They speak, but at this point He has no need of answer.
Pilate says,"behold, your King" and they shout "away with Him, crucify Him!"
Barabas is walking freely, having no idea of what really just took place as the Innocent staggers in chains; beaten, bruised, and bleeding.
He knows where He is going. He knows what lies ahead. Our sins lay out on the hill of Golgotha and He adds them to the weight of His pain. Only this pain is different from the physical torture by the Romans. This suffering would preceed the wrath of God.
On that cross He steps into the Heavenly courtroom and declares that I will pay their fine, I will suffer on their behalf. Bearing our sin, suffering under our curse He was slain. He loved us to His own death, so that we may love Him to our own life.
Weep today! Weep for the Lamb that was slain! But do it in 2 ways. Weep in Godly sorrow that it took the Son of God to cleanse your impure, depraved life. Weep for JOY to HIS GLORY that His sacrifice saved a wretch like you!
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Our Only Hope
What is Your Hope?
J. C. Ryle
Reader, what is your hope about your soul? Have you any, or have you none? Can you tell me in what way you expect to be accounted righteousness before God?:
Depend upon it, these are very serious questions. You and I are dying men. After death comes the judgment. What is your hope of acquittal in that solemn day? What are we going to plead on our behalf before God?
Shall we say that we have done our duty to God? Shall we say that we have done our duty to our neighbor? Shall we bring forward our prayers, our good works, our morality, our church going, our amendments? Shall we ask to be accepted by God for any of these things?
Which of these things will stand God's eye? Which of them will actually justify you and me? Which of them will carry us clear through judgment, and land us safe in glory?
Absolutely none! Take any commandment of the ten, and let us examine ourselves by it. We have broken it repeatedly. We cannot answer God. Take any of us, and look narrowly into our ways—and we are nothing but sinners. There is but one verdict. We are all guilty—we all ought to die—we all deserve hell. How then can we come before God?
We must come in the Name of Jesus, standing on no other ground, pleading no other plea than this, "Christ died on the cross for the ungodly—and I trust in Him."
Oh, believe me, Christ must be all the hope of everyone who would be justified and saved. You must be content to go to heaven as a beggar—saved by free grace alone—simply as a believer in Jesus—or you will never be saved at all. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast!" Ephesians 2:8-9
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
J. C. Ryle
Reader, what is your hope about your soul? Have you any, or have you none? Can you tell me in what way you expect to be accounted righteousness before God?:
Depend upon it, these are very serious questions. You and I are dying men. After death comes the judgment. What is your hope of acquittal in that solemn day? What are we going to plead on our behalf before God?
Shall we say that we have done our duty to God? Shall we say that we have done our duty to our neighbor? Shall we bring forward our prayers, our good works, our morality, our church going, our amendments? Shall we ask to be accepted by God for any of these things?
Which of these things will stand God's eye? Which of them will actually justify you and me? Which of them will carry us clear through judgment, and land us safe in glory?
Absolutely none! Take any commandment of the ten, and let us examine ourselves by it. We have broken it repeatedly. We cannot answer God. Take any of us, and look narrowly into our ways—and we are nothing but sinners. There is but one verdict. We are all guilty—we all ought to die—we all deserve hell. How then can we come before God?
We must come in the Name of Jesus, standing on no other ground, pleading no other plea than this, "Christ died on the cross for the ungodly—and I trust in Him."
Oh, believe me, Christ must be all the hope of everyone who would be justified and saved. You must be content to go to heaven as a beggar—saved by free grace alone—simply as a believer in Jesus—or you will never be saved at all. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast!" Ephesians 2:8-9
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Zula-Powersburg,United States
Glorified by foolishness...
1 corinthians 1:18-31
18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
Such a powerful fragment of scripture. Therein lays the glory of God, that He takes all things that are low, meek, base, and foolish and exhalts them. For how much glory does one recieve when they lift up those who are wise? How much honor do you give the one who gives all he has to someone who thinks they have it all? There is hardly any honor and surely the glory is not found.
But what about the weak one who was brought into strength? What about the wretch that is utterly hopeless until he meets Him who is all hope? What about the foolish, the one who cannot speak and when he does he stumbles; the foolish that was made wise by the One who holds all wisdom?How much more shall He be honored! O' how He shall be glorified!! He took the weak and made him strong, He took the foolish and made them wise! O' how He shall be glorified! He took the one with no hope and no life and gave them a new hope that is rested on faith and a new life that rests in the grip of Jesus! And all for this reason....that He may recieve glory!
18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
Such a powerful fragment of scripture. Therein lays the glory of God, that He takes all things that are low, meek, base, and foolish and exhalts them. For how much glory does one recieve when they lift up those who are wise? How much honor do you give the one who gives all he has to someone who thinks they have it all? There is hardly any honor and surely the glory is not found.
But what about the weak one who was brought into strength? What about the wretch that is utterly hopeless until he meets Him who is all hope? What about the foolish, the one who cannot speak and when he does he stumbles; the foolish that was made wise by the One who holds all wisdom?How much more shall He be honored! O' how He shall be glorified!! He took the weak and made him strong, He took the foolish and made them wise! O' how He shall be glorified! He took the one with no hope and no life and gave them a new hope that is rested on faith and a new life that rests in the grip of Jesus! And all for this reason....that He may recieve glory!
Peace and Visitation
Luke 19:42-44
"saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Lets set this up....Christ has requested the colt and has coming riding into Jerusalem as it was prophecied. Many are shouthing "Hosanna, the King" and some are discontent shouting for them to ordered to stop. As Christ looks upon the people He speaks those words recorded in Luke. There is so much going here. We have Him yet again speaking in a way that is difficult for the people to understand, He is prophecying the destruction of Jerusalem, and more importantly the destruction of His people.
"Would you have known on this day the things that make for peace!" He proclaims this desperately to a lost a people. A people that He loves. They have witnessed so many signs and wonders, yet seeing they cannot see, hearing they cannot hear. They are looking for the Kingdom to be setup at that current time, but that is not the way. Being that they are so focused upon themselves and whats needful for them at that moment, they refuse to see prophecy of old. The do not realize that the Kingdom He has come to setup is not of this world. They do not understand that before there can be life, there must be a ressurection and how can there be a ressurection without the sacrifice of the sinless Son of God.
Christ goes on to speak to them about what will come upon them 35-40 years later. When the Romans destroy the city. Not one rock will be left unturned and they shall be destroyed. Once again they will be handed over because they did not recognize the visitation from the Lord. Their judgement is coming upon them and Christ proclaims "if only you could have seen!!"
Many are focused much on this world. Many have taken the good initiative to serve those who are unfortunate. We serve because it is good and it is right, but do we ever ask what are we serving. The people of Jerusalem were excited for the kingdom, not because of the endless worship, but for the most part because what they would recieve. So when we give to others, what are they recieving. Are we only feeding their stomachs, but never their spirit? There is nothing wrong with caring for those who are suffering, in fact I encourage it, but without the gospel we are not serving anything. We only bring momentary satisfaction to a life that will be in eternal destruction without Christ. His visitation is now. The thing that makes for peace is within His blood. Our covering before God that reconciles our relationship to Him. So I encourage you to feed souls, not just flesh. Do not labor for that which perishes, but labor for the eternal and everlasting. Labor for Him that gives life. The destruction is now and He is the only hope for a hopeless world. May the glorification of God through the cross be repeated again and again with you and the proclamation of the gospel. May God soften the hearts of a hardened people and may they hear His words.
"saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Lets set this up....Christ has requested the colt and has coming riding into Jerusalem as it was prophecied. Many are shouthing "Hosanna, the King" and some are discontent shouting for them to ordered to stop. As Christ looks upon the people He speaks those words recorded in Luke. There is so much going here. We have Him yet again speaking in a way that is difficult for the people to understand, He is prophecying the destruction of Jerusalem, and more importantly the destruction of His people.
"Would you have known on this day the things that make for peace!" He proclaims this desperately to a lost a people. A people that He loves. They have witnessed so many signs and wonders, yet seeing they cannot see, hearing they cannot hear. They are looking for the Kingdom to be setup at that current time, but that is not the way. Being that they are so focused upon themselves and whats needful for them at that moment, they refuse to see prophecy of old. The do not realize that the Kingdom He has come to setup is not of this world. They do not understand that before there can be life, there must be a ressurection and how can there be a ressurection without the sacrifice of the sinless Son of God.
Christ goes on to speak to them about what will come upon them 35-40 years later. When the Romans destroy the city. Not one rock will be left unturned and they shall be destroyed. Once again they will be handed over because they did not recognize the visitation from the Lord. Their judgement is coming upon them and Christ proclaims "if only you could have seen!!"
Many are focused much on this world. Many have taken the good initiative to serve those who are unfortunate. We serve because it is good and it is right, but do we ever ask what are we serving. The people of Jerusalem were excited for the kingdom, not because of the endless worship, but for the most part because what they would recieve. So when we give to others, what are they recieving. Are we only feeding their stomachs, but never their spirit? There is nothing wrong with caring for those who are suffering, in fact I encourage it, but without the gospel we are not serving anything. We only bring momentary satisfaction to a life that will be in eternal destruction without Christ. His visitation is now. The thing that makes for peace is within His blood. Our covering before God that reconciles our relationship to Him. So I encourage you to feed souls, not just flesh. Do not labor for that which perishes, but labor for the eternal and everlasting. Labor for Him that gives life. The destruction is now and He is the only hope for a hopeless world. May the glorification of God through the cross be repeated again and again with you and the proclamation of the gospel. May God soften the hearts of a hardened people and may they hear His words.
Where are the good people???
So what will it take to be granted into the Kingdom?? You could ask 100 people and more than likely find a variety of different answers, but most would probably lean in the direction of...do good here and you'll be fine there. That certainly sounds like a good idea...but that's all it is, a good idea. After all, just how good is good enough and what would our goodness be judged by? There has got to be a standard...right? Certainly my goodness will not be judged according to the goodness of the man who has given millions to hopeless AIDS victims in Africa...surely the goodness of the pedophile will not be measured against the goodness of the mass murderer. So how good is good enough. Better yet, if we are judged by goodness then just how good are we??? Many people would be offended by the challenge of their goodness, so I'll not offend anyone just yet and stay focused on me. Here is how good I am: I'm a liar...a thief...a murder....adulterer...blasphemer of God...and that's just a few. I have told many lies, stolen many things and in some aspects I stole time, I have murdered many with anger and hate in my heart and mind, cursed God when things did not go my way, and how could I forget that I have been an adulterer outwardly in the past, with potential in the future to be an adulterer in my heart through thoughts...so am I good enough to go to Heaven? Well if I put it that way, then no. I stand with the murderers, the pornographers, the thieves, the liars, and every other person who has shaken their fist at God. So where do I belong? Do I even dare to say the word? I deserve the judgement of God and the wrath that is due for my crimes.
Some look at me with amazement when I say these things about myself. It worries me that they do. I described myself just as God has described me...oh and here comes the offensive part...its how He has described you also. Yeah...everything I have just said about myself, you have some, if not all ownership in also. So according to the worlds basis of entrance into Heaven or Hell, we are all heading for Hell. There is no hope. We are lost, depraved, sick, twisted, and hell-bent people that shake our fist at God in every action we take.....So what does it take to get to Heaven??
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead."
Acts 17:30-31
To answer the question, if we want to see Heaven we must be righteous. And we will judged by Him...who is Him? A man of perfect obedience, leading a sinless life, pure in heart, and most importantly fully God. We will judged by Him, Jesus the Christ. So how can we measure to His goodness? Only by recieving His goodness....2nd Corinthians 5:21 states that (paraphrase) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we may become the righteoussness of God through Him.
So basically what we have here is Christ taking our filthiness and we are given His goodness. We are declared right in the sight of God. We stand against the measure and He fills our nothingness and our cups run over with His goodness. This sounds far-fetched, it sounds kinda lunatic, but of course it should if you don't believe. I don't expect you to believe what I say...but what I say is truth. Unless you have been born again (John 3) and became a new creation in Christ (2nd Cor. 5) then your goodness will get you nowhere. Good men go to hell. Their works mean nothing in world that will fall. I can give a hungry kid food, but what is the point if we both are gonna go to hell anyway. For that matter, I can create clean drinking wells in Africa, but if I don't preach Christ then a bunch of Africans will go to hell with water dripping from their chins.
So to wrap this up I am just gonna say a couple things...if you don't have Christ in your life, consider what I have said. It's nothing scholarly, but take a look at yourself, your motives, your desires. Could you stand beside God and be judged worthy? If you say yes, then take another look at yourself. You have nothing, you are nothing, and you will never gain. Christ is the only hope you have and the only person that matters. Consider what I have said, I plead....
Now, if you are a believer...do you see yourself in the light of your worthlessness? Do you really? Do you truly understand what you have been saved from? Don't think for a moment that you have anything good in you that is of yourself. It is only from Him who died and was ressurected that there is anything good in you at all. It is only by Him that you can lift your eyes. Remember this, take it to heart. Let those that are lost see you in light of the mercy that God has granted you. Humble yourself in the sight of others and in worship of the One who saves. Serve Him with your life, its His anyway. You have nothing, but Him and that is all you need, give up the rest.
This is my first video embed..maybe it will work, maybe not..
Some look at me with amazement when I say these things about myself. It worries me that they do. I described myself just as God has described me...oh and here comes the offensive part...its how He has described you also. Yeah...everything I have just said about myself, you have some, if not all ownership in also. So according to the worlds basis of entrance into Heaven or Hell, we are all heading for Hell. There is no hope. We are lost, depraved, sick, twisted, and hell-bent people that shake our fist at God in every action we take.....So what does it take to get to Heaven??
"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead."
Acts 17:30-31
To answer the question, if we want to see Heaven we must be righteous. And we will judged by Him...who is Him? A man of perfect obedience, leading a sinless life, pure in heart, and most importantly fully God. We will judged by Him, Jesus the Christ. So how can we measure to His goodness? Only by recieving His goodness....2nd Corinthians 5:21 states that (paraphrase) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we may become the righteoussness of God through Him.
So basically what we have here is Christ taking our filthiness and we are given His goodness. We are declared right in the sight of God. We stand against the measure and He fills our nothingness and our cups run over with His goodness. This sounds far-fetched, it sounds kinda lunatic, but of course it should if you don't believe. I don't expect you to believe what I say...but what I say is truth. Unless you have been born again (John 3) and became a new creation in Christ (2nd Cor. 5) then your goodness will get you nowhere. Good men go to hell. Their works mean nothing in world that will fall. I can give a hungry kid food, but what is the point if we both are gonna go to hell anyway. For that matter, I can create clean drinking wells in Africa, but if I don't preach Christ then a bunch of Africans will go to hell with water dripping from their chins.
So to wrap this up I am just gonna say a couple things...if you don't have Christ in your life, consider what I have said. It's nothing scholarly, but take a look at yourself, your motives, your desires. Could you stand beside God and be judged worthy? If you say yes, then take another look at yourself. You have nothing, you are nothing, and you will never gain. Christ is the only hope you have and the only person that matters. Consider what I have said, I plead....
Now, if you are a believer...do you see yourself in the light of your worthlessness? Do you really? Do you truly understand what you have been saved from? Don't think for a moment that you have anything good in you that is of yourself. It is only from Him who died and was ressurected that there is anything good in you at all. It is only by Him that you can lift your eyes. Remember this, take it to heart. Let those that are lost see you in light of the mercy that God has granted you. Humble yourself in the sight of others and in worship of the One who saves. Serve Him with your life, its His anyway. You have nothing, but Him and that is all you need, give up the rest.
This is my first video embed..maybe it will work, maybe not..
You must give up everything...
The call of Christ is not for the weak of heart. His call will cost you everything. Does that bother you? Does that strike you? Have you been presented with this soft-hearted gospel that speaks only of the love of God? Make no mistake that God is love. Make no mistake that God desires a relationship with His people. But remember this, it will cost you your life. Are you prepared to give up your life for Him? He bought you in His blood and He demands that you carry your cross and die to yourself in order to live in Him. He demands your committment. He demands all that you have because what you have is not yours. He demands your life because He made the payment. He bought you out of slavery and now you have a new Master. You have a new Lord.
Have you began to build, but unable to finish? Did you count the cost of following the Lord? I submit to you that if you made the decision to follow Him and now you find the road too hard to trudge then my friend I wonder if you chose Him. The following of Christ may cost you your family, your friends, your job, it may cost you everything.
He is coming and He is not coming to play games. He is not coming that we should feel good about ourselves. He is coming to conquer what is His. He is coming to judge. But you say that is mean and a loving God would never judge. You say "my jesus will cast no one out." I say to you that you do not know Jesus and you know nothing of God. Because God is love, He must judge the wicked. Do you understand that? And just so that you may know that even the best of men is wicked in the eyes of God without the righeousness of Jesus Christ. There is nothing you can do to gain favor, no goodness in you is enough because there is no goodness in you. All goodness is in Him and we must be in Him. Does this sound crazy? Does it sound absurd? It sounds that way because it is. And it is because you can never begin to think the way God thinks. We bring God down to our earthly playing field and compare Him to what we think is right, or what the government says is it. There will be no ACLU on the day of judgement. There will be no one saying to God that He is violating civil liberties. You have no liberities, you have no right before God. Our measurement is against Him and we know nothing of His holiness. If we are guilty of one, we are guilty of all and worthy to be judged into everlasting death.
But there is hope. There is mercy. There is Grace. Its in Him and Him only. In the name of Jesus Christ. "Lift up your heads oh gates and open you ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in!" The King of Glory is at the right hand of the Father and He is there because He alone is worthy, because He alone suffered the weight of your sin and the wrath that you deserved. But you must submit to Him. You must give your life to Him. You do not want to go into that day of Judgement without Him. He has allowed a way that you can surrender, but you must follow Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He alone is able to carry you. No one else can.
Have you began to build, but unable to finish? Did you count the cost of following the Lord? I submit to you that if you made the decision to follow Him and now you find the road too hard to trudge then my friend I wonder if you chose Him. The following of Christ may cost you your family, your friends, your job, it may cost you everything.
He is coming and He is not coming to play games. He is not coming that we should feel good about ourselves. He is coming to conquer what is His. He is coming to judge. But you say that is mean and a loving God would never judge. You say "my jesus will cast no one out." I say to you that you do not know Jesus and you know nothing of God. Because God is love, He must judge the wicked. Do you understand that? And just so that you may know that even the best of men is wicked in the eyes of God without the righeousness of Jesus Christ. There is nothing you can do to gain favor, no goodness in you is enough because there is no goodness in you. All goodness is in Him and we must be in Him. Does this sound crazy? Does it sound absurd? It sounds that way because it is. And it is because you can never begin to think the way God thinks. We bring God down to our earthly playing field and compare Him to what we think is right, or what the government says is it. There will be no ACLU on the day of judgement. There will be no one saying to God that He is violating civil liberties. You have no liberities, you have no right before God. Our measurement is against Him and we know nothing of His holiness. If we are guilty of one, we are guilty of all and worthy to be judged into everlasting death.
But there is hope. There is mercy. There is Grace. Its in Him and Him only. In the name of Jesus Christ. "Lift up your heads oh gates and open you ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in!" The King of Glory is at the right hand of the Father and He is there because He alone is worthy, because He alone suffered the weight of your sin and the wrath that you deserved. But you must submit to Him. You must give your life to Him. You do not want to go into that day of Judgement without Him. He has allowed a way that you can surrender, but you must follow Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He alone is able to carry you. No one else can.
The Bread of Life...
Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "this is truly the prophet who has come into the world. So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone......Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, Truly I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw sign, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."
-John 6:14-15, 26
The bread of life seems to be the accurate title for this post. For a few weeks I have been focused on this chapter of John and these 3 verse, 2 fragments of scripture seem to stand and scream to all for those who hear the gospel. This chapter is centered around the true story of the feeding of the 5000 that many us know. But what do we see when we read this chapter? Do we see the miracle and stop there or do we look deeper into what Jesus is saying and what He is telling us even now?
In short, He fed the 5000, walked on water and boarded the disciples boat, and then rebuked those who sought Him. Verses 32-58 give us the answer to the question regarding the bread, but many choose to stay back in the beginning where they are getting fed. It bothers me that we seek Jesus only in times of need. We seek Him only when we are hungry. We get our fill and turn away. He is all fulfilling. The people sought Him not because of the sign He performed, but because they got what they wanted. He was useful to them at the moment and once they were full, He was no longer needed. What they did not understand was that the sign was not about the fruit, but it was about the Man who gave the fruit. He is the bread of life.....not the bread that satisfies the physical hunger, but the bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger. He is all satisfying. If he is not then I suggest you pray and seek the answer as to why you seek Him in your life.
Do you only seek Him when you are hungry? Or are you so satisfied in Him that you will never hunger again?
-John 6:14-15, 26
The bread of life seems to be the accurate title for this post. For a few weeks I have been focused on this chapter of John and these 3 verse, 2 fragments of scripture seem to stand and scream to all for those who hear the gospel. This chapter is centered around the true story of the feeding of the 5000 that many us know. But what do we see when we read this chapter? Do we see the miracle and stop there or do we look deeper into what Jesus is saying and what He is telling us even now?
In short, He fed the 5000, walked on water and boarded the disciples boat, and then rebuked those who sought Him. Verses 32-58 give us the answer to the question regarding the bread, but many choose to stay back in the beginning where they are getting fed. It bothers me that we seek Jesus only in times of need. We seek Him only when we are hungry. We get our fill and turn away. He is all fulfilling. The people sought Him not because of the sign He performed, but because they got what they wanted. He was useful to them at the moment and once they were full, He was no longer needed. What they did not understand was that the sign was not about the fruit, but it was about the Man who gave the fruit. He is the bread of life.....not the bread that satisfies the physical hunger, but the bread that satisfies our spiritual hunger. He is all satisfying. If he is not then I suggest you pray and seek the answer as to why you seek Him in your life.
Do you only seek Him when you are hungry? Or are you so satisfied in Him that you will never hunger again?
