Category: Devotions

True discipleship part 3

John 7: 2-5

“But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.”

It is time to leave this God-forsaken region, this Gentile area, you are too good for this place.

It is time to move up a gear, to go to the applauded stage of the world, to be seen and heard, to be given the recognition you deserve.

‘No’, said Jesus and He introduces us to truths that we need to carry in our life.

Never follow those who don’t believe in you.

If you want to become a public figure then this is not the right time to be so.

Learning to live in secret is the secret.

 

All in good time, God’s time.

John 7: 1-12

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him. ⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?” ¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.”

The feast was not only a remembrance to the wilderness when their ancestors wandered around staying in tents but it was significant for looking to the coming Messiah who when he came would gain the victory over the Romans.

His brothers wanted him to go public at the Festival. They didn’t know the time.

The Jewish leaders were anticipating him to be on public display at the Festival. They never recognised the time.

The crowds were divided in their opinion about him. Their time was now and for what they could get.

However, Jesus knew his time had not arrived yet.

Don’t let people dictate your course.

Don’t let their expectations intimidate you into stepping into a place that God hasn’t prepared for you yet.

Don’t worry over the opinions and judgments of others. It is God’s time or no time.

Stay in control of your time.

True discipleship part 2

John 6: 68-71

“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

True discipleship is when the crowds have left.

True discipleship is when there is nowhere to go that compares to where you are with Jesus.

True discipleship is following the vocabulary of heaven.

True discipleship is a journey of becoming totally convinced in who Jesus is.

True discipleship lives in the environment where the false also lives.

Don’t turn back

John 6: 66-67

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

Some of you know my roots are in The Salvation Army and I have some of their songs on my playlists. In 1985 (which seems like only a few years ago but is actually 35!) John Gowans, who later became the General of the S.A, wrote a musical for a Youth conference, it was entitled Man Mark II. He was burdened about the future of the SA, that he saw many taken up with the organisation, administration, finances etc and not with the mission of God. He actually could have been speaking to the many traditional and Pentecostal/charismatic streams today! One of his songs fits our verses this morning. It is called I’ll not turn back.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8dqWHKdn3I)

Please read the lyrics slowly.

If crosses come, if it should cost me dearly
To be the servant of my Servant Lord,
If darkness falls around the path of duty,
And men despise the Saviour I’ve adored:

I’ll not turn back, whatever it may cost;
I’m called to live to love and save the lost.
I’ll not turn back, whatever it may cost;
I’m called to live to love and save the lost.

If doors should close, then other doors will open;
The Word of God can never be contained.
His love cannot be finally frustrated,
By narrow minds or prison bars restrained.

If tears should fall, if I am called to suffer,
If all I love men should deface, defame,
I’ll not deny the One that I have followed,
Nor be ashamed to bear my Master’s name.

That was 35 years ago. But wherever you are today and whichever denomination or not you are worshipping within, this song should be sung. More than that the question of Jesus 2,000 years ago needs to be heard right across the churches: You do not want to leave too, do you?

True discipleship

John 6: 61-66

“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

 

Discipleship:

1. True discipleship isn’t easily offended nor grumbles when hearing things that are counter cultural, v61
2. True discipleship doesn’t stumble over the small issues and is ready to grasp the big revelations, v62
3. True discipleship isn’t following for gain, v63 (they wanted more bread)
4. True discipleship believes, v64
5. True discipleship is found in the work of the Father, v65
6. True discipleship doesn’t turn back, v66

Eat Jesus

John 6: 43-60 I haven’t copied the passage here simply because it is so long, you need to read it. But the response was this:

^v43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered…

^v52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

^v60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Here is what Jesus was saying:

• The Father draws people to Jesus.
• Jesus raises them on the last day.
• If you have gone to the Father then you have first gone to Jesus.
• Only Jesus has seen the Father.
• Jesus is the bread of life.
• Eat Jesus and you will not die.
• Eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood and you will have eternal life.
• His flesh is real food.
• His blood is real drink.
• Eat his flesh and drink his blood and you remain in him and he in you.
• Feed on Jesus and live.
• Feed on this bread and live forever.

That’s simple isn’t it?

They grumble and argue and struggle, not to understand it, but to accept it.

And so do we? But the difference is we struggle to understand it also.

We squabble over its meaning. Is it speaking of the sacraments? If so is this transubstantiation (the conversion of the bread and wine into the physical body and blood of Christ) or is this symbolic and referring to having a relationship with Jesus, giving him your all?

Greater minds have understood this better than I can this morning.

Here’s my thoughts this morning as I ponder on these truly amazing but confusing verses:

• The Jewish leaders thought they were the way to God the Father. But they were wrong. Neither they nor their Jerusalem Temple was the way. Jesus is still the only way.
• The way to the Father was apparently through the sacrificial system. They would sacrifice the animals and the blood would be poured on the altar for God. In their practice, beliefs and culture, God would consume the blood and they laid the flesh of the animal and other food also out on the altar for God to eat. For generations this was completely understood and the only way to the Father.
• God has turned the tables. Man cannot get to God that way. Imagine with me this conversation from God: “You can’t come to me, I have come down to you. I am not the one who will eat and drink your animal sacrifices. I have come to be the perfect sacrifice and to lay on the altar myself. Who is doing this? It is Jesus who will do it. Instead of me drinking and eating from you, you are invited to eat and drink from me.”
• Of course this smashes the whole sacrificial system to pieces! No wonder they become offended! They totally understood what Jesus was saying.
• Today thank Jesus that He did it all and laid down His life as a sacrifice once and for all. He invites us to the altar and when we get there it’s not our work nor our sacrifice that counts. That’s not the way to eternity. He’s not going to be feasting on that. It’s His sacrifice. That’s the big deal. That’s the true feast. It is us who eat and drink.

Outer wrapping

John 6: 36-42 “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?”

 

In 2-days I am leading an important conference. I know how important first impressions are: the welcome, seating, banners, music, sound, media, heating, food, drinks, etc. If this goes wrong then what follows may not be heard.

The outward wrapping is the human story.

The more important that becomes then you will make the precious and divine gift inside ordinary and explanatory.

They knew his human story so how can Jesus be from heaven?

What is the outward wrapping that prevents you from seeing or hearing the divine? Have you ever focused on the ridiculous tie the preacher was wearing instead of listening to what was being preached?

We discard quickly.

We judge at first sight a book by its cover.

But there are times when God ordains the wrapping to be ordinary and human, born to Joseph and Mary, so that step towards and into the divine becomes a true and genuine advance into life.

Even a dog gets used to things

John 6 v 35 “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Last evening I watched the BBC drama, The Windermere Children. It tells of the true story of the child survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who arrive at the Calgarth Estate by Lake Windermere with only the clothes they wear and a few meagre possessions. We now call it therapy, for 4 months the children entered a rehabilitation programme of art and physical exercise led by the German Jewish analyst and social worker, Oscar Friedman.

There’s a striking scene at the first dinner when the children see the bread placed in front of them and they all rush off, before the traditional blessing can be said, snatching the bread, hiding it in their rooms and wolfing down small scraps they’ve torn off.

Those still alive are now obviously in their 80s and 90s, but one of them, Arek, recalls, ‘I remember the way we all grabbed at the bread,’ he says. ‘We’d hide it under the mattress and the people who looked after our rooms kept finding mouldy bread. We thought the food might suddenly stop.’ Another, Sam, who was imprisoned in four camps – Blizin, Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Theresienstadt – nods in agreement, ‘I had bicycle clips on my trousers and I’d put the bread down my trousers,’ he recalls. Then he said the most interesting thing, ‘Eventually we realised the bread wasn’t going to end. Even a dog gets used to things.’

Across the world and for thousands of years bread is central to every culture and most religions. In Buddhist ceremonies they place it on incense burners to honour the dead. After Ramadan moves into a feast the Muslims bake their bread. For the Jews, bread is everything, mentioned numerous times in the Torah. Of course for Christians we will take bread during our Communion services and the birthplace of our Saviour means the ‘House of Bread’, Bethlehem.

But most of us will never know what it feels like to think there will be no more bread.

I’ve just read a moving story of an Indian lady who sold her hair for £1.50 because after her husband committed suicide because of mounting debts, she had nothing left to feed her children. Hunger will make us act in the most desperate of ways.

Is your bread running out today?

Are you fearing it is going to run out and tomorrow you won’t have anything?

Are you trying to make your own bread because you don’t think you can ask Jesus again?

The response of Jesus is to a prayer that we need to pray every day of our lives:

V34 “Always give us this bread.”

“Give me you today”

You won’t go hungry if you continually come to Jesus.

Once we realise that Jesus continues to supply who He is to us, that He is new every morning and He rises every day giving life, purpose and hope, then we will stop hiding in fear, for even dogs get used to things.

 

The lessons of miracles and signs

John 6:25-34

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed 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. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” ²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” ³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

• If you have received a blessing, a gift, an opportunity, an answer to prayer, it is possible that you become so fixated with it that you miss what is hidden behind that blessing.
• Don’t marvel what you see but search for what is behind it. What is unseen is often the real blessing what God wants to give you.
• The blessing will often fade but what is behind it will remain if discovered.

These are the lessons of miracles and signs.

So let’s unpack this conversation Jesus was having:

V26 The sign lies within the miracle. Within the work of Jesus (the feeding of the 5,000) is the identity of Jesus.

V27 If you miss the sign within the miracle (the identity within the work) it is like receiving your salary with imperishable food (in their culture as today in many nations people are paid not just with money). However if you receive the sign, his identity, then the opposite is true, your wages are food that never perishes (eternal).

V28 They definitely want the end result. They want the imperishable, the eternal food. But they miss the point. It is seen in their question and the thought that a person doesn’t receive anything without working for it. What must we do to do that work?

V29 Again the answer lies within. The work is to believe not only in God, that was a given, they had received that, steeped in their culture, but to believe in the one (Jesus) whom God has sent.

V30 Incredulously, having already eaten the miraculous bread, they ask for proof. They want him to do something again. They ask for a sign. They are wanting to see what is hidden behind him, who Jesus is, they see the miracles, but they cannot see the signs. How fickle! They had just wanted to make him king. But of course this is proof it would have been an earthly king. They wanted to use him for their benefit. They again compare Jesus with Moses and the stories of old.

V31-33 Jesus points out their ancestors did not follow Moses (the miracle-worker) but God (the sign). The manna (the miracles) was actually the bread of God (the sign). Therefore, complain and reject the manna and you grumble and walk away from God.

V34 Wanting the sign (the bread of God) may be applaudable if the motive had been correct! And we will see over the coming days nothing could be further from the truth as Jesus presses into their motives.

Look around you today. Look at all the things you have been blessed with. Maybe even in the last few days.

• What are the hidden treasures within this outer blessing?
• What does God want you to learn and discover and develop, keep looking?
• We often say ‘what is God teaching me?’ when we go through the trials of life but there is a lesson in every blessing. What good is the miracle if we don’t see the sign pointing to Jesus? What good is the sign if it doesn’t lead us to kneel in awe of Him and to discover more of who He is?

These are the lessons of miracles and signs.

 

The journey across the sea

John 6: 15-24

^“Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. 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. 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.”

 

The Jewish people were not known for being great sea-travellers. They viewed the sea as supernaturally dark, fearful, sinful and chaotic.

Here is a story of the sea. The sea of Galilee is today 14 miles long and 8 miles wide. Matthew and Mark also tell the same story and all 3 gospel writers place this story after the feeding of the 5,000 which was the story linking to the marvellous provision of heavenly manna to God’s people on their journey in the wilderness. The link with Moses having been made we then move to a miraculous story of the sea. Can you remember a miraculous sea story of Moses?!

This is an incredible story.

I remember a Bible College student who wanted to be like Jesus and who tried this very same miracle of walking on the water of the swimming pool at the college. Unable to swim thankfully there were lifeguards on duty who managed to dive in and rescue him. He hadn’t at that stage mastered this miracle but I admire his attempt!

This story is not only a supernatural event, it is a teaching event.

1. There is a journey of obedience.

Our lives are journeys. There are times when our obedience to the Lord doesn’t feel like He is with us.

Jesus was on the mountain and they were 3-4 miles into the lake. They had expected that Jesus would have joined them by now, rowing alongside in his own little boat, but it had now fallen dark and there is no sight of him. Maybe they began to question each other over whether Jesus did say he would join them.

Obedience doesn’t mean you are going to be blessed by His presence. Obedience can be lonely. You may wake up to go to work today because you are being obedient to the place God has put you. You may wonder why you are doing it, you may think the feeling of absence of the presence of God is an indicator He doesn’t want you to do this, but nothing could be further than the truth. Simply, the journey of obedience is a lonely road at times.

2. The journey of invitation

In that obedience road it can get worse than lonely. You can have very bad days when your life is knocked about by the wind and waves. In the chaos of the day or the sleepless night when your head is raging with noise it may be that you can experience His presence. You may attribute it to an enemy at first that things are getting worse but if you listen you will hear Him speak comforting words, ‘I am here, I am with you.’ Then your journey has moved from obedience to invitation welcoming the presence of Christ into your journey and life. When that happens it is amazing how quick things can move and you may well have moved to a new chapter of your life before you know it and the storms of life become the past stories.

3. The journey of pursuit

The crowd are puzzled. They had head-counted the disciples into the boat the previous day and they definitely knew Jesus was not on that boat. But there was only one boat. They were searching for the miracle-worker, their Moses. They knew if they found the disciples they would find Jesus. Even if their motive was wrong they show us their desire, their pursuit of the Messiah. There are people today who need the Lord. They need a Saviour and they know it. They need a miracle worker and they know it. Do they think if I find the Church I find what I am looking for?

Only John puts a small but wonderful detail which answered the problem of getting the crowd across the lake. Boats arrived! What we know is that when people seek the Lord then help will come to aid that desire. Pursue him today and provision will come to help you get near him.