NO LONGER BLIND! – (2)

John said: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”  John 1:4

Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

There’s a lot I don’t know about the Bible.  Writing this blog has only highlighted that.  Most of us are afraid to admit what we don’t know.  In fact, we’re taught that attitude in school: we study for a test and then we get slammed on what we DON’T know!

That’s an unfortunate attitude, because we GROW by what we DON’T KNOW. 

When I entered college, the first thing they taught us was this: When you leave here you won’t know all the answers; you will know the QUESTIONS.

So, join me in celebrating what we don’t know.  We’re not going to stay there.  God doesn’t WANT us to remain ignorant of who He is, what He does, or how He wants us to live.  He’s on the side of knowledge and growth.  But we get there by NOT knowing and by asking the questions.

In the last devotion I asked the question:

Why does Jesus compare himself to Light? 

The question led to a new understanding:

Jesus cures our blindness 

of the spiritual world.

My next question is:

Why do both John and Jesus see a relationship

between LIFE and LIGHT?

Join me next time as I look for the answer.  Seriously, I don’t know!  Do you?

NO LONGER BLIND! – (1)

"I am the Light of the world." John 8:12

 

I am sitting in the dark as I type this.  Why did Jesus compare himself to “light”?  I am a sighted person and so it is hard for me to imagine not having light as a constant function in my life.  And, living in the 21^st century – don’t you find that you can’t even get away from light when you want to?  With my lights off, at 10 o’clock at night, I can still see everything in my house because of LEDs on the TV, computer, stove, clock, etc. 

Sitting in the dark does make me think, though.  I can’t see anything very well.  I can’t see colors.  If I forget where I had put something, as I walk around I’ll get some bumps and bruises.  I will restrict myself to this known landscape of my house.  I’ll be more afraid.  I’ll be more vulnerable.  If something or someone were about to attack me, I wouldn’t know it.

Little children often fear the dark.  There might be monsters in the unknown.  But grown-ups can fear it, too.  There are some scary movies being made recently about whole-scale blackouts – about whole cities being off the grid.  Why do we fear darkness? 

If physical darkness is scary, how much more terrifying is spiritual darkness.  And what is spiritual darkness.  It is having absolutely no idea of what is going on in the spiritual world.  Some of you may say, “What spiritual world?” because you don’t believe there is one.  May I propose to you that THAT is spiritual darkness.  There is a spiritual world, which contains both good and evil, and it doesn’t cease to exist when someone doesn’t see it.  Not being able to see is called blindness.

So, when Jesus said “I am the light,” he was telling us that he cures our spiritual blindness.  He gives us the ability to see what we otherwise are unaware of.  If we can SEE into the spiritual realm, we aren’t vulnerable, afraid, and tripping all over everything.  If there is an enemy, we can fight.  Being spiritually in the light is very powerful.

Here are just some of the quotes from Jesus telling us he is our LIGHT:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life … While I am in the world, I am the light of the world … Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light … It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light … You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going …Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light ... I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

[John 8:12, 9:5, 11:9-10, 12:35-36, 12:46]

Just one parting thought:  It is wise to STAY CLOSE to  the LIGHT -- if you want to see where you’re going!

GLUTEN-FREE BREAD - (1)

John 6: 1-69 – Part 1

“I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will not hunger.” John 6:35

How many people would like to end world hunger?  Throughout the ages how many agencies, ministries, fund raisers, soup kitchens and so forth do you suppose have helped to feed the hungry?  I would not even venture a guess.  Just on the commercials I’m watching on cable, and on the ads on the internet I see each day, there are several.  That is without my doing a search.

When I go to the grocery store, amidst the aisles of plenty, there are reminders about those who can’t walk in and help themselves.  I can add a donation to Capital Area Food Bank to my grocery tab, or I can purchase pre-bagged groceries that will be delivered to a needy family later.

Hunger is universal.  When Jesus stated “I am the BREAD of life” he was not fooling around with our hopes and dreams.  And to prove that, he DID that – fed people literally, that is.

Read the story here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%206:1-15&version=NIV

Listen to story here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.6

John 6:1-15 tells the story.  A large crowd gathered in a deserted rural area.

They were hungry.

They had gathered for a good purpose – to hear Jesus speak.

They were far from a store.

They were far from their homes where they did have food.

There wasn’t enough for everyone.

They didn’t have enough money.

He used the whole situation as an object lesson. (“…he already had in mind what he was going to do.”)

He gave them bread.

But this object lesson was no magic show.  He did not wave a wand and produce an egg.  What happened was so over-the-top that it not only met the need but it ASTOUNDED people.  They tried to seize him and MAKE HIM KING!  Think about that.

And before we move on to what he taught them about this event, let’s make sure we have really grasped the enormity of the event.

YOU DO THE MATH!
TOTAL AVAILABLE AT START	1 meal
There were 5,000 men plus an uncounted number of women and children (use your best guess)	+5,000 +5,000 +5,000 15,000 meals
There was Jesus and his 12 special disciples	+13 meals
They had 5 small barley loaves	-1 meal
They had 2 small fish.
It was enough to feed one boy.
TOTAL NEEDED	15,012 meals
EVERYONE had plenty to eat	15,012 meals
12 baskets full of leftovers (basket holds 10 meals – use your best guess)	120 meals
TOTAL AVAILABLE AT END *	15,132 meals*

When was the last time you went to dinner and had MORE food left at the end than at the beginning?

What is the point that you get from this object lesson?

*[If you calculate a literal 5,000 meals, and figure in very small baskets (2 meals worth), there were 5,024 meals produced from the original 1 meal.]

Gluten-free BREAD and WINE - (4)

John 6 & Matthew 26:2,17-29– Part 4

“The Passover is two days away –

and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Matthew 26:2

Read the story here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:%202,%2017-29&version=NIV

Listen to story here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Matt.26.2

Jesus spoke to the people by comparisons.

Jesus gave bread to the crowd.         Then he said:

I am the BREAD of life

When the Jewish crowd asked him for a sign, he said:

          I am BREAD FROM HEAVEN (manna)

There was one more comparison from the passage we’ve been reading in John chapter 6.  Jesus fed the crowd just before the Passover* Feast.  And later he told them: “This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.”

When the people got offended at him for telling them they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he could just have said:

          I’m not talking about cannibalism, guys!  I’m telling you that

          I AM THE PASSOVER LAMB.

But they weren’t ready for that.**  He led them right up to the edge of that understanding.

He didn’t say it straight out UNTIL it was time for the Passover Feast at which he would actually suffer.

And he revealed it first only TO those closest to him – the ones who believed him.

While they were eating, Jesus took BREAD, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat;

THIS IS MY BODY

Then he took a cup (of WINE), and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you.

THIS IS MY BLOOD

Jesus was now revealing for the first time that the entire 1,300+ year history of the Jewish Passover celebration was God’s object lesson,*** preparing them for the REAL deliverance of Israel:

GOD’S PASSOVER LAMB IS JESUS

What a master teacher Jesus was!  As the twelve friends ate the bread and drank the wine, they were told that they were actually receiving into themselves God’s deliverance.  They would never forget that moment.

How about you?  Have you received God’s deliverance?  It is Jesus.

*[The Passover, for those of us who aren’t Jewish,

was God’s deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians.]

**[Since they hadn’t believed that he had come down

from heaven, how could they accept he was sent

 to earth on a deliverance mission from God?]

***[The Passover itself was a figure of speech!

A figure of speech is a comparison of something known

(Passover was well-known to the Jews)

to something new (Jesus is the Passover Lamb)

so that it can be understood.]