Missions Paul

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.

The left-over teaching of Jesus

John 6: 12-15

“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.¹⁴ After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

Was this gathering of all the left-overs a ‘keep the countryside clean’ campaign? Was it because the Jews believed it was sinful to throw food away?

Maybe the reason is found in what Jesus will reveal later when he says ‘I am the Bread of Life’.

What went out to the 5,000 that day was fragments of the Bread of Life.

The Gospel writers gathered the pieces of Jesus’ life and his teachings and they formed them into a narrative, preserving them so that even to this day we feast daily on the left-overs.

Jesus did not want them to forget his miracles and teaching.

John preserved the I am sayings: I am the Bread of Life, I am the Light of the world, I am the Sheep gate, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Resurrection and the Life, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, I am the True Vine, Before Abraham was born I AM. At the end of the gospel he will say there was simply so much that there are not enough books in the world to record them all.

Today as you read the Bible, as you hear it preached, we are doing what Jesus told the disciples to do. We are gathering the left-overs that remain of his life here on earth. And if like me there isn’t a day when you fail to marvel and be filled to capacity with a fragment then it only serves to point to a feast of knowing Him one day soon.

 

The Power of thankfulness.

John 6: 10 “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”

You may not like who you are, your life shape, your age. You may feel insignificant and worthless. But give YOU to HIM, to the miracle worker.

Give HIM your mind, your heart, your material things.

When the head of the Church gave thanks for what was in HIS hand you knew something was going to happen.

When the Church gives thanks for what it has and who they are and the town and city they belong to then something is going to begin to happen.

Stop complaining. Try thanking. It just may work!

Sit your problem down

John 6: 10 “Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).”

If you are facing a huge challenge today find a new perspective.

Five thousand men all standing up, walking around plus we presume women and children running around looks chaotic.

How did they know there were about that number? Mark and Luke recall the crowd were also put into groups of 50 and 100.

Sit your problem down today. Don’t let it become any bigger than it is.

And don’t forget the grass. Old man John didn’t, even after many years he remembers the grass. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

Your life can be painted differently. The landscape can be changed. You may still need to address the problem but bringing some calming order to it will be a great start.

 

Small things in the hands of a Big God.

John 6: 8-9 “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

That’s all Jesus had to work with.

There wasn’t much placed into his hands.

5 loaves and 2 titbits of fish which were no more than a garnish to cover the bread compared to the huge need of feeding 5,000 men plus women and children.

In comparison to the need it was small, mere crumbs, but never under-estimate what Jesus can do with the crumbs of life!

You may describe your life like crumbs today for whatever reason; you are the left-overs of a better past but God specialises in using cast-offs and left-overs.

God will build with whatever and whoever you have become.

I don’t understand it but God is a master at using small things.

You may be in a gigantic problem with 5,000 people to feed.

Put who you are and what you have into the hands of Jesus and see what He does.

 

Jesus can do it

John 6: 5-7 “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Two crowds of people separated by history. Following two deliverers. Moses was not the Messiah, he would only write about him, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (5:46)

But during the Moses years the crowd miraculously found food and the story was still etched in the minds of the 5,000 men plus women and children following Jesus. He knew the connection, the parallel stories and he knew that just as God tested His people in the wilderness so he must begin to test the hearts of those following him.

The test to Philip is a simple question. Philip is from this area (1:44) and is asked, “Where can we buy food?”

The one who has already turned water into wine asks Philip where they can get food.

Here is the right answer: “Lord you know you are able to provide.”

But Philip thought only in terms of how.

He did not understand the identity of Jesus. If only what he had said previously had truly changed him at this point, ““We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (1:45). He had found Jesus but not understood what that meant.

Today it may feel there is a great crowd pressing on you, expectations and hopes that you will be able to provide what they are wanting from you. How will I get through this? What will I do? Where do I go?

The question is still the same: who is Jesus?

Can you resist coming up with your own ideas?

Can you turn to the one you are following and realise Jesus can?

Great timing, perfect timing.

John 6:1-4

“Sometime after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.”

Here is the Moses connection again.

The history of when the Israelites placed the blood of the lamb over their door posts and the destroying angel passed over their homes when bringing death to Egypt.

And here comes Jesus entering to be the true Passover Lamb at the time the Jews would be celebrating their Passover festival.

This is God’s grace at its best because the timing is perfect.

God’s acts of grace are always in time.

He is never late.

He is not playing catch-up.

He is never too far ahead.

He is always on time.

When the time had fully come God sent His Son, Galatians 4:4.

As Hesus was facing the crucifixion he would say, “Father the time has come” (John 17:1)

God is not a God of disorder. No matter how you are feeling right now. It is only for a time.

The KJV throughout the Bible has 4 important words … it came to pass.

You may be waiting for your miracle – it came to pass.

You may be waiting for your storm to end – it came to pass.

The timing of God’s grace is perfect.

Who are you?

Jesus gives a long dialogue regarding his authenticity.

John 5: 31-47

Yesterday after preaching in a church I went to the home of the Pastor for a wonderful lunch. I was wearing a really nice white shirt and after lunch we took a photo of the whole family so I could post on to social media which I did. Lots of comments came in and ‘likes’ however what people were seeing was not the truth. Only 2 minutes into the meal I spilt sauce onto my really nice white shirt! I was stained and concerned that the photograph was now impossible. The Pastor gave me assurance that with his know-how no one would see the stain and sure enough by the time the picture came out on social media he had doctored the stain and removed it (not that easy to do in real-life back home!).

In our world of social media claims and selfie’s with huge declarations of what has been achieved and beautiful displays of blessing it is easy for someone to think they are living in a different world but they long to be part of what they see on their phones and tablets. The truth is that not everything is perfect.

Who are you? That was the question the accusers of Jesus asked. “Prove it” was the challenge.

The Jews believed that the person speaking about who they are is not good enough. It needed more than the voice of the accused. In their law it states “On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.” (Deuteronomy 17:6).

That is why Jesus said in v31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.” He was referring to the Law of Moses. He knew they wouldn’t and couldn’t accept it.

So he reveals 3 witnesses:

1. Man – John the Baptist. Here is what he says in v32-35

“There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true. “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”

At first they received John but then as his ministry increased and as he pointed continually towards Jesus then the Jewish leaders backed off.

2. The Works of God – the miracles that Jesus had been doing amongst the people. Here is what he says in v36-38

 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.”

People’s lives were being transformed and they pointed to the approval from God. Though John doesn’t write about it the other Gospel writers do, the voice from heaven at the baptism of Jesus was the voice of the Father giving his approval.

3. The Scriptures. Here is what he says in v39-40

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. “

The whole point of their Torah was to lead them to the Messiah but they never came. He was standing amongst them and they had studied all their life for this moment but they were blind to who He is.

 

So Jesus turns the discussion around to their authenticity and the challenge remains for us today. Let me set it around 3 questions:

1. Where does your glory come from?

V44 “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Before this Jesus said, “I do not accept glory from human beings,”v41.

Jesus was saying he doesn’t wallow in the glory from man. He doesn’t worry if he gets the ‘likes’ or not. He isn’t trying to impress man so man’s praise doesn’t move him. His glory isn’t from them. Where is ours? Do we need man’s praise and man’s approval for us to know who we are? Is that the glory we seek? Or do we seek the glory of God? Are we aiming for the beauty of God to shine through our lives?

2. Where is your love?

V42-43 “but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”

Jesus was demonstrating his love for God and love for people, the 2 royal commands that he taught. But they didn’t demonstrate this.

May our words be kind and loving not only to God but to those around us; those on the street and those who are difficult to love.

May they know Him because of our love.

3. Where is your hope?

V45-47 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

The big blow. Jesus wasn’t there to judge them, they already lived under judgment and it was Moses of all people. Their hope was founded on his teaching of the Messiah to come but they didn’t know who he called them to know. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Our hope leads us to Christ, it doesn’t condemn us.

May the glory, love and the hope that are in our lives authenticate who we are today.

It is all about hearing.

John 5: 19-30

Do you know that experience of opening a large present only to find a smaller one inside? You open that one and then there’s another to open inside that. Eventually you get to the treasure!

This passage is a little bit like that.

Remember why John is writing his gospel: “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 20:31

Let us read this passage as if we are opening a present.

 

V19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. AND v30 ^“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

1. Jesus is because the Father is. It teaches us that we need relationship with God to do anything.

That’s the first layer opened. But it’s not the central present.

V20-21 “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. AND v28-29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”

2. The Father and Jesus are both the instigators of life. It teaches us that our relationship will lead to life at the culmination of everything.

That’s the second layer opened. But it’s not the central present.

 

V22-23 ^“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.” AND v26-27 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”

3. Judgment has been given to Jesus by the Father. It teaches us that there is only one way to the Father and that is through the Son’s judgment.

That’s the third layer opened. But it’s not the central present.

 

Here it is, we have come to the final layer. How exciting!

 

V24-25 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. “

 

John wants everyone to believe that Jesus is the Son and that they have life because of that belief.

May today many hear the words of eternal life and believe.

May they hear the voice of Jesus calling them to live.

That is the central prize, the crux of the purpose and the core present.

Shut down that new ministry

John 5: 17-18

“In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

If Jesus was equal with God then where does that leave them?

If everyone had previously viewed them as a higher authority, with power to lead and control their lives and then on comes Jesus who claims to be above and beyond them, then how do they recover their position?

We all want God to be glorified.

However, how do we feel if we are pushed off top position? How do we feel if we are no longer where we have been, known, applauded and appreciated? We don’t feel good.

There is a tendency to eradicate those who threaten our position. Let’s speak ill of those who are ruining our credibility. We need to remain strong, big and popular.

We wouldn’t be feeling this if God was genuinely exalted. But we often cannot accept the next move of God because it makes us feel like our work is lesser.

So we reject, we discredit and stop the new thing from gaining any more support. We feel justified to hold terrible thoughts of wanting to finish ministries and close down people.

Let’s demonstrate a Christianity that opens doors not shuts them due to our own insecurites.