WHAT'S YOUR NEXT STUNT?

After a free feed of fishburgers, the crowd in John 6 wander off to their camp sites.  

Next morning… “Hey, Jesus has gone!... Let’s catch a ride with these latecomers over to Capernaum.  Mustn’t miss the next free feed!”

 At Capernaum…“Rabbi, when did you get here?”      
Too late!...you missed it.

Missed what??                                                                                         

The fastest boat sprint ever, at night, with a Skipper who can not only walk on water but calm the weather too!                                                                            

Nice try... but not even close

Yup, the staggering 5^th miracle – a 3 in 1
How fast was the trip??... “IMMEDIATE”!!

“What’s your next sign so we can see and believe on you?... [Moses] gave them bread from heaven.”

Check out the situation here…                                        
This might still be Israel’s Promised Land but the Gentiles are in control. (Today, Jordon controls the Temple Mount) No matter how strong the evidence the Jews refuse to believe in Jesus Christ while the few that do are guided thru any storm by the Messiah - just like it is today!    

This is how He patiently answered them:

• “I AM the Bread of Life (3 times and the 1^st of 7 ‘I AM’s in John’s Gospel)… come to Me and you will never hunger or thirst… you shall live forever”  

• “everyone that believeth on the Son may have everlasting life…whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood… and so we don’t miss it, 4 times he says: I will raise him up at the last day”.

Just believe! Their muttered response??...                                                    

“Isn’t this Jesus son of Joseph?... How can he say He came down from heaven?”

If they only realized - this is the Son of Man offering eternal life…. but who must face death.


NEXT: http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/11/home-alone.html

NOT JUST ANOTHER KING

Another ‘feast of the Jews’ ahead – another Passover bringing thousands of pilgrims to Jerusalem – but can Jesus cope with big crowds?                     
Rejected and now persecuted, He moves on…but where to?                    

Remember He has just offered DOUBLE WITNESS to God being His Father…   
…John, the Father, the miracles and even the Scriptures from Moses.                     

Well, John has been taken off the scene (and beheaded!) so what now?           
Let’s watch another miracle (in Jn 6) in front of a huge crowd, that even reminds them of Moses!

Tiberias - still there today!

First, Jesus has to cross the Sea of Galilee (‘circle of nations’), which Moses called Sea of Chinnerith (‘harp shape’). The Greeks called it Lake of Gennesaret but don’t forget who’s the boss king around here now - in honour of the Roman Emperor, it’s the Sea of Tiberias - yes, in the 'Promised Land'.

What happens?...  On a mountain, Jesus feeds 5000 men, PLUS women and children, using only poor folks’ food – just 5 fishburgers – in a very public miracle like manna from heaven… with everybody who has come to watch the show enjoying a little bit??   NO!...’as much as they would’.                                                                            

Even 12 handbaskets are FILLED with leftovers - 12 being Israel’s number.



"What are they among so many?"

Wow! What a staggering display of God’s grace towards Israel in this 4^th miracle, the only one related by all 4 gospel accounts.             
You want witness??..you got it! 

They think to make Jesus their king but hang on…that would be high treason against Emperor Tiberius!       
Anyway, is Jesus just another king? What about a burger king?                           
No, it’s time for the Son of God to move off - alone.


"What's your next stunt?"
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/whats-your-next-stunt.html

YOU WANT WITNESS??

The Jews are enraged with Jesus, claiming He broke the Sabbath…                            
How? Just by saying: “Pick up your mat”??  C’mon!!                                                       
"Oh, He says God is His Father, making Himself equal with God”                               

John?

Equal with God??  Well you got that much right!                                        

Jesus then answered with this 7-fold claim… (John 5:19-)

• He works with the Father 
• The Father loves the Son 
• He gives life like the Father 
• The Father has given judgment to the Son – as Son of Man! 
• All should honour the Son and the Father 
• His words give eternal life to any who believe
• His voice will even raise the dead!                                               



walking after 38 years!

Wowee!!



“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true??”

Well how about double witness? – 2 x 2!....

• John was a burning and shining light
• the works which the Father hath given me to finish
• the Father Himself which hath sent me



"This is my beloved Son..."

• search the Scriptures…they testify of Me

Then they get it right between the eyes…

“You have not the love of God in you…                      
(yes, God is love!)

if another come in his own name, him ye will receive…  
(maybe the antichrist?)

ye receive honour one of another…                       


search the Scriptures

(you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours)

there is one that accuseth you, even Moses…ye believe not his writings”         
(ouch…that stung!)

There you have it folks – God with us as Son of God and Son of Man.

NEXT: No honour here, so let’s go!
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/not-just-another-king.html

CRIPPLED INSIDE

It’s time to go public… be provocative…                                                           
Will Jesus create another riot at the temple in Jerusalem?      

No, He heads to the Bethesda pool (‘House of Mercy’) to find five porches filled with ‘impotent folk’ – poor pathetic people always hoping this will be their lucky day for an angelic cure. Jesus knows this is an old problem - there’s even a man who’s been impotent for longer than He has been on Earth!                                                

Watch this 3^rd miracle, in John ch5 – public but not all that obvious….                

Jesus:  “Do you want to be healthy?”                                                                    

”Then get up, PICK UP YOUR MAT, and walk.”                                                     

Hang on, doesn’t Jesus know that the Bible says: “Bear no burden on the Sabbath day”?    

Well, what would you rather carry?... a mat or a load of sin?



We just saw the power of the Son of God's voice over the effects of sin. Now it’s time to head to the temple.

"It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful..."

 

What’s really happening here?                                                     

Our Creator’s work was ‘very good’ so He rested on the 7^th day and sanctified it, only to have it damaged by sin and death.                                                                  

Law-keeping Jews in the ‘Holy City’ are celebrating ‘a feast of the Jews’ which is meant to be a ‘Feast of Jehovah’ but for them God doesn’t really count anymore.       
As for the temple... is this where they worship God?... or where they persecute the Son of God for working to heal?

Let’s check what He has to say about that….NEXT
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/you-want-witness.html

 

MIRACLE MAN'S 'BRUSH-OFF'

Will Galilee receive Jesus as the Messiah like the Samaritans did?             
Is there anybody who will take Him at His Word...this Mr. Miracle Man?                                  

Watch! Here comes a nobleman…(John 4:43-)       
If you were among the elite living by the sea, would you leave your son at death’s door, in the care of servants, maybe gallop your horse 40kms, to beg for help from a young carpenter visiting some poor country village, addressing Him as ‘Sir’?                                                                        

After all that effort, would you then resent this as a ‘brush-off’?...    

“On your way, your son lives”.

This 2^nd miracle is not just for friends and family now – it’s for a stranger and his whole house – divine power over sickness!

What doctor today can match that, even with telemedicine via internet?                                     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52R5Y-SN-M


Oh by the way, let’s be reminded that the big picture is not about our daily needs of food and drink – it’s eternity, and there’s overwhelming harvest work to be done among souls.                                                 

Am I looking for credit for ‘bringing someone to the Lord’??        

Forget it. This is a team effort! (Jn 4:31-)


Time to go public and provocative!...NEXT:
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/crippled-inside.html

GIVE ME WATER!

Are we in for another momentous event in John ch4?                                                         
The Messiah has shown up, announced as the ‘Lamb of God’, but then used a whip to clear the temple court before laying His cards on the table for Nicodemus.                         
Will anyone receive Him as the Messiah now?                                                              

Jesus heads for Galilee… but goes directly thru Samaria!                                             '

Now He stops for a breather… just down the road from where John, the man sent from God, is baptising!                                                                
That’ll give those nosey Pharisees something to talk about.

What’s He think He’s doing?...a Jew asking a Samaritan for a drink!?...and she’s been married 5 times and now living with her boyfriend!  She must be the absolute bottom of society to any self-respecting Jew.




"I that speak unto thee am He"

Today this is the city of Nablus in West Bank...

• Abraham made his first stop here, nearly 2000 years earlier
• Israel recited blessings on nearby Mt Gerizim and curses on Mt. Ebal
• The Samaritans built a temple on Mt. Gerizim
• Jacob buried the family’s idols under an oak tree here

But there’s some sad history to this place…

• Jacob’s daughter Dinah was seduced here
• Her brothers murdered, kidnapped and robbed in reprisal
• 10 tribes of Israel rebelled here against their king

Ah but here’s the good part!...                                         

This is no ordinary well - a pege or gushing fountain, at least 75ft down, but no match for the living water this Man offers.

Joseph’s dead bones are buried here from Egypt and now there’s the ‘fruitful bough by a well’, just as old Jacob blessed before he died.                           

Jacob had built an altar here, calling it El-Elohe-Isra’el: God the God of Israel - and here He is in person!... revealing Himself as the Messiah.

Where’s Israel? Off the map for 700 years!       

In the very place of Man’s repeated idolatry and failure we see God’s faithfulness.                                                                                                         

The Samaritans receive Him as the Messiah and Saviour of the world – thanks to miracles?                                                      

No, they take Him at His Word.


NEXT: Will Galilee see Jesus as the Messiah?...or just Mr. Miracle Man?
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/miracle-mans-brush-off.html

FiNAL WARNING!

The Messiah has come, only to find the temple wasn’t even fit for Gentile worship, and only one leader recognised Him – secretly mind you - as ‘a teacher from God’.




John maybe?

Meanwhile, what about John the Baptist?                        
He seems to be losing out to Jesus and His disciples…
…and soon to be arrested! (John 3:22-36)                                     
Notice the Jews like rubbing it in: “…all men come to him!”        

John may not be the centre of attention anymore but he has a few parting words, after all…”He must increase, but I must decrease”…                                       

(Unlike Samson’s best man who made off with the bride, John is glad to fade off the scene.)

• He that cometh from heaven is above ALL

• He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of GOD

• The Father loves the SON… (1^st of 7 in John’s Gospel!)

• …and hath given ALL things into His hand

• He that BELIEVETH on the Son hath everlasting life

• He that believeth NOT the Son…the WRATH of God abideth on him

By the way, the Greek word for ‘abideth’ is meno: to stay/remain. Yup, it’s permanent!

Woah! The writer wants this final warning of John the Baptist to ring in our ears.  We’d better believe on this Man because He is the Son of God, loved by the Father, and everlasting life is only by believing on Him.                                                  

Reject Him and you will incur God’s wrath - permanently!

Hang on…where did you say John is baptising these days?                                 
Aenon near Salim….that’s in Samaria!                                                                         
No self-respecting Jew would use Samarian water for cleansing so it’s no wonder the Jews are upset!

If Israel will not receive their Messiah, maybe those ‘fake Jews’ in Samaria will?


NEXT:
http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/give-me-water.html

SECRET TOP LEVEL MEET

We’ve just been told about one of the most momentous events in history – Israel’s Messiah shows up, but is announced as the ‘Lamb of God’. He then attends the ‘Jews Passover’ and finds God’s temple degraded into a religious tourist attraction.          

A few believe in Him after seeing His miracles… but the leaders? Forget it.

But wait!.. shhhh!…. here comes someone under cover of darkness… Nicodemus.    

He has to be careful – after all his name means ‘victorious among the people’ – but maybe there’s still a glimmer of hope. (John 3:1-21)                                                    



Summit meeting!

What a momentous meeting...a teacher of Israel, one of the most responsible on Earth gets to meet…  the Son of God!



Where did that gust come from?

The poor guy just doesn’t get it: to him Jesus is just ‘a teacher from God’ and the Spirit of God is like the wind – you can feel it but where’s it come from and where’s it going?...no-one knows!                                      

After all, without repentance and new birth by the Spirit no-one gets a look-in.                                 

He’s made the effort though… so he gets the scoop!...



“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.”

How? As Son of Man He must soon be lifted up, just like the serpent on the pole all those years ago.  All you have to do to be rescued is look to Him!

Jesus has put His cards on the table for Israel and it’s all thanks to God’s love.                           

Amen and amen.

Why not believe on the Son of God and come into the light?

NEXT: Parting words from John...in Samaria!

http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/final-warning.html

WHAT A RIOT!

The Lord’s Passover in Jerusalem… a ‘holy convocation’??                                  
Nah, it’s become just the ‘Jews Passover’ (Jn 2). With the Messiah due to turn up about now, so has everybody else – what a golden opportunity to make lots of money!

Malachi prophesied: “The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant…”                                                                    
Well, here He is!... but will they ‘delight’ in Him?

Hello, what’s Jesus doing making a whip?  Look out!... ”Make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”  He’s driving everyone out of the temple court …cattle and sheep running amok… tables upended…money sent flying…people shouting…     

What a riot! Don’t upset the Roman army!

The psalmist once said: “The zeal of thine house hath eaten Me up” but He’s making out that God is His Father!  The Jews won’t like that and now He’s claiming: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”!                      

Doesn’t He know that Herod has been building them this magnificent place for 46 years?... and it’s still not finished. (not for another 35 years)

What the disciples won’t realize until later…Jesus’ body IS the temple of God and soon He WILL raise it up after 3 days – the greatest sign in all of history!

The Son of God has come to His temple - no longer filled with the ‘glory of Jehovah’ and the blood on the mercy seat - only to find it profaned with commerce just like any other tourist attraction.                                                     

No wonder He’s angry. Is there anyone He can trust?


NEXT: Nicodemus gets the scoop in secret top level meeting - at night!


http://guvsdesk.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/secret-top-level-meet.html