Treasures From John's Gospel - 10

Our Compassionate Savior

 

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.     Matt. 11:28

 

The Lord Jesus is grieved by the misery that sin brings to men and women who are caught in its grip. He met the woman of Samaria at a place where she felt most vulnerable – alone by the well where she should have been enjoying the friendship of other women. He approached her in grace with a message of freedom from sin's degradation. At the pool of Bethesda Jesus gave new life to a helpless man who knew he needed the strength of another, but could find no one to assist him. And to the blind beggar Jesus gave the gift of sight so he could see, and enjoy, the Light of the world.

 

Jesus found them; He granted them life and strength and light – this is His heart toward mankind.

 

We find another sinful woman, another helpless man and another blind man in the Gospel of Luke. However, this time Jesus did not go to them – they came to Him. Luke 7:36-50 records the story of a sinful woman who was so desperate to see Jesus that she went, uninvited, to a dinner at a Pharisee's house. Ordinarily she would avoid contact with the high and mighty Pharisees, but her sense of the Lord's grace made her bold. She poured her heart out to Jesus while pouring perfume onto His feet. Luke also tells of a paralyzed man who was lowered from the roof into a crowded house right in front of Jesus. Jesus recognized his faith and his need; He forgave the man's sins and strengthened his body (Luke 5:18-26). Finally, a blind beggar sitting by the roadside heard Jesus passing by and called out for mercy. Jesus heard the heart-cry of faith and gave the man sight (Luke 5:18-16).  

 

In Luke's gospel we see that sinners are welcome to come to the Savior – those who come, believing, find Him to be a willing Savior. John shows that Jesus does not always wait for us to recognize our need of Him. He is ready to come to us with a heart full of compassion – eager to free us from the misery of sin and to bring us into His rest.

 

. . .  the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.     John  6:37b

 

You did not choose Me but I chose you . . .     John 15:16

‘Disciples of Moses’ vs The Blind Man

  'Disciples of Moses' vs The Blind Man

John 8:59 - 9:41

 

As Jesus walked away from the agitated religious leaders, He came upon a man who was blind from birth. We are all born with spiritual blindness – but the religious leaders of Jesus' day did not recognize their blindness. Entrenched in their religious traditions, they thought they were "Moses' disciples." 

 

Since a disciple is someone who learns from the life of another, we could ask, "What does Moses teach by his life?" In a nutshell: Moses attempted to avenge his people in Egypt using his own wisdom and strength (Ex 2:11-14).  God sent him to the desert for 40 years to empty him of his perceived abilities. At the end of those years Moses expressed his new, humble self when he balked at the mission the Lord presented to him (Exodus 4). Hebrews 11:24-28 tells us that Moses acted "by faith" in bringing the Hebrews out of Egypt; however, it is not a life of faith the Pharisees refer to when they say "we are disciples of Moses.' Instead, their lives demonstrate the same pride as the Israelites who presumed they could keep the law when they said, "All that the Lord has spoken, we will do" (Ex 19:8; 24:3). They were blind to the fact that no matter how good their intentions, or how hard they tried, they would not be able to please God by their own efforts.

 

Jesus was sent by the Father to give sight to those who are blinded by the world – and to those who are blinded by the religion of self-effort.  He continually dealt with the Jewish leaders because their religion kept them, and those they influenced, from responding to God in faith. They thought they could 'see,' but were spiritually blind. So blind were they, that they cast the man right into the presence of Lord because

Jesus heard they had cast him out . . . and He found him . . .     Jn 9:35

Manna in the Shape of Loaves and Fish

Manna in the Shape of Loaves and Fish

John 6:1-9

 

This crowd of hungry people – 5,000 men, plus women and children (Matthew 14:21) – brings to mind the Old Testament multitude settling down to life in the wilderness after they escaped the slavery of Egypt. In both situations, no food was naturally available to feed the hungry throng. John tells us that Jesus was testing the disciples (vs 6). Just as the Israelites of old were being schooled in the wilderness, the disciples are getting an education on the mountain.   

 

Isn't it true that when we face a problem, we immediately go into 'problem solving mode?'  That is exactly what Philip and Andrew did here. Philip does a quick calculation and concludes that they could never buy enough food for this crowd. Andrew locates some food – but states that, after all, it is minuscule, and of what use could it be? Would they realize that the Lord was their only resource?

 

How quickly do we recognize that there is nothing we can do and then turn to the One with all the resources of heaven?  We don't even see that we are making a choice to tackle the situation without Him. We see a problem and try to find a way to solve it while the Lord is standing by, waiting to reveal Himself to us in our troubles. We claim to belong to Him – saying that without Him we can do nothing – and yet treat Him as if He is both powerless and uncaring towards us.

 

The Jews in the wilderness, and the disciples on the mountain, picture the feeble heart of mankind. Those wilderness Jews, having just experienced God's power to free them from Egyptian bondage, even making a way for them  to cross the Red Sea on dry ground, could not find it in themselves to trust Him to feed them. Instead they complained. The disciples – having witnessed one miracle after another – had no thought that Jesus could, or would, provide for the hungry crowd without their help.

 

 Picture this: faith-filled wilderness Jews saying, "Wow, what will happen next? A God who can part the sea will surely provide food for us!" And the disciples, full of expectation,  saying, "Hey everyone take a seat, you're about to see something really spectacular – this is the Son of God!"

 

As with the disciples, difficulties expose the poverty of our faith, while at the same time they reveal the greatness of the resources in the Lord.    ~Hamilton Smith