jesus is our example. Like Him, we go to the ‘lonely places’ in order to pray. That is not just to make requests, but it is to enjoy communion. It is not simply about ‘asking of’ but ‘being with’ – and it is recreating.

We don’t go away from people to run from reality.

We do it to recharge.

We do it to refuel.

And we return powered up for more effective service – to do things we could not do without being with the Father.

Always remember that when we are ‘willing’ to receive Jesus into our situations, just as He is (21), that’s when miracles happen.

It also strikes me that Jesus here models the ability to say ‘No’ to other people’s agendas for your life.’God made you and has a wonderful plan for your life.’ But somebody quipped, ‘God made you, and other people have a wonderful plan for your life!!’ You need a strong sense of what the Father wants of you, and then you can feel secure in that to turn opportunities down that don’t fit, however enticing they may be.

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John 6:1-13: ‘…how far will they go…?’

John 6:1-13:

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing those who were ill. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.7 Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’10 Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” NIV

 Andrew’s response to this food shortage was, perhaps, a little better than Philip’s (7, 9). At least it had a speck of faith in it. But not a lot. He could not imagine what use so small a picnic lunch could be:

”Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (9). He repeats the word ‘SMALL’. It is underlined in our thinking by repetition. 

We face the challenge of smallness in a world that is in love with the big, the bold and the brassy.

Our thinking is often similar:

”I’m such a small person – small in my own estimation – what great thing could I ever do?”

”My gifts seem so small and unspectacular, how could I be of help?”

”My financial contribution to this project is trivial compared to the sums certain people can donate? Does it really count for anything?”

”Our church is so small. We’re not a mega-church. We don’t have all the bells and whistles, the technological wizardry possessed by the church down the road. What’s the point of our existence? Do we have any meaningful role to play?”

The problem is, we tend to equate the word ‘small’ with another word – ‘insignificant’. At least, many of us do. But God doesn’t. Remember David (and Goliath!! Remember him?)

And this story shows that little becomes much when you place it in the mighty Hands of Jesus.

It was said of Hudson Taylor (I think) that he was ‘a man small enough for God to use.’ On one occasion he was being introduced at a meeting, and the convener gave him such a big build up, saying what a great man he was etc, etc. Hudson came to the platform and declared, ‘I am just the small servant of an illustrious Master.’

And look what God did with that one small life! Hudson Taylor placed his perceived smallness into the mighty Hands of God and see what happened. There was a multiplying effect and countless numbers of people were affected for good. Many were converted; many were called into Christian service. The nation of China was powerfully impacted.

It’s not about how small you are, but how big Jesus is. And Jesus already has ‘in mind’ what to do with little old you (6). So fear not.

”Christ often tests us to see what we shall say and do in the presence of overwhelming difficulty, but he always knows the way out…The world is to be fed by the cooperation of Christ and his Church.” F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.462.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I place my life afresh into you Hands today. Please make me more than I ever thought I could be.

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John 5:37-47: Bibliolatry?

John 5:37-47: Bibliolatry?

37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.41 ‘I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?45 ‘But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?’NIV

It is possible to be a serious Bible student and miss the whole point. If we don’t see Jesus in its pages, and fail to enjoy a relationship with Him, we miss everything that matters.

”You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.” The Message.

The Jews in general, and the religious leaders in particular, ‘diligently’ studied the Scriptures (39) They counted how many letters there were in each book and so on. They knew a lot about IT. But when their Messiah came, they failed to recognise HIM. They were, it’s been said, like people who value the medicine bottle but do not take the medicine. Or, they are to be compared with someone who admires the jewellery box, but not the treasure it contains. They prided themselves on knowing the works of ‘Moses’ (45-47), but missed the One who was at the heart of Moses’ writings; the very One he pointed a long finger towards spanning across the centuries.

Some people’s knowledge of the Bible makes them hard and harsh and judgmental, and you can’t help but wonder if they are missing the whole point.  You think, ‘Where is the heart and spirit of Jesus in such ferocious behaviour? ‘

As a preacher who tries to make a habit of expounding the Scriptures, I need to take to heart this reminder that it is all about Jesus. Wherever I am in the Bible I need to be pointing people to Jesus. Bible Study should lead to a relationship with Jesus, and to an ever-deepening relationship at that. It must never become an arid, academic pursuit that is an end in itself. David Pawson said once that we evangelicals accuse Roman Catholics of having a Trinity of Father, Son and Blessed Virgin. But we ourselves have often been guilty of believing in a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Scriptures. Beware!

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your Word. It is a remarkable Book. Enable me please, whenever I open it, to meet you there and receive your life. If I am ‘refusing’ you in any area today, please show me and bring me back to a place of full surrender.

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John 5:30-38: Prove it!

John 5:30-38

30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.31 ‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true.33 ‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.36 ‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.NIV

John 5:16-46 is a theologically BIG section of the New Testament. It’s clear message is that’s Jesus is God. He is equal with God, and He is God.

But how do we know the claim is true? How can it be proved?

Jesus, as it were, calls witnesses to the dock to testify on His behalf:

There is the Father Himself (32,37). At His baptism, His Father publicly owned Him as His ‘beloved Son’ (Matthew 3:17). 

There are the works the Father gave Christ to accomplish (36). These works include the healing, the raising, the judgment, as we have seen (16-29).

There is the testimony of John the Baptist (33-35). There may be in (35) the idea that John ‘burned up’. His witness to Jesus was costly. He was a martyr.

Tomorrow we will hear a fourth witness bringing evidence to the court room, I.e. God’s Word (37-47).

But I finish today’s thought with a musing of F.B. Meyer. He said that Jesus clung to God’s will as to a handrail all the way down the staircase to Calvary (30). As he writes, God’s will is goodwill.

Prayer: Lord show me your will and help me delight to do it.

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John 5: 19-29: More gigantic claims.

John 5: 19-29: More gigantic claims.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.24 ‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.28 ‘Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.NIV

 

Following the healing of an invalid man on the Sabbath day, Jesus spoke of His unity withy the Father. The Father had healed the man, and Jesus’ work of healing on this occasion gave expression to His oneness with the Father. The Jews got the point and saw that Jesus was claiming equality with God (18). That gave them even more reason to want to kill Him. But this was just the starting point. Jesus had even more things to say about His essential unity with the Father. He can only do what the Father does (19) so whenever we see Jesus at work, that is God the Father at work. And, indeed, to honour the Son is to honour the Father (23). If we don’t honour Jesus we can’t honour God. 

We need to get this message:

The Father heals the sick on the Sabbath, and so the Son does – for they are one (16-18);

As the Father raises the dead, so Jesus has the power to raise people both spiritually and physically – for they are one (21, 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29);

As the Father judges all, so does Jesus – for they are one (22, 23).

”The relationship of our Lord to the Father was such that he felt himself competent to fulfill all the functions of the Divine Being. Is it God’s prerogative to raise the dead? It is also Jesus Christ’s…Is it the divine right to be the judge of man? It is also the Redeemer’s right…Is it the peculiar attitude of God to be the fountain of life, so that life, inherent, underived, and perennial, is ever arising in his nature, sustaining here an angel and there a hummingbird? This is also an attribute of our blessed Lord…The entire sum of the attributes of Deity are resident in the nature of the Son of man. But though although all divine attributes were his, and might have been called into operation, he forebode to use them, that he might learn the life of dependence and faith, the life which was to become ours toward himself. He did nothing apart from the Father…No vine ever clung more closely to its trellis, and no child to its mother, than he to the Father. See Gal.2:20; Heb.12:2” F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, pp.461,462.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as you walked through life in total dependence on your Father, so enable me to keep my heart and eyes fixed on you. I need you every hour, every minute, every second (and milli-second!)

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John 5:10-18: That’s gratitude for you.

John 5:10-18: That’s gratitude for you.

10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’11 But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’12 So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defence Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. NIV

I still smile at the memory of some words I read in a commentary years ago: ‘The man healed by Jesus appears to have been an unpleasant character!!’ He certainly wanted to avoid any flak coming his way and was happy for them to train their sights on Jesus (10, 11 and 15). He showed them where to aim their fire (15). If he did repent of his sins, we have no clear indication of it. Yet the Lord had been so good to him.

It appears that the healed man’s illness was connected in some way to sinful behaviour (14). Sin is ultimately destructive to the human body. It is not good for your health. It is for our own good that Jesus asks us to leave our sinful burden at the foot of His cross. That’s not the main reason, of course, but it is a reason.

Religion shows its worst face where it just cares about rules and regulations and not the needs and struggles of real people. The key to understanding all this anger towards to Jesus lies in the fact that the Lord performed the miracle on the Sabbath day. It led to the man carrying his bed on the Sabbath, and these clerics interpreted that as work (9b, 10; see also 16). Even worse, Jesus said the man He healed was in fact healed by His Father  in heaven (who was also working on the Sabbath day), and so He was expressing His oneness with God (18). That’s what they took Him to mean, and they were correct to do so:  ‘It was not his own deed, but the Father’s in him and through him. If, then, they condemned it, they were in direct collision with the Infinite One from whom the Sabbath law had originally come.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.461.

This is one of the massive claims made by Jesus about His own identity. He did not think that He was just a man. How about you? What’s your view of Jesus? As C.S. Lewis argued, Jesus is who He says He is, or He is a psychiatric case (on the same level as someone saying he’s a poached egg), or He is the devil from hell. But we must not come out with any patronising nonsense about Him just being a good man. He has not left that option open to us.

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John 5:1-9: ‘Do you want to be healed?’

John 5:1-9: ‘Do you want to be healed?’

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralysed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’7 ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’8 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, NIV

It’s a fair question: ‘Do you want to be healed?’ Some people, I am convinced, ENJOY bad health. There can be comfort zones in sickness. Pastors sometimes wonder whether certain people who expose their problems (and sins) really do want to be healed. Or do they just want to vent, have a jolly good moan, get things off their chest, without ever having to go through the trouble of changing? There is also the even bigger question of, ‘Do you really want Jesus in your life at all?’ Do you want Him to re-connect you to God? Or does that appear just too pricey, not to say inconvenient? 

Could it be that this man was making an excuse for remaining in his invalid condition? (6). It may not be fair to ask this, but you can’t help but wonder. Whatever, out of this great heaving crowd of human need, it would appear that Jesus homed in on just one man and set him free. So we see Christ’s sovereignty in the work of healing.

You may have heard the joke, ‘How many counsellors does it take to change a light bulb?’ The answer is, ‘Only one. But the light bulb has really got to want to change!!’ There is something in that.

‘Are you a withered soul? Healing and wholeness are in Christ for you. Receive from him the power that waits to flow through your wasted muscles. Believe that it is passing through you. And act accordingly. Spring to your feet, roll up your bed, and carry that which has so long carried you.’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’,p.461.

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