26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
“Believe in the One Whom God Sealed……That is Your Work of God”
In verse 26, we find Jesus answering the people whom He had just miraculously fed, but He isn’t answering the question that He was asked…..which I find a bit comical. In the previous verse, they wanted to know when He had come there. Remember, they were confused because they hadn’t seen how He got across the sea since He didn’t leave with His disciples. But, that is not what is important to Jesus. Jesus is there to challenge and teach them. Jesus says, paraphrasing, “Most certainly, I know that you have been looking for me, but not for the right reasons. You didn’t recognize the deeper meaning (signs) that I was trying to teach you. You are looking for me, only because you got your physical hunger fulfilled.” Again, here is that shallow belief that Jesus has spoken of before. The “what is in it for me” type of belief. They loved what Jesus could do for them, but didn’t love Jesus, the person. Let’s think of it in this way. How do we want others to love us? Our husbands? Our children? Our friends? Our fellow Christians? Do we want them to love us because of what they can get from us? This is not really love at all. It is selfishness. A marriage cannot be based on this. A friendship can’t either. No relationship will thrive if one or both parties are only looking out for number 1…..themselves. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 2:3-5, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…..” Question: Do I have the mind of Christ in that I put others ahead of myself?
In verse 27, Jesus expounds on what He was trying to teach them with the loaves and fish. He says, paraphrasing, “Don’t put all your focus and hard work on physical/worldly/temporary things that don’t last. Put your focus and hard work on the things that last forever…..things that will fulfill and save your soul…..things which only the Son of Man can give you, because God has put His seal or stamp of approval on His Son so that through Him, you can have eternal life.” Jesus was trying to teach them that there is more to life than physical food and material things. All the physical food in the world will not save their souls. Yes, we have to eat. Yes, we need jobs so that we can make our way in the world. Yes, we need clothes. Yes, it is fine to have a comfortable home and a car to get us from place to place. Yes, we can go on vacations, and enjoy fun activities in this life. However, we need to always remember who has provided everything we have. Nothing is truly ours! And may we never forget that all these “things” are nothing compared to heaven. May we never let worldly things become our focus. May we always keep Jesus and His purpose at the center of our lives as our main focus. What do we work for in this life? Is our focus on the temporary material things of the world or the permanent/eternal things that come from Jesus? Remember the verse, “What profit do we have if we gain the whole world, and lose our soul to the devil?” (Mark 8:36) Jesus is “sealed” by God to be the only way to gain eternal life. This will never change. The tomb was sealed where they buried Jesus after His crucifixion, but that man-made sealed tomb couldn’t hold Jesus. Man-made seals can be broken, but nothing and no one can break the seal that God has put on Jesus. Hebrew 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” When we obey Jesus in baptism, we are sealed by God through the blood of Jesus. We will remain in that sealed relationship with Jesus unless we make the decision to willfully disobey Him or leave Him. May we all walk in the light so that we can remain in our sealed relationship with Jesus.
In verse 28, the people are trying to figure out Jesus’ words, so they ask, paraphrasing, “What are the works that God wants us to do?”. Jesus is getting them to dig deep. I’m sure they are thinking, “So, we are not supposed to work for physical food, we are supposed to work for the things of God which lead to eternal life, but what work do we do? What is required of us?”. I can see how they might be confused. But Jesus……gives an amazing answer, simple…..but amazing! In verse 29, Jesus answers them, paraphrasing, “God has done the work. You just need to believe in the One that He sent. That is your work of God.” I love this. Eternal life is God’s work that He has accomplished. Our work is to simply believe in and obey Jesus. No amount of work can get us to heaven if we don’t believe in and obey Jesus. This is an extension of everything that we have learned so far in the book of John. We have to be “born again” spiritually as Jesus told Nicodemis. We have to drink the “living water” that He offered the Samaritan woman. We have to trust Jesus the way the nobleman did when he immediately returned home 20 miles after Jesus told him his son “lives”. It took trust for that father to take Jesus at His word that his precious son was healed. We have to eat of the “bread”, the spiritual food, that Jesus offers through His Word. We have to let Him in our “boat” so He can help us through the storms of life, and get us to land…..the eternal shore of heaven. Are you headed toward that eternal shore? Is Jesus the “bread” of your life? Have you been sealed by God through Jesus?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—
23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—
24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
Do I Seek Jesus With My Whole Heart?
“Where is He? He didn’t get in the boat with His followers, so where did He go?” At least these people were seeking Jesus! They may not have been looking for Him for the right reasons or with the right heart, as we will see in the next few verses, but they were seeking Him. They knew Jesus hadn’t gotten into the boat with His disciples, but He also wasn’t on the mountain anymore. So they went searching for Him. Faith has to start somewhere. I also think about how they wanted to take Him by force in the earlier verses! I wonder…..were they still of this mindset? Verse 25 says that they found Him. If we look forward to John 6:59, we see that they found Him in the synagogue. They wanted to know when He came across the sea ….”Teacher, when did you come here?” I’m sure they were curious. How did He get across the sea?! Jesus is going to speak to them in the next two verses, but doesn’t bother answering their question. Their question is irrelevant. It didn’t matter how He got across the water. However, it did matter that they were seeking Jesus. And Jesus was ready to speak to them. Are we seeking Jesus? Are we seeking Him with the right motives?
When do we seek Jesus? 1 Chronicles 16:11 and Psalm 105:4 both say that we are to “seek His presence continually”. We are to never stop seeking Jesus. We can’t just seek Him on Sundays and Wednesdays when we attend services, and then seek after the world the rest of the time.
How do we seek Jesus? We are to seek Him “with our whole heart”. (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29) He should be at the forefront of our minds constantly. He is our reason for everything we do. He is at the core of every decision we make in our lives.
Why do we seek Jesus? Hebrews 11:6 tells us that Jesus is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Obviously, we seek Him because we want the reward of heaven. We certainly don’t want the other option. But that is not all…..we seek Jesus continually with our whole heart, because it is the only way to stay on the narrow path. If we don’t seek Him, we will fall away, and we will lose the reward of heaven. Psalm 119:10 says this very thing, “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!” We seek Jesus, because He came to earth to seek out each one of us, and save our souls. (Luke 19:10) We seek Him, because we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37) We seek Him because He is our creator. (John 1:3) If we seek Jesus just for the reason of going to heaven and not going to hell, then we are no different than the people who were following Him because of His miracles. We seek Him because He loved us so much that He was willing to suffer and die for us. “We love Him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
Where do we seek Jesus? First and foremost, we seek Jesus through the Word of God. Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Seeking Him includes attending worship and bible study services, personal bible study, looking for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, talking about Him in our day to day lives, and praying to Him throughout each day. We seek Jesus in other people when we look for the good in others without focusing on the negative. Seeking Him is a combination of all of these things. We seek Jesus everywhere…..in every opportunity.
Question: Am I seeking Jesus continually, with my whole heart?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.
19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.
20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
Is Jesus in Your Boat?
In the previous verses, we read that Jesus stayed on the mountain while the disciples went into the boat to sail back across the sea. The account of this event is also found in Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-52, and it is much more detailed in those accounts. It is important to study and compare all accounts to get the details right. I have found that out as I have been studying through John, and missed a couple of details along the way. In the other gospel accounts, it says Jesus told them to go ahead without Him. The other accounts also give the detail that Jesus was praying. I’m sure He sent them away for this very reason, so He could be alone to talk to His Father. Although John’s account of this event is less detailed, he gives us enough information to make a deep connection to our lives.
The sea was getting rough because of a “great wind” (vs. 18). Jesus saw that this was making it hard for the disciples to row the boat (Mark 6:48). Jesus saw them struggling, just like He sees us when we are struggling. The disciples were about 3 to 4 miles from the shore (vs. 19). This would have been somewhere around the middle of the sea, since the sea of Galilee was around 6 to 7 miles across. Suddenly, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and they were afraid (vs. 19). Imagine being 3 to 4 miles out in the water, and seeing someone in the distance walking on top of the water. It would be alarming, wouldn’t it? Jesus identifies Himself, almost with an “I am” statement, and tells them not to be afraid (vs. 20). I’m curious…..I wonder how long it took Jesus to walk 3 to 4 miles? I know it takes me like an hour and a half to walk that far. But with Jesus it could have been minutes. With Jesus…..anything is possible. It may have seemed like Jesus was far away to the disciples who were battling the wind, but then…..He was suddenly there near the boat. Jesus is never far away from us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a good day or a bad day…..a calm day on the water or a rough day on the sea…..Jesus is there. It makes me think of the verse where Jesus says he stands at the door and knocks for us to let Him in (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is never more than a knock away.
The most important message in these verses is the fact that the disciples received Him into the boat. The disciples were struggling in the boat with the wind and the waves. Once they recognized who Jesus was and realized their need for Jesus, they let Him into the boat. The symbolism is clear. The rough wind and water can represent the world, and all the trials and temptations we will face within it. The boat can represent each of our lives. When we are struggling in life, we need to let Jesus into our boat so He can help us. He is the only one who can make things get better for us. In fact, Jesus needs to stay in our boats. Jesus did say that he would never leave us or forsake us. That sounds like He wants to be in our boat 24/7. But it is never Jesus who leaves our boats, it is us who dump Jesus overboard, and try to do things on our own.
We just need to remember this…..just like He provided enough food for all those 5000+ people, and delivered the disciples from the “great wind”, He will provide for and deliver us. Jesus wants to be in each of our boats! He wants to steer our boats in the right direction. We just need to recognize Him and receive Him. Just like the disciples recognized who Jesus truly was when He was walking on that water on that dangerous windy night, we have to recognize who Jesus is today. He is our Savior and deliverer…..the only One who can truly help us. I’m sure the disciples saw Jesus, and thought, “It’s going to be okay now, because we have Jesus in our boat.” I’m sure they were breathing a sign of relief! That is exactly the attitude that we should have in life if we are Christians. We should be breathing a sigh of relief because we have Jesus in our boat! No matter who the president is, no matter how much groceries and gas costs, no matter what wars are going on across the world, no matter what chaos Satan causes in this world, no matter how bad things seem to get…..if we have obeyed Jesus, and are staying faithful to Him, then He is in our boat, and we will be okay. We can have peace. But we don’t always do that, do we? We lose sight of Jesus sometimes, when we go through hard times. We panic and forget that He is in our boat.
I noticed in the other gospel accounts, it says that the wind immediately ceased when Jesus entered the boat. That is exactly what happens when we let Him into our lives. Jesus will calm the rough waters of life along the way. In John’s account, it says they were immediately at land the second that Jesus stepped onto the boat. The land represents heaven. When Jesus returns to get all of us who have obeyed His gospel and been faithful to Him, then we will immediately be at our eternal destination of heaven. Jesus will take us to our spiritual promised land…..heaven. Jesus said this back in John 5:24. He said that if we believe in Him, then we will “pass from death into life”. Jesus will get us to our eternal destination “immediately” if we have obeyed Him throughout our entire lives to the best of our abilities. I want Jesus in my boat. Actually…..Jesus is my “boat”, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Have you let Jesus into your boat yet? Has He become your “boat” that will help you get safely to land…..aka, heaven? He’s just right there waiting for you to let Him in. All you have to do is decide to obey Him. “Letting Him in your boat” = “obeying Him in repentance and baptism”. It means burying the “old you”, and being resurrected as the “new you”. It means giving Him control over your life, and letting Him guide your decision-making. Let Him navigate life’s troubled waters for you! We were never meant to direct our own steps in this life (Jer. 10:23). Or…..maybe Jesus was once in your boat, but you pushed Him overboard to go your own way in the world? He’s ready for you to let Him back in. Wasn’t life much better when He was in your boat?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,
17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
“He’s the Prophet! Let’s Force Him to Be Our King!”
Why did John use the word sign instead of miracle? In verse 14, we see John’s use of the word “sign” to describe the miracle of the loaves and fish. He only writes about seven signs/miracles in his gospel account. It seems that he picked miracles that he could attach a deeper meaning to, which explains his use of the word “sign” instead of miracle. John doesn’t want us to simply be amazed by the miracle that Jesus performs. He wants us to understand and apply the deeper meaning that the miracle provides. In verse 14, we see that the people seem to somewhat understand the sign, because they call Jesus “the Prophet”. This means they are making the connection back to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 where Moses prophesied to the Israelites that God would “raise up a Prophet” for them. They got part of it right, but verse 15 tells us that they don’t fully understand Jesus’ purpose for being on earth. Jesus read their thoughts like we have seen Him do many times, and saw that they were plotting to make Him their king……by FORCE! That blows my mind! They saw the miracle that Jesus just performed with the bread and fish. They had seen other miracles that He had done by healing the sick. Did they really think they could take Jesus against His will? And why would they want to do that to someone who had just fed them all the bread and fish they wanted? We can clearly see the shallow mentality of the people. They wanted a king whom they could put up on a pedestal in a worldly way to be seen by men. For the Jews, religion was all for show. But wasn’t Israel always obsessed with having an earthly king? Remember in 1 Samuel 8 when Israel begged Samuel, who was the last judge over Israel, for an earthly king? This was a big red flag that their hearts were not right with God. They should have been seeing God as their king, and trusting in Him to lead them and take care of them. God warned them of all the bad things that would happen if they had earthly kings. But they wouldn’t listen. They wanted to be like all the other nations around them who had earthly kings. But why? They had the one true God as their king! Why would they want to be like everyone else when they were God’s chosen people? It seems that the nation of Israel was still looking for an earthly king even at the time of John’s writing. The mentality had not changed. It makes me think…..we are to follow the laws of the land today. We have a government that makes laws that we are required to follow. We are commanded in Romans 13:1-7 to obey the government. Disobeying the government is disobeying God. But…..we have to also recognize that our true king is Jesus. If our government tries to put things into law that are against King Jesus’ Word, then we know where our loyalty has to lie. We are to obey our heavenly King before we obey any other man-made governing authority. (Acts 5:27-29)
Now let’s talk about Jesus withdrawing to the mountain, because there is symbolism in that as well. What did Moses do when he came down from the Mt. Sinai with the law written by God on stone tablets only to find the Israelites worshiping a golden calf? He broke the tablets, and later had to return to the mountain to make more. The people’s sin caused Moses to have to return to the mountain. Jesus also returned to the mountain in this account, because of the people’s sinful thoughts. Jesus’ and Moses’ actions parallel each other. It also says that Jesus was alone this time without His disciples.
The text takes a turn in the next few verses. The disciples got on the boat and sailed towards Capernaum. It was dark and Jesus had not come to them. It seems as though they might have been waiting for Jesus to come down from the mountain, but Jesus told them to get in the boat and go to the other side to Bethsaida as we read in Mark 6:45. Jesus stayed on the mountain for a specific reason as He always had a reason for everything that He did. He had another point to make before the evening ended. Jesus never ceased in doing the Father’s will. Question for myself: Am I continually doing the Father’s will?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
“So That Nothing is Lost”
“Have everyone sit down.” says Jesus to His disciples. Jesus knew the people needed to sit down, rest, and take nourishment. It says there is “much grass in that place”. From what I have read, the general area where this took place was a barren hilly area. Barren means lacking in vegetation or life. However, this multitude just happened to be in an area with grass, which makes it more comfortable and clean for them to sit down and eat. Isn’t that convenient? Where Jesus is…..there is life.
In verse 11, we see Jesus preparing to feed the people. What is the first thing He does? He gives thanks to the Father for the food. Jesus was setting an example before His disciples and the people to always thank God for what we have. Then the disciples began to pass out the food. I wonder how long it took to pass out food to 5000 men plus women and children! Can you imagine what they were thinking when they kept going back to Jesus expecting the food to be gone only to find more and more food? The disciples went back to Jesus over and over, and Jesus continued to provide “bread” and fish. This is the abundance of blessings that we find in Jesus. We can keep going back for more “bread” only to find even more “bread”. Jesus is overflowing with blessings. We find those blessings in The Word. The more that you are in God’s Word, the more you desire to be in it. Every day that I dive into these scriptures, I find more “bread” of life to sustain me. The more “Bread of Life” that I eat, the more that I want. The blessings found in God’s Word are endless, and last a lifetime. Jesus provided the food, but it was up the people to actually feed themselves, right? In the same way, He gives us an unending supply of spiritual food through His Word, but it is up to us to feed ourselves. Also, we see that this is not just a snack for the people. It is a meal. Everyone ate as much as they wanted until they “were filled”. This is also symbolic. Only Jesus can fill us. Nothing in this world can fill us. We walk away empty every time we try to use worldly things to fill the void within us.
In verse 11, we see Jesus telling the disciples to gather up all the leftover pieces, “so that nothing is lost”. The other three gospel writers don’t record these words of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t only telling them to gather up the leftover pieces simply to not be wasteful. We obviously don’t need to be wasteful, and we do need to be good stewards of what God provides for us, but there is a deeper meaning here that I had not noticed before. It is symbolic. Jesus had fed the people with physical bread to sustain them. Jesus is the spiritual ‘bread” of life that sustains us for eternity. He doesn’t want any soul to be lost, hence the statement “so that nothing is lost”. Every person is important to Jesus. He wants His disciples to feel this way about every soul as they preach His word in the future. They will be the ones who will carry the gospel to the world after He goes back to the Father. Jesus symbolically means, gather every soul “so that none is lost.” This applies to us today as well. We are to gather souls in order to save as many as possible. Our mindset should be……”so that no one is lost”.
Another interesting symbolism in this verse is the number of baskets of pieces that are left over. Why twelve? Why the specificity in telling the number of baskets left? The twelve baskets could stand for the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus came to save all human beings from their sins, but He went to the nation of Israel first. Remember in Acts 1:4, Jesus told the apostles to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the “Promise of the Father”. Then in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” All Jewish people would be gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost as was required of them. This is why the ministry in Jerusalem was to come first…..and then they were to spread out from there. Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” John’s account of this miracle is so rich in symbolism and is much deeper spiritually than I realized. It goes much deeper than providing bread and fish to 5000 plus people. It reaches forward to us as His disciples today. Gather up all of the fragments, so that none are lost. Jesus wants us to gather as many as we can. A reflection for myself…..am I living my life with this purpose…..to gather as many as I can?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
Jesus Has No Limitations
Imagine this…..you are sitting up on a mountaintop in a place that is in the middle of nowhere with some of your friends. You have been following this guy named Jesus around everywhere, because it appears as though He is the Messiah, and not only that…..He asked YOU personally to come with Him everywhere He went. You look up, and see an amazing sight….. a group of thousands of people coming toward the place where you are. Of course, you know that they aren’t coming to see you. They are coming to see this man who has healed every disease known to man. This is the scene that is unfolding before you as you sit on this mountaintop. Jesus has crossed the sea of Galilee, went up onto the mountain, taken you and your friends up the mountain with Him, and now He turns, looks directly at YOU, and asks YOU, paraphrasing, “Where are we going to get food for these people? They are going to get hungry.” You might be thinking, “we could put all our money together, and we wouldn’t have anywhere near enough money to buy food to feed this mob of people”. Put yourself in Philip’s shoes. Can you just imagine what went through his mind? I know what I would be thinking. Why is He asking me to figure this out? He is the one who can heal the sick with just a word from His lips. Philip didn’t know it, but he was being tested. Jesus already knew what He was going to do in this situation like He did in every situation. The test was this…..Jesus wanted Philip and the others to automatically turn to Him to fix the problem. He wanted them to confess that He was the Son of God, and could handle any problem put before them, including this one. Of course, He knew that they weren’t ready to do that yet, but He is training them through these situations that He is putting them in. What about us? Do we automatically turn to Jesus first and foremost when we face a problem? Just like Jesus tested the disciples, we are being tested to see if we will turn to Jesus. Every trial we face is a test of our faith. Jesus already knows how we will react to those trials. He knows if we will turn to Him, try to handle it ourselves without Him, or see it as a hopeless situation and just give up. Jesus knows everything just like He already knew what He was going to do in this situation. He had a purpose for everything He did, every place He went, and every person He talked to. It was all a part of His and the Father’s divine plan.
As chapter 6 begins, we see Jesus removing Himself from the conversation that He was having with the Jews in chapter 5. I am sure that He was mentally exhausted from the confrontation, and needed some alone time with just His disciples. After all, even though He was God in the flesh, He was human also. He got physically and mentally fatigued like we do. He went to the other side of the sea of Galilee to get away from the crowds, but this alone time sure didn’t last long for Jesus.
In verse 7, Philip responds to Jesus’ question about where to get food for the multitude in much the same way that Moses responded to God in the book of Numbers. Philip said, “Two hundred denarii is not enough to feed each person even a little bite of food.” In Numbers 11:10-20, we find that the children of Israel were tired of the manna, and were begging for meat. God was not pleased with their complaining. In verse 13 of that chapter, a frustrated Moses asks God, “Where am I going to get meat for these people?” God says in Numbers 11:20 that the people will eat meat for an entire month until they are sick of it. In Numbers 11:21-22, Moses says these words to God, ‘The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” Doesn’t this sound a lot like what Philip said to Jesus? The meaning behind what they both said was basically the same. They were both implying that there was no way to feed all the people. They were both putting limitations on the power of God and His Son. But…..Moses certainly should have known that God could provide an abundance of meat after all he had seen God do for the people up until that point. I love God’s response to Moses in Numbers 11:23, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Really Moses? After all you have seen God accomplish, are you really going to put limitations on God? And honestly, the disciples should have known that Jesus could provide whatever was needed as well, because of all they had seen Him do in healing the sick. In verses 8-9, Andrew responds in the same way as Philip. He points out that they have the 5 loaves and 2 fish, not because he thinks it will do any good, but to point out that the situation seemed to be hopeless. But we know that no situation is hopeless with God. With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). We just have let go of our doubts, let God take over, and truly believe that He makes all things possible. Do we sometimes put limitations on God? Do we sometimes start trying to solve a problem without praying to God first? I know I’m guilty. We don’t ever have to face anything alone. God wants us to turn to Him for help.
Now…..let’s back up to verse 2 where we see a problem…..the same problem that we saw in John 2:23-25 and John 4:48. The people had selfish motives for following Jesus. They were following Him because of the “signs which He did on those who were sick.” They had a “what’s in it for me?” attitude. Don’t we see it in today’s world also? What am I going to get out of being a Christian? How is following Christ going to benefit me? Our blessings in Christ are not material, they are spiritual. Prospering in a worldly way is not what should be most important to us. It is the blessing of being free from sin, and the hope of eternal life, not only for ourselves, but for as many others as possible, that should motivate us to follow Christ. It is the “peace of God that surpasses understanding” that keeps us content in this life (Phil. 4:7). Jesus is standing guard around our hearts if we are walking with Him. That is why we are able to have peace in every situation…..even in the most difficult times. That peace is just one of the many spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. It is hard to explain the kind of peace that we have in Christ to someone outside of Christ, isn’t it? Until they experience it, they can’t really understand it. If only everyone could experience this kind of peace…..the peace that only comes from the Prince of Peace…..Jesus. Do you have the “peace of God that surpasses all understanding” in your life? Is Jesus standing guard around your heart?
In my Thompson Chain Reference Bible, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 was referenced beside verse 9 of our writing today. It reads, paraphrasing, “God elevates the seemingly foolish things/people to bring the people who are wise in their own eyes down off their pedestal. He elevates the weak to bring down the people who think their strength comes from within themselves.” God elevates seemingly insignificant people who are considered “nobodies” by the world. Some are even despised and made fun of by others. He uses these lowly people to accomplish great things so that we will understand that nothing can happen because of our own ability. Our accomplishments are only because God allowed them to happen, and they are for His glory. We can do nothing without Him. We have nothing to brag about. Our accomplishments or status in life will not bring us salvation. In verse 9 of our writing, Andrew was saying, paraphrasing, “What good are these 5 loaves and 2 fish? How are they going to do any good in helping feed all these people?” Just picture this young boy standing there holding his lunch. He didn’t have much, but he was willing to share. And Jesus…..well…..Jesus is going to elevate this boy’s lunch into something amazing! This is a lesson for us. Someone may think that they don’t have much to offer the kingdom of God. Someone may be thinking, “What difference can I make in the church? I’m just little ole me…..one person. How can I help the lost? I’m not smart enough to teach anyone. I don’t know enough.” But God…..God will choose a person whom we least expect to do great things in His kingdom for His glory. It could be you. It could be me. All we have to do is be willing to let Him use us. A willing heart is all we need. The young boy was willing to share what he had. Are we willing to share what we have, which is the good news of Jesus Christ? What we have to share is a lot more important than bread and fish. We may feel insignificant in the kingdom, but then again…..remember that little boy who shared his lunch. I’m sure that little boy never dreamed his lunch would satisfy the hunger of 5000+ people…..but Jesus…..
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
5:41 “I do not receive honor from men. 5:42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. 5:43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. 5:44 How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? 5:45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 5:47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?
Jesus was NOT a People-Pleaser…..He was a God-Pleaser
Did Jesus come to earth to gain everyone’s approval? No, He knew everyone wasn’t going to accept Him. He knew that His teachings and expectations would bring about conflict, as they are doing up to this very day. In Matthew 10:34-36, Jesus said that He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword, to set a man against his father…..”, etc. He said that a person’s enemies will be in his/her own household. Think about it. Here is an example of this in my mind. A person is raised in a denomination, but is converted to Christ as a young adult still living at home. Think of the conflict in that household when that young adult gets up on Sunday morning, and goes to a different place to worship than what their parents do. They have gone against everything they were raised to believe. That is how Jesus brings a sword/conflict. The truth will bring about conflict, because there are so many that don’t want to hear the truth, or have never heard the truth. Another verse that comes to mind is Hebrews 4:12 where the Word of God is called a “two-edged sword”. Jesus is the Word. (John 1:1, 14) The Word of God is a living, breathing entity that not only causes conflict between family members and friends, but also within oneself. Jesus wasn’t worried about winning a popularity contest when He walked this earth. We can’t be worried about that either. We just have to present the truth in love, and let God do the rest.
In verse 42, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “I know your heart, and you do not understand the love of God.” In Matthew 23:25, Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees “hypocrites”, because they “cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence”. They looked the part. They “talked a good game”. They pretended to be holy. But on the inside they were the complete opposite. May we never forget that God knows our hearts. He knows our motives behind everything that we do.
In verse 43, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “I come from God, and you won’t accept me, but I bet you would accept someone else who comes in his own name if it would make you more popular.” The Jews were concerned about how they looked to others. Jesus wasn’t the popular choice. He wasn’t from a prominent family. He wasn’t wealthy. He didn’t tell people what they wanted to hear. He was a poor carpenter’s son from Nazareth, and He didn’t sugar coat His words. He spoke the truth in love, because He wanted to save their souls. The truth was not popular with these Jews. It is not popular today, but we can’t always sugar coat it. We love people’s souls too much to do that. If another person had come to the Jews praising them and telling them how great they were, would they have accepted him? Probably. What if someone came to them who was from a wealthy and popular family? Would they have accepted him? Probably. Think about the popular false teachers that we see on television and on the internet today. Why do people follow them? They follow them because they tell them what they want to hear. They don’t say anything to convict people’s hearts. It is fluff. And they are usually rich, because they have made money off of playing with people’s emotions or promising them prosperity in this life if they “follow jesus”. Notice that I put a lowercase j, because the jesus that they are following is not the real Jesus, the True Light. It makes me sad to see so many people who think they are following Jesus Christ, but they are really following a jesus who doesn’t exist. And then, in verse 44, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “How can you believe in Me, when all you care about is approval/honor from each other? Don’t you know that the only approval/honor that matters comes from God?” This is a question for myself and all of us. Is God’s approval what truly matters to me?
Jesus ends His testimony of witnesses with one more…..Moses. In verse 45-47, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “You don’t have to worry about Me accusing you to the Father, because Moses himself…..the one in whom you put your trust, will accuse you. If you truly believed the words of Moses, then you would believe what I am telling you, because he wrote about Me. If you don’t even believe what Moses wrote, how would you ever believe anything that I say to you?”. Moses wrote about the Messiah in Genesis 3:15 when God told Satan, who was in the form of a serpent, that the woman’s Seed (Jesus) would bruise Satan’s head, but that Satan would only bruise Jesus’ heel. An injury to the head is fatal but an injury to the heel…..not a serious injury at all. Jesus would conquer Satan and death when He was resurrected after being crucified. His crucifixion would seem like a mere bruise to the heel to the newly risen Christ who would go back to sit at the right hand of God. If we are faithful Christians, death will be like a bruised heel compared to an eternity in heaven with Jesus. But, if we are outside of Christ, we will receive that fatal blow to the head, and be sent away into everlasting torture. That blow to the head will never end. Moses also wrote about Jesus in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, and 19, where he said, paraphrasing in my own words, “God will raise up a Prophet (Jesus) like me (Moses), from your people, and you all need to listen to Him. And God said to me, This prophet will come from your lineage, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will say exactly what I want Him to say. He will be speaking My words, so if anyone doesn’t listen to Him, then they will suffer consequences for it.” Wow. The Jews knew about these prophetic statements that Moses had made. They had been taught them their whole lives. Yet they were so very blind. So…..the courtroom scene is over. Jesus has provided all the witnesses that prove that He is God: John the baptizer, His works/miracles, God Himself, the scriptures, and finally, Moses. What else did these people want? Well…..they did not want the real Jesus. They wanted the version of a messiah of their own making. People in the world today do the same exact thing. They make up their own version of “god” that suits their lifestyle. However, just because they call it “god” doesn’t mean that it’s THE God, the Creator of the universe. It is just “a god”, and it is really no different from the graven images of Baal and other gods from times past. As we end chapter 5, let’s always make sure that we all have a clear picture taken directly from scripture of the real Jesus, and not turn Him into just another idol like the world has done. Let’s look back at the title of this lesson. The world has turned Jesus into a people-pleaser. Jesus wasn’t a people-pleaser. He loved people, but he didn’t seek to gain their approval. He didn’t tell people what they wanted to hear. He told them the truth straight from God. Jesus was all about pleasing His Father in heaven, and no one else. What about us? Are we seeking approval from people or from God?
Do you know the real Jesus? Have you truly studied and learned about Him? Or do you just know the Jesus that the world has shown you? Let’s learn about Jesus, the One and Only Son of God together. Please reach out if you would like to study, and learn the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
31 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
The Fourfold Witness: “I Cannot Testify of Myself, but I have Witnesses”
Let’s take a moment and remember how this conversation between Jesus and the Jewish leaders started. Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath day. The Jews questioned Him about this, stating that it was unlawful for Him to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus then started His discourse to them about His deity. It began with, “My Father works, so I work.” Now Jesus is giving His testimony that He is the Son of God, and declaring witnesses to back up His claims. It sounds like a courtroom scene, doesn’t it? Jesus knows that he can’t be a witness for Himself. So He provides a fourfold witness for the Jewish leaders.
In verses 31 and 32, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “I know that you won’t take my word for all this that I am saying about Myself. I know that I alone can’t be my only witness. But there is someone else who testifies on my behalf, and everything that he says about me is true, and backs up my claims.” In the next few verses, Jesus gives His listeners a fourfold witness.
Witness number 1: Jesus was speaking of John the baptizer in verse 32. Jesus also knows that witnesses are important to the Jews, because the Law of Moses required two to three witnesses to provide evidence of a crime. (Deut. 17:6) Jesus had not committed a crime, however the Jews may have seen His claims as a crime because He was claiming Himself to be equal with God. Jesus wanted to have witnesses to prove His testimony about Himself. That is why John the baptizer was sent by God to be a witness for Jesus right before Jesus began His ministry. And…..throughout the book of John, we see Jesus gaining more witnesses all the time as He goes about His ministry…..the woman at the well was a witness, the man at the pool of Bethesda was a witness, the nobleman whose son Jesus healed from twenty miles away was a witness, and of course, His disciples were witnesses. Jesus was not lacking in witnesses at this time. In verse 33, Jesus reminds the Jews that they had sent priests and Levites as messengers to John wanting to know who he was. (John 1:19) Jesus tells them that John told them the truth about himself. John told them that he was not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet. (John 1:20-21) He revealed who he was and what his purpose was in John 1:23. He quoted Isaiah 40:3, and said, paraphrasing, “I am the person whom you have read about from the scriptures, who would come before the Messiah. I’m here to point Him out to you. I am here to get you ready or ‘prepare the way’ for Him.” John did exactly as God wanted him to do. He fulfilled his purpose. What did he call Jesus when he pointed Him out just before Jesus was baptized? He called Him the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In John 1:34, he testified that Jesus was the Son of God to everyone who was present. He pointed Him out as the “Lamb of God” again the next day to two of his own followers (John 1:35). He knew that he was not meant to keep followers. He was to defer his followers to the Lamb of God, the true Light. However, in verse 34, Jesus says that He actually doesn’t need John’s testimony to do His Father’s will. He doesn’t need John’s testimony or any other person’s testimony to prove that He is the Messiah. John’s testimony was more about the people hearing his testimony. John came to prepare the people for Jesus. Jesus wanted the Jews to realize that John’s testimony about Him was true. “You should have paid attention to John, who is my witness, and been ready for Me.” He wanted them to believe John’s testimony, and have salvation. Of course, they didn’t believe it, but God’s plan was still executed to perfection. And it would have been executed, with or without the testimony of John. In verse 35, Jesus calls John the “burning and shining lamp”. We know that John was not the “true light”, but he was the lamp to light the way to the anointed One. This comes from Psalm 132:17 which reads, “There I will make the horn of David grow; I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed.” John the baptizer was that lamp that God prepared for Jesus. What a beautiful analogy!
Witness number two: In verse 36, Jesus says that His works are more of a testimony as to who He is, than John’s verbal testimony ever could be. Jesus’ miracles and signs prove who He is and who sent Him. They prove that He is the Son of God.
Witness number three: Now, in verse 37, Jesus says that God Himself testified that Jesus was His Son. Jesus doesn’t explain to them when this happened, but we know that it happened at His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11) John the baptizer also testifies of this event in John 1:32-34. The second half of verse 37 and then verse 38 had to be a gut-punch to the Jewish leaders. Jesus says, paraphrasing, “You have never heard nor seen my Father at any time. You think you have the Word abiding in you but you don’t, because you won’t accept who I am.” The Jews thought they knew God through the scriptures, and they thought they were the authority on those scriptures. I’m sure they were thinking, “Who knows God more than we who are His chosen ones?” I’m sure they could quote the old testament verbatim. Jesus is saying, paraphrasing, “If you don’t accept me as the Messiah, then you don’t accept the scriptures of old.” Basically, if they don’t accept Jesus, then they don’t accept the Law. Israel received the Law of Moses at Mt. Sinai. They saw the glory of God descend upon that mountain, and they heard His voice to the point that they were terrified. They saw the pillars of cloud and fire. Moses actually spoke face to face with God like he would speak to a friend. (Exodus 33:11) Jesus is saying, “if you don’t believe in Me, then you don’t believe in any of that”. Arrogance was blinding them from the truth. We have to be careful of being arrogant ourselves. We are the Lord’s church, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people….”. But let’s not forget the rest of the verse. We were “called out of darkness into His marvelous light.”(1 Peter 2:9) We have to remain humble, and remember 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God wants everyone to be a part of “His own special people”. Everyone. We are fortunate to be in the arc of safety while so many are not. It is on my mind all the time. Why me? How did I get so fortunate to be raised to know the truth? And I took it for granted for sooooo long. I am no better than anyone else. I simply had the opportunity to learn and obey where others have not had the same opportunities that I had. This is why it is so important for all of us to get the Word out there so that people can at least have the opportunity to obey. It is our commission. I am so impressed by preachers who can quote scripture. I have heard a preacher quote chapters before…..verbatim. It is an amazing gift. Of course, I have the utmost love and respect for all gospel preachers, whether they can quote scriptures without looking them up or whether they need to turn to the scriptures and read them. None of that matters to me as long as the truth is being preached and souls are being reached. But if someone is able to quote entire chapters of the Bible verbatim, and lost souls never hear it, how is that ability helpful? The Jewish leaders and Pharisees were meticulous about THEIR law. Notice that I called it “their” law. They had put so much of their own spin on God’s law, that it was not truly God’s law anymore. It was “their” law. And boy did Jesus let them have it over this issue in Matthew 23! The whole chapter was filled with “woes” to the scribes and Pharisees whom He called hypocrites over and over. The Jewish leaders didn’t care who was lost as long as they performed all their rituals and traditions with the idea that they were the only race of people that God loved or cared about. They were checking the boxes and those checked boxes meant nothing, because it was all for show. Are we ever guilty of simply checking the boxes?
Witness number 4: In verse 39, Jesus provides another witness…..the Scriptures. The Old Testament was all about the coming of Christ…..from Genesis to Malachi. Jesus says, paraphrasing, “You all think because you search and know the scriptures that you have eternal life, but guess what? The very scriptures that you think you know so well? They are all about Me and My coming.” Then comes the sad truth in verse 40, paraphrasing, ”You all are going to miss out on eternal life, because you won’t accept who I am and follow Me.” Wow! Jesus really packed a one-two punch at these Jewish leaders. But instead of truly listening, they just got all the more angry at Him. Jesus stepped on their toes, and they had no humility. Many times a preacher will say something that steps on my toes, but I can’t let it make me angry or defensive. If I’m getting defensive, then that is a big red flag that proves that I need to make some changes. I have to let God’s Word humble me, so that I can examine myself, and make the necessary changes that I need to make. Humility is the epitome of being a Christian. If I cannot humble myself to God’s word and will, then I am not truly a Christian.
I skipped the last part of verse 35 for a reason. I find the later part of verse 35 interesting, and has a relevant lesson to us. It says, paraphrasing, “you were excited about John’s testimony about Me for a while, but your excitement faded”. Does this sometimes sound like us when we first become Christians? We are excited and zealous in the beginning, but when the new wears off, we lose our zeal for serving God. We may even go back to our old ways/habits of living, talking, etc. from before we were baptized in Christ. It reminds me of New Year’s resolutions. We are gung-ho on January 1st about our goals, whether they are spiritual or physical, but by the time February comes around, we are starting to lose our drive, and by March…..well, we are over it. This was me…..more than once in my life. I could NOT stay on track spiritually. I’m just being honest here….I have been a Christian since I was twelve years old. However, I have been a late-bloomer spiritually. Maturing and moving forward spiritually has been a long time coming for me. But…..I have found a way to keep my zeal…..finally. And don’t get me wrong, I have my low moments as we all do as human beings. However, I’ve found my way of pulling myself out of the ruts of life. It began with personal journaling. I would write out my prayers to God. It seemed like this was the only way that I could pour my heart out to Him. About three years ago, I began to write some spiritually encouraging things for my husband and children, and send them to them in texts. One day, I sent a couple of things that I wrote for them to my best friend. She told me that I needed to put them out there for others to read. Well…..that was majorly out of my comfort zone at the time. A few months later, I decided to pay for an internet address through wordpress, and I posted my first article on my blog on March 27, 2023. It sparked something inside of me that has caused me to hang on to my zeal for God’s Word. A couple of months later, I made the corresponding Facebook page to go with the internet blog. But…..I felt uncomfortable inviting all my Facebook friends to the page. What was holding me back? Well….it was fear. Fear was holding me back. You see…..I have a “not so good” past even though I was raised in the church. I have had more ups and downs spiritually than I can count. I always had this guilt hanging over me about things that I had done in the past. For a long time, I hadn’t represented Christ in the way that I should have. I thought that people would think things like, “Who does she think she is getting on here, and writing about the Bible?” or “Hey I know her…..she has no right to tell anyone else how to live”. I was terrified of what people would think. But…..my best friend and sister in Christ told me that I was letting Satan win with that kind of thinking. She said that our past doesn’t define us. It is our present and future that matters. She also asked me a question, “Do you judge others for their pasts?” Of course, I said, “Absolutely not!” “Then why are you passing judgment on yourself when God has already forgiven you?” she asked. So…..I stewed about that for a few days. Then, I invited every woman on my friends list to the page. Then, a couple of months later, I started another Facebook and Instagram blog geared more for teens/younger ladies and the young at heart, of course. Then, a couple of months after that, I started a ladies bible class that I enjoy writing lessons for once a month. Once I took one step outside of my comfort zone, I was able to take another, and then another. I made my first video a few days ago, and mentioned this wonderful group in it. I didn’t realize how much writing about God’s Word would impact my life until I started using it as a ministry and a mission. This is how I found my zeal. I don’t say this to toot my horn at all, but only to toot God’s horn, because He is the reason that I have made it this far. He is the reason that I am able to do this. He is my confidence. He has had so much patience with me, and I am so thankful. I also toot my sister in Christ and dear friend’s horn for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and find my niche. How do you keep your zeal? It is different for everyone. Everyone has to find their thing that helps them stay zealous in their Christian walk. I’m so thankful that God helped me find mine. The fear and shame that I once had is gone…..finally. Now, I can actually use the struggles from my past to help others not feel so alone. Hopefully I can help others realize that they can change. If I can…..anyone can.
As Christians, we are the witnesses for Jesus today. We are not primary source witnesses like the people back then were. We did not see Jesus do all the miracles. We did not physically hear His words in person. But…..we have believed the overwhelming evidence of the primary source witnesses that we read about in the Bible, and we are secondary source witnesses for lost souls today. Here is an AI generated comparison between primary and secondary sources: “A primary source is a firsthand account of an event, providing original information created during the time period being studied, while a secondary source analyzes and interprets information from primary sources, offering a second-hand perspective on the event or topic, often with commentary and analysis from the author.” Western Governors University website compared them this way: “Primary sources function as the main object of analysis in a research study, whereas secondary resources are used to describe, interpret, generalize, or synthesize primary sources. Secondary sources help readers understand second-hand information and commentary and can detail how and why a historical event occurred.” I ask myself this question, and you can ask yourself this as well, “Am I testifying for Jesus as I should be? Am I being a secondary source witness for Jesus to the lost?”
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
Our Spiritual Resurrection Now……Leads to Our Resurrection unto Eternal Life Later
In the verses leading up to these, Jesus makes some astounding claims, but none of them could have prepared the Jews for the claims that He makes in these next few verses. Jesus takes His claim of deity to a new level by saying, paraphrasing, “Just like the Father can raise the dead, I can raise the dead, and I can give life to whomever I want.” God gave Elijah the power to raise the widow’s son from the dead, but he had to cry out to God for that power. It was granted to him for that specific situation. The same is true with the apostles in the New Testament. Jesus didn’t need God’s approval in order to raise someone from the dead, because Jesus is God, and has power equal to God. Remember John 1:4…..”in Him is life”? There are many scriptures that say that God raised Jesus from the dead, and will raise us up as well. For example, in 1 Corinthians 6:14, it reads, “And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” I picked this verse because of the use of the word “power”. God and Jesus were equal in power. Does this mean that the statement by Jesus to the Jews in John 2:19 is a contradiction when He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”? Jesus is saying that He is going to raise Himself from the dead, where other verses say that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is not a contradiction at all, because as it has been established in previous verses, God and Jesus do everything together, along with the Holy Spirit. One does nothing without the other. So…..basically, Jesus raised Himself from the dead, and will raise us up on judgment day.
In verse 22, Jesus establishes Himself as equal with God as a judge. You’ve heard the statement, “only God can judge”. Well…..God has given Jesus the authority to pass judgment. Jesus was there at the beginning and created physical life, and He will be there at the end to pass judgment and decide who will gain eternal life. Another scripture that reiterates this is Acts 10:42 when Peter preached to the household of Cornelius. It reads, “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.” “He” in this verse is Jesus Christ. Also, in Romans 14:10, Paul says, “….For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Some other verses for reference to this are: Acts 17:31, Romans 2:16, 1 Corinthians 4:5, and 2 Timothy 4:1.
In verse 23, Jesus says that He is to be honored equally with God. Wow, I bet the Jews loved that statement. He was basically telling these Jewish leaders that they were not honoring God, because they were not honoring Him. God has given Jesus all authority, because He wants His Son to be honored in the same way that He is honored. There is no way to honor God without honoring Jesus. The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy. Blasphemy would definitely not be considered as honoring God. But Jesus is on earth to do the will of the Father. He certainly didn’t leave heaven, and come to earth for His own pleasure. His willingness to do the Father’s will is showing honor to God. (John 6:38) Revelation 5:13 says it best, “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” We know who the “Lamb” is…..the one and only Jesus Christ.
In verse 24, Jesus wraps up everything he has said in the previous verses. It is the words of Jesus that we have to heed if we want eternal life. Remember when Jesus was transfigured on the mount in front of Peter, James and John, and God said, “This is my Son. Hear Him!”? (Luke 9:35) God says to Peter, paraphrasing, “Stop worrying about building tabernacles to Moses and Elijah. Stop talking Peter…..and listen to My Son!” These Jewish leaders needed to stop talking, and listen to Jesus”! Jesus makes an amazing promise in verse 24. If we hear, believe and obey every word that He has said to the best of our ability, then we will have eternal life. We will not face judgment, but we will be raised up from death to life everlasting. Jesus says that we will pass “from death into life”. Romans 8:1-2 says these beautiful words that we can all take comfort in, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” There is nothing like the freedom of being in Christ. I so very much wish the world would just listen to and abide by the words of Jesus, and gain this freedom before it is too late.
In verse 25, Jesus builds on verse 24 by again using the phrase “most certainly”. It is translated from the word “amen” which means, “truly, truly”, “verily, verily”, “surely, surely”, “most assuredly”, and “of a truth”. Its definition is firm and trustworthy. (blueletterbible.org) Jesus wants everyone listening to know that what He is saying is completely trustworthy. His words are the firm foundation that we can rely on for absolute truth with no doubt in our mind at all. After His intro phrase, He begins to speak about a resurrection of the dead…..a spiritual resurrection. He says that this resurrection “is coming, and now is”. How can it be both coming and happening now? He is speaking of the coming kingdom (the church) that will be established on Pentecost (Acts 2). However, He is also desiring for people to believe and follow Him while He is on earth as well. I mean…..why wait? People were dead in their sins, and needed saving just like we do today.
Paul, through the Holy Spirit, does an amazing job of explaining to the Christians at Ephesus how Jesus brings us from death to life. Ephesians 2 describes the resurrection that Jesus is speaking of in verse 25 perfectly. It is a beautiful chapter that describes how we as Christians were dead in our sins, but God’s grace, coupled with our obedience has “made us alive (resurrected) together with Christ” (vs. 6). We had no hope (were dead) and were “far off”, but were “brought near by the blood of Christ” (vs. 12-13). By the way…..where do we access Jesus’ blood? We access His blood in the waters of baptism. Jesus brings us peace, because we are no longer dead in our sins (vs. 14). Jesus made us citizens of His household of which He is the chief cornerstone…..the foundation (vs 19). Nothing can separate us from His household unless we decide to leave of our own volition. If we leave the household of God after we have become Christians, we are committing spiritual suicide.
Jesus could grant eternal life to anyone who believed and obeyed Him during His ministry on earth, and He grants eternal life to anyone who believes and obeys Him now. In both instances, whether while He was alive on earth or ascended back to the Father, if the spiritually dead would hear His voice and follow Him, they would live eternally. We will meet so many in heaven who walked with Jesus while He was here on earth. Isn’t that a wonderful thought? Another thought…..Jesus wanted to save as many as He could while He was here, because some of those people could have died before the church was established. Jesus saw the urgency in saving souls. Do we? Of course, His followers who were alive at Pentecost still had to obey Jesus by repenting and being baptized for the remission of their sins. They still had to hear Jesus’ voice through the apostles, and obey. The resurrection that Jesus is speaking of in verse 25 is our choice. We can be a part of this resurrection or choose not to be a part of it.
In verse 26, we see Jesus reiterating the fact that He is life. His words are life. We are dead without His words. Verse 27 leads up to verses 28 and 29, where we hear Jesus speak about another resurrection. The difference between the resurrection in verse 25 and the one in verses 28 and 29 is that Jesus will execute judgment during this resurrection. Remember back in verse 24, when Jesus said that all who hear His words and believe in who sent Him would not come into judgment? Now…..in verses 27-29, Jesus is going to execute judgment. What will that judgement look like? In verse 28, Jesus says, paraphrasing, “Don’t marvel” or don’t be taken by surprise, because a time is coming when everyone will hear my voice, even those who are already dead physically and in the grave. No one will get to choose whether they want to hear me or not.” Notice that he doesn’t say, “the time is coming and now is” like He did in verse 25. This is the resurrection that will occur at Jesus’ second coming on judgment day. On this day, we will have no choice but to hear His voice. We still have a choice right now. If we are not Christians, we can choose to be resurrected by obeying the words of Jesus, and let Him bring us to life spiritually through confession, repentance and baptism, or we can remain dead in our sins. If we have become a wayward Christian, we can choose to repent and let Him bring us back to life spiritually, or we can remain wayward and lost. We won’t always have that choice.
In verses 27 and 28, Jesus said that He would execute judgment and all people would hear His voice, even those who are already in the grave. In verse 29, we see what will happen at that moment when Jesus calls the dead out of the graves. There will be a separation between those that do good and those that do evil. The good will not come into judgment and will pass into eternal life, but the evil will be brought into the judgment of Christ. So…..what is good? Who is good? In Romans 3:10-12, Paul quotes from Psalms 14:1-3, saying, “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” In that same chapter verse 23 he says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. We are all in the same boat. We can never do enough good to earn our salvation. So…..what does Jesus mean by “good” and “evil”? The “good” that Jesus is talking about in verse 29 are the people who have heeded His voice, and made a life-changing commitment to Him. Jesus spoke of being “born again” spiritually to Nicodemus, and becoming a true worshiper to the woman at the well. He told the man by the pool to go and sin no more, meaning “go live for me to the best of your ability”. Jesus has been building up to this statement in verse 29 in all these conversations. If we have truly made that life-changing commitment to Jesus, then good works should come naturally for us. If we are truly striving to be Christ-like, then we will be involved in good works just as He was when He was on earth. In James 2:14, James asks a question, paraphrasing, “What good is it to say that you have faith, when you don’t do anything good for others because of that faith?” True faith involves good works even though good works can never earn salvation. Obedience to Jesus is “good” and leads to salvation. Disobedience to Jesus is “evil” and leads to judgment. In verse 30, Jesus again makes it plain that He does not execute this judgment on His own. It is not His will, but the Father’s will. And since He and the Father are one in all things, it is a unanimous decision regarding the judgment of a person.
Just to reiterate, Jesus is speaking of two different resurrections in this passage of scripture. Verse 25 is talking about a resurrection of the dead, but not the physically dead. He is talking about a resurrection of the spiritually dead. And it is not THE resurrection that will happen on judgement day which He speaks of in verses 28 and 29. The “dead” in verse 25 are the people who have not listened to the voice of Jesus and obeyed Him yet, or the people who have obeyed, but become wayward. We are all spiritually dead in our sins before we decide to hear the Words of Jesus and obey them. What does Jesus command us to do to be resurrected spiritually? Jesus commands us to believe in Him and be baptized in order to be saved (Mark 16:16). Peter told the people who were gathered together on Pentecost to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). This was after the people were cut to the heart and realized that they had crucified the Son of God, and asked Peter what they needed to do about it (Acts 2:36-37). What more do we need to know?
Romans 6:3-6 explains perfectly how we are resurrected spiritually, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” There is no other way than His way. Because we belong to Christ, who is the cornerstone of the house of God, we are the “living stones” who build up the house of God…..the Lord’s church (1 Peter 2:4-5). In what other situation would a non-living stone be called a “living stone”? Only through Christ can that happen! Have you been spiritually resurrected through obedience to Christ? Are you a “living stone” in the house of God?
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” 18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
“See, You Have Been Made Well. Sin No More…..”
”Houston, we have a problem”! It is the Sabbath! When the Jews saw the man carrying his mat, they noticed him and addressed him. They were so happy for him that he was well after 38 years of suffering…..NOT! Instead of being happy for this man who was now well and healthy after being sick for 38 years, they accused him of transgressing the Law of Moses by carrying his bed. No congratulations…..no rejoicing for the man…..only arrogant judgment. It is a known fact that the Jews added many traditions to the Law of Moses and tried to bind them on others. In Matthew 15:1-14, Jesus calls them out for this very thing over a tradition of washing hands before eating bread. In verse 3 of that passage, he answers their question with a question, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” He called them hypocrites and quoted Isaiah’s prophecy saying, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of Men.” The treatment of this man who had been healed shows the hearts of these Jews. Their hearts were definitely far from Jesus. Leviticus 23:3 is the scripture that says no work should be done on the Sabbath. But what is considered as work? Carrying a mat? An activity would have been considered work if it was going to profit a person monetarily, not what this man was doing. In Mark 3:1-6, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He knew the Jewish leaders were just waiting on Him to heal the man so they could call Him out. But Jesus beat them to the punch by saying, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” It says that Jesus looked at them with anger, and was “grieved by the hardness of their hearts.” How sad that these people who were supposed to be God’s chosen were so cold-hearted!
Sidenote…..in the margin of my Thompson Chain Reference Bible, the word legalism is written beside John 5:10 to describe the Jews behavior towards the man. I believe this should be called “knit-pickingism” (my new made up word) instead of legalism. We could also call the Jews traditionalists, because they tried to make traditions into laws. Legalism is defined as a strict adherence to laws. Isn’t this the same as obeying God’s Word without adding or taking away from it? Knit-picking and adhering strictly to God’s commands (called legalism to some) are not the same thing. The church of Christ gets accused all the time of being legalistic for many reasons, simply because we obey God’s Word. I’ve heard it said that we are legalistic in our beliefs, because we won’t compromise the truth within the scriptures. We get accused of this even though we use scripture to back up everything that we believe. If that is being a legalist, then I guess I am. Legal means right. Illegal means wrong. I certainly don’t want to be an illegalist! We are just told to do all things in love, and tell people the truth in love which is what we do. I love the Lord’s church for being “legalistic”, as some call it, about speaking where the bible speaks and being silent where the bible is silent. I love the Lord’s church for not adding to or taking away from God’s Word. I love the Lord’s church for speaking the truth in love. It is our love for the lost that also drives us to follow God’s Word as closely as we possibly can. We don’t want to lead people to believe that they are “ok spiritually” when they might not be saved according to scripture, living according to scripture, or worshipping according to scripture. Maybe that is legalistic. If so, then so be it. Like Paul said in Galatians 4:16, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” People call us Pharisees because they don’t understand us. The Pharisees and Jewish rulers were making up their own traditions and binding them as laws. We are not making up anything. We are just trying to follow God’s Word, and God’s Word is not open to a thousand interpretations. We are not taking any chances or trying to guess what God wants. Why take a chance? Now, can we in the Lord’s church be guilty of knit-picking? Absolutely, anyone can, and this might be why we have gotten a reputation for this in the past. We have to be careful how we come across. Everything that we do and say must be done with love. Doing all things according to God’s Word is legal and right. Looking for a person’s flaws and calling them out is nit-picking and wrong. There is a huge difference. I have plenty of flaws that could be nit-picked. I wouldn’t do that to anyone. But, I will tell anyone who will listen, the truth straight from God’s Word, because I love that person’s soul.
So….in the previous verses the Jews were questioning the recently healed man about who had healed him. The man could not tell them who had healed him, because Jesus withdrew Himself right after the healing. As you could imagine, a crowd probably formed quickly around the healed man. I can see why Jesus withdrew Himself. It could have become quite the scene if He hadn’t. Desperate people can get a bit out of control and unreasonable. We can assume that the man had never seen Jesus before, and did not know who He was. Later, Jesus goes to the temple, and finds the man there. I’m sure that he was praising and thanking God for his healing. Also, it was a feast day. I wonder how long it had been since this man had gotten to be a part of a Passover feast. Unless someone assisted him in getting there, it had probably been a really long time since he had gotten to enjoy a Passover feast, or anything else in his life for that matter. Jesus then says some highly significant words to the man that we should all take to heart. First, He says, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more….”. Jesus healed this man physically for a higher purpose than for him to just go on his own way living any way that he wanted. Jesus healed this man for him to be a witness for Him, to glorify God, and tell people what Jesus had done for Him. He can’t do any of those things if he continues to live a sinful life. What about us? Jesus has healed each one of us spiritually. When we were baptized into Him, Jesus healed us of sin by washing that sin away, and making all things new within us. But…..He didn’t heal us so that we could go back to our old life. He healed us for a new purpose…..to be a witness for Him, to glorify God, and tell others about Him, and what He has done in our lives. We can’t do any of those things if we continue to live a sinful life. Now….does this mean that we will never sin, and that Jesus expects perfection from us? No, because that is impossible and Jesus knows that. Or else, why would He have needed to come and die for us in the first place? Jesus’ words of “sin no more” means that we are to strive to “sin no more”. We are expected to strive to break our bad habits. We are expected to strive to stay away from people and places that could lead us back into our old sinful ways. We are expected to stand up for Him to the world, and never be ashamed of our relationship with Him. We are expected to turn our lives over to Him. We are expected to give our best effort to be like Jesus. We will not be perfect, but that is why we have Jesus as our advocate. Second, after Jesus tells the man to “sin no more”, He says, “so that nothing worse happens to you.” This is big! What is the worst thing that could happen to us? Think about all the things that could happen. But…..is Jesus referring to physical/earthly suffering here? We hear people say, “well it could always be worse”. And I suppose it could. I always check myself when I’m feeling sorry for myself with the thought that so many others have it so much worse than I do. But Jesus is talking about the worst of the worst thing that could happen to anyone…..eternal punishment. He is saying to the man, paraphrasing in my own words, “stop your sinful lifestyle or your 38 years of suffering will seem like a picnic compared to an eternity of suffering”. How can this apply to us? Once we are healed spiritually in the waters of baptism, we cannot go back to our old lifestyle, and expect to gain our eternal reward. We are not “once saved, always saved” as many denominations believe. 2 Peter 2:20-22 completely annihilates this doctrine: “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” Using the dog and the pig as analogies to illustrate a Christian going back into sin shows us how disgusting this is in the eyes of God. Jesus healed the man by the pool so that He could lead a holy life for Him. This is exactly what He does for us when we repent, confess, and are baptized for the remission of our sins. He heals us from sin so that we can “walk in newness of life”…..with Him. (Romans 6:4) I like to assume that the man went, and lived his life the way that Jesus told him to. We know that he went and confessed who Christ was to the Jews who had questioned him. And then in verse 16, we see the sad state of the hearts of these Jews. They began persecuting Jesus, and plotting to take His life, all because He had broken their law, by giving this man a new life. Now mind you…..this was not God’s law , but THEIR law. They had added their own amendments/traditions to God’s law, and were binding those added amendments/traditions on other people. They were only looking at the negative, and not the positive. They did not even acknowledge the wonderful thing that Jesus had done for this man. These Jews lived to find fault in people. Let’s not be guilty of this ourselves. When we look at people, whether they are Christians or not, let’s find the positive things about them, and build on those things to help them see the truth. We won’t win anyone to Christ or back into the fold of Christ, by picking them apart, and focusing on the negative. The word of God will convict. Our words don’t have to.
Back in verse 16, we see the Jews persecuting and plotting to kill Jesus. Jesus answers them. I find that interesting in itself. I didn’t see a question in verse 16. I assume that Jesus is answering the persecution that they are putting on Him. Of course, He also knows their plans, because He can read their thoughts. The “answer” that Jesus gives them is unexpected, but fantastic at the same time. You would think that Jesus would defend His healing of the man by telling them that healing is not considered work, and that it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. But He doesn’t defend Himself at all, because He doesn’t have to. God doesn’t have to defend Himself to anyone, right? His mind-blowing statement in verse 17 says it all. Paraphrasing, “My Father is working, so I’m working just like My Father. If My Father works, I work.” But didn’t God rest on the seventh day? Well…..He stopped creating new things at that point. But God still had to keep the universe going! Who would keep the earth on its axis? Who would keep all the planets in their orbits around the sun? Who would keep the sun in its place in the sky giving off its light and heat? I could go on and on with all the things that God has to sustain. God can never rest. What did we learn in John 1:3? All things were made through who? Nothing was made without who? The WORD…..Jesus Christ! So…..if nothing could be made without Jesus, then nothing can be sustained without Him either. So Jesus can never rest either. The universe is sustained by God through Jesus. Who created the Sabbath Day? God created it for humans to worship and glorify Him. In Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” The rules of the Sabbath don’t apply to God who created it, or Jesus who is Lord of it. In verse 18, we see that it says that the Jews wanted to kill Him even more for His statement in verse 17. They saw Him as a mere man who was making Himself equal with God by calling God HIS Father. He didn’t say “our Father”…..but “MY Father”. They either didn’t understand or didn’t want to accept that Jesus was not just a human that was equal with God…..He WAS God. In verse 19, Jesus makes two great points to these Jewish leaders. He says, paraphrasing, “I can only do what I SEE the Father do, and I only DO what the Father does. I don’t do anything on my own.” God and Jesus do everything together. Look back to John 1:3…..”without Him nothing was made that was made.” God does nothing without Jesus, and Jesus does nothing without God. So God created, therefore, Jesus created. It also shows agreement. The Father and the Son are in total agreement on everything. Jesus has been with God every step of the way from before Genesis 1:1 until this very minute. Has any human ever seen God? Humans cannot see God, yet Jesus told these Jews that He did what He SAW the Father do. He also said that He DID everything that the Father did. Can humans do everything that God does? Of course not. God is pure. God is perfection. We are sinners who needed a Savior to die for us. Romans 3:23 says all humans have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. No way could we ever see God or do things that God does. Jesus may have been in a human body, but He was not a mere human. He was THE WORD, and THE WORD was God…..and THE WORD became flesh. (John 1:1, John 1:14) Jesus had just made some outlandish claims in the eyes of these Jews. Everything Jesus said just made them hate Him even more. What they didn’t realize was that by hating Jesus, they were actually hating God. All the rituals or feasts in the world could not change that. Verse 20 is wonderful. Jesus says that His Father loves Him, and shows Him everything that He does. Has God shown us everything? Isaiah 55:10 says that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We can’t know the ways and thoughts of God. We can only trust that He sees the big picture and knows what is best. Deuteronomy 29:29 says that the secret things belong to God. He only reveals what we need to know. But Jesus knows those secret things of God, because Jesus and God are of one mind. The only thing that Jesus doesn’t know is when the judgment day will be. Only God knows when that day will be (Matthew 24:36). Jesus made some fantastic claims in these verses, but that last line of verse 20 gives me chills. Paraphrasing in my words, “You think you’ve seen something awesome, just wait…..something much more awesome is coming, and you will all be amazed.” We know that He was referring to His resurrection that would occur on the third day after His death on the cross. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Glory to God for the amazing gift of Jesus Christ, and glory to God for His Word through which we can study and learn about Him. Glory to God for the gift of salvation provided through His Son. Have you accepted the gift of salvation that God provided through Jesus? Have you accepted the gift according to what Jesus said in Mark 16:16? Please reach out if you would like a Bible study! I would love to help!
God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out.
I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!
God’s Plan of Salvation
Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible.
We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17)
Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16)
Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32)
Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)
Spiritual Food for Women 