Redemption Hill Church

Jesus continued His conversation with the people in the Temple courts, where He had said, “I am the Light of the World.” This passage raises a tough rebuke from Jesus. As the people claimed that Abraham was their Father, Jesus challenged them that their lives didn’t reflect that lineage. In this passage Jesus expanded His teaching on walking in darkness or having the light to show that our lives will inevitably reflect our spiritual realities and the lineage we find ourselves in spiritually.

This passage will serve as a diagnostic for our lives. Jesus shows the stark difference between walking in darkness and having the light. It is a passage that is both challenging and encouraging. The whole section is framed by Jesus’ statement, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The book of Ephesians is a small book that is packed from beginning to end with the gospel. This small gospel-packed book is also insanely practical in shape and structure. There is a rhythm to the apostle Paul’s writing here that once noticed, cannot be avoided. The first half of the book is loaded with gospel truth, explanation, and doctrine. The second half of this book seems to be concerned with gospel living, application, and duty. Christian truth and Christian living. Not just one or the other, but both, one naturally flowing from out the other. This week, Pastor Rich walked us through Ephesians 3:20-21 and cast a biblical vision for praise as we declared God Is Able.

This Sunday we come to a very interesting passage in John’s Gospel. It is a beloved story that may be one of the most well known stories of Jesus’ life and ministry, both within and outside of the church. Part of what makes this section interesting is that your Bible will almost certainly have brackets around John 7:53-8:11. The note in the ESV says, “[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53-8:11.]” That reality brings up a lot of debate about whether this passage should be considered Scripture, or preached at all. I hope to talk briefly about how our Bibles have been put together and whether they are trustworthy, and then to peach through this passage, showing that the character of Jesus that is shown in this story is easily connected to other passages we have studied in John so far. In a shorter version of all of that, we will see that Jesus has mercy on sinners.

We are going to cover the whole chapter. So, I encourage you to spend some time to read it before Sunday so you can get a sense of it. This is a bigger section than we typically take on. The scene shifts to the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. Jesus refused to go up to Jerusalem with His family, but did show up in Jerusalem and he was, once again, confronted by authorities who wanted to arrest and kill Him. One of the words that comes up over and over again in this passage is seek. That will be our focus this Sunday – the things that we turn to so that our parched souls can drink deeply, though they come up short again and again. We will see that we are offered living water that will actually satisfy the longings within.

This is the second half of the Bread of Life Discourse. Last week we saw Jesus start statements with “Truly, truly,” three times. It helped us explore really hard questions about our own hearts. This week Jesus takes the metaphor a step further. Where He claimed to be the bread of life, now he makes an explicit call to eat His flesh and drink His blood. The people who heard Him were understandably offended and grossed out. The crowds that had gathered at the feeding of 5,000 suddenly started to thin out. Some of Jesus’ own disciples left Him. He asked the even asked the 12 if they would leave, too. This passage will help us to see who Jesus is more clearly and challenge us on our own responses to His hard teachings.

This begins a long section that theologians call The Bread of Life Discourse. We will take the broader passage in two pieces, finishing it up next week. We see Jesus and the disciples back home in Capernaum, but the crowds who had eaten the bread the day before followed them to find Jesus. In the pattern of what we have seen already, the people were so caught up in looking for signs that they missed the significance. This week we see Jesus claim that He is the bread of life. It gives us the chance to press into the questions of what we seek, work for, and hope in.

This is another familiar story. After miraculously feeding 5,000 people, Jesus withdrew to a high place to pray. His disciples headed out to cross the Sea of Galilee. That night they were caught in a terrible storm and were rowing hard to try to make it to shore safe and alive. What happened next was something beyond what they ever could have expected. Jesus came to them, walking on the water. In the midst of a storm, with wind and waves battering the boat, Jesus came to them. When he joined them in the boat, everything was calm and they came to land. This is a good Sunday for all of us, because it shows us that there is hope whatever storms we face.

This is a familiar story, and the only miracle that occurs in all four Gospels. This week we see Jesus return to Galilee from Jerusalem. As a crowd surrounded Him, he asked the disciples how they could feed all the people. The best anyone could produce was a boy’s lunch of barley loaves and small fish. Jesus was able to feed 5,000 men, potentially 10-20,000 people in total, with leftovers in abundance. There is a lot for us to draw out of this well known story.

This passage continues the discussion between Jesus and the religious leaders who wanted to kill Him after He healed a man on the sabbath. Jesus started by making dramatic claims to His own authority and equality with God (5:19-30). In our passage for this week, He continues by taking a courtroom approach and calling on witnesses to who He is, establishing the validity of His claims. This is a great passage to show us that Jesus didn’t stand on His own claims, even as the incarnate Word of God, but still pointed to witnesses and evidence to His own divinity.