Last time we heard of John the Baptist (see Miracles of Healing and Raising of the Dead), he was languishing in prison – put there by the governor of Galilee, Herod the tetrarch, for publicly shaming him for stealing his brother’s wife.
John was in prison for a year when Herod threw a birthday party for the daughter of Herodias, his wife. The governor told the girl that she could have anything she wanted. After she consulted her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist.
To save face in front of the other party guests, Herod reluctantly made it so…
Jesus learned of this in the spring of 29 A.D. and sought to be by Himself. However, He was spotted by a crowd who begged Him for healing. Our compassionate Savior complied:
…they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Lk. 9:11 CSB
That evening, the apostles returned from their ministerial travels and asked Jesus to send the crowd (who numbered 5000) away. Instead, He told them to feed the crowd.
The apostles objected, complaining that they only had 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. He responded by telling them to give Him what they had. Then, Jesus blessed the food and broke the bread, and placed it in a basket. Afterwards, He had it distributed to the 5000. Everyone was fed! There were even 12 additional baskets left over. That made some converts:
When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” Jn. 6:14 NLT
Christ perceived that in response to His miracle, the crowd wanted to make Him a king. They didn’t know that He was already the King of kings. However, being an earthly king was not part of His plan for this particular timeframe:
“…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mt. 20:28 NLT
So, He gathered His apostles and sailed to a mountain, where Jesus disembarked by Himself to pray.
The wind stirred up and the boat drifted away from the shore. The apostles rowed frantically to try to return to Jesus, but the wind was too strong.
Suddenly, they see Christ walking on the water towards them!
They think that they’re seeing a ghost, but Jesus assures them that it is He. Peter gets a little cocky and yells out to Him that if He is the Messiah, He should be able to make it possible for him to walk on the water as well.
Jesus simply replies, “Come.” Mt. 14:29 NKJV
Peter is then actually able to walk on the water and he proceeds towards Christ. However, he looks at the rough winds, panics, and begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus to save him, who, pulls him out of the water and says:
“O, you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Mt. 14:31 NKJV
The moment that Jesus got on the boat, the wind stopped, and the boat supernaturally sailed to the opposite shore. This entire episode makes a huge impression on the apostles:
Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. Mt. 14:33 NLT
Christ and His retinue land on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Gennesaret. There, He healed multitudes, even some who were healed just by touching His garments.
Then they journeyed to the city of Capernaum – followed by a large crowd, many of whom were just looking for a meal, after hearing of His feeding of the 5000. Jesus uses this opportunity to preach:
“…don’t be concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” Jn. 6:27 NLT
God has put all things under the authority of Christ… Eph. 1:22 NLT
Jesus is saying that God has put His authority on His Son. So, He speaks with the authority of His Father, and in so doing, tells of the Gospel that is key to eternal life.
The crowd doesn’t understand. They are used to listening to the Pharisees, who taught that one must earn his or her way into heaven. So, the people ask Him what it is that they must do to please God. Christ responds:
“This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” Jn. 6:29 NLT
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus… Eph. 2:9, 10. NLT
The people respond with a request for a miracle; but Jesus stays on track:
“…our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did.” (See Ex. 16:4; Ps. 78:24) “And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Jn. 6:31 – 33. NLT
“…necessary food for the spiritually starving.” J.C. Ryle
The crowd can’t get their mind off their flesh; so, they ask Jesus to give them some of this ‘literal’ bread. Our Lord of infinite patience, love, and mercy, continues:
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, no to do my own will.
And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. Jn. 6:35 – 40. NLT
…nothing can separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rm. 8:38, 39. NLT (My favorite Scripture).
Jesus could not be clearer. He is the ticket to eternity – the walking, talking plan and method of God’s redemption for all of humankind.
However, Jesus is facing a tough crowd – whose minds are clouded over by our adversary, who, attempts to block the Gospel message to all people. They continue to doubt Him. Christ lovingly persists:
“Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’” (See Is. 54:13) “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” Jn. 6:43 – 51. NLT
We finally get the complete picture of our God-connection!
When we seek God, He leads us to Christ. Jesus in turn, if we accept Him as our Savior, connects us with God through Himself. He willingly vacated His heavenly throne next to the right hand of His Father (Rm. 8:34), to inhabit flesh so that we could relate to Him and to the redemption that God offers through His Son via Jesus’ sacrifice of His flesh and blood on the cross.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Rm. 8:1, 2. NLT
Yet, this hard-hearted crowd is repulsed by Jesus’ flesh and blood allegories – instead taking them literally, that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Christ doesn’t back down:
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.” Jn. 6:53 – 57. NLT
Jesus is trying to help the people lay ahold of salvation, by breaking through their Pharisaic condition that binds and blinds them – so that they may comprehend the spiritual implications of His death and resurrection.
He is attempting to plant seeds of faith (but He will not violate anyone’s free will), the faith that will be required to hold onto salvation once the events at Calvary take place.
His flesh is an allegory for the spiritual food (Gospel) that they must ‘eat’ (bind to their hearts) to walk a godly path towards salvation; and the blood (the life) He will shed for them, must be ‘drunk’ (believed in) to obtain His atonement for their sins so that they can receive that salvation.
Yet, most of the crowd abandons Him, as well as many of His heretofore followers as well:
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know that it is the very power of God. 1 Cor. 1:18 NLT
Jesus turns to His apostles and says:
“Does this offend you? Then what will you think when you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Jn. 6:61 – 64. NLT
Christ asks the apostles if they want to leave as well. Peter responds:
“Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.’ Jn. 6:68, 69. NLT
Jesus responds:
“I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him. Jn. 6;70, 71. NLT
To be continued…
Goodnight and God bless.