DAY 11 - Today’s devotional was written by Perry, Co-Leader of RLM, and today’s reading is: John 6-7. Jesus gives bread and water to those who say “yes” and receive a miracle.
“After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd was following Him, because they were watching the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. But Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” But He was saying this only to test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
“So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.”
“Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. In addition, the sea began getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
“The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. Other small boats came from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Words to the People
“Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” So they said to Him, “What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Words to the Jews
“So then the Jews were complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.”
“Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Words to the Disciples
These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
“So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, “Is this offensive to you? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Peter’s Confession of Faith
“As a result of this many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
“After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. So His brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers believed in Him. So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet fully arrived.” Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.”
“But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of the Jews.”
“But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
“Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all are astonished. For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
“So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this man not the one whom they are seeking to kill? And yet look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? However, we know where this man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I do know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” So they were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has done, will He?”
“The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Him. Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am going to be with you, and then I am going to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He does not intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, does He? What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”
“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
People’s Division over Jesus
“Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is the Prophet.” Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” But others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. And some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.”
“The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken in this way!” The Pharisees then replied to them, “You have not been led astray too, have you? Not one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them,
“Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” And everyone went to his home.” [John 6,7 NASB20]
In these chapters, John recounts two events where Jesus used bread (or food) and water which are necessary to sustain our physical lives to illustrate what is necessary for our eternal life.
First, we see Jesus feed the 5,000 in John 6:1-15. He then uses this as an object lesson to talk about the bread that was sent down from Heaven in the wilderness.
“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever”
As wonderful and amazing as miracles are, they cannot sustain us forever. As awesome as Moses was, he did not give them the bread, but it was sent from Heaven. Jesus was sent from Heaven to give us what we need for eternal life!
It’s interesting that Jesus used the word “living” to describe the bread. The Greek word used is Zao and it had specific meaning to the Jews. If something was Zao, it was “given by God.” Zao was often used to describe water that flowed from the earth in rivers, streams, lakes or springs. It’s also used to describe rain that fell from the heavens. The Jews knew only God could make something Zao. Once water was contained in a manmade cistern or container, it was no longer living water, unless it was ceremonial.
Which brings us to the second event which takes place at the annual Festival of Booths, which celebrated the harvest. This was one of the three annual Feasts God instructed the Israelites to observe. On the last day of the Festival of Booths, a water ceremony was held as the highlight of the festival. During the ceremony, the priest would walk from the temple, down a long set of zigzagging steps to the Pool of Siloam, which was fed by a natural spring. He would draw water in a ceremonial vessel and carry it back up the steps. His journey was nearly a mile long with the great crowds cheering Him the entire way and waiving branches that sounded like heavy rainfall. Once he arrived back at the temple, he was to pour out the living water as a symbol that God would provide all that is necessary for the harvest. As he began to pour the water, the crowd fell silent. It was at this moment that Jesus stood up and cried out:
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
How amazing is God! Not only is Jesus the Bread from Heaven that sustains us, but for those that believe, He gives us His Holy Spirit to live in us and flow from us to give to others that which brings life!
1. If “living” water is no longer living (from God) once it's contained, how have we attempted to contain Holy Spirit from flowing out of us? Are we a spring of living water?
2. Take a moment to write down several ways that you can allow the flow of Holy Spirit in you and through you.
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REMEMBER: Click the 'WR21 DETAILS' button for a list of the various ways we are fasting in preparation for Pentecost.
