Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

In the big context of John 6, Jesus reveals Himself as God, then calls His listeners to belief.  Earlier, it was a sweet call to "look on the Son".  Today, not so much.  It is a disturbing call to belief, to trust, to have faith by saying:  Feed on my flesh.

Let's start with reactions of confusion, being disturbed, unseating, unsettled, feeling strange and even scandalized.

Here it is:  Jesus says to feed on my flesh and drink my blood.  Chew, Gnaw and crunch a bit.

But don't forget how great food is:  satisfying, nourishing, sustaining, intimate, life-giving.  And...one more thing as you listen, remember that when you believe; when you eat Jesus, when you feed on Him, when you drink of Him, you will find Him to be DELICIOUS.

In John 6, there is a great emphasis on reveling to us how busy God has been in helping us.  Today we get a spotlight on His activity as TEACHER. In the tennis match of the Old Testament-New Testament Jesus recalls a passage in Isaiah 54 saying God is going to be the primary teacher.  That is all well and good.

But then, Jesus claims that prophesy for HIMSELF.  That is, if you have believed in Jesus, God has been your primary teacher.  It is another of the hidden claims to be God of John 6. God loves learning.  Learning is a god-ly activity.  Learning is a God-ly activity.  He HAS been our teacher.  He IS our teacher (+ the Holy Spirit for believers) and He will be our teacher.

Perhaps more than any result of your learning, even reading or whistling, the ultimate is the coming to Jesus.  It is a big, big lesson.  Listen and get a taste of it.

Today we use the laughter from yesterday to help us pursue the Lord today.  The greek word Helkuo(my english spelling) is translated here as DRAW.
No one can come to me unless the Father DRAW him.
but it also can be translated DRAG or HAUL
No one can come to me unless the father DRAG him.
No one can come to me unless the Father Haul him.

We will use this today to ask the Lord the impossible: Draw, Drag and Haul the people and situations we remember and speak of and probably even those we forget to Your kingdom.  Drag people to Yourself.  Haul them if necessary.  Help us with the impossibilities by Your presence.

Don't just listen today.  You'll see.  Join me.

I got a real giggle from today's thought.

First, we are in deep deep waters.  How exactly does the good Lord turn stoney hearts of rebellion and foolishness into soft spiritual recepticals of belief?  It isn't just difficult.  It is IMPOSSIBLE.  That is the point.  This is the business that God is in.  Doing the impossible the stoney heart.

So, the giggle is what God is doing.  No one can come to Him unless the Father DRAWS him.  We go to the greek for our laugh today.  It also is translated DRAGGED or HAULS.  No one can come to Me unless the Father DRAGS him.  I got a big kick out of that.  

He requires.  He helps.  He draws.  He drags if necessary.  Listen and laugh with delight in the Lord's amazing work. 

Four words today: "Look on the Son"

Four words with a big history from Numbers 21.  Same as today.  Sin in action and attitude.  Judgment that is appropriate and timely.  Not wanting that Justice that is for me.  Crying out to God for another way, a way that only He can devise.  Help!  Rescue me! Ok, here's the plan from heaven.  Look to the uplifted bronze serpent on a pole.   (Look to the uplifted Jesus on the cross)

Look on the Son with our spiritual "eyes", and our spiritual "heart" and our spiritual "bodies."  Obey.  Trust. Believe. Have faith in.  Here now is another name for the essential spiritual activity.

But what about my sin?  Look on the Son.
But what about my history?  Look on the Son.
But what about my wrong attitudes and resistance?  Look on the Son

Listen and LOOK ON THE SON.  

Some people in our world suffer from "food insecurity".

He basically tells us that apart from Him nothing will satisfy.  But if we follow Him, and believe in Him, then He won't top us.  We won't be lost,

Even better, at some moment we are given by the Father to the Son, who loses none.  His job:  Lose nothing .  Lose no one.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is "Spiritual food SECURITY".  Listen and wonder.

God is at work.  Phew!  Without that we'd all be lost.
But He also asks us to be doing something HARD, something that He describes as LABOR.  
Let us not underestimate the difficulty and the labor of BELIEF.
Let us remember that there is a work of God, but there is also a work of man
Let us be accurate and believe in the right God, right history, right activity.
may the Lord help us stay on course with all of that.
Let us BELIEVE BETTER despite our circumstances.  Jesus here talked lots about spiritual bread provision to people who were specifically hungry.
Belief here is for the believer and the pre-believer.
 We can do better.  Listen and BELIEVE BETTER.  BELIEVE HARDER.

Do I have to DO something to be in God's Kingdom?
What must I DO to become a Christian?
Do I have to Do something to walk as a Christian?
Is God at work and how?
How am I to be at work as a Christian or as a not-yet-Christian?
What is the essence of the EFFORT, the LABOR God would have me do?

Great questions.  If you were there, I hope you'd ask these of Jesus.  Well, In John 6, they actually did.

Brace yourself for the answer though.  Listen and be ready to be astonished.

When Jesus describes what it is like to follow Him, He doesn't exactly LOWER the bar.  No sugar coating.  It is a high call.  In fact, sounds like He wants to be the HIGHEST call, the HIGHEST priority.

He promises difficulty, relational reassessment, reprioritizing all the important things, and spiritual homelessness until death.  Yikes!  ok, where do I sign up for this?  

What's the good news?  You get to go into battle WITH JESUS. Yes, there is a HIGH CALL.  But you get to BE WITH the HIGH CALLER.  Listen and see if you wanna join Him.

Great visual soundbite today:  Jesus SETS HIS FACE towards Jerusalem (and the cross). The concept is current, mentioned twice already even in Luke 9 where he predicts his trip, the suffering, the death and the resurrection.  It is also ancient, where the Suffering Servant prophesy tell us He'll Set his face like a flint way back in Isaiah 50:7

The disciples are pretty quick to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans.  We do a quick history lesson to explain why it actually makes a whole lot of sense.  The nasty assyrians send mesopotamian COLONISTS to live and marry with a Jewish remnant in the region of Samaria.  The Samaritans are a current reminder of a very bad time, are the wrong nationality, serve a bunch of bad gods, and even practiced CHILD SACRIFICE.  It has only been 752 years.  The wound is still FRESH.

Listen and appreciate how Jesus does not get distracted or detoured.  He's got some wonderful work to do on the cross for you and me and the Samaritans and the Assyrians.  Jesus SETS HIS FACE towards Jerusalem