Author: Jeff Englund

John 6: 5-6

” When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”

On occasion, I have had the opportunity to help set up microphones for a sound system. At some point, when everything is switched on and the soundboard lights up, it is all ready to go. Except without someone saying something, there is nothing for the sound system to amplify. So we often defer to the old, “testing… testing … 1, 2, 3… testing” routine. It is called a “sound check” and it allows the person at the board to adjust volume, but more importantly it lets everyone know that the system is working.  Continue reading “Testing … Testing… 1,2,3”

John 6:4

” The Jewish Passover Festival was near.” 

Verse 3 follows Jesus and his disciples up the side of a mountain where they sit down. It is not hard to follow John’s train of thought as he remembers back to the day he is writing about. The sky is blue. Soft puffy clouds hang lazily above them. Perhaps there is a gentle breeze coming off of the Sea of Galilee below them. As the breeze passes, it stirs the grasses around them.

Ahhh… Then a long pause.

Then someone breaks the silence and says, “Huh. It is almost time for the Passover.”

Steeped in the traditions of their Jewish heritage, the disciples know Passover was always celebrated in the first month of the Hebrew calendar. (In our Gregorian calendar this falls in the springtime, March or April.) Sitting on the mountainside with nothing else to think of, the realization of what time of year it was comes to mind. Sort of like what you or I might say if we were sitting on the porch together… Continue reading “A Long Pause”

John 6: 3

” Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.”

I don’t know about you, but my world is rather busy. I think most people find themselves busy at some point. There is work to be done, shopping for food, cars to take care of, people to visit, things to see and do. Life is not boring in this wonderful age we live in, but it can be distracting.

In contrast, Jesus seems to me to be a master of staying focused on his Father’s will. Where we would be listening to the radio, checking our phones for messages, watching a bit of TV, or engaging in any of dozen’s of forms of social media, Jesus goes up on a mountainside and sits down. His disciples follow and do the same thing.

There they are. Sitting. Continue reading “Time Out”

John 6: 1-2

” Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.”

One thing about people that is fairly predictable is that we almost always look out for ourselves first. Oh, I know… there are the notable exceptions. Mother Teresa comes to mind. Many others exist as well, but all of them have something in common: they are exceptions to the rule. Continue reading “Funky Followers”

John 5: 45-47

” But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Every great legal argument ends with a summation. Here Jesus is standing in the highest court in the land (as far as the Jews were concerned). He is persecuted by the Jewish leaders in front of his disciples and all the people. Jesus responds by defending himself and what he has been doing by testifying that he has a special relationship with God and is, in fact, equal with God. Aware that one testimony is not enough in court, he appeals to John the Baptist, the testimony of his miracles, and the testimony of God and the Scriptures.  Continue reading “Going on Offense (V) – Summation”

John 5: 41-44

” I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?“

The Greek word used for “glory” in this passage is, doxa, which Strong’s Lexicon defines (in part) as, “opinion, judgment, view.” In essence, Jesus is saying that he is not concerned with the opinions of people.  He then goes on to point out that the Jewish leaders are concerned with what others think about them, but not concerned with what God thinks of them.  Continue reading “Going on Offense (IV) – Belief”

John 5: 41a

” I do not accept glory from human beings…“

What is glory? What is Jesus talking about that he will not accept from human beings? And what kind of man talks about “human beings” as if they were something other than what he himself is? Here again, we have a peek into the deity of Jesus in eight simple words.

But what is glory? Clearly, it is not the same thing as praise, because God does accept praise from human beings.  Continue reading “Going on Offense (III) – Glory”

John 5: 39-40

” You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.“

In this passage, Jesus commends the Jewish leaders for studying the Scriptures diligently. In the same breath, Jesus reveals their underlying motive for studying the Scriptures. Somehow the leaders of the Jews had come to rely on the written record of God’s word, rather than God himself. More than that, however, Jesus points out that the very Scriptures that the leaders of the Jews have been studying teach about the coming Son of Man. Continue reading “Going on Offense (II) – Blind Spot”

John 5: 37b-38

” You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.”

Up to this point, Jesus has healed a man on the Sabbath and been persecuted for doing so by the Jewish leaders. One has to wonder how things might have been different if Jesus had not done any miracles on the Sabbath! Would the Jewish leaders have ignored him, or would they have eventually gotten around to confronting him anyway? But that is not our question today… Continue reading “Going on Offense (I)”

John 5: 31b -37a

” ‘There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.  Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.  John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.  

“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.’ “

Yes, I know that I should have titled this post, “Testimony V” but I just couldn’t do it. Repetition is so… repetitive. However, there are some benefits to repetition. Sometimes we need to hear things more than once for it to sink in.

(If you want to review the prior discussion on Testimony see: Testimony (I), Testimony (II),  Testimony (III), and Testimony (IV).)

In effect, Jesus is calling his witnesses to testify before the Jewish leaders. When he makes his claim, he is probably standing in the temple court. This would be the equivalent of standing before the Supreme Court for a Jew. In ancient times, long before Jesus’s time, the priests were given the authority to be the final arbiters of any legal question for the Jews. Continue reading “Groundhog Day”