In this chapter Jesus is going to warn his disciples of the leaven of those who have rejected him

specifically the Pharisees and Sadducees. The masses of people are seemingly back in full because they

can’t stay away due to the power of Jesus, and they ask a ridiculous question “show us a sign!” Jesus’

answer is no, he is perturbed deeply, they seemingly understand basic signs of nature but miss the

important spiritual signs of repentance. Jesus and his disciples proceed to get in a boat just to escape

the masses, and as time passes Jesus abruptly speaks and warns of the leaven. The extremes meet with

the Pharisees and Sadducees they are looked at as far right and far left thinking, but Jesus warns that

they both have the problem of ungodliness.

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This final part of this chapter deals with a very important part of Jesus’ ministry, the sifting of the true

disciples from the false. The type of disciples that Jesus was looking for were God-given, God-drawn, and

God-taught. The problem with many of the followers up till this point is that they wanted to bring their

own views to God, and they expected God to bend to their will instead of the other way around. Jesus

asks those special twelve if they were going to leave as well but Peter’s response shows a great deal of

faith. We look at three anchors as A.B. Bruce describes them, first the apostle’s religious earnestness,

second, they had a clear perspective of the alternatives, and third they had confidence in the master.

We learn that we must be sincere in our search for the truth and have the understanding that there is

no one else besides Jesus.

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This week we look at part 3 of this chapter with the sermon that Jesus teaches in the synagogue on the

bread of life. Right after the feeding of the 5,000 and the incident on the sea Jesus teaches the fact that

he was able to give them physical food demonstrated by the feeding with the bread and fish, but now

he was going to offer them something far greater than that with this spiritual bread. This sermon was

and still is a difficult lesson to properly digest, but with careful examination it can be understood. Jesus is

the living bread of life, and it is our faith in the words of Jesus that produces eternal life. We look at how

A.B. Bruce describes the doctrine of the bread of life in what it is and in what it does, and most

importantly how do I gain access to this special bread.

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This part of the chapter deals with one of the times that the 12 apostles were caught out in the sea of Galilee when a storm suddenly struck. Jesus takes the opportunity to send his disciples away after the feeding of the 5,000 mainly to avoid the peer pressure to make him a king. Jesus sends them by boat away from the multitude and Jesus secludes himself to the mountain to pray when suddenly a storm came by night and halted all progress. The lesson that we can learn from this event and the lesson that disciples learned was to stand firm in the faith and don’t lose hope. Jesus walks on water to meet them in their distress and proceeds to tell the storm to stop and it obeys. The principle we find in John 16:33 where Jesus warns us that, in this world we will have trouble but take heart I have overcome the word, is on full display here. 

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This new chapter looks at John chapter six and breaks it into several different parts, we will be looking at

part one this week with the miracle. The miracle in question is Jesus feeds the five thousand, A.B. Bruce

looks at this miracle in depth and we can learn a lot about his ministry through this event. There was not

an obvious need for this feeding, the people could have fed themselves in the nearby towns, but Jesus

took the opportunity to demonstrate his divine nature. The miracle proved to be more of a test for his

disciples and as it turns out it was a pass-fail kind of test that was mostly failed. We learn that the

ultimate purpose for this event was to weed out the disciples that were looking for a physical king from

those that were looking for a spiritual kingdom. Each of us should ask that same question, “Why am I a

Christian?”

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This week we look at Jesus’ instructions that went along with the mission that he sent his disciples on.

We call this first attempt at evangelism the limited commission, but as usual the instructions that Jesus

gives are not so limited. Jesus first gives his disciples what is immediately going to happen now and then

extends his view to the future for them and for us in the 21 st century. Step one is fear not, Jesus tells

them and us that our fear needs to be in the proper place, God, and he gives them their duties, perils,

encouragements and the rewards for attempting this mission. Second, they must care not, God will

provide the increase. They must have the wisdom of a serpent and the simplicity of a dove, but the dove

must come first. They will be hated for the message but how they respond is the first real test of

discipleship.

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This chapter A.B. Bruce teaches on that first missionary journey that the disciples of Jesus are sent on

there in Matthew chapter 10. Jesus’ first and foremost concern is on display here in that he was focused

on the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus has been preaching and teaching and performing many miracles in the

Galilean area and now it is time for these spiritually immature disciples to get a taste of true evangelism.

Jesus sends them out on this mission and A.B. Bruce breaks this mission down into 4 aspects. First the

sphere of where they were to go, it was limited to a very small area in within the nation of Israel. Second

the work that they were to be doing was very impressive and wonderful. Third the impression that these

men would make would be great drawing fame and crowds around them. Forth the importance that

Jesus made to the disciples that they not let their success go to their heads and become arrogant.

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This week is the final part of chapter 7, and in this part A.B. Bruce focuses on the sabbath day

observance or lack there of by Jesus and his disciples. Jesus and his disciples are accused of not

observing the fourth commandment up to par with the religious traditions of the day, and of course

Jesus has a perfect answer for them. Jesus tells them that they have missed the entire point of the

sabbath day and that it was never intended to be a complete abolition of work but that there was

exceptions to the rule in the form of mercy or necessity. The sabbath day should be a boon not a burden

to keep, and it should supply rest for the body and the soul. Jesus uses examples from history to teach a

lesson and then ends his argument with the statement that “God is working and so am I.”

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We are looking at part 2 of chapter 7 this week focusing on ritual ablutions or washings. Jesus is asked

another question this time about ritual washings from the Pharisees. This question is more of an

accusatory question than what John’s disciples had asked him about fasting. The Pharisees had taken

the commandments of God to a level of ridiculousness when it comes to these washings. They had

replaced God’s commandments for their own traditions, and Jesus calls them on this error. We need to

make sure that what we do for the glory of God we make sure that our hearts are truly in it and that we

are not just going through the motions because that is what we do. We cannot let the blind lead the

blind as Jesus would say or we will end up in a pit. Our focus should just be do the will of the Lord, and

not in the traditions of man.

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This episode is part one of a three-part chapter in A.B. Bruce’s book, and this section focuses on fasting. The disciples of John the Baptist approach Jesus with a question on fasting. Their question was basically we fast and the Pharisees fast, why don’t your disciples fast? Jesus had just taught his listeners to pray and now he is going to teach them to live. True holiness is what Jesus precedes to teach in the instruction on fasting specifically that there is a spiritual reason to fast and you cant just let it become a routine. Jesus uses his preferred method of teaching and tells them parables. We get into when is it good and when is it bad too fast in this episode, but we end with how do we blend the old with the new while keeping the love for one another intact? 

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