24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Manf can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” 28They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” 29Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” 30They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ (John 6:24-31 NLT)
The people experienced Jesus and His Miracles and wanted more. The people were fed by Jesus, quite literally with bread and fish, and wanted more. The people became great fans of this very unique “person” and wanted to experience more of the things that satisfied them. Jesus, however, as we see in all of the Gospel accounts, was (is) never interested in attracting people on their terms, but on HIS terms. BIG DIFFERENCE. The thousands of people of this passage wanted to see the show and fill their stomachs with good food. They wanted Jesus to work for them, to dance for them, and to serve them. Jesus had attracted a great crowd and had a fantastic opportunity to solidify a loyal cult following – and then he threw it all away by telling them the Truth. I encourage you to read further in this chapter of John. You will learn that just when Jesus has the makings of the first mega-church, He set in on a teaching that even His disciples found difficult to “swallow.” (pun intended) After He got their attention by telling them that He knew they were only there for the show – and then He said, paraphrased, “But you can’t have me on YOUR terms, only on MINE; and that means that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, YOU will have no part with ME.” The Truth is the Truth my brothers and sisters and we can’t change that. We can not have Jesus on our terms. When we focus on Him only in the context of what HE can do for US, the old cliché, “What would Jesus do” quickly becomes, “What would I LIKE Jesus to do.” #thenarrowpathistheTRUTH.
The people experienced Jesus and His Miracles and wanted more. The people were fed by Jesus, quite literally with bread and fish, and wanted more. The people became great fans of this very unique “person” and wanted to experience more of the things that satisfied them. Jesus, however, as we see in all of the Gospel accounts, was (is) never interested in attracting people on their terms, but on HIS terms. BIG DIFFERENCE. The thousands of people of this passage wanted to see the show and fill their stomachs with good food. They wanted Jesus to work for them, to dance for them, and to serve them. Jesus had attracted a great crowd and had a fantastic opportunity to solidify a loyal cult following – and then he threw it all away by telling them the Truth. I encourage you to read further in this chapter of John. You will learn that just when Jesus has the makings of the first mega-church, He set in on a teaching that even His disciples found difficult to “swallow.” (pun intended) After He got their attention by telling them that He knew they were only there for the show – and then He said, paraphrased, “But you can’t have me on YOUR terms, only on MINE; and that means that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, YOU will have no part with ME.” The Truth is the Truth my brothers and sisters and we can’t change that. We can not have Jesus on our terms. When we focus on Him only in the context of what HE can do for US, the old cliché, “What would Jesus do” quickly becomes, “What would I LIKE Jesus to do.” #thenarrowpathistheTRUTH.
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