OUR FATHER WHO IS ONE WITH HIS SON

The book of John chapter 10 captures another confrontation that occurred between Jesus and the people 

22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

Amen

4

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE JESUS THE COMMAND TO LAY HIS LIFE DOWN

The book of John chapter 10 verse  17 - 21 reveals that the Father gave Jesus the impetus to lay His life down and to take it up again.

It was this abandon to His Father's will as a sacrificial life that Jesus was loved and highly favoured. 

In the garden of Eden, man chose to pick up his own life of selfish ambition to determine which course his life would take according to what seemed good to him. This earned mankind the enmity of God. 

In contrast, Jesus lived a sacrificial life that was submitted to God and he lived His life in strict accordance with the directives of God which gave Him the power to lay down His life and pick it up again.

17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

This revelations of Jesus' interactions with the Father were highly controversial to the people in Jerusalem who were listening to Him.

To some people, the concepts were so alien to them that they concluded that Jesus was speaking by a demonic entity or that He was insane.

Others reasoned that Jesus must be a genuine man God because it was only through God that the miracles He did like giving sight to the blind were possible.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD

In the book of John chapter 10 verses 1 - 16, the Lord Jesus used the analogy of a shepherd and His sheep to explain what His relationship with the people who believed in Him would be like.

Those who are His would know His voice the way sheep know the voice of their shepherd and when He called them, they would heed His voice and follow Him. 

Jesus asserted in this analogy that the only way to join the flock would be through belief in Him because He was the doorway to the sheepfold and the only legitimate way into the sheepfold was through the doorway. This implies that there is a potential for sheep to be among the flock who are not legitimate members of the flock because they enter by means other than belief in Jesus. Jesus also touched on those who had come claiming to be sheperds before Him had tried to lead the sheep unto destruction but the legitimate sheep did not hear their voices. Those false sheperds came to steal kill and destroy but Jesus came that the sheep would have life abundantly.

1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

The Lord told His listeners that He is the good shepherd who takes ownership over His flock and sacrifices His life on their behalf.  Whereas a hired shepherd would not risk his life for the sheep and would abandon the sheep at the first sign of trouble, Jesus faces the enemies of the sheep even to the point of laying down His life to save them.

Jesus explained further that even as His Father in heaven knew Him, He (Jesus), knew His Father and out of that knowledge of each other, Jesus, the good shepeherd, would be able to lay down His life for those that were given to Him by His Father.

It was then that Jesus alluded to the fact that there was a global component to ministry where the sheep of His flock would not be restricted to the children of Israel but would be from elsewhere and they would hear His voice and He would bring them into the fold and He would create one flock under one shepherd.

Praise the name of the Lord.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO ANNOINTED HIS SON TO HEAL THE BLIND

The book of John chapter 9 relays the encouter of a man born blind with the Lord Jesus. A causality debate had arisen about the manˋs blindness and Jesus clarified that it was not the doings of the man or his parents that caused the man to be born blind but rather that the work of God would be showcased in his life.

The Lord then, in passing, revealed an important dynamic in His spiritual kingdom. While He was in the world, He was the singular light of the world and thus He had to be about His Fatherˋs business bringing the power of God into the focus so that the plan of salvation could be carried out.  Once He was taken out of the world and into eternity, all those who believed in Him could become the light of world and do the works that He did in propagating the good news of the kingdom of God. 

1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus then spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva and put the clay on the manˋs eyes and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man returned, he was able to see. Those who knew the man were perplexed by what had happened because it was unheard of that a man born blind would start seeing and they were questioning whether it was even the same man that they knew. The formerly blind man eagerly affirmed that it was he who was the one who had been blind but when asked about the details of what happened so that he was now able to see, the man furnished the bare details; A man named Jesus put clay on his eyes and told him to wash his eyes at the pool of Siloam and when he did so, he was able to see.

6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” 10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”

11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” 12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

As people marvalled at what had happened, some religious leaders noted that it was improper that clay was made on a Sabbath day and so they asserted that Jesus could not have been from God because of the legal infraction they had pointed out. Others, however, wondered how someone who was not from God could do such astonishing things and a great controversy began to simmer and the religious leaders called the parents of the man whose sight had been healed and began to interogate them concerning the incident.

16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” 25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

26 Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out. 

The matter was becoming highly politized as the various factions wrangled over what had happened. The religious leaders, in tryng to tamp down the excitement over the astounding miracle, threatened to ostracize anyone who affirmed the validity of Jesusˋs miracle. 

To their chagrin, the man who was given his sight was not easily cowed by their threats and he challenged their interpretation of what had happened. He asked them why, as religious leaders, they werre ignorant of the source of the miracle that had happened to him when it should have been their area of expertise.

He embarrased the leaders by explaining to them that it is commonly understood that God did not hear sinners but heard the requests of those who worshipped and obeyed Him and therefore, the man reasoned, Jesus must have been from God. The pharisees excoriated the man for impertinence and booted him out of the temple.

The Lord  Jesus tracked down the formerly blind man who had been ejected from the religious community and gave him the opportunity to believe in the One who had been sent as the saviour of the world and the man believed. 

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”  36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

The Lord Jesus declared that His appearance in the world would have the effect of causing the blind to see and conversly, those who saw would be made blind.

Amen

8

 OUR FATHER SENT A SAVIOUR

There was a day

I was a slave

I heard good news

That Jesus came to save

And I believed

Yes I believed

That Jesus died and shed

His blood for me

And rose again and set me free. (X2)

 OUR FATHER WHOSE ETERNAL SON IS THE GREAT I AM

John chapter 8 verses 48 - 59 ends the chapter with the the Lord Jesus revealing His identity to them as the “I AM“ and in doing so, involed the wrath the wrath of the crowd. as the

48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

52 Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”

54 Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

In this passaage, the Lord Jesus spoke of and demonstrated some of the special characteristics and abilities He had as the Son of God who honored His Father.

• He knew God
• He kept Godˋs word
• Anyone who kept His word would never taste death
• The patriarch Abraham rejoiced to see His day
• He was the great ˋI AMˋ
• He could hide Himself in plain daylight
• He could pass through the midst of a crowd who were tring to capture Him

The people were angered by His words but could not capture Him before it was time.

Amen

4

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO HIS PEOPLE AND THEY RECEIVED HIM NOT

Conversing with the Jews who were listening to Him, Jesus, in John chapter 8 verses 37 - 47, said this;

37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” 39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Jesus informed the crowd that was listening to Him that even though they, as the peope of Israel, were descendants of Abraham, they were still citizens of the kingdom of darkness because they engaged in works of darkness.

He told that He was not of that kingdom and the proof of it was that He had no sin.

Amen.

4

 OUR FATHER WHOSE SON SET US FREE FROM SLAVERY TO SIN 

In John chapter 8 verses 31 - 36, the Lord Jesus focused on the Jews who believed in Him speaking these words to them;

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

The Lord explained to them that adhering to the words He was speaking would make them know the truth and the truth would set them free.

The people thought He was speaking of corporeal slavery and objected to being characterised as slaves but Jesus clarified for them that He was speaking in spiritual terms and that the slavery He was speaking of was the slavery to sin which is the coin of the kingdom of darkness. 

Jesus explained that their slavery to sin would have kept them in the status of aliens to the kingdom of God even though they were descendants of Abraham but by abiding in Jesus, they would be free from sin and be permanent sons in the household of God where they would have freedom and access to God forever.

Amen.

12

 OUR FATHER WHO IS PLEASED BY THOSE WHO FOLLOW WHAT HE SHOWS THEM

John chapter 8 verses 21 - 30 records the  Lord Jesus telling the people that He was about to depart and that if they did not believe in Him, they would die in their sins. When they tried to understand who He was, He told them that He was the Son of Man whom they would lift up and when they did that, they would know that He was of the Father in heaven and that everything He did was taught to Him by the Father.

21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”  27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

The words that Jesus spoke drew many people and they believed in Him because He testified that the Father stayed near Him because the things He did always pleased the Father.

The people themselves wished they could please the Father and Jesus was declaring that He pleased the Father because His words and deeds were always those that pleased the Father and this was a pattern that many people wanted to emulate in their own lives.

Amen.

8

 OUR FATHER ALSO BORE WITNESS TO HIS SON

John chapter 8 verses 12 -  20 records a confrontion in the treasury building in Jerusalem between Jesus and the Pharisees.

The pharisees were challenging Jesusˋ claims about Himself saying that they were invalid because they were they were not corroborated by the witness of others.

Jesus countered them by telling them that the law required two witness for a matter to be validated and Jesus declared to them that He and His Father were two and that was sufficient.

The Lord Jesus was telling the religious authorities that because they had no knowledge of the God they claimed to represent, they were unable to see that He was the One who was sent by the Father.

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

13 The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

19 Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

The Lord Jesusˋ statements perplexed and angered the Pharisees further but even though He was within their grasp in their own territory in Jerusalem, they could not touch Him because the time of His sacrifice had not arrived.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME NOT TO CONDEMN THE WORLD

After teaching at the temple, Jesus retreated to the Mount of Olives but returned early the next morning and all the people gravitated towards Him to hear Him speaking. The religious establishment, still trying to find a way to trap Him with something He said, brought a woman caught in adultery and asked Him to comment on her fate.

Jesus, let the tension in the air rise by remaining silent and stooping to the ground to write with His finger on the ground.

Even as Jesus ignored them, they pressed Him for an answer and when the tension peaked, He stood up and said that the ones among them who had no sin should throw the first stone. He then stopped down again and continued writing on the ground.

John chapter 8 verses 1 - 11 relates the event this way;

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The group that had assembled to stone the woman to death slowly dispersed starting with the oldest ones and when they were gone, Jesus stood up again and asked the woman where her accusers were.

When she said there were none left, Jesus told her that if there were none to accuse her, then He would not accuse her either and He told her to go and sin no more.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON WAS NOT RECEIVED BY THOSE TO WHOM HE WAS SENT

The Lord Jesusˋ presense in Jerusalem was causing a stir among the people and among the religious leaders. They debated among themselves what His words meant and tried to reason together whether He was the promised one or not. Some felt that He was the prophet and the Christ they were waiting for but others objected because He was from Galilee and not from Bethlehem where the Christ was to appear. 

John chapter 7 verses 32 -  53  captures the debate among the inhabitants of Jerusalem over the validity of Jesusˋ ministry and also records  attempts by the religious leaders to arrest Him.

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 

43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

53 And everyone went to his own house.

There were some among the religious leaders like Nicodemus who argued that Jesus should be given due process of the law rather than presumptive condemnation but the status quo felt justified in their quest to destroy Jesus.

The political heat was rising and the danger to Jesus was mounting.

4

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME TO DIE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Jesus, aware of the consipiracy behind closed doors to get rid of Him, declared so as He spoke to the crowds and they were not aware of the backroom deals that were being set to kill jesus so they accused Jesus of having a demon of paranoia  for believig that there were people seeking to kill Him.

John chapter 7 verses 20 - 31 reveals. 

20 The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? 27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whomyou do not know. 29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”

Even though Jesus was boldly speaking in the temple, the religious leaders could not act against Him because His time to lay down His life had not yet come.

Others, who knew of the conspiracy to kill Jesus, wondered why Jesus was able to teach in the temple under the noses of the religious authorities.

As people debated the significance of Jesusˋ ministry in their midst, some people reasoned that He must have been the Saviour they were waiting for because they could not imagine that  another representative would do more astonishing supernatural miracles than Jesus was doing.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO  SENT HIS SON TO TEACH US

John chapter 7 verses 10 - 19;

10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” 12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON CAME TO SAVE THE WORLD

The political opposition to Jesusˋ ministry was intensifying and designs to kill Him were on the table and Jesus began to restrict His movements to the northern territory of Galilee to stay away from those who sought to kill Him.

In the book of John chapter 7 verses 1 - 9, the Lord explained the reason why He was regulating His traveling itnerary to avoid Jerusalem and Judea;

1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”       5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.

6 Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.        7  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

When the feast of Tabernacles arrived, Jesusˋ brothers cynically urged Him to go to Jerusalem so that more people could see His miraculous powers. They considered Jesusˋ ministry to be a novelty to be promoted at festivals and so their view was that He should show Himself to the world to maximize His exposure.

Jesus, knowing that their understanding of what was actually going on was limited, told them that the time had not yet come for the revealing of His primary reason for coming down from heaven and as such, He could not be conspicuous at that time and would not travel with His brothers to the feast.

The time for which all of creation awaited to see the perfection of the nature of God was approaching but was not yet.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHOSE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE

John chapter 6 verses 60 - 71 concludes the chapter this way;

60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” 

71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US THE BREAD OF LIFE

The Lord Jesus, continuing to talk to the crowd who were seeking truth from Him, had an interchange with them where He revealed to them the permanent nature of the bond He would form with those who would believed in Him.  John chapter 6 verses 35 - 59 records the conversation in the town of Capernaum this way;

 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. 36 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’?”

When the people heard Jesusˋ assertions of being the one through whom everlasting life came, they were perplexed because they knew Jesus and the family from which He came. When He claimed to have come down from heaven, they complained because they thought they knew from where He had come. Jesus, perceiving their discontentment with His claims, told them to stop grumbling about what He was saying because He was the focal point of Godˋs plan of salvation. Anyone who was to be saved would be drawn to Jesus the Father and anyone who believed in Jesus having been drawn to Him, would obtain eternal life.

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

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

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

The Lord  pressed the controversial point that people would have to partake in His flesh and His blood in order to have life in the same way that the ancestors of the Jews ate manna in the desert in order to survive.

The distinction that Jesus made was that those who ate manna in the desert ultimately died but those who ate the bread that came down from heaven, would live forever.

Ingesting bread by physically eating it was a representation of the way that those who believed in Jesus when He gave His body to be broken and shed His blood, would  have Jesus abiding in them.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON AS THE BREAD OF LIFE

The persistent crowd crossed the lake and traced the whereabouts of the Lord Jesus and they tried to calculate how He got to Capernaum so quickly because He had not left with the boat but was already there when they arrived.

The Lord, speaking to the crowd of people who had followed Him, advised them to reconsider what they were seeking. Instead of striving to hunt Him down because of the benefits He provided like food, Jesus told them to seek food that results in eternal life that He, the Son of Man, would give them. 

To this, they asked Jesus what they needed to do that would qualify them for the bread of life and Jesus told them that they needed to believe in the whom God sent and had Godˋs seal of approval. 

25 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.”

The people listening to Jesus who had followed Him across the lake and had tracked Him down in the city were hungry for the things of God and they pressed Jesus for more answers.

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.”

Jesus explained to them that in the same way their ancestors received bread from heaven in the desert, He himself was the bread sent down from heaven and those who were drawn to Him and believed in Him would be partakers in eternal life by the bread that Jesus alone could give them.

The people implored Jesus to give them the bread unto eternal life.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON 

The famous scene where Jesus walked on water is captured in todayˋs passage out of the book of John chapter 6 verses 16 - 24.

After feeding the crowd of people who were following Him, Jesus had to evade them because they were talking among themselves and formenting a plan to proclaim Him as their king.

Jesus had gone up a mountain alone and as evening set in, He did not return to join His disciples so they got into their boat and began to sail back to Capernaum.

As darkness fell, the disciples, navigating on the increasingly rough water, saw a figure on the water walking towards them and they were terrified.

Jesus spoke to them assuring them that it was He who approached them and when they let Him into the boat, they immediately arrived at their destination in a translation across the surface of the water.

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 next day, the crowd that had been pursuing Jesus realized that He was no longer in the area and so they crossed the lake  towards Capernaum in search of Him.

Amen.

8

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE THE WORLD

The book of John chapter 6 verses 1 - 15 relates the event where a huge crowd of about 10,000 people followed Jesus hoping to receive healing and hear Him teach and the Lord undertook to feed them starting with a five barley loaves and two small fish.

1 Some time 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.

5 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!”

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

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). 11 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.

12 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.

The miraculous feeding of the 10,000 people from five loaves and two fishes was startling enough for the people to start thinking about who Jesus was and how beneficial He could be for them.

As they mused on this, Jesus became aware of their intentions to proclaim His as their  king and because this was not the plan of salvation that was set in motion from the beginning of time, Jesus widthdrew to a mountain by Himself to escape the peopleˋs intention.

Amen.

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