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Tag: miracle

Unless the Father draws you – Bread from Heaven
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life…
John 6:35a

A group of hopeful Jews has begun following this Son of Man from place to place looking for signs that He IS the Messiah of the One God. Now we turn to a sign Jesus shows to five thousand followers in a remote place where He provides bread and fish from the lunch packed for one young man.

Miracles & Signs by Jesus
- The Lord once again makes clear His purpose in Jerusalem.
John 5:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. – John 5:39-40

What Scriptures? The Jewish Scriptures, of course. And the proofs religious leaders demand will undermine their own earthly authority if Jesus produces such convincing miracles.

Yet like the Prophets the Jews recognized, including John the Baptist, Jesus also points to our natural disobedience of God from these same scriptures.

45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.

Once again Jesus offers us a choice between obedience and turning away from God, not between signs or disbelief.

46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Exodus 16:

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־יֹ֣ום בְּיֹומֹ֔ו לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתֹורָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃
Exodus 16:4 WLC

4 Then said the LORD unto Moses,

Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Note the significance of the sign of the bread:

Genesis

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. – Genesis 3:19 KJV on consequence of man’s sin of disobedience to the Lord God

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. – Genesis 14:18 KJV

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:24-26 NKJV

Communion – Bread from Heaven

The Apostles will later understand a communion with Jesus witnessed after they depart from Jerusalem with Jesus a second time.

A mountainside overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, Galilee
- John 6: 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated.

14 When the people saw the sign [the feeding of 5000 with five loaves of barley bread and two fish] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 6:14 CSB

How would we follow the Messiah?

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king…

These disciples of the big crowd of ‘believers’ were no different from us. We prefer to lead the Lord, to have Him follow us our way. Jesus perceives how some would make Him an earthly King of the Jews. (Even the Apostle Judas had hoped for this.)

The Lord walks away from the crowds and the next day miraculously reappears on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Capernaum, Galilee on an opposite shore of the Sea
- John 6: 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
26 Jesus answered [those who crossed the sea and found Him in Capernaum],

“Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled…

“This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”

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.’

We have already rejected the signs

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.
For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
John 6:32-33 NKJV

It’s nearly the Gospel of John 3:16 restated, but here Jesus clearly states that some of the Jews have rejected the Messiah just as most of the world will reject eternal life.

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.
John 6:35 NKJV

“… 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…

57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”

Bread from Heaven – מָן

When we encounter the miracles of God, when our eyes open to see the Son of God come down from heaven we still ask, “What is it?“

58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.

He who eats this bread will live forever.”

59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

60 Therefore many of His disciples… [followers, that is, in addition to some of the Apostles] questioned Jesus and many later turned away.]

More signs to the Apostles

Some of the Apostles witnessed signs privately away from the crowds. One of these had already taken place between His sign of the bread to the five thousand and preaching about it in the synagogue at Capernaum.

On the Sea of Galilee

Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]
- … Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.
Do you fear the Living God?

Do you honor the Son?

20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

What next?

Jesus concludes this current teaching about the Father sending the One Son by asking the Apostles about the Spirit of God.

What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:62-63 NKJV

They will see the ascension of the Son of Man, risen from Sacrifice of crucifixion and death!

The Apostles, some who had witnessed the Voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, will receive the Spirit. They witness Jesus’ words of life.

Will you with ears to hear and a heart open to receiving the life of the Spirit receive the Word – the truth and the life of Jesus?

For He IS the bread which came down from heaven to satisfy forgiveness of our sins and fill us with the Good News of eternal life.
January 7, 2020
Unless the Father draws you – Signs
Signs from God the Father

Perhaps as one of the multitude hearing the preaching of Jesus you may have missed His relational claim to God as His Father. Even now as one seeing signs on a mountainside and your amazement by the Lord’s miracles, your ears failed to hear His mention of the Father.

And like those in the crowds who followed Jesus for a time, but later left Him when their path to Heaven became steep and dangerous, you may have asked yourself a question like this:

Why would I follow Jesus or worship Him instead of God?

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה אֶחָֽד׃
Deuteronomy 6:4 Masoretic Text

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Previously I asked you to “Follow Me” & support my Christian Social Witness by subscribing to new posts. Most will not.

Why? Same reason that the multitudes did NOT follow Jesus. The Lord asks us to submit to His will in place of our own.

Today we will show some signs of Jesus and address reactions of those who claimed to believe in God while selfishly opposing to follow the Messiah of Israel.

Miracles & Signs by Jesus

The Apostle John outlines several signs and proofs of the Good News that Jesus IS the Son of the Living God. That is to say, Jesus proves to witnesses that God IS His Father and He IS God’s only Son!

Before hearing (or reading) Jesus’ words about the Father, let’s briefly look at John’s list of proofs witnessed by many in several places.

Cana, Galilee
- John 2:7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom…
Jerusalem, Judea
- John 2: First Passover—Cleansing the Temple
  - 18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”
  - 19 Jesus answered them,
  - “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
  - But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
- John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
Galilee, along road through Samaria from Jerusalem
- There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
John 4:48 CSB

Do you and I tend to require more proof from God?

(I know sometimes my faith falters.)

Jesus provides proof of a miracle here even though the Lord lamented that we so often require signs.

49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.”

A pool by the Sheep Market gate, Jerusalem, Judea
- John 5: (Most likely during a second Passover) The Healing at Bethesda
3 Within these [five porches] lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁸“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath…

Son’s Signs through the Father

“Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing… And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.
John 5:19b,21 CSB

28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
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January 6, 2020
Ordinary Men – 1
… he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

– Acts 4:10b

Suppose you were arrested and brought before a court of leaders asking how you had healed a lame man. Would you witness Christ?

The Apostle Peter in effect told the very court which convicted Christ, ‘you are the guilty ones.’ The resurrected Lord healed him.

We have heard of this blindness before

The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

– John 9:30-33

Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” – John 9:39

Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt [from sin]; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Blind Leadership

Peter and John had just healed a crippled beggar known to the same authorities who once witnessed a similar powerful miracle, then expelled from the Temple a man blind from birth healed by Jesus. My previous post, the three o’clock prayer service, details this healing recorded in Acts 3. The Apostles face similar retribution as Jesus after healing a lame man in front of many witnesses.

Acts 3:12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

… 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

Acts 4:

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Jewish Stratification

During the times of Herod’s Temple, social center of religious life in Jerusalem at that time of Jesus and the Apostles, Temple leaders were esteemed above ordinary men. The political appointment of priests claimed status from traditional Jewish Biblical offices and responsibilities.
- The social world of the priests during the Iron Age and Persian Period was one fraught with concerns about power and status. To be a priest was, at least in terms of public rhetoric, an ascribed, not an achieved status.
  - Source
Priests
- Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the term priest (kōhēn) is commonly used to refer to an official who was set apart from the rest of the community in order to carry out certain duties associated with worship and sacrifice. As “ministers of the LORD” (Joel 1:9; 2:17), priests functioned as mediators of God’s presence and were responsible for the day-to-day operation of cultic sites, whether the tabernacle, local shrines, or the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Deuteronomy employs the term “Levitical priests” (hakkōhănîm halwiyyim) most likely to underscore the fact that all Levites were qualified to be priests (Deut 17:9, 18; 18:1; 24:8; 27:9).
- The most prominent and persistent controversy regarding the priesthood had to do with whether all Levities could serve as priests or, alternatively, if only certain branches of the Levitical line (the Aaronides or the Zadokites) were qualified for the priestly office.
  - Source
Scribes
- Outside of their sacrificial duties, priests also oversaw many other aspects of ancient Israelite life… In this role, priests were responsible for communicating the law and adjudicating legal matters (Lev 10:10–11; Deut 17:8–13; 21:5; Ezek 44:24), though in the Second Temple period, such activity was eventually taken over by scribes.
  - Source
- Scribes of various degrees of competence were attached to all government and temple offices. Apparently there were also independent scribes who either served the public or were in the employ of men of means.
- Later the scribe was a professional expert in the writing of Torah scrolls, *tefillin , *mezuzot , and bills of *divorce .
  - Source
Sadducees
- (followers of Zadok), (Matthew 3:7; 16:1,6,11,12; 22:23,31; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:6,7,8) a religious party or school among the Jews at the time of Christ, who denied that the oral law was a revelation of God to the Israelites. and who deemed the written law alone to be obligatory on the nation, as of divine authority.
- To these sons of Zadok were afterward attached all who for any reason reckoned themselves as belonging to the aristocrats; such, for example, as the families of the high priest, who had obtained consideration under the dynasty of Herod. These were for the most part judges, and individuals of the official and governing class.
  - Source
Sadducees held the majority of the seats in the ruling Jewish court of the Sanhedrin. They held political power and influence in Judah, even under Rome.

As you can see from description of these several classes of ‘blind guides,’ these Jewish rulers are not in any way ordinary men.

Though five thousand men came to believe Peter and John, these arresting authorities are in no way intimidated. The Apostles face a trial, the first of many, for proclaiming Christ Jesus.

Allow me to ask you, what is your response to opposition to Jesus Christ?

To be continued…
May 14, 2017