Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
John 6: 47
” Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.”
This is one of those verses that presents the Gospel in its simplest form. The one who believes has eternal life. Wow. That is pretty simple! But simple is not always easy to do, nor is it always something we can easily grasp. Continue reading “Simple Gospel”
John 6: 46
” No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.”
There He goes again! Talking about heaven like he has been there!! Who does this Jesus guy think he is??
Time and time again Jesus speaks as if he is from a different planet, but in fact, he is from a different reality altogether. A spiritual reality. A reality invisible to our eyes of flesh but something we can glimpse with our heart if we try.
Imagine being a Pharisee who is vested in maintaining the status quo. Imagine that this Jesus guy comes along and turns your world upside down by apparently breaking religious laws about the Sabbath (supposedly from God, but in fact from men) and doing things like touching the unclean. (Of course, an unclean person would be “clean” after Jesus touched them!) As a Pharisee, you are looking at a nobody, an itinerant Rabbi from the backwoods of Nazareth. An un-pedigreed bumpkin followed around by a bunch of hayseed backwoods sheepherders. Continue reading “Jesus Guy”
John 6: 45
” It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.”
In yesterday’s verse, we hear Jesus saying that “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…” Today he quotes scripture saying, “They will all be taught by God,” and that “Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” Continue reading “Sense”
John 6: 44
” No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
This verse is a bookend to verse 37 where Jesus says, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” It almost sounds like people have no choice in the matter. Yet it is important (oh so important!) that we remember Jesus’ perspective. He does not speak as though he were only a man. He speaks as one who has “come down from heaven” (verse 38). He speaks as one who sees us from God’s perspective. One who sees inside men’s thoughts and hearts. Continue reading “Perspective III”
John 6:43
‘ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.’
Sometimes Jesus says things to the Jews and Pharisees that apply to a lot more people than just the Jews and Pharisees. “Stop grumbling among yourselves” is good advice for anyone, but especially good advice for those who believe in Christ and call themselves Christians. Continue reading “Grumbling”
John 6: 41-42
‘ At this, the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”’
How can Jesus say he “came down from heaven” when he was born right here on earth? Well… how else would you come down from heaven? I suppose that Jesus could have come as he was before he was born. But how would mere man have been able to stand in the face of such power and majesty? Continue reading “Coming Down”
John 6:40
” For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
By inference, Jesus refers to what he taught Nicodemus in chapter 3 where he says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Everyone who “looks to the Son” and believes in him shall have eternal life. Continue reading “Uncomplicated”
John 6:39
” And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”
What would happen if Jesus were to lose one of the people God had given him? How would that work? Could Jesus still claim to be God or would he simply be some lucky fella picked to represent God on earth, or would he still be God’s son, only sort of a screw-up? Continue reading “Beyond”
John 6: 38
” For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
The nuances of Jesus’ speech patterns fascinate me. The Gospels refer to Jesus having been born, but Jesus does not refer to himself that way. It is always in the context of coming from someplace else to be here for a little while. Being “born” was a doorway into this world for him. He had to go through that process to become human so that he could die for us. Continue reading “Nuance”
John 6: 37
” All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
I am often amazed at how much information is included in the Bible texts. My tendency is to read the Bible like a story, which it is, but it is also a highly accurate account of God’s Word. What I am discovering is that each sentence has value and meaning.
Today’s verse is one such verse. Continue reading “Confidence”