American Loon

We last left Jesus as He entered a boat from the water side, where He had trod across the Sea of Galilee as if walking on land. (John 6:19) The disciples, who had been rowing but not really getting anywhere, had calmed down enough to be happy to see Him and let Him join them in the boat. (v.21) Next thing you know, they had arrived at their destination which was Capernaum, top left of the map. They had spent the day in the Tiberius area, which you will find on the map in the middle left of the map. I looked up how big the Sea of Galilee is and from North to South it’s 13 miles long. You can figure that the boys were planning to row about 5 or 6 miles in what the scripture tells us “The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.” (v.18) It also tells us they had rowed about 3 or 4 miles (v.19) and I know from other reading and hearing from those that have been to the Holy Land, this body of water can get treacherous at times. 

The disciples had left a large crowd of people who had been fed with a few loaves and fishes. (John 6:2-14) and this being the next day, they found themselves without food or entertainment. The scripture reads thusly: “On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.” (John 6:22-24) These other boats may have been fishermen or maybe news had spread that something big had happened and they had come to see what the deal was. We are only told that these people felt compelled to chase after Jesus. When they had found Him, they questioned Him as to how He had gotten there. (John 6: 25) Jesus had withdrawn to the mountain because He had perceived them about to make a foolish decision. (v.15) Now, He advises them as to their unrepentant hearts: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:26-27) Jesus spoke to them this way because He saw what was in their hearts. Christ is God and is sovereign over all. 

These people had a choice to make, continue in their unrepentant ways or believe what He is telling them. For most if not all of them, they were following Him to be fed with perishable food and to be entertained. Even though He spoke to them with authority (Mark 1:22) to their eyes He was just a man, not the Son of Man. (Luke 19:10) “Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28) His answer was thus: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28) Simple, isn’t it? Just believe, a child could do it. And yet they speak the words of their father satan and ask “What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” (John 6:30) They had just been fed, maybe up to 20,000 of them, with a few loaves and fishes (v. 11) and had knowledge of healing and demons cast out and now they are asking for a sign. As it is written, they claimed “He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (John 6:31) Jesus corrects them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave 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.” (John 6:32-33) 

They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” (John 6:34) It is basically the same thing the woman at the well had said in John 4:15. We always want convenience, don’t we? Provide for us so we may not have to toil for anything, really. There was no repentance in their hearts, just a want. 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever 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 whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40)  

This is a good place to end this study. I want you to read those last verses a couple of times. Christ is the bread of life. Anyone who believes in Him will be raised up on the last day. Simple to understand but why is it so hard for people to accept? He is the bread of life, (John 6:51) whoever comes to Him will not hunger. Trust in God to provide, (Proverbs 3:5 ) not man or the government. When you believe in Christ, it’s not a head thing, it involves the heart. You are transformed, (2 Peter 1:2-4) you are convicted and repentant. You don’t get that by just sitting in the pew most Sundays and going home and living as you see fit. You don’t get that by doing things because you think that’s what good people do. That’s what the Pharisees thought too and they hated Jesus for He showed them the unrighteousness of their hearts. You don’t want to get caught in a works based theology: https://www.gotquestions.org/salvation-by-works.html, where you do things to earn God’s love. He loved you before you (1 John 4:19) became what you are now. Nothing you do will work or take the place of just believing and trusting in God for all things. Live not in fear, for what is there to fear with a Father is sovereign over all? Death has been conquered by Christ (Hebrews 2:14) and Christ is your only hope. Bring all your fears and worries to the cross and leave them there.

 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:17-18). Those deeds come from He who indwells us and are called fruits of the Spirit. Look into your life and find those Spirit based fruits and while you’re there, search for the joy that comes with salvation. It’s there, I guarantee it. 

2 Peter 3 18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Last week in John 6, we learned that Jesus withdrew into the mountain when He perceived that the people who had witnessed His signs and wonders were wanting to make Him King. (John 6:15) This was due to the shallow faith that most people have when they see a thing that amazes them and they want to see more of it, just for the entertainment value more than anything else. Think of things that you yourself have seen that have attracted you. What comes to mind is musicians or movie stars, maybe even sport personalities. People of all ages are drawn to what excites their interest. Tens of thousands have gone to listen to music or fill a stadium to watch a sporting event. It was the same with these people, they had never seen such a thing as Jesus had done. His reputation as a rabbi and healer was renowned throughout the land and I’ll bet we would have been following Him too, had we lived back in those days.

However, Christ was not doing what He did to entertain them. These Jews were not prone to thinking with their hearts and were known as being stiff necked all throughout their history. Our sermon at First Baptist Church of Grove City MN focused on Numbers 13:21-33. It is where Moses sent out 12 spies into the promised land, to see what it was like. They came back after 40 days and gave their report. They all said that the land was truly one of milk and honey, but this is where their stories diverge. Ten of them then went on to say that the people were large and frightening and lived in fortified cities. They said that we should not enter into the promised land as the people living there would devour them. (Numbers 13:32)

Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, told a different story. They said we should go into the land and take possession of it, for God had said He would fight their battles for them. (Deuteronomy 1:30) They truly had faith and believed what God had told them. All 12 of them had seen the same thing, yet the majority of them did not trust God enough to believe what He had said. Keep in mind these people had seen the power of their Creator as they walked across the Red Sea and never got their feet wet. (Exodus 14:15-16) So, a parallel to the people who witnessed Jesus feeding a great many and doing other signs and wonders that all the books in the world could not contain them. (John 21:25)

Jesus was doing these things, not out of obligation for His people, but out of Love. But this Love was not taken in by the people as Love but as attraction to a spectacle that excited them. Who would not want their day brightened by a healing or some miracle that wowed everyone? You’d have something interesting to tell those who were not there. It might even produce pride and condescension in you the storyteller to those poor rubes who had not seen this thing. Curiously, it never produced love for those of their neighbors who had been fed or healed or maybe a demon cast out of. We are told to be more like Christ, (1 Corinthians 11:1) and that does not mean to follow Him around in great crowds to ooh and aww at what He does. So, Jesus withdrew to the mountain, so that the people would not do another foolish thing and try to make Him King. It was getting dark and His disciples went down to the sea and got in a boat and started rowing toward Capernaum. They must have been a little confused as to where their rabbi was. We are not told why they left without Him, only that they did. Something could have been said earlier by Jesus and they were just doing what they were told. Notice also that these men are the parallel to our early story of the spies, these guys are the two that wanted to go to the Promised Land and the crowd following Jesus around are the ten that wanted to go back to Egypt. Why do I say that? These men in the boat followed Christ around and were almost all martyred (John 21:20-23) because of their faith in Him, and entered into the Promised land. The Jews, Jesus’s people, never accepted Him and went back to their stiff necked ways after He left them (Luke 24:51) and basically reaped what they sowed. Culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (Luke 21:5-38)

As His disciples were rowing it became stormy and the sea was tossing them about. (John 6:18) It is my opinion that at times, these boys in the boat and us in the present time, are doing what we are drawn to, by God’s hand and our vaunted free will gets tossed overboard. To put it bluntly, following a divine script, written by our Creator, before the ages began. Nothing happens by happenstance when Yahweh is involved. He is never surprised because He is the author of all, including the year of 2020 and all that happened. Ponder that a bit, and if you start wondering about the evil in the world… Man and satan are responsible for misery and evil. God knows about and allows it, because He uses what is evil for His glory and our own good. The story of Jacob is a great example. Read it: Genesis 50:20.

From the internet: There is an important distinction to be made between God controlling evil and God creating evil. God is not the author of sin, but He can use sinful men to attain an objective. Romans 8:28 says, “For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” “All things” includes both good and bad things. God can use struggles, heartbreaks and tragedies in ways to bring about His glory and our good. Such events, even though we don’t understand the reason for them, are part of His perfect, divine plan. If God could not control evil, He would not be God. His sovereignty demands that He be in control of everything, even “dreaded” nations such as Babylon. (Habakkuk 1:5-11)

God has these boys rowing in a stormy sea so that His glory in the form of his Son can be seen doing another incredible thing. Not to awe them, but to cause them to believe. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

And just like that, they were at their destination. For men who were following Jesus around, this was another example of many they would witness, that this truly was the Son of Man in their presence. What is it going to take to get you off the dime and truly believe in our Savior? For nothing else will get you into the Promised Land. There is nothing so important going on in your lives that would prevent your repenting and following the one True Hope, is there? Only believe and have faith in Him. Trust in Christ for all things and you will reap the blessing of our Father. That or wander our cultural metaphoric desert for another 40 years, and or until you die in your sin. Those ten spies convinced their people not to enter the Promised Land. Doomed their whole generation. We are seeing this same thing today with churches that have opened their doors to the world. Prosperity preaching or Love and inclusiveness for all. Yes, churches should welcome all, but don’t expect to remain in your sin and think that you’ll be heaven bound just because you’ve gone to church. As I’ve mentioned before, the word church, in Greek means “the called.” Not a building but we who obey Christ and council those that insist that God will accept them just as they are. Nowhere in the scripture does it say that. Repent your sins and follow Christ as He is the our only hope. https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/16914

In short don’t trust any but Christ to keep you in good stead. Recently some churches in our area have closed because they are told it is not safe to worship together. What do you suppose God thinks about that? Psalm 34:3 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” yet the government says it’s not safe. The government has intruded into areas where they have no legitimate authority, and yet we continue to let them. I have seen things in the Twin Cities of late that say mask wearing will be with us indefinitely, for our safety don’t you know. The government is going keep us safe from the wrath of God who has given this country over to its sins. The only sure fire and Biblical way to turn around what’s going on in this country is repent, like Nineveh did (Jonah 3). Jonah knew that God was Gracious and forgiving and would probably turn from destroying them when they truly repented, and He did. No reason it would not work here. God loves a repentant heart. He loves you too, pray to Him and ask Him to open your heart and see what happens. Call it a good start.

So, who are those churches trusting when they decided to close the doors for what, safety? If they, who should know better, had read and heeded the Bible, God is in control of all. Still is and that’s why what is happening in our country is not going to stop unless we repent. Do you know how many abortions are going on in this country, every day?  Those unborn children, whom God knew every one, are casualties of what is called women’s health care. And yet we wonder why 2020 and now 2021 are turning out the way they have. You do recall the city of Sodom who had a bit of a problem with homosexual activity. Genesis 19:1-38, Ezekiel 16:49-50 So things could be worse for us, you could say.

And if you belong to one of those churches that have closed due to wanting to be safe and to listen to their immoral masters, who have told us they know better. Who are you trusting? Pick up your bible and start reading it, and place your trust in the One who authored it. The One who created you. The One is not at all happy with how we are acting. Repent, now, for the one who will judge the quick and the dead is coming. (1 Peter 4:5)

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.