JOHN 6:30-40 (NKJV) MIRACULOUS SIGNS, BREAD OF LIFE, ELECTION, RESURRECTION

 

30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Has anyone ever asked you to ask God for a sign so that they could believe what you have told them about Jesus and salvation? I was astounded when I was asked this question. I was a very young Christian and didn’t really know what to make of it. I wasn’t conversant with the Word so that I could refer to this or other Scripture such as Jesus reply to the same kind of question in Matthew 12:39 (NIV), “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

I can imagine that Jesus was probably just as shocked when this crowd asked him for a sign just after feeding 5,000 of them from five loaves and two fish. Okay, Jesus knew their hearts and probably wasn’t really shocked but their audacity had some underlying history. They were wrongly applying why their ancestors had been given manna to eat while in the desert. They also didn’t understand who had given them the manna.

32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

 Jesus has to set them straight. First, they believed Moses gave them the manna. Though they didn’t state it, it was clear to Jesus that they thought Moses gave them the manna. They believed that Moses was almost like God. They saw him as the lawgiver and following all his regulation, they would have life eternal. They couldn’t get beyond Moses to see that it all comes from the God the Father and not the mediator. Jesus has to pry open their small minds to see that the manna was there to sustain them in the desert and was only a foreshadowing of the true bread that would sustain them throughout life and give them eternal life.

We need to be reminded of the same thing. We can easily look at the blessings we receive from the Lord and somehow believe it is a reward for our being good or we have some innate power in ourselves. God warned the people of Israel about this in Deuteronomy 8:11-19. He summed it up in verses 17 and 18, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day’” (ESV).

34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

They addressed him as lord but some of the translations correctly render it as “sir” because they are not acknowledging that Jesus is Lord. They are only being respectful to one they see as prophet but certainly not God. Their response is the same as the woman at the well when Jesus told her about living water (John 4:15). Their brains are still fixed on meeting physical needs.

35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.

It is interesting to see how Jesus moves them forward one little step at a time. In essence he is now speaking the same way as when he told parables. He is making a truthful statement, but it isn’t clear to anyone who has not been granted spiritual discernment. Bread of life could mean the same to them as the living water meant to the woman at the well. To the unspiritual, it is either magical or only pertains to physical. However, Jesus identifies himself with being the bread and anyone who had spiritual eyes to see him would understand that he is talking about spiritual hunger and thirst. After all, how can you come to a person and never be hungry? Anyone who identifies with, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:2 ESV) will instinctively understand how Jesus satisfies our thirst and hunger for God.

But they don’t believe which means the Holy Spirit has not yet illuminated them or caused them to be born again. Without that change that comes from above no one can see or understand who Jesus is (John 3:3). In fact, no one will have a hunger or thirst for God though they will have an emptiness in them which only draws them to worship other things out of the deadness of their spirits because they are unable to understand God (Eccl 3:11).

37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

If it hasn’t been obvious in the previous chapters, Jesus clarifies that the only people who will believe in him are the ones that the Father has selected from eternity past. He gives them to Jesus. God is selective. He doesn’t give everyone to Jesus as is evidenced by those who have rejected him in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts as well as people throughout history.

They will come to Jesus. If God has given them there can be no doubt that they will believe in Jesus. It is a foregone conclusion. A decision that can’t be changed by God, by Jesus, or the person who comes to Jesus. Once God has promised something, he can’t change it because it would go against his nature (Num 23:19). He isn’t like us.

Have you come to Jesus or are you reading this as a skeptic? If as a skeptic and conclude that you haven’t been given to Jesus because you are a skeptic, then I ask you just one question. Do you want to come to Jesus? If the answer is yes, then you have been given to Jesus because you wouldn’t have the desire if God hadn’t given it to you. If you say no but are still curious or want to prove some other way of salvation, then at this point in your life, you haven’t been given to Jesus. That doesn’t mean the time won’t come.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus doesn’t have a separate agenda from the Father. They both want the same thing, and it is Jesus’ job to carry out part of that agenda. God’s will or agenda seems straight forward. The Father chooses some people to give to Jesus. Jesus comes to the earth to receive these people. Why he had to come to the earth to do that is a matter of great importance but is too lengthy for this discussion, but it is summarized in the statement that he will not lose anyone that the Father gives him. Finally, Jesus’ job is to raise them up at the end of history (also a deep subject but summarized by the “last day”).

It should be clear that the ones the Father has chosen to give to Jesus will believe in him and Jesus will then give them eternal life – not just physical life – and when the end comes, they will be resurrected.

Do you get it? Do you look to Jesus for eternal life? If so, then it is only because the Father gave you to Jesus and gave you the ability to understand and be saved. If you get it but haven’t turned to Jesus, then you better yield to the Father’s will to make your salvation and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).

JOHN 6:22-29 (NIV) REASONING, WHY MIRACLES, WORKS

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.

Even though Jesus had dismissed the crowd, many of them stayed long enough to see the disciples get in the only boat and leave. They realized. This is important to understand. While our reasoning has been flawed by the fall, it doesn’t mean we can’t add two plus two and come up with four. The fall has negatively affected our reasoning when it comes to spiritual matters. Even though Romans 1:19-20 says we should be able to look at creation and understand that God exists and that he is omnipotent, we still don’t come to God or respond to God in a way consistent with moral righteousness. Then there are also times when it is apparent that our reasoning ability aisre terribly lacking as evidenced by people believing lies and conspiracy theories on social media. Even Christians have succumbed to believing the internet instead of the Bible. We have become unable to apply the Bible to our lives and discern when out and out lies are repeated until we believe them.

23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Continuing with their reasoning, they concluded that Jesus was not around either. They made the correct conclusion that wherever the disciples had gone was where they would sooner or later find Jesus. Although I can imagine the theories they may have floated about Jesus’ disappearance.

We need to remember that in all of this, God is sovereign. The boats from Tiberias didn’t just happen to land there at the correct time for the remnants of the crowd to use to search for Jesus. This was a divine appointment to further God’s plan of bringing the message of salvation to the people.

When we can’t make sense of things, we need to understand that God does. He is the one in control of all the circumstances of life, whether it is the destruction of one nation by another, global pandemics, the unexpected death of a baby, or a diagnosis of cancer. We can speculate and try to apply human reason to everything. But there is only One who really knows the complete truth and we need to trust him.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Perhaps they were truly shocked to discover Jesus was already with the disciples. With the reasoning they had and without knowing Jesus had walked on the water, they would have assumed he was somewhere along the shore on the way to meet the disciples. Did they understand that his arrival had been the result of a miracle? Most likely not. However, their question does reveal that they were still trying to make sense of what had happened. This is what our minds do. We try to put what we see, hear, feel, and experience together to make sense of it, to form what we believe is reality. Fortunately, when we know Jesus, we look at things through the lens of the Bible and we can gain a better perspective of reality that includes God and his plan for us.

26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Here comes the revelation of reality from the lips of Jesus, “I tell you the truth.” Jesus never lies and he knows exactly what motivates people. The miracles were all given to the people and to us to let us know that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God incarnate. But the sad truth is that they saw the miracles as only a way to relive their immediate needs, whether that was feeding, healing, or freedom from Rome. They didn’t come to be spiritually fed but physical fed. If they recognized God working through Jesus, it was only to satisfy their temporal desires. James explained that we often ask God only to get something to spend on our own pleasures (James 4:3). Jesus sets them straight.

The miracles are God’s seal of approval on Jesus. They aren’t there just to satisfy desires, even Jesus’. If you are going to ask God for something, make it eternal. I’ve heard people say we need to pray kingdom prayers, and this is what Jesus is telling them to do. Work or pray for things that will make an eternal difference, first of all for your own salvation, then the salvation of others. What we do in our daily lives must have an overarching goal to bring the message of the cross and salvation through Jesus Christ. Then we will be storing up treasures in heaven and not on the earth (Matt 6:19-21). This doesn’t mean that we don’t have and use things for our own, but heavenly goals should consume a significant portion of our time and resources (Col 3:1-3).

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Wow! It sounds like they got it. Their attention has been turned from trying to make sense of the circumstances around them to what they need to do to what God wants. But they have been ingrained with the ideas that having eternal life depends on what they do. Jesus has to pry this away from them so that they will have faith in him alone for salvation.

29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Here it is. They need to believe in the one (singular) whom God sent.  The word believe is pisteuo(pist-yoo'-o) meaning to have faith in Jesus or to entrust your spiritual well-being to Jesus.[1] This kind of belief is more than just having facts. It requires acceptance that the facts are true. Then it also requires trusting the facts. In this case, it is trusting your eternal destiny to Jesus to save you. This has nothing to do with works that bring merit that must be rewarded. This kind of belief can only come if God gives it to your first (Eph 2:8-9).

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[1]NT:4100, Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, 2010 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.

 

JOHN 6:15-21 (ESV) TRIALS, JESUS WITH US

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Can you imagine this? Here is the One who created the universe, our sovereign King, and the people think they can force him to be king of a piddly little country that is oppressed by Rome. He is omniscient and lets his human nature know what the people are about to do. Even in his human nature, it was no problem for Jesus. He simply left town. More details about this are provide in Matthew 14:22-23. Jesus didn’t just leave town; he went up on the mountain to pray after he dismissed the crowd. He also made the disciples leave in the boat.

Do we have the presence of mind to get away from the crowds and even the closest friends and spend time in prayer when we face hostilities? I would venture to say that most of us say a quick prayer and then try to maintain control of the situation. Jesus did control the situation and then went to pray – alone.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

Jesus is the Light that came into the world (John 1:9). Yet here, we see Jesus leaving the disciples and letting them go off without him as darkness comes upon them. How often do we march off into the darkness without Jesus? The results can have long reaching negative effects as it did for Israel (Josh 9:14). It is only when we are doing things without first consulting him that we do it. The difference between us wandering off and this example is when Jesus intentionally sends us to into a situation that will test us. Testing the disciples on how to feed the 5,000 was to see how they would trust in him while he was with them. This time, they would be tested in how they would react when he was not with them.

18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

To the disciple’s credit, they kept on going in the direction Jesus has designated. Their progress was labored and slow. When Jesus came to them it was the fourth watch of the night (between three and four in the morning according to Matthew 14:25). I can’t imagine ministering all day long to a crowd of people then straining at the oars for another six hours. They must have been totally exhausted. This is the prime time for any of us to let circumstances frighten us or misinterpret what we think is going on.

Then Jesus appears walking on the water. The wind is blowing; the waves are high; a figure appears in the dark walking on the water. No one has walked on the water before. They don’t have the Gospel accounts to inform them that this is Jesus. Matthew 14:26 says that they believed him to be a ghost, (translated from the Greek phantasma, meaning specter, appearance, or phantom). In other words, they didn’t believe what they were seeing belonged to their reality. I would suspect that they would have classified these in the category of demons and other malevolent creatures, or they would not have been terrified.

When we are doing the Lord’s work and we don’t seem to see Jesus working with us, we shouldn’t give up (1 Cor 15:58). We shouldn’t be terrified when things get rough because we now know that he is always with us (Matt 28:29).

20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

What a comfort it is to hear a reassuring word from the Lord. The Lord had to repeat this to people from the beginning of time and still does now. Don’t be afraid. We don’t need to be afraid when we know that Jesus is with us. We don’t need to test Jesus the way Peter did by asking to walk on the water (Matt 14:28). We simply need to be willing to let him into our boat. We must trust him completely or we will never reach the shore. Salvation only comes by trusting Jesus alone for our salvation. Our hard work and rowing may seem to get us closer to God and salvation, but salvation comes only by trusting Jesus. When we do trust him completely for our salvation, we immediately reach our destination.

See how Jesus made up for all their toil and trouble by taking them to the shore immediately? While it demonstrates our immediate salvation, it is also a truth and no less a miracle that feeding 5,000 and walking on the water.