PASSOVER LESSONS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN #2
by
Keith Hunt
Jesus went over to the sea to Capernaum. The next day many
of those who had been fed by that miracle the day before, came
searching for Him. Jesus knew their heart; they had not really
come wanting to hear the words of life, but hoping to fill their
bellies once more with physical food. Jesus said it was needful
to labor, put some effort into seeking the food that would endure
to everlasting life. He pointed out to them the Father had sent
Himself to give the true bread from heaven. He told them that
they had seen and heard but really did not believe on Him
(chapter 6:16-36).
The lesson of all this is brought out in the following
verses starting with: "All that the Father gives me shall come to
me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out" (verse
37). It is the Father's will that all that He gives to Jesus, He
will loose none, but raise them up in the last day (the first
resurrection as Revelation 20 tells us). It is the Father's will
that those who believe of Christ (and we have already seen what
"believe" means - the rest of the Gospels also make it very
clear) shall have eternal life and be in that first resurrection
(verses 38-40).
The Jews could not understand at all, what Jesus was meaning
by saying He was the bread from heaven. They looked at Him as a
man born of a woman, whose mother and father they had known; to
them it was impossible that He could have come from heaven. They
were in complete spiritual blindness (verses 41-42).
Jesus knew the truth, He knew they could not understand, for
as He went on to tell them: "No man can come to me, except the
Father which has sent me, DRAW him, and then I will raise him up
at the last day. For it is written in the prophets, And they
shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard,
and has learned of the Father, comes to me .... truly then, I say
unto you, he that believes on Me has everlasting life; for I am
the bread of life" (verses 44-48).
This is a basic truth of the plan of salvation that the
Father has determined. These verses and also verses 63-65, are
simple to understand; they tell you that ALL people are
spiritually BLINDED, and CANNOT come to the Father and Christ,
UNTIL that spiritual blindness is removed. So people can hear and
hear and hear the words of God, the words of the Bible being
read, spoken, preached, even from the house tops, and STILL not
understand, still be in complete blindness. They just do not have
their mind opened to understanding and digesting the truth of
God. It takes a MIRACLE from God to open a person's mind to
spiritual light. God is just NOT trying to save the whole world
at this time, nor in the time when Jesus walked and taught on
this earth. Think about it, when Jesus was teaching that He was
the only true light, that He alone was the way to eternal life,
that He was the only Shepherd that could lead into the sheep
fold, the people in North America and South America, over in
China and India, in Korea, or down in Australia, had no idea he
was even on earth. They could NOT have eternal life in them at
that time. Even most of the ones hearing Jesus speak, were NOT
called, they could not understand spiritual truth, just as Jesus
is here telling them. But Christ has quoted from the prophets
that ALL will be taught of God. But it is in God's time PLAN of
salvation that ALL will be taught and have their opportunity for
salvation. This is all full expounded on this Website with
studies like "The Great White Throne Judgement."
So if YOU have been called to understand the spiritual
truths of God, and when you try to explain it to friends or
relatives, and you just get a blank look on their face, or you
realize you may just as well talk to the wall or the trees, then
it is more certain than not that they just have not been called
to have the spiritual blindness removed. Now you continue to be a
light, notice I said light, not a car horn that is stuck in the
mode of sounding off none stop; it is possible that sometime down
the road God will call your friend, neighbor, or family member,
BUT the bottom line is, it is God that must remove the blindness.
This is one of the reasons I ain't a missionary in the flesh
in some hostile place on earth, where you can be killed, and
maybe even eaten, by the natives. The false teaching and idea
that God is trying to save the entire population of the earth at
this time, is so false, and if you do not get to those people,
they are going to fry in hell for eternity, is so crazy and so
silly a teaching, for if it was true, then the facts of history
are that God is pretty weak and ineffective, does not have as
much power as Satan the Devil, who is out to keep people under
deception and sin. But this idea that salvation is only for the
NOW, and God and Satan are in some tug of war battle .... well
such theology is incredibly stupid, but it is still being taught
by many ... and as we have just seen the MANY are in spiritual
blindness, that's the reason they teach such illogical ideas in
the first place. Well if all I've said kinda shocks you, then you
need to slowly read through Romans chapters 9 through 11.
Jesus goes on to tell them that He was the LIVING bread, not
the bread their fathers ate during the wilderness time before
entering the Promised Land. He then goes into some strange talk
(well we see many thought it very strange) about eating His body
and drinking His blood. Even MANY of Jesus' disciples could not
understand this talk of His. He tells them the easy to understand
truth of it all in verse 63, "It is the spirit that gives life;
the flesh profits nothing: the WORDS that I speak unto you, they
are spirit, and THEY are LIFE!"
Jesus was not teaching cannibalism! He was not saying they
were to literally eat His flesh and literally drink His blood!
There would not be enough of His physical body to go around, if
He was talking about anything physical. Well, as I said many
times, the Bible interprets the Bible. Jesus interprets for us
what He is really meaning. To eat the flesh of Christ, to drink
His blood, is to imbibe into your mind and heart ALL that Christ
was - the WORD of God in the flesh. It did not matter what He
looked like, how tall He was, how many pounds He weighed. Jesus
was God's WORD personified! And you drinking in that word and
acting upon it, changing your life to conform to the Father's
word, that was then eating and drinking Christ. That's where the
rubber meets the road friends. That's where James was inspired to
write that we should be DOERS of the WORD, and not hearers only!
But, even AFTER Jesus explained the truth in simple
language, as to what He was meaning, STILL, notice it, STILL some
of His VERY DISCIPLES went back, and walked NO MORE with Him
(verse 66)! Ah, again Jesus reiterated, "Therefore said I unto
you, that no man can come unto me, EXCEPT it were GIVEN unto him
of my Father" (verse 65).
You need to read (if you have never done so) my study called
"The Great White Throne Judgement" on this Website.
And it came to be the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Chapter 7. What did Jesus think generally of the world of His
time? The answer is found in verse 7, "The world cannot hate you;
but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the WORKS thereof
are EVIL!"
What do you think Jesus would say about the world today? Do
you think He'd say it was pretty good, enlightened, more
civilized, than two thousand year ago? I know He would not, for
He told us that before He came again, the LOVE of MANY would wax
COLD, and EVIL would ABOUND! That's found in Matthew 24.
Actually this is one of the main reasons that a Christian
cannot have anything to do with the politics of this world, nor
any political party. Jesus later in this Gospel said though His
servants would be in the world, He prayed the Father they would
be kept FROM the world. You can read all that in chapter 17, if
you want to skip ahead to that chapter. THIS WORLD IS EVIL! And
you as a Christian are not to be part of the EVIL that is in
EVERY country and EVERY political party, and EVERY Government of
men on this earth. Many of the laws of nations are SIN and EVIL.
Yes, even some of the founding laws in the "constitution" of
nations (and yes the USA included) WERE laws of EVIL! Do you
really think God inspired the constitutional law of the USA that
everyone should be allowed to take up fire-arms against an
oppressive Government? Do you really think God wants His people
taking part in KILLING others for what YOU consider is their
evil? Do you think God wants His children hating and killing
others by a so-called freedom to have guns, bows and arrows,
knives, or Tomahawks, and to use them on other humans you
disagree with over some matter? If you do then you need to read
the words of Christ in the Gospels again! If you think such men
as the founding fathers of the USA were "godly" men, then you
need to read the Bible more and study closer the history of those
times. They were men not called by God, men blinded to the truths
of the Bible, men in the deceptions of false religion, even if
called "Christian" - just as the leaders of today's nations are
deceived by their own heart or a religion that calls itself
"Christian."
A Christian is to come OUT of the world. To come out of its
politics, its ways of thinking, its carnal interests, its blood
filled wars, its mixed up ideas, its calling evil good and good
evil.
Jesus said of His day that He testified of it as the WORKS
of it being EVIL! He would, with Matthew 24:12 in mind, hardly
say any LESS of today's world!
This is a time of the year to meditate on SIN and
RIGHTEOUSNESS. To see the truth of it from the Bible. To see
where sin lies in the world, and where it still may lie in US,
AS INDIVIDUALS.
Then knowing we can do little to change the sin in the world,
only vote on an issue if your country allows you to vote on an
issue (here in Canada we're not allowed to vote on any issue that
would effect laws coming on the books of State or Federal
Governments - some of the States do, like voting on "gay
marriages" - I'd be the first in line if I could vote on such
issues here in Canada), we then live in the world, but not a part
of the world. And so we must look to ourselves to see what
changes we need to make in our lives, to move further way from
evil and closer to the righteousness of God.
............................
To be continued
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