Real Peace. Real People.

His miracle was for one man and one man alone. He brings him to a private place, heals him, and then tells him to tell no one about it. Why was Jesus willing to take the time to make such a narrow impact when he could have made this man well in front of hundreds? Because it wasn’t about the crowd. In this moment, the Savior’s focus was on one man. And Jesus used this moment to bring this man healing for his life and healing for his soul.

If we are looking for a good person, we’ve found one. No, she’s not living under our roof, he’s not staring back at you in the mirror. We find one “good person” in our life: Jesus. It is Jesus who knows what perfect obedience is. It is Jesus who knows what perfect love is. Jesus is the only “good person” we know. But he doesn’t keep it to himself. He gives his goodness to us so that we can share in the Father’s favor. This is how we begin our lives of obedience.

In general, when people are faced with an idea that they find offensive, they do one of two things. 1. They turn their back on the idea, the person, or the movement. Or 2. They wrestle to get comfortable with this scandalous thought. In John 6, as Jesus ends his Bread of Life discourse, the disciples wrestle with Jesus' teaching and give us a path forward when we are presented with a section of God's Word that makes us uncomfortable.

Jesus continues his “Bread of Life” discourse as he reminds that disciples that God himself is the one who draws sinners to himself. This is a stark reminder that the wisdom of God is NOTHING like the wisdom of this world.

Tragically, the best meals don’t last forever. Whether it’s the steak that you spent WAY too much money on or it’s that Thanksgiving meal that you fondly remember, we always find ourselves being hungry again. In these beginning verses of Jesus’ conversation about the bread of life, we find him reminding the people that he offers something better. He offers something that is not temporarily satisfying, but eternally filling!

What does Jesus mean when he tells us he will be with us? And how is that helpful? When you are going through scary situations or rough patches in life, why does the presence of God matter? In our reading for this Sunday, we are reminded of a simple truth: there is no one we would rather have with us than our Savior.

What can be used to serve Jesus? Often, we shrink the scope of service far beyond the way God presents it in Scripture. God has filled each and every Christian up with exactly what they need AND MORE so as to serve others and serve him. God is so generous with his blessings toward us and allows for so many opportunities for service that we are forced to stop asking what can be used to serve God and start asking WHAT CAN’T be used to serve God?

When Jesus looks at you, what do you suppose he see? I’m sure he sees your day to day desire to walk in his ways. However, whether we want to admit it or not, he also sees our shortcomings. He sees the deep rooted sin. He sees the ways that we stray from him. But instead of being disgusted or disinterested, he is compassionate. His heart breaks for us. This is the heart of the gospel. This is our heart.

When we take on the awesome task of serving Jesus in life, we can overlook the fact that we aren’t just to speak his words, but we are to model his behavior. That is the standard that God places on those who want to be overseers in his kingdom. Our first concern might be that we can’t live up to that calling… who can?? The same way that we depend on God’s grace for our salvation, we depend on his grace in dealing with us as we strive to do our best to represent him in his kingdom.

In the account of Jesus dealing with a grief stricken father and raising his daughter from the dead, Jesus’ attitude astounds us. In the face of mourning and tragedy, Jesus shows calm, cool confidence. Why? He knows who holds all of the cards. This attitude is an attitude of faith. It’s an attitude, by grace, we can mirror.