Week 12 - John 6:15-40 - Sign 5 - Walking on the Water

This chapter includes a masterful play on words.  

John purposefully relates the great efforts the crowd went through to find Jesus a second time.  And Jesus knows their goal is not spiritual instruction but rather more food!  So, He rebukes and redirects them:

John 6:27
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Confused, they ask “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (v. 28).  In other words, where should they put their efforts to obtain such eternal life-giving food?  This is law-fulfilling language that borders on sorcery, which is making God do what you want.

But Jesus responds that there is only one “work of God” (v. 29).  

John 6:29

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

 

But in their mind, this would still have been something they would have to do, to believe.  So, Jesus had to explain further that, it was not about what did they need to do, it was about what God must do. 

John 6:37a
All that the Father gives me will come to me, . . . 

 In other words:

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Week 11 - John 6:1-14 - Sign 4 - Feeding of the Five Thousand

The distance between Jerusalem (John 5:1) to the “other side” (John 6:1) was about 70 or 80 miles, or about a 4 day journey.  Curiously, this was a desolate location near Bethsaida.  Yes, the same name of the fountain at which the previous events took place (See parallel account Luke 9:10-17).

The Sermon on the Mount is traditionally placed on the west side of the sea (Matthew 4:23-5:1), but the return of Jesus to “the mountain” following the resurrection (Matthew 28:16-20) indicates they may have had a favorite spot.

This is the second Passover of Jesus ministry.  During the first, He cleansed the temple (John 2:13-17) and, we shall see, at the third Passover (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48) He also cleanses the temple.

This Passover, however, He leads people away from the temple to the receive mercy at a place appropriately named bēthsaida (unlike the pool), a true place of mercy.

The synoptic Gospels add the detail that Jesus taught them and healed them until late in the day (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:10-17).

Then, they were directed to sit in large groups (Mark 6:40) that were easy to count and delineated by gender. They stopped counting after the men.  

Estimates set the crowd at 10-20 thousand total.  Using historic costs of bread, this correlates well with Phillips estimate (John 6:7) that 200 denarii, which they did not have, would only cover only small portion for each (Say, 1/10^th of a loaf per person or 1,600–2,400 loaves).

Thanksgiving dinners at Christ Covenant Church have sat a maximum of 750 people.  The well-skilled and well-organized team of volunteers could serve the dinner to that stream of people in about 30 minutes.  Simple extrapolation (10-20 thousand/750*30/60) is 6 to 10 hours if the food was expertly served centrally to a queue of people.

Instead, this was probably done organically, where a portion of food was given to each group to share, and it multiplied in their own hands as they shared it.  This is an excellent example of how the grace of God is administered in the church.

The synoptic gospels omit any response from those who ate (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17).  But John is uniquely focused on proving that Jesus is the Christ and so includes this testimony.

John 6:14

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Their response points to the promise of Deuteronomy 18:15,18, and their use of the definite article “the” indicates the replacement of Moses.

This is the fourth of the seven signs described by John.

Week 10 - John 5 - Healing at the Pool of Bethesda

In typical John-fashion, no irony is lost that this lame man was attempting to heal himself at a pool named Bethesda which means “House of Mercy” (bēthesda).  And that irony was amplified when upon Christ’s arrival, who is the source of mercy, offered only the awkward question “Do you want to be healed?”.  

The lesson that Jesus teaches from this experience strikes at the heart of the misinterpretation of the Law by the Pharisees.  

Jesus was once famously asked by a Pharisee, what is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36).  Jesus responds with a first and a second citing:

Deuteronomy 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Leviticus 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Listen now closely to Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees at this pool:

John 5:39-40

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Even the invalid knew enough to accept the offer of mercy.  But the Pharisees continued to attempt to heal themselves through the effort that they crafted from the Law.  But it was all to receive glory from one another:

John 5:44

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

First, the Pharisees limited forgiveness.  They read the following:

Leviticus 16:30

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.

And they heard only that the sins “before the Lord” (those between them and God) were atoned.  Sins between one another were not atoned by the mercy of God’s scapegoat.  This they codified as:

Mishnah Yoma 8:9

Furthermore, for transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person.

Then, while they practiced and encouraged forgiveness, they used the example of God Amos 1:3 to limit their forgiveness to proverbial three-strikes.  They took God’s place as judge.

To teach the true meaning of the second-greatest commandment, Jesus taught the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) and famously told Peter a ridiculous number Matthew 18:21–22 instead.

Jesus further condemned them saying:

John 5:42

But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

For, they had a second misunderstanding, again, over God’s mercy.  Recall please the commandment for which they condemned Jesus:

John 5:9-10

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews[a] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”

The Sabbath was originally designed to be an act of mercy by God.  

It was first demonstrated when the Manna, itself a merciful provision, only had to be collected six days a week (Exodus 16).  The seventh day was declared a Sabbath, a day of rest.  This occurred a month or so prior to the events of Exodus 20 when it was then included in the Ten Commandments.  Later it was declared again to include those precious days of harvesting:

Exodus 34:21

 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

And It was forcefully spoken a another time in Deuteronomy 5:12–15 to include one’s servants.  

God intentionally wanted those obedient to this law to feel His mercy one day a week.  He would provide when they obediently rested.  He would provide when they gave up the opportunity to earn yet one more day of income.

The Pharisees, however, listened differently.

Exodus 35:1-3

Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

The chapters that follow describe the building of the Tabernacle, which they understood as “work”, from those chapeters they codified 39 categories of prohibited labor (melachot) in Mishnah Shabbat 7:2, including carrying, of which the invalid was condemned.

Once again, God’s mercy was eclipsed by man’s effort.  But Jesus still stands by us asking “Do you want to be healed?”.