February 11, 2018
Evening Service

This morning we were treated to two miracles performed by Jesus.  He fed 5,000 men (probably more like 15,000 people counting the women and children) with 5 loaves and 2 fish.  His popularity has been growing as He is healing the sick and now feeding the hungry as well.  To escape the crowd, He went up into the hills alone to pray and sent the disciples on an adventure of their own into the Sea of Galilee.  As they were caught in a storm a little over half way across the sea, Jesus walked out to them on the water.  The storm was calmed and they arrived immediately and miraculously at their destination.  Jesus is using these miracles to not only build the faith of those who witness them, but also to teach His followers what it truly means to follow Him.  He will place us into storms and times of being overwhelmed but He wants us to trust in Him and what He can do rather than to trust in our own abilities.  If He calls you to a task, He will see that you have everything you need to complete it in His time. 

John 6:22-27  The following day, the crowd standing on the other side of the sea had seen that there was no other little boat there except that one into which His disciples had entered, and when they saw that Jesus did not go with His disciples into the little boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone,  (23)  (however, other boats from Tiberius came near the place where they ate the loaves, the Lord having given thanks),  (24)  therefore, when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves also entered into the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.  (25)  And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”  (26)  Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.  (27)  Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him.”

·        The people at first seem quite committed to follow Jesus, but He quickly recognizes their true motivation and calls them out for it.  They wanted their bellies to be filled again with fish and bread.  The disciples certainly got the true meaning from the miracle that was performed but the crowd hadn’t.  They were viewing it from the physical realm not the spiritual.  Jesus warns them, and us, to not let the physical realm be the motivation for our labors but we need to labor for the food given from the spiritual realm.  Jesus can certainly feed all of us satisfying our physical appetite, but it is our spiritual appetite that He was sent to fulfill.

 

John 6:28-31 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?”  (29)  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent.”  (30)  Therefore they said to Him, “What sign do you show then, so that we may see and believe you? What work will You do?  (31)  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat."

·        I believe many who seek to be a follower of Jesus are confused on what exactly is expected of them.  Most religions require great efforts to reach a level of righteousness that then will deserve a reward.  We feel we have to do something to earn something.  This again defines the difference between the spiritual and the physical realm.

 

·        Doing the “works of God” or “being in God’s will” simply begins with believing in the One God sent to us; Jesus Christ.  Satisfying God is not about what we do, but it is about whom we believe.  The journey of a Jesus follower must begin with truly accepting who He is the “Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Our spiritual growth must begin with that first step.  It will be a lifelong journey from that point, but it begins there.

·        There are some here in this crowd at Capernaum however who are not sincere followers, but actually skeptics either wanting to be entertained or wanting to receive another free meal.  They are prodding Jesus into topping what Moses did for their ancestors by feeding them manna every day.  “What are You going to do for us?  What sign will You show us today?”

 

John 6:32-33  Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses did not give you that bread from Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven.  (33) For the bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.”

·        Jesus quickly points out that it was not Moses who gave them manna, but it was His Father who provided it.  That bread was temporal and only lasted for a short time.  It would rot if you tried to keep it beyond one day (except on the day before the Sabbath and it would last two days).  It was physical bread that will perish, but the bread of God will give eternal life to the world.

 

John 6:34-36 Then they said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”  (35)  And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes on Me shall never thirst.  (36) But I said to you that you also have seen Me and do not believe.”

·        The skeptics in the crowd still did not understand as they asked for this physical bread to be given to them as a lifetime supply.  Jesus answers with the first of His seven “I am” statements in the gospel of John.  “I am the bread of life,” and also promises that anyone who partakes of Him will never spiritually hunger or thirst again.  Our spiritual hunger can be satisfied and our spiritual life can be sustained only by a relationship with Jesus Christ (the bread of life).   Many still after seeing Him and His signs did not believe.  Seeing is not always believing.  Jesus now shares a truth that we all will love to hear and will cling to.

 

John 6:37-40  “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will in no way cast out.  (38)  For I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.  (39)  And this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day.  (40)  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes on Him should have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day.”

·        We again are shown that the Father and Son work in unity together not independently.  Jesus came with the purpose of doing the will of God, not to satisfy His human desires.  Our purpose should line up in the same manner, God first in everything.

 

 

 

 

 

·        All those who come to Jesus will be accepted and He states here He will not lose one that has been given to Him.  We can thus deduct then that anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior is secure in God’s promise of eternal life.  Christ will not let those who sincerely come to Him be overcome by Satan and lose their salvation.  When we come to Him and accept Him as our Savior, we become a child of God.  There may be times in our lives that we become a disobedient child, but we are still His child. 

·        Jesus emphatically repeats verse 39 in verse 40.  “Everyone who sees the Son and believes on Him should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  This is a promise not from your pastor, but from your Savior.  By believing upon Him you will receive the gift of eternal life and on that last day, He will return to receive you unto Himself.  You would have to really work to dispel the clarity in which He speaks these words to us.  It is the will of the Father that once we commit to Christ we are in it to win it!  We may falter, but Jesus will not!

 

What did we learn about Jesus?

·        He knows the intent of our heart.

·        His primary goal is not to satisfy your physical needs, but your spiritual ones.

·        He follows the will of His Father and His will is that when we commit to Him, He will not lose any of us to Satan.

·        He is the bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger.

 

What can we apply to our lives?

·        Don’t try to fool God; you are only fooling yourself for He knows your heart.

·        Jesus has completed the work for our salvation and Satan will never remove us from His hand.

 

Heavenly Father, may we always be satisfied by the true Bread of life You have given unto us.  Thank You that our salvation is secure in Jesus Christ.