Day #289
Scripture Reading: John 5 - 6 …
The hunger of the human soul for meaning and
purpose cannot be satisfied in any other way than by faith in Jesus Christ.
As Jesus performed miracles, it was His teaching that the miracles
pointed to. Jesus said, "Whoever hears my word and believes Him
who sent me HAS eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life" (5:24). Have you heard His voice? Have
you come to the Father through faith in Him? What does it mean to "eat
His flesh and drink His blood?" This is SO much more than mere
religion!
As Jesus continued to perform miracles He was
beginning to enter into a new phase of His ministry. Opposition from the
Pharisees and others in the Jewish community was increasing. They saw His
miracles, yet criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath. Theirs was an
outward devotion to the Law that came from a desire to condemn
"sinners," while Jesus came to transform sinners so that the Law
would be written on their hearts and obedience would come from inside.
Because their eyes were blind and their hearts were
spiritually dead, the Pharisees could not understand what Jesus was saying and
they refused to believe that He was who He said He was. As Jesus spoke
about His relationship with the Father, the Pharisees must have cringed. "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" (5:21). And then, "He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him" (5:23).
Jesus claimed to be sent from the Father and to have come down from
heaven. You can understand why the Pharisees would have trouble accepting
this!
How could they miss the truth that Jesus was the
fulfillment of all that the prophets had written? Spiritual blindness is
real and it afflicts all of mankind. When Jesus healed physically, it
always pointed to the deeper need of spiritual healing. Jewish law did not receive the testimony of a
person concerning themselves, so Jesus points to other testimony about Him,
beginning with John the Baptist. John had testified that Jesus was "the
Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29).
But Jesus said He had even greater testimony than John.
All that Jesus was doing testified that He WAS the
Messiah, that He was sent from God, that the very power and authority of God
was His. "The very work that the Father has given me to finish,
and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. AND the
Father who sent me has HIMSELF testified concerning me" (5:36-37). The Pharisees and others had sufficient
testimony to know who Jesus was and to believe in Him, but their hearts were hard
and their eyes were blind. Jesus said, "You
diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess
eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about ME, yet you
refuse to come to me to have life" (5:39-40).
How many good works do
you have to do to go to heaven? Jesus
said, "The work of God is to believe in the One He has sent!" (6:29).
Only faith in Jesus Christ leads to eternal life. If you rest in
anything else ... anything, you will never possess the life of Christ within
you. The testimony of those who are in Christ is that HE is life and that
He has accomplished all that I could not.
So we come to John 6, the turning point in Jesus'
ministry. Jesus fed the 5,000 and then
walked on the water to the disciples as they crossed the lake. As the
crowds asked for more miracles and more food for their bodies, Jesus confronted
them with their true need: bread from heaven. The Jews were proud
of their heritage and pointed to God's provision of manna during the wandering
of their ancestors in the wilderness after God had delivered them from their
slavery in Egypt. Jesus wanted them to
understand that all of that pointed to this moment, to this time in history ...
Jesus says, "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. For 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" (6:39-40).
Here is the dividing line that separates all of
humanity between those who have life in Jesus and those who do not. "No
one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise
him up at the last day" (6:44). "This is why I told you
that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him" (6:65).
Many declare that those who are spiritually dead can, of their own free
will, decide to believe in Jesus, to confess Him as Savior and acknowledge Him
as Lord. But Jesus says that is impossible. He told the crowd that
they must "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood ...
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day" (6:53-54).
What?! Yes! "This is the bread
that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he
who feeds on THIS bread will live forever!" (6:58). They
actually thought Jesus was talking about His physical body and blood, but Jesus
explained to the disciples: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh
counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they
are life!" (6:63). ONLY through
faith in Jesus Christ, "eating His body and blood," finding
satisfaction for your spiritual hunger and thirst in Him, will you enter
eternal life. There is no other way!
John records that "from this time many of
His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him" (6:66 ...
an interesting number ...). Jesus asked the disciples if they wanted to
leave Him, too, but Peter answered as you and I must: "Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe
and know that you ARE the Holy One of God" (6:69). Jesus IS the
bread that came down from heaven. He, and He alone, gives life to those
who believe in Him. Have you received that life? Are you trusting
in Jesus today? Eat well today of His Word, and as you hear His voice your
soul will be satisfied!
"My Father in heaven, in Your Son I have found
life! I thank You for the testimony You have given and I rest in Jesus as
my righteousness in Your sight. Forgive me for my sin and continue Your
work in me, that I may follow Jesus all my days and live to praise and honor
You, my God, in Jesus' name, Amen"
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