Do We Really Know Jesus?

Daily Lectionary Reading

Psalm 69

Jeremiah 22:13-23

Romans 8:12-27

John 6:41-51

 

John 6:41-51

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

 

 41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

 

42They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

 

 43″Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44″No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.'[a] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

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   They began to grumble again because what Jesus was trying to teach them was outside of the box thinking. When he equates himself with Moses and the manna, they remind him that he is simply the son of Mary and Joseph. We know them and there is nothing special about you. How can you claim that you have come down from heaven?

 

   Jesus must again assert his heavenly connection and try to get them to look not at the physical side of things, but to open their spiritual eyes and find the true meaning of God’s plan for their lives. Believe in Jesus—whom I have sent—and you will be saved. He has said this time and time again in the Gospel, but they do not believe. Their spiritual eyes are sealed shut and they cannot grasp the eternal import of his message for them.

 

   As a pastor, this passage from John’s Gospel is as close as the writer gets to a communion scene as is found in the other Gospels on Jesus’ last night with the disciples. John does not have Jesus talk about the bread and the cup and doing these things in memory of him. Instead, he equates Jesus flesh with the Bread of Heaven and talks about those that eat this bread and the significance that such eating has for their lives.

 

   For John, there is great symbolism in the I am statements: I am the Light of the World, I am the Bread of Life, etc. John appears to be giving us pegs onto which we can hang our faith. In this part of the Gospel, the peg is the Bread of Life comparison. We all know about bread and how we need it physically. John says, Jesus is spiritual bread that we also need and that we must not ignore.

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Prayer: Lord, let me taste, feel and eat the Bread of Life which you offer freely to me.

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The Bread of Life

Daily Lectionary Reading

Psalm 101

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Romans 8:1-11

John 6:27-40

 

John 6:27-40 

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

 

27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

 

 28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

 

 29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

 

 30So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'[a]”

 

 32Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, 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. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

 34″Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”

 

35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

 

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A familiar theme appears again. The crowd is seeing and understanding the situation through their physical senses. They are not grasping the spiritual importance of what is transpiring before their very eyes. They start with a good probing spiritual question: “What must we do to do the works God requires?” They quickly turn it around though and begin questioning about physical things. They fall back to the party line —“Moses did this for us, can you not do the same.”—mentality.

 

   Jesus assures them that he can but first they must understand that all the things that he does and that Moses did, originate from God. He then tells them that he is the Bread of Life come down from heaven and that it is the Father’s will that anyone that believes in him will have eternal life.

 

   One of the best wedding presents that Debbie and I received was a bread maker. There is something magic about mixing the ingredients together and then four hours and ten minutes later taking out fresh hot bread. I suppose that bread would be the one item that I hope I never have to give up eating. I could do without steak, but a good piece of fresh bread is hard to do without.

 

   Jesus is sort of the same way. He is hard to do without. As I have traveled with him on my spiritual journey I have come to realize the importance of the Bread that he offers to me. I have come to know that there is a hunger in my Spirit that can only be satisfied by the bread that he provides. I have also come to understand that he has offered himself as part of God’s plan for me so that I may not hunger or thirst spiritually again. Furthermore, once I have claimed him, he doesn’t let go of his claim upon me. I have believed in him and he does not abandon me.

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Prayer: Lord, may that hunger within me continue to grow and grow and let me always turn back to the Bread of Life to satisfy it.

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Continental Breakfast for the Crowd

Daily Lectionary Reading

Psalm 97

Jeremiah 17:13-25

Romans 7:13-25

John 6:16-27

 

John 6:16-27 

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

 

Jesus Walks on the Water

 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where 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. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,[a] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.

 

20But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

 

 22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

 

Jesus the Bread of Life

 25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

 26Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

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   This is not the more famous Jesus walking on water story where Peter steps out of the boat to join him. Rather, this account has Jesus appearing to his disciples that have gone on without him to the other shore. In the middle of the night—in the middle of a storm—to a group of tired, and upon seeing him—Frightened followers—Jesus appears and they immediately make it safely to the shore.

 

   The next day, the multitude, fresh from a nights sleep and a good meal, begin looking for their complimentary continental breakfast buffet. Jesus though was nowhere to be found. They realized that the disciples left without him. When some boats landed and they still hadn’t found Jesus, they set out searching for him. They might have missed breakfast, but they sure weren’t going to miss lunch!

 

   When they caught up with Jesus, he quickly lets them know that they only reason that they are seeking him is to have their physical hunger satisfied. Jesus points out that it is not their physical hunger that is driving them but really the hunger of their spirits that needs to be quenched.

 

   I don’t think there is anything much better than a well grilled steak, a baked potato and a salad. As far as I am concerned its natures perfect meal. However, even after such a perfect meal for dinner. The next morning I wake up wanting something more to eat. The physical hunger that was satisfied by the steak and potatoes is once again coursing through my body and I have to eat to make the hunger go away.

 

   I also realize that there is within me a spiritual hunger that needs to be satisfied. At times the hunger pangs are stronger than at others, yet I ignore these pangs at my own peril. I’ve learned that just like physical hunger, you can put off your spiritual hunger. You can train your body to exist on less physical food and you can train your spirit to get by on less spiritual food than it really needs. Starving your spirit, however, will lead to burnout and a sense of separation from God.

 

   Thus, I suggest that instead of starving your spirit, you should seek to satiate your spirit with God’s word and with prayer.

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Prayer: Lord, as I feel those spiritual hunger pangs, let me satisfy them with a fresh helping of your Word.

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