PENTECOST • 39

Do we know the Lord as the giver of life?

This week’s readings show us Jesus who is the giver of life.

reading for: 4 Aug

John 6:35,41-51

Jesus is the giver of life

  • READ

Previously in John 6, we have seen the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 men and how he could turn the meager five loaves and two fishes given to him by a young boy to feed the entire crowd with leftovers. This caused the crowd to want to make him king by force. Jesus then withdrew to the mountain to stop the crowd from being able to seize him. John then recounts the story of Jesus walking on water to get to the other side of the sea. The crowd went over to Capernaum, looking for Jesus the following day. Jesus then proceeded to teach them.

Today’s passage picks up in the middle of Jesus’ teaching but let us go to the beginning of the teaching to understand what was Jesus trying to teach the crowd. The crowd was seeking Jesus for the wrong reasons, and they wanted to make him king by force because he had fed and given them food. They were not interested in Jesus. It was all about them and their own needs. (v26) Jesus tells them to seek not after the food that perishes but to seek the food by him that will endure to eternal life. (v27)

This food or bread that Jesus gives from the Father is himself. Jesus is the one that comes down from heaven and the giver of life. (v33) Jesus makes it even more explicit in verse 35 when he says emphatically that “I am the bread of life”. Jesus continues in the same train of thought by declaring that he has come down from heaven to do the will of the Father. The will of the Father is for Jesus to save those that the Father gives to him, for these are the people who will come to him, who will look to him and believe in him. These people will receive life. (v36-40)

The crowds did not get Jesus and grumbled because they thought they knew who Jesus was and where he was from. They could not believe that Jesus was the one that came down from heaven. (v41-43) They did not see with eyes of faith and belief in Jesus.

Jesus reiterates what he has already told them previously by saying that no one can come to him unless the Father draws him. Everyone who has learnt from the Father comes to Jesus because only Jesus has seen the Father. Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. (v44-48) Jesus is the true bread that has come down from heaven, he is the one who will give his flesh and die for us. (v50-51) To believe in Jesus is to have life. Jesus is the giver of life.

  • REFLECT

Jesus is the giver of life, he is the one who has come down from heaven to give us life. Everyone who believes and comes to Jesus will have life. Do we come to Jesus? Do we believe in Jesus? Or do we seek after our own needs and desires, interested only in the food he gives us?

Pray that we will believe in Jesus and learn to come to him. What can we do in our lives to come to Jesus and spend time with Him?

reading for: 5 Aug

1 Kings 19:4-8

Jesus sustains our physical bodies

  • READ

    Elijah was a great prophet of Israel, and he performed many miracles for God. Elijah had earlier confronted the wicked king Ahab and called him out for his disobedience. Telling him to gather all Israel at Mount Carmel. At Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged 850 false prophets to call on their God to rain fire down to consume the sacrifice. When they failed, Elijah poured water on the altar and wet the entire altar. Elijah then called on God to send fire from heaven, which God did in response, showing all Israel who was the true God. Elijah then told Ahab to expect rain, a miraculous sign as the nation was there amid a severe famine. (1 Kings 18)

    Elijah had just called on God to send fire from heaven and had just caused rain to fall during a severe famine. He was doing great things for God and had a great ministry for God.

    However, when Elijah was faced with opposition, that immediately changed. Let us look more closely at what happened. Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done and how he had killed all the false prophets. Jezebel threatened Elijah that she would kill him with a highly severe tone. (v1-2) Elijah melted away in fear and fled to many places, eventually to the wilderness, when he sat under a tree and asked God to let him die. He then slept under the tree. (v3-4) This was how much Elijah changed just because of this threat by Jezebel. He had just called fire from heaven on behalf of God, but now Elijah was gripped by fear. Fear till he wanted to die.

    How did God respond? We read that an angel touched him and commanded him to arise and eat. Immediately, he saw a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water at his head. (v5-6) The angel touched him again and told him to arise and eat because the journey would be too great without eating. Then, Elijah ate, drank and went on his journey for forty days and forty nights to Horeb in the strength of that food. (V7-8)

  • REFLECT

    Jesus is the giver of life. Just as the angel of the Lord sustained Elijah by giving him food from the Lord which sustained him for forty days and forty nights, Jesus is the one that gives us food. The food that Jesus gives us is himself. When we are weary, fearful, and tired, even to the point that we are seeking death, Jesus is the one that gives us life. When we are weary and tired, Jesus is the one that sustains our physical bodies.

    Perhaps we are like Elijah in serving the Lord and doing great exploits for the Lord. When we feel a sense of tiredness and fear, in response to a situation or threat, may we remember that Jesus is the giver of life. Jesus is the one that sustains and gives us strength. May we come to Jesus and find strength and be refreshed in him.

reading for: 6 Aug

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Living out the life that Jesus gives us

  • READ

    Ephesians is broadly divided into two halves. The first half from Ephesians 1-3 shows us what does the gospel of Jesus Christ looks like. Paul recounts how the Ephesians were once dead in their trespasses and lived in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. This is the state that they were in, and they were dead. However, because of the work of Christ, they have been made alive and are seated with Christ in heavenly places. They were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that the Ephesians were to walk in them. They were now people that had life. (Ephesians 2:1-10) In other words, because of Jesus, they were now people who had life. Those who were previously dead now had fullness of life. Jesus had given them life.

    Paul then proceeds to articulate in Ephesians 4-6 what being full of life looks like. Or in other words, showing us what it looks like to be people who are alive. Paul takes three chapters to show us what living out the life that Jesus gives us looks like. Today we will merely look at a few verses to receive a taste.

    Paul exhorts his hearers to speak the truth with one another, having put away falsehood because we are all fellow members of the body of Christ. (V25) They were to not let their anger cause them to sin, and not to last more than a day. They were not to allow the devil to tempt them to sin because of their anger. (V26-27) They were to be people who did honest work with their own hands and not steal. (V28) They were not to let corrupting talk come out of their mouths but speak only words that edify. (V29) They were not to grieve the Spirit of God and to put away anger, clamour and slander. Instead, they were to be kind-hearted and forgive one another.

    If all that were not enough, Paul continues to call them to imitate God as the beloved children of God and to walk in love as Christ loved them and gave himself up for them. This was the kind of life that they were to live as people made alive in Christ. This is how they were to live out the life that Jesus gave to them.

  • REFLECT

    Paul paints a picture of what it means to live out the life that Jesus has given to us. We are to be people who imitate God as the children of God. We are to be people who walk in love as Christ loved us and died for us. We are to be people to put away falsehoods and speak the truth, not letting our anger get the better of us. We are to be people who do honest work, not stealing the work of others. We are meant to speak wholesome words and not slander others. This is part of what it means to be alive.

    Reflect and share with your LG what is one way you can imitate God or walk in love. As we seek to imitate God or walk in love, this is living the life that Jesus gave to us. Pray for each other that we will truly live out the life that Jesus has given to us.

reading for: 7 Aug

Psalm 34:1-8

Praise the Lord who is the giver of life

  • READ

    Psalm 34 is a psalm of David when he was fleeing from the threats of King Saul, who was out to kill David. David was fearful and went to the King of Gath. The servants of the King of Gath recounted the mighty exploits of David, how he slain ten thousands. David responded in fear and pretended to be a madman. That caused the king to drive David away, saving the life of David. (1 Samuel 21:10-15)

    However, as Psalm 34 shows that David did not forget who his Lord and God is. David constantly sought to bless and praise the Lord at all times. (V1) David chose to boast in the Lord and exalt the name of the Lord. (V2-3) David sought the Lord, and the Lord delivered him from his fears. (V4) He speaks of the deliverance of the Lord and how he has seen that the Lord is good and the one who takes refuge in him is blessed. (V8)

    David was in the midst of a dangerous situation, he was fleeing from King Saul, and he thought that perhaps he could find refuge in the King of Gath. When the servants of the king responded in this mocking way, perhaps David felt even more fearful. He wondered what the King would do to him. However, we know that David turned to the Lord and chose to put his trust and boast in the Lord.

  • REFLECT

    Life is full of challenges, and sometimes we will fear the things of the world. Sometimes there will be situations that causes us to have great fear and wonder if we will survive. In those situations, may we learn to come to Jesus and praise him.  May we learn to praise and exalt him amid our challenges because he is the one that delivers us and gives us life.

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