At this point in His earth walk, many thousands of people were following Jesus and the crowds were growing daily. On one particular day as the sun began to set, Jesus perceived their physical hunger. Most of us know the report of what happened next.
Jesus knowing what he would do, asked his disciple Phillip,” Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Phillip answered Jesus and said that it would take nearly a yearÃŒs wages to buy enough bread to feed the people. Then Peters brother Andrew said to Jesus that there was a boy in the crowd that had 5 loaves and 2 small fish. Then Andrew asked Jesus, ” but what are they among so many?” And Jesus said, “Make them sit down.”
Now there were about five thousand men, not including women and children. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd. And the crowd ate as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
The disciples gathered the fragments and filled twelve baskets. Note that: there were twelve baskets left over. One basket for each disciple. All of this from 5 loaves and 2 small fish.
What happened next is not surprising. ” Then those men said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” Then they started trying to capture Jesus to make Him their king. Jesus did not wish to be their king and He escaped and went into a mountain to pray. When night came, His disciples got into their boat to go across the sea to go to Capernum. A storm rose up and the men were afraid as the small boat was being tossed about. This must have been quite a storm because many of the disciples were fishermen and lived on the sea.
Jesus appeared to them walking on the sea. Jesus instructed them not to be afraid and entered into the boat and IMMEDIATELY, the boat was at the land that they were going to.
The crowd that saw the miracle of Jesus feeding the thousands, chased the disciples across the lake to try to catch Him. They knew that He had not left with the disciples and they were shocked to find Him with them. They asked Jesus how He got there.
Now Jesus us all a lesson of great power. ” Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.” ” Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man shall give unto you; for Him hath God the Father sealed.” In other words, do not seek a temporary solution to a permanent problem. They got fed physical food and wanted another free meal for their stomachs. Jesus is saying, accept me and you will have your daily food and a life time of blessings in this life and the life to come.
What is the meat that endureth unto everlasting life that Jesus gave us? Read on.
Jesus immediately announced the key to God and Heaven. Jesus explains the NEW COVENANT. Here is the answer to the mystery of the ages. This is the question that men have always asked God and are still asking Him, even though Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh to answer the question without ambiguity. Here is the deal with God that is so simple that no one can claim confusion or the inability to understand, yet most refuse to accept or believe it.
Then they said unto Him, ” what shall we do that we might do the works of God?” In plain language, they are asking, what is the deal with God? Do we have to keep all of the commandments? Do we have to be good? Do we have to be perfect or just really good? Which commandments are more important than others?” Is adultery worse than murder? Is gossip and judgment ok but fornication is not?” Is pride a worse sin than stealing?” How good on a scale of one to ten do I have to be to get God to bless me or let me into heaven?” Do good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell?” ” What do we have to do to close the deal with God?” ” What do we have to do to get God to like us enough to bless us?”
Here is the answer out of the mouth of God in the flesh come to earth in the person of Jesus.
“THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT!”
What is the meat that endureth unto everlasting life that Jesus gave us? Read on.
Jesus continues in this teaching about Power and eternal life and the NEW COVENANT. The Hebrews have told Jesus that they are under Moses and the Mosaic covenant. Jesus is telling them that the program has changed and that He is the new deal sent from God. They tell Jesus that Moses provided manna for them in the wilderness. They cling to the old covenant of works and law and Jesus explains clearly that there is a new deal with God and that He is it. The discussion about bread comes from the tribes of Israel being condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because they refused to believe God and they rejected him. During their nomadic wandering, God caused manna which we know as bread to come down from the sky to feed them.
“Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. ( Later that day Jesus asks this question, Did not Moses give you the law, Yet NONE of you keep it? To keep the commandments is impossible for a man to do) This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: If any man eats of this bread he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.” ( Jesus is teaching that His flesh will be given not just for the Hebrews, but for the Non-Hebrews or gentiles, who at this time were lost and without hope in the world and were not candidates for salvation.)
“Verily, verily I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (Jesus is saying that if we do not accept the new deal which is to believe on Him and accept His blood as the key to the new covenant, then we are on our own, that we then must justify ourselves to God by our performance which is not possible. Jesus is saying that His blood and His gospel are the new covenant. He is stating clearly that our relationship with God is based on What Jesus did not what we do.)
“Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day, FOR MY FLESH IS MEAT INDEED AND MY BLOOD IS DRINK INDEED. HE THAT EATETH MY FLESH (consumes my Words and believes them ) AND DRINKETH MY BLOOD ( Accepts that my blood paid the price in full for their relationship with God ) DWELLETH IN ME AND I IN HIM.” This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus. All he is asking is that we make a decision not to be Self Reliant and accept Him and His complete work as our conduit to God. He is promising that if make this decision that He will live in us, and we will live in Him. If we have Jesus living in us and we are living in Him, what would we be lacking?
So, what is the meat that endureth unto everlasting life that Jesus gave us? Read on.
At this point the disciples freak completely. They now know that Jesus is saying that He has replaced the old covenant, the Ten Commandments and the 600 ordinances that followed and the entire Levitical priest organization attached, with His blood. They know that this will cause the Pharisees and the Sadducees that live by keeping God’s people under the bondage of the law and their performance, to want to kill them all. They begin to think and ask in their minds, which Jesus reads…” are you sure about this Jesus? you are overturning the whole program and you are going to get us murdered”.
Read Jesus’ reply…”Doth this offend you?” ” What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” Jesus did ascend into the clouds right in front of the very men of whom he asked this question. This was to fulfill the prophetic question that he had just asked and to remove any doubt that He spoke the truth.
Jesus is about to explain what the meat that endureth unto everlasting life is. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth ( makes alive) ; the flesh profiteth nothing; THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU ARE SPIRIT AND ARE LIFE.” “BUT THERE ARE SOME OF YOU THAT BELIEVE NOT.”
Jesus has just explained what the meat that endureth forever is, HIS WORDS! Then in an amazing crescendo, Jesus explains the entire problem over which He has no power then or now; “BUT THERE ARE SOME AMONG YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE. Obviously Jesus knows that belief and unbelief are free will choices that we make. We may choose to believe or we may choose to not believe, Jesus can not and never will take away this choice from us.
The meat that Jesus gave us is the WORD. The WORD is Jesus. ” In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” All the power we need is in the Word.
Jesus asks this question of us…” Do you not therefore err because, ye know not the scriptures, nor the power there of?Ó
The power that we need is accepting by choice the New Covenant, and knowing the promises of that covenant sworn to us by God; and Guaranteed to us by the blood of Jesus. Every time you pray a scripture of the New Covenant understand that the covenant is guaranteed to us by the blood of Jesus. All the power we will ever need to overcome and prosper in all things has been given to us. It was a free gift all that is required is that we believe. Here are the keys to the new covenant:
John 1:17 ” for the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus”
John 1:12 ” But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name.”
John 6:29 “This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He hath sent.”
Ephesians 2:8 and 9…”For it is by grace (God’s willingness ability and power to do those things for us that we can not or will not do for ourselves) that you have been saved. ( In every way. From what ever you need to be saved) By faith ( choosing to live one moment at a time with joyful expectation of the things that you can not see ) and that is not of yourself. It is a gift from God not of works lest any man should boast.
Here are some New Covenant promises any of which would take care of all of your needs:
John 14:12-14 ” Verily, verily I say unto you, that he who believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it”.
John 16:13 “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come, He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.”
John 16:24 ” Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask that you may receive that your joy may be full.”
Mark 11:23and 24…”For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thous removed and be thou cast into the sea and does not believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith, Therefore, I say unto you, whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive and you shall have them.”
Finally, Here are some thoughts about how to walk in Power from Paul our teacher selected by God anointed by Jesus and taught of the Holy Spirit.
“That ye be not slothful ( stand strong and don’t give in to fear ) but followers of them who through faith ( Choosing to live one moment at a time with joyful expectation of the things that we can not see) and patience ( making a decision to believe the promises of God without demanding a sign or that we see them.) INHERIT THE PROMISES.
A teacher of the gospel recently stated that he did not understand why Christians were not seeing the promises of God coming to reality in their lives. Here is the answer precisely from Paul.
Galatians 4:10 ” For as many of you as are of the works of the Law ( made a decision to base your relationship with God on your performance in any way) are under the curse; for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the Law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith”.
The ultimate dire warning comes again from our teacher Paul. Galatians 5:4 ” JESUS IS BECOME OF NO EFFECT UNTO YOU, WHOSOEVER OF YOU ARE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW ; YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE. There it is! Most of the body of Jesus have placed ourselves under the law and have fallen from grace, which is the new covenant. When we try to please God by our performance, we have refused to accept the completeness of the blood of Jesus and have rejected eating His Flesh.
Clearly, Jesus is telling us that all we need do to please God is to believe on Him and that is a moment by moment decision we make, by which we inherit the promises.
With love to you all, your brother in Jesus, Pastor Allen
