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After
these things Yeshua went away to the other side
of the Lake of Galilee (or Tiberias) Yeshua
had been on the western side, and now He and the
disciples traveled to the eastern side. A large
crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs
which He was performing on those who were sick.
I like
the fact that it was a large crowd that followed
Yeshua. That tells us that Yeshua was very popular
among the common people. This tells us that not
all Jews rejected Jesus. This large crowd followed
the young Carpenter-Turned-Rabbi because they
knew about the miracles that He had been doing,
especially His miracles of healing. This impressed
them, and they wanted to see more miracles, and
so they followed Yeshua. But, seeking miracles
is not enough to sustain the life of a believer.
What happens when the miracles cease? What was
necessary and what is necessary today is to seek
God, and seek the Person of Yeshua. We will see
that by the end of this encounter, the large crowd
will dwindle to a small crowd.
Other
background information is given to us by John:
Then Yeshua went up on the mountain, and there
He sat down with His disciples. So, this took
place on a mountain on the eastern side of the
Kinneret. Now the Passover, the feast of the
Jews, was near. It was Passover time, in the
Spring.
Therefore
Yeshua, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a
large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip,“Where
are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This
He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew
what He was intending to do.
If Yeshua
knew what He was going to do, then why did He
ask Philip about the bread situation? Why does
God ask us anything, since He already knows all?
Then the Lord God called to the man, and said
to him “where are you?... Have you eaten from
the tree which I commanded you not to eat?”
Did the All-Knowing One know where Adam was, if
whether he had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge?
Of course! So, when God asks us, He is trying
to get us to think, to consider something important
that we are overlooking. He is testing us, stretching
us.
The Son
of God was testing Philip. “Where are we to
buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was
saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He
was intending to do. Philip answered Him,
“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient
for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
The Son
of God was testing Philip. “Where are we to
buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was
saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He
was intending to do. Philip answered Him,
“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient
for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
Is God
asking you anything? Is He testing you? He may
be doing that so that we will think new thoughts,
expand our horizons, and that we will grow in
our understanding of the truth, or advance in
our abilities.
Another
disciple was there. Andrew, and he offered some
help: One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who
has five barley loaves and two fish, but what
are these for so many people?"
What can
one lad do who has five loaves of barley bread
(and it is my understanding that barley bread
was the bread of the poorer people) and a few
fish? On his own, a lad with little resources
can’t do much, but if those few resources are
given to God and Messiah, they can accomplish
much! That’s encouraging, because most of us have
very limited resources.
Yeshua
said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was
much grass in the place. So the men sat down,
in number about five thousand. Yeshua then took
the loaves, and having given thanks (notices
that Yeshua prayed, gave thanks to God for His
food before He ate), He distributed to those
who were seated; likewise also of the fish as
much as they wanted. When they were filled, He
said to His disciples, "Gather up the leftover
fragments so that nothing will be lost." So they
gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with
fragments from the five barley loaves which were
left over by those who had eaten. I love this
because not only were 5,000 men fed from a few
loaves of bread and a few fish, but more was left
over than what they had to begin with! Our God
is a God of power and abundance!
This is
the only miracle which is recorded in the first
four books of the New Testament. Yeshua’s disciples
never forgot this miracle. It made such an impression
on them that years later, John even remembered
the green grass which was growing all over the
hills during Passover time, around the month of
April, when this took place. He could still see
all these men, sitting on the hillside, sitting
down in groups, eating this miraculous bread and
fish.
So, what
was the test? What was it that the Son of God
wanted, not only Philip, but all of His disciples,
and all of Israel, to understand? That’s it’s
good to eat free bread and fish, and that miracles
are exciting? No - not really. That Yeshua is
the promised Messiah, the One sent by God to meet
all the needs of the Jewish people. God will use
Yeshua, the Good Shepherd, to provide for us,
miraculously if need be, apart from our circumstances.
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." The people who were
privileged to participate in this miracle learned
part of the lesson - that Yeshua was the great
prophet, the One who will speak the words of God,
and teach us, and help us. But they didn’t yet
understand the most important aspect of the Prophet’s
mission, that He had to suffer and die, to make
atonement, to reconcile the world to God. They
wanted someone who would heal and feed them, and
liberate them from the Romans.
But He
knew that He had been sent to accomplish an even
greater purpose, to meet our much greater need,
our desperate need for atonement, for forgiveness,
for an inner transformation, for spiritual rebirth,
by His suffering, and death and resurrection.
He knew that glory and dominion would only come
later, at His Second Coming.
It’s true
for us as well - power and glory and dominion
are not for Messiah’s Holy Community now, but
later. Our task now, our mission in the present,
is that of a prophetic witness to Yeshua, the
Suffering One, the Crucified One - accompanied
by suffering, and even death, for some of us.
The
Second Sign: Yeshua Walks on the Kinneret
So
Yeshua, perceiving that they were intending 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 lake,
and after getting into a boat, they started to
cross the lake to Capernaum. Because the Jewish
people didn’t understand the purpose of His mission,
His First Coming, to suffer, to die, to reconcile
us to God, Yeshua left, and sent His disciples
away by boat, back to K’far-Nachum, the northwestern
side of the lake.
It
had already become dark, and Yeshua had not yet
come to them. The lake began to be stirred up
because a strong wind was blowing. The Lake
of the Kinneret is unpredictable. It sits down
in a hollow, and the winds coming down from the
surrounding hills can quickly turn the calm waters
into dangerous ones. Yeshua was aware of
their sudden difficulties, just as He is aware
of ours.
Then,
when they had rowed about three or four miles,
they saw Yeshua walking on the lake and drawing
near to the boat; and they were frightened. But
He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
So they were willing to receive Him into the boat,
and immediately the boat was at the land to which
they were going.
Yeshua
can get to us and help us to our destinations,
because there is no obstacle too difficult, no
distance too far can separate us from His help.
The
next day the crowd that stood on the other side
of the lake saw that there was no other small
boat there, except one, and that Yeshua had not
entered with His disciples into the boat, but
that His disciples had gone away alone. There
came other small boats from Tiberias near to the
place where they ate the bread after the Lord
had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Yeshua
was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves
got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum
seeking Yeshua. When they found Him on the other
side of the lake, they said to Him, " Rabbi, when
did You get here?"
Yeshua
didn’t get into a boat like His disciples did,
or the crowds did, and sail across the Lake. It
would have been quite a long walk around the lake
to reach Capernaum. So, how did He beat them there?
Something unusual seemed to have happened. It
was an interesting question.
In fact,
their suspicions were right. Yeshua had participated
in a great miracle, but He didn’t answer their
question. He refused to tell them how He had gotten
there before them. Now, if it was me, I would
have bragged about it to everyone for months afterwards.
I probably would have written about it in the
Shema newsletter. But that’s me.
Notice
that Rabbi Yeshua doesn’t answer their interesting
question. We may have interesting questions that
we want answered, but God will not always answer
those questions. Oh, He will, in due time, but
only after He gets us to ask the most important
questions, like, what must I do to be saved? Lord,
how am I really doing? Is my relationship with
You a true one? Am I in a right relationship with
You, or am I deceiving myself?
Yeshua
answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but
because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Please listen to Me, because what I am about to
say to you is based on reality, and I am speaking
with the utmost truthfulness - you are seeking
Me for the wrong reasons. It is essential that
you seek God for the right reasons. True religion
must be inspired by true motivation. And you are
motivated because you got free food from Me. Seeking
Me because you want material gains is not the
right reason to seek Me. That’s not why I am here.
That’s not why I have come.
Do
not work for the food which perishes, but for
the food which endures to eternal life, which
the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the
Father, God, has set His seal." Work for,
strive for, put your efforts into obtaining eternal
life. That’s why I’ve come - so that you may be
restored to life - eternal life, which you, My
Chosen People, you and the whole world, have forfeited.
You are right to seek Me, because I Myself, Yeshua
of Nazareth, the Son of Man, the son of Joseph
and Mary, the perfect Human Being, and the One
speaking to you, I can give you eternal life.
I have God’s blessing to do this. God, who is
My Father, has placed His seal of approval and
blessing on Me, and recognizes the legitimacy
of endorses My ability to give eternal life!
Therefore
they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we
may work the works of God?" Now that is the
right question to ask! Finally, you are asking
the essential question, that every human being
needs to ask! What do I need to do, so that I
may do what God wants me to do? What is it that
God requires of me?
Yeshua
answered and said to them, "This is the work of
God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
There is something that every human being needs
to do. You are not OK without doing something.
But, there is only one thing that God wants you
to do. All you have to do is change your thinking!
Have a change of heart! Accept the truth that
I am the Son of God, the Messiah, the One destined
to rule over humanity. Just believe that God sent
Me to be the Savior of the world. That is what
God wants you to do, My people. That’s the work
that you must accomplish - the work of faith,
of belief in Me.
My brothers
and sisters, it’s so simple - simple faith, trust,
belief, confidence in Yeshua - that’s all we
need to do to gain eternal life. This is salvation
by faith alone. Faith in Yeshua plus nothing else
- no sacraments, no good deeds, no mitzvot. This
must be understood and accepted by every true
believer.
So
they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign,
so that we may see, and believe You? What work
do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread
out of Heaven to eat.'"
If you
are seeking miracles, how many miracles are enough
to satisfy? One? Five? A Dozen? A hundred? Wasn’t
this incredible miracle, that many of them participated
in the day before, enough? No - it wasn’t. They
want more bread, miraculous bread, free bread,
and they are trying to manipulate Yeshua into
providing it. They’re even quoting Scripture to
get their miracle.
But Yeshua
knew what was best for them, and knows what’s
best for us, and instead of being manipulated
into doing another miracle, Yeshua 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."
No, no,
My people, you won’t manipulate Me into giving
you more bread by that example you quoted from
the Torah. I know better than that! I know that
while Moses was leading the people, miraculous
bread appeared every day for forty years! But
I’m not giving you more bread - yesterday’s miracle
was for yesterday. You see, your real need is
not physical bread, but another kind of bread
- spiritual bread, the true bread, the real bread
that is being sent to you by God, the bread that
comes from Heaven, that if eaten, will give life,
eternal life, true life, real life, God’s life,
to anyone in the world. That’s the bread you so
desperately need, that’s the food that will nourish
you and sustain you.
They didn’t
really understand what Yeshua was getting at,
but they did like the sound of more bread. Then
they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
Yeshua
said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who
comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes
in Me will never thirst. I, Yeshua, the carpenter-from-Nazareth-turned-Rabbi,
I am the One that God sent from Heaven to give
you life - God’s life, real life, eternal life.
Anyone who comes to Me, and you come to Me simply
by understanding who I am, and believing in Me,
and trusting Me, and following Me, the one who
comes to Me will have all his spiritual needs
met. He won’t be spiritually hungry or thirsty,
because He will know God, and know that he is
atoned for and forgiven, and be satisfied by the
knowledge that he is loved by God, and reconciled
to His Creator, and will live forever with Him.
All you have to do, My people, all people anywhere,
is come to Me, and be forever satisfied, content,
at peace with yourself and with God.
But
I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do
not believe. Unfortunately, you are seeing
Me in front of you, the One sent by God, and I’m
telling the truth to you, but you won’t believe,
and thereby gain life. How terribly sad that people
can be so close to the Truth, and yet not believe
it. Why is that? Sin - our fallen human nature,
that so easily and so naturally rejects truth
about God. But some will listen. Some will believe.
Some will come to Yeshua. In fact, All that
the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
God the
Father, whose will reigns supreme in the universe,
whose will cannot be thwarted, gives certain human
beings to His Son. Those human beings that God
the Father, gives to His Son, will come to Yeshua
- they will be drawn to Him, they will find out
about Him, they will seek Him, they will be intrigued
by Him, they will want to learn more about Him.
As they do, they will start to understand that
He is the Messiah, sent by God, and the only Savior
of the world. The more they discover about Him
the more they trust Him, and believe Him, and
place their faith and trust and confidence in
Him.
And, the
Son of God is willing to receive each and every
individual that His Father gives to Him. There
is no one too unimportant, too sinful, too unattractive,
that the Son of God will reject. We have His solemn
Word, His inviolable promise, which can’t be broken.
How can
this one Man, the one individual, save us? Why
is He so special? Yeshua tells us: 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 Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given
Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the Last
Day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone
who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have
eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on
the Last Day.
Yeshua’s
origin is from Heaven itself. He purposely came
from Heaven to Earth, to accomplish the will of
God. Yeshua never selfishly insisted on His own
personal desires. He never deviated from doing
God’s will. He always, perfectly and fully accomplished
the task that God gave Him to do. And what is
the task that God sent Him to accomplish? To save
to the uttermost each and every individual that
God gives to Him. Every human being who simply
comes to understand who Yeshua of Nazareth is,
and knows that He is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and the Savior of the world, will not be lost.
That person will be saved, redeemed from death,
and given eternal life. It doesn’t matter if they
die. That’s no barrier for the Son of God. The
Messiah will Himself, personally bring each and
every one back to life at the Time Of The End,
and give each and every one eternal life.
Well,
there were some Jewish leaders who were part of
this huge crowd, and at some point, Yeshua went
into the synagogue in Capernaum, and continued
this conversation with the Jewish leaders. And
there, in the synagogue, as they listened to Yeshua’s
amazing claims, they were not happy. Therefore
the Jews (which I understand to mean the Jewish
leaders) were grumbling about Him, because
He said, "I am the bread that came down out of
Heaven." They were saying, "Is not this
Yeshua, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down
out of Heaven'?" For the answer to that, come
back next week!
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