JOHN 6 (part 2)
As we finish out John chapter 6,
I love how we see so many different ways people respond to God and his blessings.
And in this crowd we also can see ourselves- In which of these groups are you?
Some were seeking:
John 6:22-29-
They were seeking, but for what reason?
They started seeking Christ, but moved to seeking their fill.
Christianity should not be our free pass to heavenly goodies.
And faith based on signs and not on the word, can lead a person astray
Yet how often does the excitement of our faith stop when we are not treated the way we want?
How often do we get the mindset, “What has God done for me lately”,
Or “what have I really been getting out of this?”
Look at Jesus’ teaching:
John 6:35-40
Our blessings come as we do his will.
Our blessing comes as we set aside our lives of worldly comfort, and depend on spiritual food
We are not here to get, but to give.
And this teaching brought about the second response we see from the crowd:
Some were murmuring-
John 6:41-51
Discontent, and unsatisfied… they focused on who he was, and not what he said.
He spoke as the man from heaven and they said, “Who is it”
Just like when God gave them bread from heaven they called it manna, which means, “what is it”
What is funny is, during the time they had manna they were grumblers too.
There is an interesting thing about manna-
It was the gift of God, given to a rebellious people
All they had to do was kneel down and pick it up- and if they failed to pick it up they walked on it.
It is the same thing with the bread of life
You either let it fill you, or you disgrace it
When we look at these people, we notice, their murmuring was on the same thing we often murmur about
#1- the teaching is too hard
and #2 who are you to correct me!
John 6:42
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'?"
Didn’t they just see the miracles?
The other accounts also say that during this time he sat and healed all the people…
But when it came to someone correcting them and their lives…
When it came to calling them to work…
The response became just like ours often is… (Scratch that… like MINE often is…)
Who are you to correct me?
Then we see the third response:
Still more were striving-. Causing strife- fighting and quarreling.
John 6:52-59-
God can’t do it.
How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Because it doesn’t make sense to me- I’m not buying into it!
And how often is this the attitude in the church?
My way or the highway- If it’s not my idea or I don’t like it, I’m just not participating!
This isn’t what I want to do… so I won’t.
God is sovereign? Bah!. This is my spiritual life and I’ll do what I want.
Which always leads to the last group:
At the end, almost all of them were departing-
John 6:60-66-
Things got tough and they left.
This was a hard teaching….
I kind of like Jesus’ response: John 6:61-63
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?
What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
Yes, if we saw that, the hardness of this teaching wouldn’t matter so much would it?
You see, it is an issue of our faith.
All of my complaining, all of my neglect- what is it over?
Comfort, pride, laziness, bad priorities…
We all need to learn this lesson: The spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing!
It all comes down to the supremacy of God.
Do you believe?
Do you believe enough to kneel down and let the bread of life fill you?
Which person in the crowd are you?
John 6:67-69
Do you believe that today?
Are you willing to lay down your life, take the correction from his word-
And let God alone fill you?
It is not time to argue- to pass the buck- or to question the messenger
It is time for us to examine the truth and obey it.
I love how we see so many different ways people respond to God and his blessings.
And in this crowd we also can see ourselves- In which of these groups are you?
Some were seeking:
John 6:22-29-
They were seeking, but for what reason?
They started seeking Christ, but moved to seeking their fill.
Christianity should not be our free pass to heavenly goodies.
And faith based on signs and not on the word, can lead a person astray
Yet how often does the excitement of our faith stop when we are not treated the way we want?
How often do we get the mindset, “What has God done for me lately”,
Or “what have I really been getting out of this?”
Look at Jesus’ teaching:
John 6:35-40
Our blessings come as we do his will.
Our blessing comes as we set aside our lives of worldly comfort, and depend on spiritual food
We are not here to get, but to give.
And this teaching brought about the second response we see from the crowd:
Some were murmuring-
John 6:41-51
Discontent, and unsatisfied… they focused on who he was, and not what he said.
He spoke as the man from heaven and they said, “Who is it”
Just like when God gave them bread from heaven they called it manna, which means, “what is it”
What is funny is, during the time they had manna they were grumblers too.
There is an interesting thing about manna-
It was the gift of God, given to a rebellious people
All they had to do was kneel down and pick it up- and if they failed to pick it up they walked on it.
It is the same thing with the bread of life
You either let it fill you, or you disgrace it
When we look at these people, we notice, their murmuring was on the same thing we often murmur about
#1- the teaching is too hard
and #2 who are you to correct me!
John 6:42
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'?"
Didn’t they just see the miracles?
The other accounts also say that during this time he sat and healed all the people…
But when it came to someone correcting them and their lives…
When it came to calling them to work…
The response became just like ours often is… (Scratch that… like MINE often is…)
Who are you to correct me?
Then we see the third response:
Still more were striving-. Causing strife- fighting and quarreling.
John 6:52-59-
God can’t do it.
How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Because it doesn’t make sense to me- I’m not buying into it!
And how often is this the attitude in the church?
My way or the highway- If it’s not my idea or I don’t like it, I’m just not participating!
This isn’t what I want to do… so I won’t.
God is sovereign? Bah!. This is my spiritual life and I’ll do what I want.
Which always leads to the last group:
At the end, almost all of them were departing-
John 6:60-66-
Things got tough and they left.
This was a hard teaching….
I kind of like Jesus’ response: John 6:61-63
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?
What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
Yes, if we saw that, the hardness of this teaching wouldn’t matter so much would it?
You see, it is an issue of our faith.
All of my complaining, all of my neglect- what is it over?
Comfort, pride, laziness, bad priorities…
We all need to learn this lesson: The spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing!
It all comes down to the supremacy of God.
Do you believe?
Do you believe enough to kneel down and let the bread of life fill you?
Which person in the crowd are you?
John 6:67-69
Do you believe that today?
Are you willing to lay down your life, take the correction from his word-
And let God alone fill you?
It is not time to argue- to pass the buck- or to question the messenger
It is time for us to examine the truth and obey it.
Her comment reminds me of this: "Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29