WHO JESUS IS!
Mark 6:48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. 52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.
The Lord showed us in last Lord’s Day message (Learning Discipleship #3 – 08/01/10) that the most important issue in his dealings with men is their learning who he is! In this Mark six passage the issue was not the apostles tiredness, although that was addressed in verse 31. It was not even the apostle’s, nor the five thousand’s hunger! That too was dealt with in due time. But those disturbing verses 48, 51 – 52 of this passage, while the apostles were being horrified, not only by that horrific storm, but especially by the image that they knew not to be the Lord Jesus as he walked on the water, give rise to the understanding that these apostles of Christ; these foundations of the church, had so failed at the understanding of who he was in the miracle of the bread, that they were in danger of having the Lord walk right past them and leave them to the storm’s rage!
For verse 49 reveals that as they saw him … They supposed it had been a spirit! They had yet to understand him in his supernatural and spiritual revelation! He even asks Philip, Have I been so long with you and thou hast not known me? He continued to state, If thou hast seen me, thou hast seen the Father! (John 14:9).
Did you notice the words from the same mouth of the One who spoke all creation into existence, uttered to quiet the apostles terrorized hearts? He says, Be not afraid, I AM! (Amplified Bible). The thing he gave them to overcome this problem was the very thing that they failed at (see verse 52, listed above), in the matter of the feeding of the 5,013 men (including the Lord and the apostles)! He told them what they didn’t realize! I AM that Bread of Life!
Who shall sustain us in eternity when there are no grocery stores, and no restaurants? Who is sustaining these very apostles at this present moment? How shall you be kept alive when you leave your teeth to chew, and your stomach to receive and digest your food with the undertaker, when your soul is called home to God? Christ is our Bread, the sustainer of our life!
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. John 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Listen to more of that same passage pertaining to Christ being our Bread! John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Also consider his answer to Satan concerning the temptation to make physical bread in order to prove who he was! Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Even though he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was an hungred, he identified himself by the spiritual nourishment, rather than the physical!
My Words Are Spirit
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Until this generation of believers get back to the spirituality of the scriptures there will never be a recovery of the gospel! For the carnal and earthy concepts of the scriptures have greatly harmed the progress of true spiritual religion among us! Our God is a spirit! And we must therefore only worship him in spirit and in truth! To do other wise is death! John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
How could one possibly understand the following verses for edification in any other way than by a spiritual application? Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
And just as sure as God was referring to the spiritual Bread of Christ, so he was also referring spiritually to Christ’s sure mercies, and not King David, the son of Jesse! Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
For Jesus Christ is the presently reigning Lord of the universe! Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Revelation 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
This was the same issue with Mary and Martha who also only looked at the natural and couldn’t see Him for who he is! Like the majority of professing religionists of our day, they only believed the resurrection to be an event! They didn’t know that the resurrection is a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ! John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Regeneration IS a resurrection!
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
The first resurrection IS being born again, or, regeneration! For it alone renders one to be “blessed and holy!” Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And being raised from the death of sin exempts from the eternal, or the second death!
Knowing who the Lord Jesus is, is eternal life! John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Therefore we are given the necessity of eating physical bread, for an instruction to the consuming of the spiritual Bread! 1 Cor. 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. For the physical things are there for the revelation of the invisible things of the Godhead. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
So it was with his disciples in the matter of the miracle of the bread! They knew he could multiply physical bread, but they didn’t fully realize that he IS the spiritual Bread of God who is essential for the nourishment of every believing soul! They were bewildered even at his relation to eating! John 4:31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
The sustaining of the spiritual man is provided in his connection to God by faith. And that faith is always in submissive obedience to the will and work of God! Elijah being sustained for forty days was not just by the eating of the Lord’s provision of food, but it was also in his obedience to the command of God! 1Kings 19:7 And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
Who Jesus Said He Was!
The Light of the World:
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
The Door of the Sheep
John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The Good Shepherd
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
The Son of God
John 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
The Resurrection and the Life
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
The Way, the Truth, the Life
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The True Vine
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Pastor Gene Breed
August 7, 2010
