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JOHN CHAPTER 6 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 6,1-4 (75b) Thy kingdom come >> Motives of the heart >> Motives for doing the will of God – A large crowd was seeking Jesus because of the signs He performed. When they found Him He fed them all with a hand basket of food. Then they sought Him all the more for a free meal. Jesus didn’t think this was a good reason to seek Him; He wanted people to seek Him for His word. Jesus said in Jn 14-6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” These are three good reasons to seek Jesus, to know His ways and His truth in order to receive His life. The disciple’s best memories were probably in the mountains with the Lord, where they had Jesus all to themselves. Then they would return to the people and preach the gospel of the kingdom, and God would attempt to show Israel the Lord their God, and it was a major uphill battle. Very few people actually understood Jesus and His true mission. (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- These verses go with verse 26. We know at least three Passovers occurred during Jesus’ ministry, and He attended them all. He showed contempt for the laws of man that were invented for the sake of gaining power and prestige among the people; for in their minds if being leader didn’t convert to money, then it was useless. Much as they enjoyed having prestige in society, money meant even more to them. Take the televangelists and mega-preachers of today, whatever motive it takes to gain a following is their thought pattern, but Jesus was very concerned about motive, and if people sought Him for the wrong reasons, He would make Himself unavailable to them. In contrast, these big mega-preachers, once they get a large following, they claim it takes a lot of money to run the ministry, pointing at their giant coliseums and at all the other expenditures that are involved, exacting large tithes from their followers, so they can live luxuriously, drive fancy cars and wear fancy clothes. Jn 6-1,2 (93l) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> The multitude follow Jesus -- These verses go with verses 22-25 Jn 6-2 (146k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Get peoples’ attention to hear the word Jn 6-5,6 (5e) Discipleship tested (Key verse) (5i) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your loyalty >> God tests your commitment to believe Him (63a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives His people – Jesus asked Philip a trick question, pretending He didn’t have a plan. ‘Philip, what should I do?’ Imagine the Son of God asking your advice during a crisis. Jesus wanted to hear what Philip would do if he were presented with this situation, and immediately he began complaining about not having the resources to feed them all. Jesus already knew what He would do, for God has a solution for every problem. He may not always be straightforward about it to us, but if we hang with Him, He will reveal His answer, sometimes in very profound ways. (227i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts in us >> He gives us what we give to the world – Money is how virtually everyone solves problems, including Jesus prior to His ministry, but now that His ministry had come and with thousands of people in front of Him, there was no other solution but to immediately call on His Father. Jesus was the cause of their hunger; they came to see Him, for some walked far distances and arrived with their bellies empty. Jesus was happy to accommodate them and to speak with them and teach them the word of God. This whole scenario was God’s intension, and so why wouldn’t He feed them? There was no other way to do it; they didn’t have enough money to buy so much food, nor did the market have enough fish to satisfy them all, nor could they jump into a boat, catch the fish and prepare them before half of them starved. Before Jesus started handing out food to the crowd, He wanted to make sure Philip and all His disciples realized they had embarked on an impossible situation. He didn’t want them under-thinking this and forgetting that a miracle was occurring in their midst or to take it for granted. He wanted Philip to internalize the problem along with the remedy, that if they didn’t get this miracle, they would be in a really tight spot. Instead of thousands of people coming to hear the word of God, it would have ended in riots. As it turned out, though, it was probably one of Jesus’ happiest moments, because of His peaceful audience, being similar to any given day that will occur in the coming age of Millennium. Jesus taught in the Lord's prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6-10). We could rephrase that and say, ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in this age as in Millennium.’ KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6-6 (75d) Thy kingdom come >> Motives of the heart >> God’s motives – We conduct our relationship with God from our heart, and for this reason our motives are significant to justify or else condemn us. Our motives are just as important as the things we say and do. Jesus suggested they go to the corner grocer and buy bread, yet Philip may not have even considered the problem. He saw the people and probably understood that they were all hungry, because he too was probably hungry, so Jesus planted the thought in Philip’s head that he should buy food for all the people; it says that He was testing Philip, probably to show him that they had a problem on their hands that could easily turn into a catastrophe, like seeing a tsunami coming at them from the sea. It doesn’t look like much way out there, and if we just stand on the beach and watch it approach, it will be too late to run; the growing throng of people could have turned into a mob. Philip didn’t know what to do, probably saying in his heart, ‘Oh no, these people will get hungry and panic and trample the women and children, and hundreds of people will die, and the Romans will hold us responsible!’ Jesus tested Philip to help him realize in the future when He was no longer with them that when they ran into a problem of this magnitude, the solution can come from God if they will just believe in Him. Jn 6,7-11 (128i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> Be fruitful and multiply >> Growing spiritually – What made the disciples great was their sincerity of heart, and their zeal to serve the Lord, which are necessary for every disciple of Jesus. Andrew and his friends had these qualities, though they were just fishermen. As fishermen Jesus multiplied their catch, and their boats began to sink from the great catch of fish, and Jesus said to them, "From now on you will be catching men." Then, Peter preached the gospel on the day of Pentecost and five thousand souls were added to the Church (Lk 5,4-11; Act 2,38-41). Before they met Jesus they no doubt got in their boats after preparing their nets, spent the day on the water and conversed with each other with much of their conversation revolving around the God of Israel. This is why Jesus chose them, because their hearts were with the Lord. Andrew brought to Jesus attention a hand basket of fish and Jesus fed a multitude with it, exceeding five thousand people. The disciples may not have had a single correct idea about Jesus or about God's plan and purpose for mankind, yet they loved God and they wanted to be a part of what He was doing. They were truly the kind of Jews that made Israel great. Many of their beliefs were not founded on truth; they had many of their facts right, but they didn’t know the truth before they met Jesus; that is, they misunderstood the priorities and timing of God’s plan and purpose. They didn't realize there must be an age between the old covenant and the Millennium that is still to come, and this age of grace would be the great ingathering of souls. Jn 6,10-12 (4h) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Everyone who has shall more be given – If we first give of ourselves to God, and then give what we have to Him, God will multiply our willingness to give, and then multiply gift to help others. The food was not rationed; it says they ate as much as they wanted. It would have been a lot of work just to hand out that much food, and it all began with a single picnic basket of bread and fish. Jn 6-10 (68b) Authority >> Doing God’s work under His authority >> Natural Ministry of helps – Andrew was the disciple who collected some of Jesus’ other disciples, rounded up his friends and bringing them to Jesus. He introduced them to the Savior, and some of them became His disciples. His friends, like him, were believers in God before they met Jesus and were waiting for the Kingdom of God. Many of Andrew’s friends became members of Jesus’ inner circle of closest disciples, including Peter, his brother, though Andrew was not part of the inner circle, yet he showed no jealousy in this. He knew of the boy who had five barley loaves and two fish. He had his eyes open. He and his friends were a small knit group who were overlooked in society, whom no one would have suspected to be chosen for anything, much less main proponents of the Church to kick off the gospel in the world. The disciples in their greatest hour were not great in the eyes of the world. They were more a nuisance, but to heaven they had gates named after them in the wall that surrounds the great city (Rev 21-14). KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6,11-14 (34i) Gift of God >> Generosity >> God is willing to Give >> His natural blessings – This is just the sign that God in human flesh would perform; He would see the needs of the people and help them. The Bible says that Satan is coming, and he will perform signs too, only he will not feed anybody; his signs and wonders will be a detriment to the human race, for all he can do is steal, kill and destroy, and people will marvel and follow after him (that is, they will do likewise; Rev 13-3). When we think of the poor reception that Messiah received from His own people, and compare that to the reception antichrist will receive from the world according to Scripture, it is a glaring proof that man is more willing to serve Satan than he is to serve God. Man’s flesh is made of the substance of this world, and Satan appeals to man through that substance, whereas Christ came also made from the substance of the earth, but appealed to man for their faith and devotion to righteousness. Denying our flesh is incomprehensible to most people, yet this was the message of Christ. (123e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Being willing because you are able – Jesus eventually developed a large following. Many needed healing; some asked for the healing of others; they came with all kinds of needs and problems, and it says in many cases that Jesus healed them all, and He knew how to solve any problem, and some even came to hear the word of God, which is still the purest motive for seeking Jesus. Coming to the Lord with their personal problems and needs when nobody else could help was necessary, but those who came just to hear the word of God went home spiritually satisfied more than others were satisfied in the flesh. Jn 6-11 (19c) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by demons (35c) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> God’s immeasurable generosity (76l) Thy kingdom come >> Desires of your heart >> Desires of your fleshly appetite Jn 6-12 (20a) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Having a mind that is unable to receive >> Being slow to understand God – We show our gratitude by being good stewards of His provisions. Imagine what message Jesus would have conveyed had He left the broken pieces on the ground to rot. Think also of the people’s ingratitude, discarding the broken fragments without anyone offering to help collect them in baskets after they partook of the heavenly food. Jesus had to be considerate of His Father’s generosity for them. People from the multitude should have taken the initiative for themselves and collected the fragments and brought them to Jesus and set them at His feet and given thanks to Him for the blessing He had provided, but they showed indifference instead, making Him pick-up after them. It is no wonder when the Jews later sought Jesus for another free meal that He turned them down (Jn 6-26). There was no gratitude in their hearts, and they ended up crucifying Him; therefore, gratitude is one of the first attributes in place before we can receive the gospel of Christ. An unthankful heart cannot receive the gospel. The Jews had sunk to deep levels of apostasy, being the same people who shouted, “Crucify, crucify Him!” Conversely, those who don’t know how to believe in God can use gratitude as a catalyst to break through their unbelief. His disciples were not much better; He had to remind them of this lesson, calling them slow of heat, which is a nice way of calling them spiritually retarded. Mk 8,17-21 says, "'Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?' they said to him, 'twelve.' 'when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?' And they said to him, 'seven.' And he was saying to them, 'do you not yet understand?'" (82i) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> Thankfulness >> Giving thanks for His blessings – Jesus was grateful to His Father for everything He did, seeing to it that the left over fragments were not wasted, put them in a basket and no doubt given to the poor. To give thanks does not necessarily mean we are thankful. We say “thank you” in our culture as a social courtesy, which is independent of gratitude. We don’t have to be thankful to say the words, so to be actually thankful must translate into actions; we must not be wasteful. People mock dumpster divers, yet they are acting more grateful than the people who dumped the food, and they take advantage of their ingratitude. Some of he poorest people in the world are thankful for the littlest things in their lives. To be thankful is one of the first steps in receiving the gospel of Christ. Jesus was modeling this behavior; to be grateful is to be mindful of God’s blessing and mercy, which is tantamount to confessing His loving kindness. If we genuinely believe that God is loving and kind, then we will be more inclined to give our heart to Him. Thankfulness and gratitude is not one of the fruits of the Spirit but an attribute of godliness. (88i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom (250e) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Give thanks for all things – God created the world in its present state and sent Jesus to die for our sins that we may repent and believe in Him for eternal life. As a result, we will forever have reason to be grateful to Him. Therefore, gratitude is the very basis of being in heaven. If heaven were a place we deserved, it wouldn't be heavenly or as bright and cheerful; the sky would not be as blue, the flowers not as pretty and their fragrance not as aromatic, and our joy not as happy, our worship of Him who sits on the throne not as intense. If God did all this that we may have reason to be thankful, how important is gratitude? Jn 6-13,14 (141d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry as the savior – The statement, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world,” indicates that Israel was expecting someone like Jesus to come, based on prophecies sprinkled throughout their Old Testament manuscripts. The most poignant prophecy pertaining to the coming of Christ is found in Deuteronomy 18-15, Moses speaking, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” This took a little over 1500 years to fulfill. The Pharisees and Scribes and synagogue officials taught the people that there would be an expected one to grace Israel and their city Jerusalem, but there are far more prophecies in the Old Testament that describe what the citizens of Israel would do to this expected One. There are verses that describe His appearing, but there are entire chapters that describe His martyrdom. We would think that if they knew a man like Him was coming, after they saw the signs that identified Him, they would have honored and revered Him as their Messiah, yet they showed Him a mere glimmer of respect, and that glimmer was based on their expectation of what He would do for them, which was to deliver them from their enemies the Romans. That glimmer of respect was not based on His actual plan and purpose, which was to use the nation of Israel as priests, who would sacrifice the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, and then take the gospel to all nations. Israel wanted their Messiah to establish them as the ruling nation of the known world, as the Romans dominated Israel at the time. Although God may be interest in subjecting His creation to Himself, He has no interest in dominating over people. God subjects His creation to Himself by the principles of faith and love and not by force. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6,15-17 (54e) Paradox >> Opposites >> Worshipping the flesh -- These verses go with verses 22-36 (202j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from walking in faith >> Running from God through unbelief -- These verses go with verses 22-36 Jn 6-15 (62k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Making no provisions for the flesh (68i) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving wicked motives -- This verse goes with verse 26 (77e) Thy kingdom come >> Humility >> Refusing the glory of man >> Refusing to be exalted by men – Jesus was unwilling to receive the people's worship; the proposition they offered Him was to be their king. Pilate placed above Him on his cross this inscription: “This is Jesus the king of the Jews.” All four gospels included this fact in their account, indicating its significance. Throughout His life and during His ministry He often withdrew to the mountains alone to worship His Father and to seek His glory, but the people were not seeking God's glory by attempting to make Jesus king of their flesh, because that was not God's purpose for Christ at the time. Jesus’ time will come to be king of the natural realm during the age of Millennium, but until then He will remain the spiritual king of mankind who believe in Him for eternal life, who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. (80g) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Fulfill your calling (87e) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Ministry to God through obedience >> Seeking the glory of God – The premise of Jesus’ ministry toward mankind was His ministry toward God. To the degree that we are worshippers of God is the degree that we are able to effectively minister to others. Jesus went to the mountain to pray; and according to his custom He spent the whole night in prayer, so when He returned to the people, He had something to offer them: His relationship with God. If we don’t spend time in prayer and in the Scriptures in our ministry toward God as the Royal Priesthood, we won’t have anything to offer the brethren or people in the world. (160c) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit glory (176g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Intensity without insight (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 32-36. When the disciples walked with Jesus, they fully expected Him to lead them with all Israel into fulfillment of their Old Testament prophecies, which actually pertains to the Millennium that is yet to come. So, when Jesus spoke about His death, it didn’t fit their paradigm. Instead of questioning the Lord about it, they chose to stay with their own ideas and ignored what Jesus said, so when He went to the cross, they were totally confused, and the episode was all the more traumatic for them, and three days later, when they saw Jesus alive, the revelation overwhelmed them. They still didn’t know Jesus’ plan until they saw Him alive again. The beauty of the crucifixion was that all the disciples’ preconceived ideas of Messiah establishing His kingdom on the earth died with Him. They had their own ideas about what Jesus was trying to do. They were hoping that His plan was to bring about the millennial kingdom as it was described in their Old Testament Scriptures, which is still the Jewish great hope to this day. When they saw Him raised from the dead standing in front of them in good health with all their old ideas in the grave, a new hope was born inside them, not yet knowing what to think, but knowing it was a living hope and one that was incapable of disappointing them, making all other hopes possible. (215ia) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The Kingdom of Heaven appears suddenly >> Without warning >> Disciples expected the kingdom to appear immediately – The reason the Jews gave Jesus such an entry to Jerusalem (Mat 21,8-11) was that they expected Him to take control of the city and expel its rulers and become their king, and the Jews would reign with Him. They longed for the prophecies to come true that spoke about a coming kingdom that we now understand to be the thousand-year reign of Christ that is still to come. Had the prophets been written before the Davidic Kingdom, they would have considered these prophecies fulfilled. They would have nominated David as their Messiah, and in a very similar way they were doing the same to Jesus. It was the right man but the wrong time. He was their Messiah but He would glean His kingdom from the nations over a 2000-year period, choosing one here and one there until His kingdom was filled. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,16-25 (62i) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Taking advantage of the circumstances – Apparently the disciples were expecting Jesus to come to them by boat; they didn’t expect Him to come walking on water. There were other miracles that occurred here: the moment Jesus entered the boat they were at the shoreline where they were headed; and in another gospel it says that the minute He entered the boat the wind suddenly stopped. So He calmed the sea, He walked on water, and He translated the boat to shore. We wonder how these things could happen, thinking about them in terms of the natural realm. Doing that will never come to any meaningful conclusion, but when we understand the way heaven works, we could say that Jesus was creating the solutions to the problems by the will of His Father as an opportunity to teach His disciples that nothing is impossible with God. Jn 6,16-21 (212a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> He is the creator >> The creation glorifies God >> The creation exemplifies God’s sovereignty – The Father gives the Son the words to speak and does His works through Him (Jn 14-10). When Jesus speaks through His Father, heaven and earth must submit to Him. God controls everything, but if that is true, why then is there so much randomness; why does sin exist, why is there death, injury, pain and suffering? God allows these things, because He wants to use evil to prove that His ways triumph over rebellion, and He wants to demonstrate to mankind that His ways are better than our ways, and that our ways apart from Him are destructive. He wants to prove to us that sin and rebellion have no future. God will create a new heavens and a new earth, and He will give it to us, and He will give us a body that cannot sin and take from our hearts the desire to rebel, so we don’t feel constrained to righteousness. Already we are totally free. We live in a body of sin and choose righteousness instead, much more in heaven. See also: God allows suffering and evil to test us; Jn 16-33; 39j Jn 6,22-36 (16j) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Having hidden motives – When you look into these verses, you see that the Jews were seeking Jesus, not because they wanted to be with Him, or because they wanted to hear His words, not even to see His miracles, but to eat more of that freshly baked bread. If it were up to the Jews, they would have simply followed Jesus around while he pulled bread out of the air at 8 AM and at 5 PM every day, and their what’s-there-to-eat problem would have been solved. It is unbelievable how it seemed they never internalized the fact that the bread they ate came from heaven. Their earthly needs were so engrained in them that they missed the point of the miracle. All they wanted was more bread. Has anyone ever taken advantage of you? How would you feel if God gave you the ability to pull bread out of a basket and get a reaction like this from the people you served? What an incredible demonstration of patience on Jesus’ part. (54e) Paradox >> Opposites >> Worshipping the flesh -- These verses go with verses 15-17 (202j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from walking in faith >> Running from God through unbelief -- These verses go with verse 66 Jn 6,22-25 (93l) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> The multitude follow Jesus -- These verses go with verses 1&2 Jn 6,24-26 (19i) Sin >> Hardened heart will twist your mind – The Jews in Jesus' day were completely devoid of conscience resulting from centuries of rebellion against God. It all started with slavery to Egypt that hardened their hearts, from which Israel never recovered. It is complicated why God waited so many centuries before He saved His people from Pharaoh, but God’s attitude was that if they were going to harden their hearts, then He would let them. A hardened heart has since followed the Jews for as long as they have been a people (had they not hardened their hearts, God may have delivered them sooner). When Moses finally came along, Israel was in no way ready for God to deliver them. They didn’t want to be slaves to Egypt, but neither did they want to obey God or Moses (they complained about everything). When they arrived at Mount Sinai and heard the voice of God and saw the fire and smoke on the mountain, and God gave them the Ten Commandments and they camped around the mountain for months while Moses wrote the many regulations that Israel would be required to follow for the rest of the old covenant, they didn't follow it. Centuries of making poor decisions continued to plague the Israelites, hardening their hearts against God. The only time Israel remotely appeared to be conciliatory toward God was during the days of King David, and even then Israel became a divided nation; this was their best moment. All these centuries of stubborn rebellion and insolence had accumulated in the Jewish mind, and frankly seeped into their genes, poisoning their souls, until they were incapable of believing in God. See also: History of Israel; Act 3,19-26; 210j (75m) Thy kingdom come >> Having ulterior (hidden) motives – This was quite an accusation that Jesus made against the Jews. They sought Him, “not because [they] saw signs, but because [they] ate from the loaves and were filled.” If Jesus condemned seeking signs, saying in Mat 12-39, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign,” how much more perverse was this generation who cared only for the free meal that proceeded from the sign? These Jews had reprobate minds, being incapable of faith; even the heathen weren't this bad. There were many gentile heathens with demented minds, yet many got saved, because they weren’t so far gone that they couldn’t repent. These Jews were beyond repentance, but not every Jew was like this; many Jews got saved, even many Pharisees through Peter's sermon at Pentecost. (181j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Deceitfulness of sin – Those who approached Jesus for a free meal were a gang of hoodlums. When the Jews saw Jesus miraculously pulling loads of food from a small basket and fed five thousand people, all they had on their mind was another free meal, completely ignoring the fact that a miracle had taken place. This is a hardness of heart that transcends most people’s ability to comprehend; it is a mental and spiritual sickness that we must avoid at all cost. This is why we need to maintain our conscience, for God has not called us to a half-hearted effort to serve Him. We talk about living in an age of faith, grace and love, but these things do not curtail the effect of sin in our lives. Just because God is willing to forgive us doesn’t mean sin no longer has power but will batter our lives just the same and harden our hearts, separating us from God, and if we continue in this vein, it will pillage our faith to believe in Jesus for eternal life. Everything is at stake; we cannot allow sin to deceive us. Jn 6-24 (176h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Resolution without relationship -- This verse goes with verse 66 Jn 6-25,26 (241d) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >> Getting an answer that is not in your will -- Jesus answered them, but He didn’t answer their question. They asked Him, “When did you get here,” and His answer was, “You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” He answered their question, not the one on their minds, but the one on their hearts. They sought Jesus for a free lunch, saying, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” They were essentially asking Him, ‘If you won't give us another free meal, then teach us how to immeasurably pull food from a basket.’ That’s all they wanted. Jesus tried to direct their minds to seek the food that endures to eternal life, but they didn’t want that or even hear it. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,26-36 (76n) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Bread of life is the word of God -- These verses go with verses 48-58 (126i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> The patience of God >> God is patient (167d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Bound to the earth -- They asked him, “What do you do for a sign that we may see and believe?” trying to trick Him into making another order of hot-crossed buns. Jesus practiced His perfect patience in dealing with a reprobate people who were incapable of repentance from unbelief. They re-dressed their original question and requisitioned Him for another meal. Jesus re-directed their minds to His eternal purpose, but after performing such miracles in their presence, still they were indifferent to His ramblings about eternal life. Many who partook of the divine buffet appreciated it and learned the right lesson and were truly blessed, but others missed the point. What can we say about them? They are beyond hope, unreachable, incapable of the truth. The only thing they know is what they want to know, and all they want to know is how to improve their circumstances in this life. Any talk about the life to come is completely ignored. (170g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> This life is temporary – When He said in verse 33, “The bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world,” He was talking about Himself, not about the bread they ate the other day that filled their stomachs and the next day were hungry again. Jesus was saying the bread that comes from God is in fact Himself, and partaking of Him leads to eternal life, and there is no hunger in heaven (Rev 7-16). They said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread” (v34). Still they were thinking in the temporal realm; they couldn’t get their minds off the world. Jesus could not wean them off this life and onto the life to come. This life is all they knew and all that mattered to them, and the same is true today. However, the Jews had an excuse; their Old Testament pertained about this life almost exclusively, making almost no mention of any life to come. It focused on how they should live in this life. Then Jesus came and took man one step further and gave him hope for eternal life. After we die and our body decays into the ground, there will be a resurrection, and we will come back to life and reign with Christ forever. That is the message of the new covenant, but the Jews were so steeped in this life and in the world that they just couldn’t wrap their heads around any concern for the afterlife, and the same is true today. Jesus came to explain to us that life continues after this life, which is a good thing for those who believe in Him, but for those who don’t believe, their existence will continue in hell. (183e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Nursery for the spirit of error >> Selfish ambition >> Seeking to control the truth (186da) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool throws Jesus away for something better >> Israel betrayed the Lord -- Jesus told them, “You have seen me, yet you do not believe.” This is an incredible statement. It really encapsulates the problem that Jesus faced with the Jews. Are people really any different today? What if revival broke out with signs, wonders and miracles becoming commonplace, would people repent? Some would repent, but what about the others. What can we say about those who witness the manifested presence of God and are unaffected by it? This is the reprobate mind. These are very scary people, like the walking dead! They are hardened in their hearts, incapable of believing in God. (221b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who are looking for Him – This is how a nation of reprobates responds to partaking of a miraculous feeding of over five thousand people with a picnic basket of food; they were impressed only that they got a free meal from it. It seemed that the entire nation contracted a spiritual disease that made them repel faith in God. Reviewing Israel's past prior to the Babylonian takeover, all the warnings they received from their prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so many of the minor prophets, most of whom were murdered, all warned Israel of judgment. Their downfall started before the death of King David, who was a great man of God but sowed seeds of corruption, and it was his doing that the nation split into Israel and Judah through further corruption by King Solomon, who married foreign women and turned from following the Lord to worshipping pagan idols, after writing our beloved Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes. Israel learned from their leaders that rebellion is acceptable, but they didn't learn it from their prophets. (248l) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Values >> The Highest Values >> The life to come is more important than this one –The Jews liked the bread that came from heaven; it was better than the bread they made, just like the wine at the wedding in Cana was better than the older wine (Jn 2,1-10). Whatever comes from heaven is better than this life, yet people are hooked on this world and are unwilling to receive heavenly things, unless they have direct application to this life, and for that reason they sought Jesus for another loaf of bread. They were trying to talk Jesus into reproducing another gourmet meal for them, even quoting Scripture to Him, acting like they cared about their writings, as though that would convince Jesus to fill their bellies again. If they cared what it said, they would have believed in Jesus and would have been seeking Him for the word of God and not for just another free meal. Jesus did not make Himself available to them, hoping they would seek Him for eternal life. They sought Jesus for all the wrong reasons, and this is still happening in many prosperity churches today. They have concocted doctrines, bending Scripture backwards and inside-out to make it sound like God cares more about this life than the one to come, making it say that prospering in this life is more important than investing in eternal life. Jn 6-26,27 (36c) Gift of God >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual food -- These verses go with verses 34&35 (170h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Rewards of this life are temporary (233g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Do not seek the kingdom by the flesh – Jesus told the Jews in this statement to work for the heavenly bread that endures to eternal life. When we think of what the Jews were doing, heatedly pursuing Jesus for a free meal, they didn’t want to spend their hard-earned money buying bread if they could get it free from Jesus. They certainly didn’t want to buy grain and take it home and grind it into flour to make bread, which would have taken all day, when they could just hunt down Jesus hold out their hand to receive a miracle loaf. When we feed the animals, this is what we get: more animals, and very little respect. The way the Jews acted did not appear that they learned what Jesus wanted them to know. Giving them a free meal from heaven was supposed to create in them a hunger for God by which they would chase Jesus to the ends of the earth to hear more of His word. Jn 6-26 (68i) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving wicked motives -- This verse goes with verse 15. To eat natural bread, even if it is miraculous, would only help them live another day or so, but He said about Himself in verse 51, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” From this statement He continued confounding His audience, telling them that if they didn’t eat His flesh and drink His blood, they would have no life in themselves, which are admittedly strange words, indicating just how frustrated He had become over this throng of people who resulted from the miracle feeding of the five thousand. They turned it common and merely sought Jesus for a second helping. The things Jesus said tempted even his closest disciples to abandon Him, but they had nowhere else to go. Ironically thousands of years later people are still misinterpreting Jesus, taking Him literally as saying that when taking communion the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. (78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth -- This verse goes with verse 32 (136f) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> Our flesh enters Jesus’ sacrifice -- This verse goes with verse 32 (143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- This verse goes with verses 1-4 (195a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only love one at a time KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6,27-29 (205i) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> Faith versus works >> The faith of God versus the faith of men >> Faith is the work of God Jn 6-27 (71i) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Jesus is ordained by God – This statement Jesus made was audacious as the statement He made in Mk 2-27, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Nobody else had authority to interpret the writings of Moses that way. Jesus showed the priority of man over the Sabbath because He was the Son of man and inspired Moses to write about the laws of Sabbath. Anyone who argued against obedience to the Sabbath under any circumstances would have been stoned to death on the spot; in fact, the Jews unsuccessfully tried to stone Jesus on a number of occasions for making statements like this. His words demonstrated His authority to speak Truth into existence, because this is how He came into the world: through His Father (Heb 7,1-3). Whatever He said withstood the test of time, though He personally stood outside any position of human authority. (116a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >> Works That God put in your heart (136g) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ spiritual body – When Jesus talked about being the bread of life (v35), He was referring to His spiritual body, that is the Holy Spirit, whom He would send in His place on the day of Pentecost. We know about the showbread they displayed in the Holy Place as part of the temple service of the Old Testament. The priests replaced the showbread every day with fresh bread and got used to eating day-old bread. It was a sacrilege for anyone except the priest to eat the temple bread, yet we have heard the story of David, how he and his men were starving and ate the bread of presence meant only for the priests, but they were never called account for their actions according to this principle: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2-27), suggesting that man was not made for the bread of life but the bread of life for man. As David and his men ate the showbread that was not particularly meant for them, so Jesus was inviting the Jews who were arguing with Him to eat the showbread of His flesh, His spiritual body, whom He would send at Pentecost. Although it was not standard procedure for David and His men to eat the priestly bread, yet they were fighting in God’s army, and so in the same way Jesus came strictly for the Jew, yet the benefit of the cross was shared among the gentiles who are famished in need of Jesus’ body to cover their sins. Jn 6,28-31 (75h) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Being manipulative >> Controlling people in the dark >> Through hidden motives Jn 6-28,29 (85m) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the Father through the son (The old covenant through the new) -- These verses go with verse 40 Jn 6-28 (184h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing the anointing Jn 6-29 (6f) Responsibility >> Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by obeying His word – Almost everything Jesus said was foundational to Christianity and to life itself, and this statement is no exception. Jesus said that believing in Him is the work of God. He spoke this way more than anyone in Scripture, saying later in this chapter, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (Jn 6-44). The fact that we believe in Jesus stands as evidence that God is working in us. The Holy Spirit is God's pledge of our inheritance, and He is the gift we receive through faith as we come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that believing in Him we may have eternal life. This statement was an answer to a question the Jews asked Him after He had fed the five thousand with a couple baskets of food. He didn’t offer them stale bread and it wasn’t poorly cooked fish, but restaurant quality good enough to travel the countryside on foot and lakes in rowboats. It wasn't a morsel they received to get them home but an all-you-can-eat buffet; it just kept coming short of gluttony. A couple days later the Jews approached Him with a question, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” They were asking Him that since He was unwilling to keep the breadline open, could He teach them to snap their fingers at God and pull a gourmet meal from a hat. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” None of these statements were anything they wanted to hear; they just wanted another free meal. They wanted to turn Jesus into a vending machine that took plug nickels. Man is so far from being able to meet his own spiritual needs, showing what really transpired in the Garden of Eden, what man really lost in the original sin, the most obvious being that Adam and Eve had it made. Since then, man has so completely lost his spiritual side that people continue to debate whether we even have a soul. All these losses make it difficult to even believe there is a God, much less obey Him. (88b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> The work of faith (117b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke through obedience Jn 6,30-32 (94f) Thy kingdom come >> God’s perspective >> His perspective on the gift of God Jn 6,31-35 (151d) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> Moses – Jesus told them that His Father gave their ancestors manna, not Moses, meaning that the Jews equated Jesus with Moses. To them Moses was a great man, though the Jews didn’t respect him in his day, anymore than they respected Jesus. In fact, no greater man has ever lived than Moses, but Jesus was greater than Moses by as much as the builder of a house is greater than the house (Heb 3-2,3). However, the Jews would not come to terms with Jesus as the Son of God or even consider that He came from heaven, though it was for this reason He could offer them bread from heaven. He was trying to make this point to them, but they resisted Him. They really couldn’t care less what Jesus said; they wanted Him to quit preaching and just say the blessing before another gourmet, free meal. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,32-36 (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding Jesus -- These verses go with verses 51-58 Jn 6,32-35 (109e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of the word of God >> Revelation of the meaning of God’s word (254e) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> Life is in the blood -- These verses go with verses 47-58 Jn 6-32 (69a) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Correcting false reasoning (78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth -- This verse goes with verse 47 (136f) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> Our flesh enters Jesus’ sacrifice -- This verse goes with verse 26 Jn 6,33-40 (136e) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> The flesh of Jesus’ sacrifice -- These verses go with verses 47-58 Jn 6-33 (164h) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world does not know God Jn 6,34-36 (241e) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >> Ask but don’t receive because of unbelief Jn 6-34,35 (36c) Gift of God >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual food -- These verses go with verses 48-51. The Jews liked the bread that came from heaven; it was better than the bread they made, just like the wine at the wedding in Cana was better than the other wine (Jn 2,1-10). Whatever comes from heaven is better than this life, yet people are hooked on the world and are unwilling to receive heavenly things, unless they have direct application to this life, and for that reason they sought Jesus for another loaf of bread. They were trying to talk Jesus into reproducing another gourmet meal for them, even quoting Scripture to Him, acting like they cared what was written, as though that would convince Him to fill their bellies again. If they cared what it said, they would have believed in Jesus, and would have been seeking Him for the word of God and not for just another free meal. Jesus did not make Himself available to them; rather, they were seeking Him for that which temporally benefits, but Jesus was hoping they would seek Him for eternal life. They sought Jesus for all the wrong reasons, and this is still happening in many prosperity churches today. They have concocted doctrines, bending Scripture backwards and inside-out in order to make it sound like God cares more about this life than the one to come, bending Scripture to fit their purposes, making it say that prospering in this life is more important than investing in the life to come. Many non-Christians go to church and feel perfectly comfortable there, using it as a social function, enjoying ice-cream socials and pot-lucks, using it as a place to meet with their friends and discuss the previous week and making plans for the days ahead. They fit the mold of the Jews seeking Jesus for a free meal. Jn 6-34 (195j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Lord, Lord >> Lip service Jn 6-35 (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness -- This verse goes with verses 51-58. Jesus told the people that He came from heaven; no other prophet ever made such a claim, yet the Jews were treating Him as one of their prophets, and as we know, none of their prophets were ever treated well. There may be false prophets these days who have stolen the idea of coming from heaven in effort to deceive people, but before Jesus the concept simply didn’t exist. Jesus established the concept of life after death, and His promise is that we can live with Him forever in paradise, or we can reject His offer and spend eternity in hell; those are our two choices. Jesus said, “He who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (v35). The bread from heaven they ate the day-before filled their stomachs and the next day they were hungry again. The same is true for us in the spiritual realm; we can have inspired sessions reading our Bible and have mountain top experiences in prayer, but if we don’t return to the word of God and prayer, we will get hungry again, so what did Jesus mean that we would never hunger or thirst? He was talking about heaven. We who believe in Jesus will find our place in His glorious kingdom, and in that place there is no hunger or thirst. Jesus was looking past this life, past our death, past the period of disembodied spirits residing in heaven, past the 2000-year age of grace and past the Great Tribulation that will occur at the end of this age, and he was looking forward to the First Resurrection, speaking to them, saying they will never hunger or thirst in the presence of Almighty God, who thinks in terms of eternity. We talk to our children who are 3 and 4 years old about their coming experiences ten years later when they are teen-agers, talking to them beyond their current level to help prepare them for the future, and this is what Jesus did in all of His teachings. It is the content of so many of His parables and the reason His words sounded like gibberish to so many ears (Mat 13-11). He didn't talk much about this life, except in the Sermon on the Mount, which was God’s summary of the old covenant. God wants us to think in terms of eternity. Jn 6-36 (19m) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unwilling to believe >> Spirit of unbelief -- This verse goes with verse 64 (70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth-enemy of discernment >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh -- This verse goes with verses 41-44 (171k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Outward appearance is not important – People of the world observe the creation and say, ‘This is what God is like,’ but what they don’t understand is that they are looking at a world that has been cursed. Jesus stood in front of man and proclaimed that God is like Him, and they crucified Him from disgust. The creation is not in the same condition that it was when God originally created it, and for that reason it is not an accurate reflection of God, but they refuse to believe this because they want to believe that God is evil like them. Demonstrate the love of God in every possible way and they still would not believe. For many, Jesus Christ Himself could stand in front of them and eat His bread that came from heaven and still not believe. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,37-40 (189i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Jesus was a martyr -- These verses go with verses 47-58 Jn 6-37 (33n) Gift of God >> Believers are special to God >> God receives us – Jesus said that those who come to Him, He will certainly not cast out. God knows who belong to Him and who don’t. We like to think we know who are the true children of God, for the Bible teaches we can discern these things to a close certainty based on their fruit, but in the end God is the only one who knows for sure. All the evidence we collect on a person’s salvation or lack of it is mere circumstantial, for God knows the heart. He knows the person who is struggling in his faith, who really wants to straighten out his life and believe in Jesus, and He also knows the shysters and pretenders who wouldn't give a dime to have a genuine association with Jesus. Some we would never question the validity of their faith, yet to God they are phonier than a three-dollar-bill. They show all the signs of Christianity, but their heart is not with Him. Christianity is not complicated to His beloved, but those outside the faith Christianity is an incomprehensible conundrum. (36l) Gift of God >> Adopted >> We are adopted by the Spirit – If we want to be someone important, it is an uphill battle to be a Christian, because God is not interested in self-important people. God is the only important person in heaven; the rest of us were invited to share in His joy, not that we deserve to be there. Once we belonged to Satan, and Jesus paid for the right of adoption and bought us with His own blood, and we have been shown love from God. Our adoption does not make us any less important to Him. (135l) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Abortion >> God’s opinion of abortion >> Jesus does not believe in abortion (219g) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> God chooses us as we fulfill His calling – This is one of many statements about predestination. Jesus said that those whom God chooses must also make a choice to come to Him, and if they don't, they will inadvertently prove they are not His sheep. Some people don’t believe in predestination; others don't believe in free choice; the truth is in the middle, as usual. Some consider predestination a scary thought, for what happens to those who are not chosen and find their place in hell; how is it their fault? Predestination is God's perspective, while coming to Christ is ours. If a person gets hung-up on the teachings of predestination, he is trying to assume God's point of view, but he ought to concern himself with his own station in life and let God be God. Jesus said that there are certain people that the Father gives Him, speaking in passive tense; He merely receives the children that God places in His hand; we are a gift to Him from the Father, who obediently submitted to the cross. Jn 6,38-40 (194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way – Jesus came from heaven, not to do His own will but the will of His Father. The Old Testament is full of prophecies regarding the Messiah, who would die for the sins of the world, but there was nothing that specifically told Jesus that He was the Son of God; instead, the Father revealed it to Him by the Spirit, probably near or before the age of accountability (Adolescence). God wants to reveal his specific will to us too, and there is no greater joy than to understand that our Heavenly Father loves us. We know we are welcome in His Kingdom; we believe in His righteous judgment, and trust what He’s doing even when things go wrong. Jesus yielded to His Father and has turned and called us to do the same. (209k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Father sent His son to the cross -- These verses go with verses 51-58. Jesus didn’t come to do His own will but the will of His Father. We like to think Jesus by His own power and pity saved us, but that is not what the Bible says; it says the Father sent him here, and it was by the Father's power and pity that He saved us through His Son Jesus Christ. The significance of this slight change of emphasis cannot be overstated, for where would we be without the Father’s love? Now we know that the Father loves us, because He sent Jesus to us. Also, keep in mind that Father and Son are always in agreement about everything. Jesus never complains or agues with Him or disagrees or suggests a better way or another course of action. When the Father says, ‘We are going to do this now,’ Jesus complies, because He knows the Father is never wrong about anything, and that is the way heaven works. All power and authority disseminate from the Father to the Son, then through all the members of the body of Christ, which is the Church, and we in turn will delegate His authority to the rest of God’s creation, and it all begins with the Father, who is the source of all things. Jn 6-38 (13b) Servant >> Jesus serves His Father >> Jesus is under His authority – There are not multiple sources of authority in heaven; there is only one: the Father. Many people have the idea that Jesus exercised His own authority, because they too just do whatever they want, and so they figure Jesus lived the same way. Just the opposite, Jesus never did anything apart from His Father, and Jesus commands us to live as He lived. That doesn’t mean He needed to get an okay about every step He took; He was led by the Spirit, not just during His ministry but throughout His life. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6-39 (28d) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects the Church through the world – Jesus was talking about His crucifixion and about His disciples and about Judas Iscariot, who was a reprobate. Jesus did not lose Him, because He never belonged to the Lord. He may have been one of the twelve, but He was there only to warn us that those kinds of people will be in our circles too, even our closest and most intimate circles. They will be in our circle of fifty and in our circle of twelve, but they won’t be in a circle of three. Peter, James and John were His three closest disciples, who seemed to have a greater capacity to comprehend the things of God, though that is not really saying much, since none of them particularly understood anything Jesus said or did while they walked with Him. If Jesus didn’t lose any of His twelve disciples, except the son of perdition, then He will not lose us. When it is our time to depart from this world, God will be in charge of that too. If we are serving the Lord, we are important to Him; we have a job to do that won’t be accomplished by anybody else if something happens to us. He will protect us because we are part of His plan and purpose in this world. (61l) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Raise him up on the last day: Raise him on the cross on the last day of My life / Raise him at the First Resurrection on the last day of this age (219d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God chooses to speak to whomever He wishes -- This verse goes with verse 44 Jn 6-40 (85m) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Treating the knowledge of God as fact >> Believing the Son by obeying the Father >> Obeying the Father through the son (The old covenant through the new) -- This verse goes with verses 28&29. Scripture is the foundation of the general will of God, in that if we do what the Bible says, it will open our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying about His specific will for us. The Bible says a lot about God’s will, but it only speaks of His general will that pertains to us all. God also has a specific will that is different for each of us that we receive through the Spirit, which is just as important as His general will. The many general commandments in the Bible, if we failed to do them, would make it that much harder to hear the Holy Spirit in our heart speak about His specific will. An example of our general calling is to obey the law, but its influence is limited; for instance, if we don’t commit adultery, no one would get saved, nor would it foster unity in the Church, but if we do commit adultery, it would make those things even less likely to happen. The advantage of obeying God's law is that it opens our ears to hear the Holy Spirit speak to us about His specific will. We can read the Bible to learn about God's general calling, which when doing it leads to receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit of salvation, who teaches us about His specific calling. Once we discover God’s will, we can fulfill it, but only in His time. He may want His word to germinate in our heart for a while, like Jesus who realized He was the Son of God as a child and waited decades before He entered His ministry. See also: The good, acceptable and perfect will of God; 1Cor 16-12; 76i (118h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Giving God your attention >> Resolutely focus on the glory of God >> Focus on Jesus (205e) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> Promise of eternal life (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life -- This verse goes with verse 47 (244d) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Jesus is the source of eternal life -- This verse goes with verses 47-58 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,41-45 (70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth-enemy of discernment >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh -- These verses go with verse 36. The Bible teaches that anyone who has lived by the precepts of the Old Testament will be prepared to believe in Jesus. Therefore, Jesus explained to the Jews why they were unable to believe in Him, because they had not been living by the precepts of the Old Testament and were consequently ill-prepared to receive their messiah. The precepts of the Ten Commandments primarily encompassed loving God and their fellow man. The Jews did not abide by these laws, and were thereby hardened to the things Jesus spoke to them. They figured Jesus was not their Messiah because they knew His immediate family, but what did that prove? Jesus spoke words the Messiah would say and performed miracles the Messiah would do. They were expecting everything to be big and grandiose, but His family was humble and poor. He came from a family that had no king, and so Jesus could not be a prince, at least not according to the flesh. However, Jesus was a prince in that God was His Father. Jn 6,41-44 (158b) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Grumbling -- These verses go with verse 61. There are other passages in the Bible that speak about grumbling. Those who believe in Jesus and walk by the Spirit don’t grumble whenever someone crosses them. Instead of grumbling they have pity on their offenders, but those who don’t know the truth, grumble whenever the truth contradicts their religion. The problem with grumbling is that it proves they are operating by the elementary principles of greed, lust and pride, which is the root of all sin. They could not accept a Messiah coming from humble means. Their pride said that Messiah would come from greatness. They were right; Jesus did come from greatness, but they never recognized the greatness of Jesus' small beginnings or could fathom that the vastness of God could be packed into such a small container as Jesus' body. Their perspective was based on this world, and they could not imagine Jesus coming from heaven. God’s absolute contempt for grumbling is recorded in the Old Testament regarding the children of Israel who grumbled against Moses, and God took it personally. They grumbled about everything, and they all lost their lives over it. They died in the rebellion of Korah, and they died in the wilderness for forty years. God refused to give them their inheritance because of grumbling. When these men grumbled against Jesus, they did it by the same spirit of unbelief, and they would face similar consequences that Israel faced in that they lost their temple and their nation for almost two millennia. Jn 6,43-45 (64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will -- These verses go with verse 65. The Jews in the days of Jesus were in no position to properly interpret the Scriptures after they had twisted their doctrines completely out of shape over the centuries before Jesus came. From generation to generation, the people interpreted, re-interpreted and misinterpreted the Scriptures until it didn’t sound anything like it looked. This is the reason they rejected Jesus: He didn’t resemble their religiosity. The very same thing has happened to the Church in our own time. Over the past 2,000 years we have interpreted, re- interpreted and misinterpreted the New Testament, until what we believe no longer resembles what the Bible says. Jn 6-44 (106o) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Purpose of hearing from God >> God ordains our calling -- This verse goes with verse 65 (219d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God chooses to speak to whomever He wishes -- This verse goes with verse 65 Jn 6-45 (8f) Responsibility >> Prepare to interact with God >> Law prepares you for the Spirit – There are many similarities between the Old and the New Testaments. If we understand this verse, we understand the connection between the two, which helps us properly interpret many difficult passages and the Bible as a whole. Of course Jesus was speaking to Jews who followed the old covenant law. Basically, Jesus was saying, "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Old Testament will find it a smooth transition to believe in the New Testament. This consequently suggests that those who do not follow the Old Testament law will find the New Testament just as incomprehensible, hence they will not be prepared to receive Jesus. The Old Testament lays the foundation for believing in Jesus through a clear conscience (Act 16-14). (90c) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It prepares your heart to receive Christ (106m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Purpose of hearing from God >> God gives us direction (Attitude) – This is not a popular verse, though it should be, since it elucidates the transition between the old and new covenants. Jesus was speaking to old covenant Jews, who as a whole rejected Him, and they even rejected the gospel throughout the age of grace. Why didn’t the Old Testament help them receive their Messiah? It is because they were not walking in its precepts and thus misunderstood the Old Testament. They were extremely well versed in the Scriptures, yet their interpretation was skewed by a wrong attitude about God, which was the cause of Israel going astray. In Jesus day, anyone who believed in the law and the prophets and walked in His commandments would intuitively believe in Jesus, for that is what the law was meant to do. Ironically however, now that Jesus has come, anyone who would use the law to defend his faith would inadvertently admit that he doesn't read the Bible or obey the law, for the prophets wrote about Jesus. (151i) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Creation is evidence of God >> No other source but God can explain the creation – Note how Jesus worded this verse to avoid confusion, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” He didn't mention the Scriptures at all, but spoke of His Father, suggesting that learning from the Father could also include the witness of creation. Most people deductively seek facts and proofs about their brand of truth, instead of allowing God to reveal Himself to them. With the deductive process, they start with a hypothesis and then start on a journey looking for evidence that proves their theory. In science this works very well, but with God it doesn’t work at all, because God has already revealed Himself in the witness of creation and through His word, and all we have to do is believe the facts. Man has no capacity to understand God without His help, because man in his fallen state has an affinity to believe what is false about God in order to gratify his flesh. (239e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachable students >> The teachable are taught by God – When we look at King David, he obviously had an accurate understanding of the Old Testament, since he helped write it, and he wasn’t even trained in the Scriptures. He didn’t go to seminary school or its ancient equivalent to learn the Old Testament; he was a shepherd and a warrior; he didn’t have time for formal training. What was it about David that gave him an edge on his understanding of God? It was his anointing; he understood the Old Testament by the Spirit of God. When Samuel anointed David, he poured the oil over a man whom God had already anointed, a humble shepherd, who sat peacefully among his sheep and wrote many of the Psalms, which illustrated his deep understanding of God. Had David been alive during Jesus’ day, he would have recognized Israel’s Messiah immediately; his acceptance of Christ would have been automatic. Jesus would have only needed to open His mouth and David would have recognized Him by the words of His Spirit. In contrast, the Jews were spiritually nowhere near the place where they should have been in their hearts to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Jn 6-46 (104f) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart shall see God >> Shall see the Father >> Being in the presence of God – Jesus was talking about Himself, confessing that He had seen the Father; in fact, He had been with Him throughout eternity past. There is very little we know about the Father, except what Jesus said to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn 6-9), so we know in many respects the Father is just like Jesus, but that is just one aspect of God. There are many other aspects of God that by definition of the trinity cannot be like Jesus or the Holy Spirit, though they are one (in perfect unity). The indwelling Holy Spirit is no different from Jesus, in that He leads us in the same way that Jesus would lead us if He were present, yet the two of them could not be more different from each. Jesus has a body that can be in only one place at a time, but the Holy Spirit is not physical and is everywhere at all times. In that sense they are opposites, and the Father to maintain this principle must be equidistant from the other two, like the legs of a tripod. This means there is a difference between this statement and His statement made to Philip, namely that no one has seen the Father’s expression; not even Moses. God said to Him, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live” (Exodus 33-20). Is God scary-looking? The Bible says He’s beautiful (Psalm 50-2; Psalm 96-6). However, we are sinners, and He is absolute perfection in ways we cannot comprehend, and His face apparently communicates this. There are aspects of God that we mortals cannot endure, much less understand. Imagine seeing Him who can pitch stars and galaxies into space. See also: Trinity; Jn 14-16,17; 111c (117j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Acknowledging the presence of God (253cc) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Outward appearance of Jesus Christ KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,47-58 (130a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Communion (136e) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Jesus’ fleshly body >> The flesh of Jesus’ sacrifice -- These verses go with verses 33-40 (189i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Jesus was a martyr -- These verses go with verses 37-40 (244d) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Jesus is the source of eternal life -- These verses go with verses 66-68 (254e) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> Life is in the blood -- These verses go with verses 32-35. The cross exposes us as sinners as though we pounded the stakes into His hands and feet ourselves. Jesus proved His identity through the words He spoke and the miracles He performed, and it made man hate Him all the more (Jn 15-24). This was a surprising response to their Messiah, though it didn’t surprise God. They didn’t expect to react this way to Him, but it was all because we are sinners. People like to isolate the Jew and say, “If we had been living in the days of [Jesus] we would not have been partners with them in shedding [His] blood” (Mat 23-30), but we need to remember that the Jew crucified Jesus for the sake of the whole world, and if they did it for us, then we are just as guilty as them. If no one had received Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the propitiation of their sin, the Father simply would not have sent Him, but because we have received Him, we are the most responsible of all for His death, for without us He wouldn't have come. On the one hand, once Jesus was born, He could return to heaven only through the cross, and on the other hand He said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” (v54). The one who eats His flesh and drinks His blood must confess that he is a sinner and that Jesus gave His life for us to be accepted by the Father into heaven. Anyone who receives the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ has in that sense taken part in murdering Him. The difference between the saved and the unsaved is repentance; we are sorry for having a part in His death, but the unsaved are not sorry. See also: Church lost the anointing after the first century; 2Tim 2-1; 72h Jn 6,47-51 (39l) Judgment >> The essence of life defeated the essence of death Jn 6-47 (78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth -- This verse goes with verse 53 (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life -- This verse goes with verse 51. This was Jesus’ message from the Father that He came to share with the world, but there is a word we first need to define: “believe”, and we need to understand what we believe about Jesus. We know He died on a cross to become Savior of the world, that if we believe in His blood sacrifice for the remission of sins, we will be saved. That is what we believe about Jesus, but the question remains: what does it mean to believe? In this context the closest synonym to the word believe is “trust”. The one who puts his trust in Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin has eternal life. This word “trust” goes a little further than believing in a set of doctrines; we trust those doctrines with our life, not just with our mind. We dedicate our life to the love of God in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, and if we trust in those doctrines, we will do what He commanded us, which was to love one another. Our obedience acts as proof that we trust and believe in Jesus, and God will plant His Spirit in our heart, and we will be born-again by a Spirit of faith. We will receive the faith of God to believe in Jesus’ blood sacrifice. This suggests there is a difference between believing and “faith”; our beliefs are based on obedience, while faith is based on a Spirit that God has given us. Genuine faith is something we receive from heaven, whereas our beliefs derive from human motives. Jn 6,48-58 (76n) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Bread of life is the word of God -- These verses go with verses 26-36 Jn 6,48-51 (36c) Gift of God >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual food -- These verses go with verses 26&27 Jn 6-50 (187b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man>> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to people >> Die to self to encourage the strong KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,51-58 (17b) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> A barbaric nature requires a barbaric remedy – Had man not sinned, Jesus would not have needed to die, and if you personally were not a sinner, you would not need to partake of His sacrifice. As it stands however, man did sin and you are a sinner, and so none of us have a choice except to partake of His sacrifice. Therefore, anyone who partakes of the crucifixion of God’s Son as sinners is responsible for killing Him. Either we become partakers of Christ and hence participants in shedding His blood and are accordingly allowed to go to heaven, or we are innocent of His death as non-partakers and summarily wave our right to heaven. So man finds himself between a rock and a hard spot in relation to God. Either we go to heaven as murderers of His Son, or we go to hell innocent of His death but guilty of sin. (25g) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Killing Jesus (37b) Judgment >> The cross >> Father slays His son (45e) Judgment >> God’s Judgment on believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> On the cross – Jesus repeatedly told His enemies what they would do to Him, referring to the chief priests, the Pharisees, the scribes and the elders, alluding to their murderous ways, saying in Mat 21,33-45, surely “they will respect my son.” God could even tell them what they would do to Him and it wouldn't change the outcome, the Pharisees confirming “they understood that He was speaking about them,” one of the few times they actually understood His parables; yet they crucified Him anyway. Satan was equally guilty of the cross, only he did it in a full knowledge. He instigated the crucifixion of Christ. Rev 1-18 testifies, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” These were the keys Satan once owned before the crucifixion. Once Jesus was killed, his sinless life violated the law of sin and death that requires sin to be the cause of death (Rom 8-2) and broke the power of sin for everyone who would believe in Him for eternal life, for if it weren’t for His believers, there would be no cause for Him to give His life in the first place. Sin was indeed the cause of Jesus' death, not His own sin but the sin of those who murdered Him. (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness -- These verses go with verse 35 (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misund erstanding Jesus -- These verses go with verse 15. Jesus said things that not even His closest disciples could accept. He asked them, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” The disciples had no other place to go, yet Jesus did not act concerned about their emotional state or their disbelief in their darkest hour, saying, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil.” The disciples were already distressed by what Jesus was saying, and now they realized that one of them was a devil. They started suspiciously looking at each other. This is not what the disciples wanted to hear. They wanted encouragement from Him, but they didn’t get it. Instead, they got more bad news. Walking with Jesus is sometimes very hard, because He is so unlike us. (205f) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The new covenant in His blood (209k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Father sent His son to the cross -- These verses go with verses 39&40 (229j) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of Jesus >> Partaking of Jesus’ gift -- Jesus equated His flesh to the bread they were seeking from the miracle He performed of feeding the five thousand a few days earlier. He equated the bread to His own body that He would sacrifice on the cross. Once He ascended to the Father, He would distribute the Holy Spirit in like manner to those who were hungry for the essence of God, and they would become His children. Therefore is is safe to say that Jesus died for sinners (1Cor 15-3); the question is, are you a sinner? To the person who answers “no”, supposedly Jesus didn’t die for him, and now he has a gaping hole in his conscience. Why does the gospel evoke an open sore at the mention of Jesus Christ as Savior of the world? His name elicits the notion of being a sinner. Jesus said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (v53). Everybody who gets saved must admit to himself and to God that he is partly responsible for the brutal murder of His Son, for Jesus sacrificed Himself in order to save us. That shouldn’t bother the unbeliever, though, for just the opposite is true of him; he didn’t receive the benefit of the cross, so theoretically he is not responsible for his death; instead, he makes His sacrifice null and void, so to him Christ died in vain, which is actually far worse, in that now he will face eternity without Christ. Jn 6-51 (53d) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Jesus’ death is our life (111k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Living and active word of God -- This verse goes with verse 63 (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life -- This verse goes with verse 40 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,53-58 (37h) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood delivered us from destruction – The Jews have been under heavy condemnation ever since they killed their own Messiah, but what they don’t understand and what the gentiles don’t understand who would call them “Jesus killers” is that Israel is a representative nation of priests that stands for all nations, and that each of us who believe in Jesus are indebted to the Jews for crucifying the Lamb of God for the world’s sake. Jn 6-53,54 (57g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Jesus died to give us life -- These verses go with verse 57 Jn 6-53 (78b) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity of heart >> Being honest >> Telling the truth -- This verse goes with verse 26 (229h) Partaking (Key verse) Jn 6-56-58 (139k) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Abiding in Jesus Jn 6-57 (57g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Jesus died to give us life -- This verse goes with verses 53&54. The disciples were grumbling because Jesus said that people must eat His flesh and drink His blood, alluding to communion that represents His flesh and blood sacrifice, that if we are not partakers of Him, we have no life in ourselves. We partake of Jesus not in reference to communion but in reference to faith. When we believe in the blood sacrifice that Jesus made for our sin and for the salvation of our souls and for the hope of eternal life, we become partakers of that sacrifice. We become the reason He went to the cross. God knew the Church would result from Jesus' suffering, and so He willingly submitted to the cross. Everybody who believes in Jesus, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life are the partakers of His blood sacrifice and are the reason He went to the cross. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6,59-62 (146l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Evidence to trust Him – Jesus said something to Nathanael, “You will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (Jn 1-51). Remember also the Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah suddenly appeared to them, Jesus added, “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” Jesus eventually ascended to heaven in front of all his disciples. Jesus was saying, ‘If My words offend you, what do you do with the miracles that you have seen of Me?’ He put them on the spot without giving them any breathing space, saying that if He were not the Messiah, He could not perform these signs, but since He was the Son of God, instead of complaining about Him, Jesus complained right back to them about their faulty logic. Jn 6-59 (122i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse circumstances >> Speak the truth in the face of adversity Jn 6,60-62 (106h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through His Son Jn 6-61,62 (147a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Remember Jesus’ miracles – The disciples visualized themselves actually drinking blood, which was taboo according to the Law of Moses, like telling them to eat swine’s flesh, which was also against their law. What Jesus said sounded crazy to them, despite the miracles they personally witnessed of Him. How could they balk at Jesus because He said something that didn’t make sense and ignore everything they had personally witnessed of Him? Man is capable of dismissing whatever in inconvenient. Jesus refused to let His own disciples call Him crazy; He was no doubt unusual; crazy people do crazy things, but they don’t perform miracles. Jn 6-61 (158b) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Grumbling -- This verse goes with verses 41-44 (201f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> The cross offends the world KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 6-63 (111k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Living and active word of God -- This verse goes with verse 51. Jesus directly associated the Holy Spirit with the word of God to show that the two of them work together like a dynamic duo. The primary function of the Spirit is to perform the word of God, while the primary function of the word is to provide an avenue for the Spirit to move through the circumstances of our lives. When we speak the Word to somebody we are introducing the Holy Spirit to them. These are not just words, for the Spirit of God is present to perform His word in those who hear and believe. (160c) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit life (237l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Transformed from death to life – The work of the Spirit often seems very nebulous; we wonder sometimes if our experiences are real, then we wonder if a day has elapsed when the Spirit was not working in our lives. The life of God is subtle when it comes to the flesh and its spiritual blindness. This body of sinful flesh represents us in the world, and we use it to say and do things, but there is one thing our flesh cannot divulge: the things that the Spirit of God is doing within us. We can show joy, but we cannot manifest the life of the Spirit, and for this reason we find it difficult to define or even conceptualize His work in our lives. The things God creates in us cannot manifest because they are spiritual and our flesh belongs to the opposing natural realm. The life of God as He grows and develops, happens as it were behind a curtain, and we must pay careful attention, lest we fail to recognize our own spiritual progress and allow it to slip. (254h) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of God is the life of Christ -- Everything about Jesus was about the Spirit of God. His words were drenched in the Holy Spirit. His flesh, once sacrificed released a spiritual flood into the world, resembling the bread that he distributed to the five thousand, as much as they wanted until they were satisfied. After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven He distributed the Holy Spirit to all who would receive Him, and has been doing so ever since. (254k) God’s Word Is Spirit (Key verse) (255a) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Spirit of the word >> Words of His Spirit are life – Jesus was like a radio that played only one channel, the frequency that originated from heaven. He only played the Holy Spirit’s channel that came in better than any other radio, whereas we too are radios that have the capacity for other channels that sometimes play devil music but can also catch the Holy Spirit’s signal at varying strengths, depending on our commitment to the truth. The quality of Jesus word from the Spirit was so clear that the Bible describes Him as the manifested Word of God. That is His position in the trinity. Jn 6-64 (19m) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unwilling to believe >> Spirit of unbelief -- This verse goes with verse 36. The point was not that some believed in Him, but that some did not, and the closer they were to Him, the more detrimental their unbelief. Judas was one of the twelve who witnessed many of His miracles and was regularly in His presence, yet Judas was a devil. It is terrible to know that there are some among us who call themselves Christians but refuse to believe in Him, and it is downright scary that we will never be rid of them until we become members of the great assembly in heaven. (152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world -- This verse goes with verses 70&71. Jesus was able to look into a person and see their faith or lack of it. He knew when a person’s heart was with Him, not because He was all-knowing, but because He had the gift of prophecy. Jn 6-65 (64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will -- This verse goes with verses 43-45 (106o) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Purpose of hearing from God >> God ordains our calling -- This verse goes with verse 44. Jesus loved His disciples because their hearts were with Him (barring Judas), though they didn’t understand Him. Their hearts were with God before they even met Jesus. (219d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God transforms the world into the Church >> God chooses to speak to whomever He wishes -- This verse goes with verse 39 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6,66-71 (5h) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your loyalty >> Your commitment to follow Jesus – Jesus said some things that were not too popular with His followers. They must have thought He had lost His mind or perhaps never had it, so they left Him, instead of trusting Him. The ones that stayed were struggling with His words, but Jesus wasn’t very understanding about their feelings. In fact, He continued to say things that were difficult to accept, things that were meant to scare them even more. Peter uttered a statement of faith, perhaps hoping to get a little sympathy from the Lord, but Jesus answered that one of them was a devil. These were trying times for the disciples. God wants to know if our faith is sincere, or if we are merely tagging along for some other reason. (92e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You cannot walk two trails Jn 6,66-69 (150f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Confessing Jesus >> Confessing Jesus as the son of God (193k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run to God to avoid running from Him – Sometimes, staying with Jesus is a matter of sheer determination, and avoiding the temptation to run is a matter of stubborn will, until the storm of doubt passes and the spirit of unbelief grows weary of assailing us. The opponent of our faith promises to return at a time of weakness. When that day comes and mounts another attack, we must stand our ground. Sometimes working toward our goal is not on the day’s agenda; sometimes avoiding disobedience and unbelief is our only task. Some days we build churches, preach sermons, fill sanctuaries with God-fearing believers, but other days our faith gives us the power to just stand there and do nothing instead of running, and we accomplish just as much in those days as when we do exploits for God. Repentance is just as important as obedience. God has a schedule for us to do great and wonderful things; other days, the great and wonderful things we do will never be seen by anyone but Him. Most of the work of building a house is with well-laid brick, primped landscaping, beautiful trim work and painted walls, but behind these things is the electrical wires, plumbing, duct work and the frame holding up the house. These things are just as important as its appearance, yet they go unnoticed. Likewise, when we fight the devil and resist temptation to abandon the Lord, those days are just as important as the days we serve the Lord in joy and gladness of heart, sharing our faith, fellowshipping with the brethren and building up the body of Christ. Behind the scenes there is a war raging in every disciple of Jesus that nobody sees. Jn 6,66-68 (244d) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Jesus is the source of eternal life -- These verses go with verse 40. Peter’s answer to Jesus when He asked if he also wanted to go away, said, “Where shall we go, for you have words of eternal life.” Nobody else has ever made this promise before or after Christ. Of all the cults that have surfaced over the past two millennia, no one has promised eternal life, except through Christ. No matter what color we paint it, regardless of title or direction of spin, Peter’s statement revealed that he was following Jesus for the hope of eternal life. This is why he wanted everything Jesus said to be true. Peter and his fellow disciples, including us, would do anything to live forever with Christ in His heavenly kingdom. Jn 6-66 (2f) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments in your walk with God – It is one thing for the world to rob you of your faith through many trials and temptations, but it is quite another thing for the Master of your faith to talk you out of it. If whatever Christ says to you weakens your faith, then you either misinterpreted Him or He is challenging you to a greater commitment to Him. Never let the Bible sway you from your faith; instead, reread it, or study the part that is confusing you until you understand it. Another thing you can do is increase your commitment to Christ in order to place yourself in a position to receive wisdom from God, that He may explain it to you, but don’t just walk away from Him. There is no hope in that. (159a) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Love sickening sweet >> Mask over the real self (170j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> Back-sliders are temporary (176h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Resolution without relationship -- This verse goes with verse 24. Jesus' followers, not His twelve disciples but those who rejected Him, withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore because of what He said. They had zeal, but it was not based on knowledge. They didn’t understand what Jesus was saying, and neither did the other disciples who stayed with Him, who were convinced that He was the Son of God and that He was worth trusting even when they became skeptical. Jesus did this on purpose; many half-hearted people were following Him, possibly because it was becoming fashionable, and He did a shakedown to reduce their numbers. Every church should have an occasional shakedown to refine the quality of believers that regularly attend. Those who fell away trusted more in their doubts than they did in His miracles. They were convinced in their own opinions more than they were in the evidence they used to form those opinions. Had they been born in today’s world, some may have gone into one of the many fields of science and sat under a professor and heard things they didn’t understand, but they wouldn't have walked from the classroom, because they trusted the professor and trusted their text books, and eventually their confusion would clear. Why couldn’t they trust Jesus when He said something they didn’t understand? They could have asked Him to explain what He was saying, but apparently they didn’t feel free to do that. Jesus was tired of people believing in Him for all the wrong reasons; He was no doubt frustrated and disgusted after the Jews came seeking Him for another free meal, so He told them they had to become cannibals and vampires, and it turned their stomachs. They envisioned Him cutting His wrists and themselves catching the dripping blood in their mouth. This obviously was not what He meant, yet the truth was even more gruesome than that, for He was referring to the cross. (197i) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unfaithfulness >> Unfaithful to God – 1Jn 2-19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” John wrote very unemotionally, being true also of James; they stuck with the truth. In the real world we see people abandoning the faith, and it creates all kinds of emotions in us. We cry to God for their souls, longing for them to return, and they don’t. After our emotions clear, we can read the Bible for what it says, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us.” This is not easy to accept, because some of these people are our friends and family members, people whom we long to see in heaven and experience God together. Some people act spiritual, but when times get hard they abandon their faith and we don’t understand why, because we don’t know what motivates them. Everybody who quits on God says in his heart, 'I will serve Him only if…' followed by a set of stringent conditions they are willing to accept. Meanwhile, they are sinners and God is trying to save them from this kind of attitude, the very kind that flogged Jesus' flesh to ribbons. Nearly every drop of blood exited His wounds before they nailed Him to a cross. He did it because of attitudes that try to tell God what to do; and if He doesn’t do it, they will abandon Him. God can’t use people like them in His kingdom; He wants people who will serve Him under any circumstance, like his twelve disciples, minus one. What Jesus said to His followers that day sounded ludicrous to them; they didn’t understand it and so they left Him. They had to understand everything or else they would quit following Him. We are talking about God here; who are we to think we will understand everything about Him? Sometimes our faith reduces to mere trust, and trust is no little thing. Faith is great, but trust is just as great. Faith is the gear we use on the level straight-aways, and we can cover many miles with it, but when we hit the mountains, we have to downshift into lower gears of trust. We don’t go as fast but we will reach the summit trusting God. (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith (202j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running from walking in faith >> Running from God through unbelief -- This verse goes with verses 15-17. These men followed Jesus and then stopped walking with Him, which sounds like Heb 6,4-6, “In the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” This sounds like Judas Iscariot, who heard the word of God for three years, saw His miracles, and then betrayed Him. The Bible takes what Judas did very seriously, and these men who walked away from Jesus were on par with him. Following Jesus and then falling away from the faith because of something they didn't understand, shows that they were following Him with ulterior motives. Jesus was not particularly distraught by these infidels; He would rather have a more condensed group of genuine believers, than to be trailed by a lot of half-hearted stragglers. (203g) Back-Slider (Key verse) (203h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from God KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 6,67-69 (216i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >> God forces you through your own convictions – This passage reveals the difference between disciples and common believers. Jesus had twelve closest disciples; then there was the seventy; these continued following the Lord. Those who sought Jesus for another free meal stopped following Him after learning that the buffet was closed. There was the multitude who whimsically came and went as they pleased. In the Church setting, Jesus’ twelve disciples represent the pastor, the seventy represent deacons and elders, and the multitude represent those who fill the assembly. Many of the disciples quit following Jesus, because He said things they didn’t understand, but a true disciple doesn’t leave just because they don’t understand something. There will always be things we don’t understand; there will always be things that offend us. Jesus said things sometimes that were audacious, that He didn’t expect anyone to understand. If they really believed in Him, they would follow Him no matter what He said. Jesus wants us to trust Him no matter what He says. (231e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Revelation of Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom >> Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom Jn 6-70,71 (152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world -- These verses go with verse 64 (219h) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> God chooses us through our faithfulness – When we look in the gospels at the choosing of the twelve, we see Jesus calling Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, Philip and Nathanael, but with Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon the Zealot, Judas (the son of James) and Judas Iscariot, Scripture is vague about their calling. We hear Jesus say that he chose the twelve in this verse, yet Judas fell away. Although Jesus chose Judas supposedly sealing his destiny in heaven by the account of many Calvinists, yet this wasn't the case, because Judas never determined in himself to believe in Jesus. See next page