Monday: “Surely, He Is the Prophet”
Daily Lesson for Monday 7th of October 2024
Read John 6:14-15,26-36. How did the people respond to His miracle, and how did Jesus use this to try to teach them who He was?
The Judeans were expecting an earthly messiah who would deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. Two of the most difficult things encountered in war are feeding the troops and caring for the wounded and dead. By His miracles, Jesus showed that He could do both.
Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com
But that’s not why Jesus had come, and that wasn’t the purpose of His miracle. Instead, the account of the feeding of the 5,000 provided the opportunity to illustrate that Jesus is the Bread of Life, that God Himself came down from heaven. “ ‘I am the bread of life,’ ” He said. “ ‘He who comes to Me shall never hunger’ ” (John 6:35, NKJV).
This is the first of the seven “I am” statements in the Gospel of John, where “I am” is connected with some predicate (“bread of life,” John 6:35; “light of the world,” John 8:12; “door,” John 10:7,9; “Good Shepherd,” John 10:11,14; “resurrection and the life,” John 11:25; “the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6; “true vine,” John 15:1,5). Each of these points to an important truth about Jesus. The “I am” statements point back to Exodus 3:1-22, where God presents Himself to Moses as the great I AM (compare with John 8:58). Jesus is that great I AM.
But the people missed all this.
“Their dissatisfied hearts queried why, if Jesus could perform so many wondrous works as they had witnessed, could He not give health, strength, and riches to all His people, free them from their oppressors, and exalt them to power and honor? The fact that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s king, was a mystery which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself doubted as to the divine character of His mission. Thus they opened their hearts to unbelief, and the seed which Satan had sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding and defection.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 385.
They were looking for material benefit instead of truth that endures to eternal life. This is a trap that we all potentially face if we are not careful.
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How can we avoid getting caught up in material things at the expense of the spiritual? |
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Surely He was more than a prophet. Here was the incarnate Creator of the Universe veiled in humanity. So many missed it in His day, and even still do today. Let Him be what He came to be, a Savior, not from the enemy of Rome, but from the enemies of sin, and Satan.
Amen,sin is the deadliest disease which humanity need to be cured.
I've always thought the people were so shallow to be asking for a sign again, the next day, from Jesus when they just experienced such a tremendous one. They wanted to be fed again! And yet, in a way don't we do the same thing? God shows His love through a special intervention for us, or through a revelation in His Word, but we are immediately yearning for more ...and for another confirmation that God's presence is indeed on the other end of our longing. And didn't the wilderness Israelites get that daily confirmation through the daily receiving of manna? Every day, and double on Friday, they had proof that God had not forgotten them and their needs. Weren't we made to have hungry hearts that seek after Jesus? So the longing is built-in.
Jesus made sure to point away from physical food and material signs, though, towards Himself directly, towards the Word made flesh (John 6:24,26-27). We fill up on His Word as our spiritual Daily Bread, and look for ways that He applies it to our current circumstances, and this does carry us. We continue on the Way...and Jesus Himself being "the Way" means we continue on in relationship with Him...in faith through His Word, and are grateful for the confirming signs He provides.
Jesus offered a similar invitation to the Samaritan woman...to drink Him in, the Living Water, and she would not thirst again, because she could continually drink from the fountain (John 4:14). We now have intimate and eternal fellowship with Him (Rev. 21:6; 22:17). We have found what we seek. Jesus promises that by dwelling in Him, trusting in Him, He will satisfy our hunger and thirst (Matt. 5:6; John 6:35). We come back here to share over and over again how He is filling us. It is fresh and new with each day.
Thank you Esther for enhancing today's lesson by connecting even more inspired texts concerning everlasting life from "food and water".
Lord, I pray that we will daily take up the spiritual food and drink of the Living Water that springs up into everlasting life. "I need you every hour, every hour I need you", in Jesus name, amen.
By dwelling in us He fills us with His spirit. "Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit." 1 John 4:13 The question I have is how do we dwell in him?
Did the Jews consider the Messiah and the Son of God as interchangeable terms? Or was it apparent to them that the Messiah would also be the Son of God?
I believe the Jews knew that the Messiah would be the Son of God because of Dan. 7:13. But there it is "the son of man" who came to the "Ancient of Days."
Jesus referred to Himself most often as "the son of man," rather than "the son of God," and I believe that the scribes and Pharisees recognized it as a reference to Dan. 7:13.
Christ accepted Peter's acknowledgement of Him being "the Son of God," as well as that of others who did the same.
He clearly identified Himself as the Son of God in John 10.
The demons recognized Him as the Son of God early on. And the Jewish elite mocked Him as the "Son of God."
Thanks for your response, Inge.
I must join the crowd today, wheither Jew or Gentile. I can get caught up in Spiritual things without overindulgence in Material things. I do this by connecting with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and listening to His still small voice. 🙏
Lord Help us to do Thy will amidst all the struggles that surrounds us internally as well as physically! Let not the cloak of Satan warm us to sleep as did the disciples spiritually when you were faced with opponents before the Cross! Help us to see clearly your will so that we can share with others your love for all! Thank you Lord for fulfilling your will to The Father! Give us all strength that we may be and stay prepared for Thy Kingdom come! We are not destined to stay here in this world! We're looking for a better country: A country where no one can take from us, a country that needs no rivers, nor seas nor light of the sun for You are that light unto this dying world! Thank you for your Grace and Mercy!
Excellent points to show His divinity. I love the I Am pointing to Exodus 3:1-22 the “I Am” statement … Jesus is God incarnated on the earth.
On the last question for todays part of this weeks lesson; My answer to this one is: Learn, understand, and utilize each and every day "The Divine Science of the Prayer of Faith," that Ellen G. White mentions in her book "Education" page 257 etc.
I appreciate that the authors pulled back a little on the focus on miracles as demonstration of Christ's divinity when they wrote
Indeed. Christ came to given them and us spiritual food, and that's what He emphasized, as John recorded in the rest of the chapter.
Are we eating the spiritual food Christ provides? We cannot have spiritual life without it any more than we can have physical life without physical food.
I am trying to share my fascination as to how Jesus is explaining his miracle sign of feeding 5000 people with bread pointing to himself as the bread of life:
Demanding a sign, the Jews are quoting from the book of Moses: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." (John 6:31; Exodus 16:15) Jesus is shifting from the past (gave) to the present (gives): "...my Father gives you the true bread from heaven". (John 6:32) Jesus also alters "them" into "you", inasmuch as the Jews at the present time are addressed to --- together with the readers of the gospel. That bread has come down from heaven to give life to the world. (John 6:33) Much to the astonishment of his listeners, Jesus declared himself to be that bread of life. (John 6:35) Emphasizing the present time, Jesus is adding: "But I said (to) you that you have seen me and yet do not believe." (John 6:36)
As to the text the Jews quoted: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat"; after pointing out the purpose of that bread of life: offering eternal life, the resurrection at the last day (John 6:39-40), Jesus is expanding his discourse on the verb -- to eat: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it an not die." (John 6:49-50) The climax has the Lord`s Supper in view:"...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at he last day." (John 6:53-54)
"Flesh" --- that is incarnation with the purpose of giving that incarnated body for salvation from sin to the world. This miracle is the miracle of all miracles, leading to adoration, prayer and unspeakable gratitude.
Winfried Stolpmann
As followers of Christ, we should pray earnestly to avoid being consumed by material possessions. While we need certain things to survive, when our desire for wealth interferes with our spirituality, it creates a significant imbalance between our Christian journey and our earthly life.