Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from John

John 6:15-40 "The Bread of Life"

Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaeum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. (John 6:15-21)

One of the basic principles that we should learn about God is that He often does what we do not expect. This should not surprise us. If God is indeed vastly more intelligent and creative than we are, then we should be surprised by much of what He does. One reason why I like to play with babies so much is that they are surprised and delighted by much of what I do. I can make a face at my daughter Gracie and she will giggle and laugh, but if I make the same silly face at my son Keita who is eight, he looks at me with an expression that says, "Oh, Dad!" I have to work much harder to get a laugh out of him. We are like babies when it comes to the things of God. Everything He does is new to us. However, God has tried to bridge the distance between us by giving us His word. The Bible tells us much about the character and love of God. There are certain things about Him that we can learn and we can even begin to expect things from Him. This is not to say that we can define Him, or contain Him, or explain Him completely. God will always surprise us, but at the same time He is faithful to do what He says.
The people who had been fed miraculously with the five loaves and two fish thought that Jesus was exactly the kind of person to lead their rebellion against the Roman army. They thought that with His talents they would soon have the economic might to win their freedom back from Rome. It mattered little whether Jesus wanted to be a king or not, they would take Him by force if need be and use Him to rally the people. But Jesus turned out to be more tricky than they thought. While His disciples stayed behind, He went up on the mountain by Himself. Later the disciples sailed off without Him across the sea of Galilee. Jesus was not about to be forced by men to do anything. He would not be used by anybody. He came to earth to do God’s will.
Sailing across the sea without Jesus, the disciples met with a stiff wind and a rough sea. John tells us that they had rowed about three or four miles, when they too were surprised by Jesus. Out of the darkness they saw a figure approaching, walking toward them on the top of the waves. One thing that all seas have in common are tales of ghosts. It is natural owing to the fact that sailing is a dangerous occupation and many fishermen have lost their lives in the deep. When the disciples saw this man walking on the sea they were afraid. Surely they thought that this was a ghost. The wind, the waves, the disciples had trouble enough without this too. But Jesus said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
I find that I am usually surprised by God in the midst of trouble. In the normal times and the good times God is content to do His usual thing. He is faithful and true and I praise Him for that. But it is when I am in trouble that God decides to show me just how new His mercies can be. But just like the disciples in that boat I often do not recognize Him at first. In fact I often mistake His mercies for more trouble.
After He said, "It is I; do not be afraid," then they willingly received Him into the boat. While there was still doubt to what He was, they were probably trying to row away as fast as they could. I can picture some of the disciples gripping their oars like baseball bats, ready to fight the monster off. Because they were surprised, they were not ready to receive Him. But once they heard His voice they willingly received Him into the boat. And then immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. This is important. This is how we grow. God wants to teach us new things about Himself. He wants to take us beyond what we think we understand to greater depths. To do this He needs to surprise us, but it needs to go past shock or fright. The real growth happens when we realize that it was Jesus all along. Once that connection is made then the storms that once raged around us have served their purpose and they disappear just as fast as they arose.
We are much like clay that must be shaped while it is soft and wet before it hardens and cannot be changed. But we harden too fast. We lock on to this or that and get stuck. Much of what Jesus did in His teaching was to break hardened clay and make it soft again.
On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples , but His disciples had gone away alone—however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:22-27)

When the people figured out where Jesus had gone they followed Him in boats of their own. But they followed Him for the wrong reasons. Jesus told them straightly, "You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." There were two ways of looking at the miracle that Jesus did. One way was to admit that only the Son of God could do something like that and believe in Him. But the other way was simply to rejoice that you had found such an easy way to get food. We need to be careful at church about our motives for seeking Jesus. Are we satisfied when the church provides a loving, caring community that instructs our children and gives us a sense of belonging? Are we mostly interested in finding relief from the stress of the week in a peaceful and soothing worship experience? Or do we realize that without Jesus none of these things would be possible. Do we see the love in our midst as a sign of God’s presence, or as a benefit to be enjoyed? Do we see the joy and peace in our church as a sign that God is truly working in our hearts, or as commodity to be consumed? Are we seeking God, or what He can give us?
Jesus said, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? "Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day., And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:28-40)

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