Gold for the heart

John 6

Jesus fed a huge crowd with five loaves and two fish

1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great crowd followed him because they saw his signs that he did on the sick. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain and he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great crowd coming to him, he said to Philip, Where can we buy food for these to eat? 6 He said this to test him: for he knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred denarii of bread is not enough for them, so that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 A boy is here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sitting down; and did the same with the fish as much as they desired. 12 When they were filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost. 13 So they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, that remained over and above to them that had eaten.

God feeds everything. He always has and always will.

Psalm 145:16 You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This truly is the prophet that was come into the world. 15 When Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king he went into a mountain alone.

Force is man’s way.
If they had made Jesus king at that time, He would have been king over a small country of sinners for a brief time instead of king of the universe forever over ‘in which dwells righteousness.’

Jesus is not bound by the laws of nature; He made them

The Father sealed Him as the One to give us everlasting life

16 And when evening came his disciples went down to the sea, 17 and entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum. It was dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 And the sea rose up because of a great wind that blew. 19 When they had rowed about three miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat: and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, It’s me; don’t be afraid. 21 Then they willingly received him into the boat: and immediately the boat was at the land where they went. 22 The following day, when the people that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except the one that his disciples entered, and that Jesus had not gone with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples departed alone;

23 (However other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate bread, after the Lord had given thanks:) 24 When the people saw that Jesus was not there, or his disciples, they also entered into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? 26 Jesus answered them and said, Truth, I tell to you truth, You do not seek me because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you: for him has God the Father sealed.

Since the fall, man has been trying diligently to find a way to feed himself without work.
God gave man work to humble his pride.
The Father sealed Jesus and has sealed us too.

Ephesians 1:13 after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise

God’s first work for man to do is to believe in Jesus, the bread of life

28 Then they said to him, What can we do to work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent.

Their question shows us that they understood what He was saying to them.

John 3:36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that does not believe the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

30 Therefore they said to him, What sign do you show then, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said to them, Truth, I tell you the truth, Moses did not give you that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he that comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world. 34 Then they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me will never hunger; and he that believes on me will never thirst. 36 But I said to you, That you also have seen me, and do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no way cast/drive out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will who has sent me, that of all that he has given me I lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Since the fall man had been under the curse of death.
God drove man out of Eden and place Cherubim to guard it so man would not eat from the tree of life and live forever in his fallen state.
Now, here was Jesus, the solution God had promised, bread of life, offering eternal life with this promise that reverses what happened in Eden.
These people were only thinking about their stomachs.

41 Then the Jews murmured at him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I came down from heaven? 43 Therefore Jesus answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, unless the Father who has sent me draws him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they will all be taught by God. Every man that has heard learned from the Father, comes to me.

The Father teaches man and draws people to Jesus.
The Father sent the eternal Jesus from heaven.
God, through His Holy Spirit was the earthly Father of the physical body of Jesus.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which will be born of you will be called the Son of God.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet he will live

46 Not that any man has seen the Father, except he who is from God, he has seen the Father. 47 Truth, I tell you the truth, He that believes on me has everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he will live forever: and the bread that I give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?53 Then Jesus said to them, Truth, I tell you the truth, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh truly is food, and my blood truly is drink. 56 He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him.

This is better than the fountain of youth that Juan Ponce de Leon came searching for when he landed in Florida.
This fountain will never run out of water.
The infinite cannot be limited to one place and one time without a human body. That’s why God had to become man—His flesh.
We are what we think, not what we eat.
When we think about who Jesus is, the Son of the Almighty, the Creator of the universe we are spiritually eating, taking in the bread.
When we think about His love so great as to die in our place for our sins, then we are spiritually drinking, taking in His love.

Luke 12:23 The life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he

John 15:13 Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Our heavenly Father is the living One; all things live by Him

His Spirits words are spirit and life

57 As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, he will live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread will live forever. 59 He said these things in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Therefore many of his disciples, when they had heard this said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said to them, Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.

All things are of the Father, through the Son, and by means of the Holy Spirit.

The spirit quickens or makes alive. He does it through the words of God.

64 But there are some of you that do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who would betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I to you, that no man can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and no longer walked with him. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, Will you also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that You are that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for this one, being one of the twelve, was about to betray him.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

John 7

Jesus showed the world that it was following evil instead of God

1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was near. 3 Therefore his brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works that you do. 4 For no man does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. 5 For even his brothers did not believe in him. 6 Then Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come: but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you; but it hates me, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast: I’m not going up to this feast yet; for my time has not yet been fulfilled. 9 When he had said these words to them, he stayed in Galilee.

Jesus lived his life to do the will of His eternal Father, not to get the attention of the peoples of this world.
His physical brothers were still of the world.
The time was ready for them to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and be saved.

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yes, your law is in my heart.

10 But when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast: not openly, but in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, Where is he? 12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: some said, He is a good man: others said, No; he deceives the people. 13 But no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.

God’s worship center, Jerusalem, was in the grip of fear.
The leaders were driven by greed and consuming the labors of the people to make themselves rich.
Satan had totally distorted God system, that is powered by God's majestic love.

Hebrews 2:14 as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

He spoke only truth

14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the temple, and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled saying, How does this man know letters, having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If anyone desires to do his will, he will know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory: but he seeking the glory of the one that sent him is true and no unrighteousness is in him.

When we talk about ourselves we are seeking our own glory. But all the glory belongs to God.
He alone is wholly righteous with no unrighteousness in him.
God reveals Himself to any person that wants to do His will.

Matthew 7:20 by their fruits you will know them.

Jesus corrected misinformation

19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me? 20 The people answered and said, You have a devil: who is seeking to kill you? 21 Jesus answered and said to them, I have done one work, and you all marvel. 22 Moses gave you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and you on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 23 If a man can receive circumcision on the sabbath day without the law of Moses being broken; are you angry at me because I have made a man completely whole on the sabbath day? 24 Do not judge according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 25 Then some of them from Jerusalem said, Isn’t this the one they seek to kill? 26 But look, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? 27 However we know this man, where he is from: but when Christ comes, no man knows where he is from. 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple as he taught saying, You both know me, and you know where I am from: and I have not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom you do not know.

The Old Testament had plainly said that the Savior, God in human flesh would be born in Bethlehem, spend time in Egypt, and live in Nazareth.
They were bypassing Jesus first coming and looking for the second coming when God comes in a blaze of glory to rule earth.
He told them that they did not know God.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

He knows the Father who sent Him

29 But I know him: for I am from him, and he has sent me. 30 Then they sought arrest him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed on him and said, When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than these which this man has done? 32 The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to seize him. 33 Then said Jesus to them, Still a little while am I with you, and then I go to him that sent me. 34 You will seek me, and will not find me: and where I am, you cannot come. 35 Then the Jews said among themselves, Where will he go, that we cannot find him? Will he go to the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? 36 What is this word that he said, You will seek me, and will not find me: and where I am, you cannot come there?

Jesus was going to the Father after the cross.
The Pharisees could not go there unclean in sin because they refused God’s gift of cleansing by faith in His Christ.
Jesus did many more miracles than were written (John 21:25).

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirsts, let him come to me, and drink. 38 He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. 39 (But he spoke this of the Spirit, which they that believe on him would receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

John 4:14 whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I give him will be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

He truly is the One God promised to send

40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, This is truly the Prophet. 41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Will Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the scripture said, That Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? 43 So there was a division among the people because of him. 44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. 45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, Why have you not brought him? 46 The officers answered, No man ever spoke like this man.

John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

47 Then the Pharisees answered them, Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? 49 But this people who do not know the law are cursed. 50 Nicodemus said to them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) 51 Does our law judge any man, before it hears him, and knows what he does? 52 They answered and said to him, Are you also of Galilee? Search and look: for no prophet rises out of Galilee. 53 And every man went to his own house.

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SUMMARY: John 6-7

Jesus fed a huge crowd with five loaves and two fish
Jesus is not bound by the laws of nature; He made them
The Father sealed Him as the One to give us everlasting life
God’s first work for man is to believe in Jesus, the bread of life
Our heavenly Father is the living One; all things live by Him
His Spirits words are spirit and life
Jesus showed the world that it was following evil instead of God
He spoke only truth
Jesus corrected misinformation
He knows the Father who sent Him
He truly is the One God promised to send