Monday: “Surely, He Is the Prophet”

Daily Lesson for Monday 7th of October 2024

Read John 6:14-15,26-36. How did the people respond to His miracle, and how did Jesus use this to try to teach them who He was?

The Judeans were expecting an earthly messiah who would deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. Two of the most difficult things encountered in war are feeding the troops and caring for the wounded and dead. By His miracles, Jesus showed that He could do both.

Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com

But that’s not why Jesus had come, and that wasn’t the purpose of His miracle. Instead, the account of the feeding of the 5,000 provided the opportunity to illustrate that Jesus is the Bread of Life, that God Himself came down from heaven. “ ‘I am the bread of life,’ ” He said. “ ‘He who comes to Me shall never hunger’ ” (John 6:35, NKJV).

This is the first of the seven “I am” statements in the Gospel of John, where “I am” is connected with some predicate (“bread of life,” John 6:35; “light of the world,” John 8:12; “door,” John 10:7,9; “Good Shepherd,” John 10:11,14; “resurrection and the life,” John 11:25; “the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6; “true vine,” John 15:1,5). Each of these points to an important truth about Jesus. The “I am” statements point back to Exodus 3:1-22, where God presents Himself to Moses as the great I AM (compare with John 8:58). Jesus is that great I AM.

But the people missed all this.

“Their dissatisfied hearts queried why, if Jesus could perform so many wondrous works as they had witnessed, could He not give health, strength, and riches to all His people, free them from their oppressors, and exalt them to power and honor? The fact that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s king, was a mystery which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself doubted as to the divine character of His mission. Thus they opened their hearts to unbelief, and the seed which Satan had sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding and defection.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 385.

They were looking for material benefit instead of truth that endures to eternal life. This is a trap that we all potentially face if we are not careful.

How can we avoid getting caught up in material things at the expense of the spiritual?

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