Learning from John 7 – Jesus and the Streams of Living Water, pt.1

John 7:37-42 - On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.  Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.  On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Christ.”

Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee?  Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?“

This took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the main annual religious holidays for Israel.  Originally, it was supposed to be a time when the Israelites remembered the 40 years in the wilderness when they lived in tents and encamped from place to place as the Lord led them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning from John 6 – Jesus Is The Bread of Life

John 6:48-51 – “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Jesus fed a large crowd at the beginning of this chapter, miraculously multiplying five loaves and two fish into enough food to feed several thousand people (John 6:1-13). The crowds then started following him asking him to do more miracles, especially ones that involve the provision of free food for everybody, like the miracle of “manna” that had occurred centuries earlier. Jesus rebuked the crowd for focusing on their material and physical needs instead of the spiritual or eternal things (John 6:26-31). Even today, many people focus on God’s healing power or seek other miracles, but show no real interest in spiritual things, eternity, sanctification and holiness, or learning to hear God’s voice.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John 6 – Jesus Walks on Water

John 6:14-24 – After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading…

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John – God So Loved the World

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This Is How God Loved The World. In this passage, we see Jesus talking with a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was of one of the more sincere and opened-minded of Israel`s wayward religious establishment. Unlike many around him, he was not there to oppose Jesus. Many opposed Jesus because they were jealous and did not understand what their Messiah truly had to offer. They had different expectations and were expecting a military and political solution to their present oppression by the Romans. Nicodemus seemed to know however that Jesus was different, and had something more to offer. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus He told him about the love that God the Father was offering. Furthermore, Jesus told him how God was doing this. In the end, Nicodemus learned about the Holy Spirit, and how it is He who shows us how to love as God loves us. This was the direction missing from the religious establishment of that day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John – The Wedding at Cana

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best until now.” John 2:10

Jesus gave a great sign at the wedding of Cana: not only did he turn water into wine when they ran out of supplies, but the wine he made at the end of the feast was the best, even better than that at first. Wine is a symbol in the Bible for the Holy Spirit.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John – The Meaning of “Messiah”

John 1:41 – “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).”

In the Old Testament period, the ancient Israelites had a word with the same meaning, pronounced “meshiach,” from which we derive our word “Messiah.” Just like the word “Christos” in Greek, “meshiach” comes from the Hebrew word for anointing or pouring oil on someone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John – Reaching Our Family Members

John 1:41 – The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah”

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist before he met Jesus; he was one of the Jews who was eagerly seeking the Messiah and had prepared his life so he would be ready for Him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Learning From John – Jesus is Eternal

John 1:1-5, 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth....”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Meaning of “Christ” – Learning From the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 16:16 – Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The most common name for Jesus in the Bible, besides “Jesus” itself, is “Christ.” In fact, the New Testament letters from Paul and Peter use this name much more often than they use “Jesus.” Many people today think that “Christ” was Jesus’ last name, but it was not. “Christ” was not a last name at that time. It was a title. Jesus would have been called “Jesus Bar-Joseph” by others around him.

Read the rest of this entry »

What Is the Meaning of “Messiah”?

John 1:41 – “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).”

In the Old Testament period, the ancient Israelites had a word with the same meaning, pronounced “meshiach,” from which we derive our word “Messiah.” Just like the word “Christos” in Greek, “meshiach” comes from the Hebrew word for anointing or pouring oil on someone.

Read the rest of this entry »