Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Too Familiar With Jesus's Miracles? | New Testament | John 6

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

Have you grown too comfortable with the story of Jesus? Do you feel unimpressed by Jesus's miracles? This can be detrimental to your faith. In today's episode, Tanya looks to John 6 to find encouragement when you take the gifts of God for granted. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 6

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Long ago, when I was an English teacher, one of my least favorite things besides making parent phone calls was reading bad student writing. Now, if that's you, I'm not judging, but empathizing because you're probably thinking that one of your least favorite things to do was go to English class. One of the phrases I said a lot to my students, especially if we were doing narrative writing,

was, don't tell me, show me. What I meant by that was give the details, the sights, the sounds, smells, dialogue to prove that you were there and make me feel like I was there too. I would have loved to have a student like John in one of my English classes. He was a show me kind of writer. The gospel according to John is a non-synoptic gospel, which basically means that while it was written much later than the other three, there are many details that John includes. that place him as being there, an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry. In chapter 6, John takes us into the life of Jesus and the disciples, so we can join with them as they discover that Jesus is more than they thought he was.

Has your heart become too familiar with the miracles of Jesus? Do you take the gifts of Jesus for granted? Today is a chance to reflect on the saving blood of Jesus that encompasses every past, present and future reflection our minds can possibly come up with. If you're feeling strong, if you're feeling weak, if you're feeling needy, if you're feeling unsure, even if you're feeling overconfident, take a few moments to enter into this time between Jesus and his disciples and let the abundance of Jesus in this scene fill your heart. So John 6 and the scene opens with the disciples and a crowd and a lot of hungry people. John tells the story, John tells the

story of Jesus feeding the hungry crowd with five loaves and two fish. Maybe you've heard this story. But John includes details that place this event in the heart of the whole Bible's salvation story. John lets us know that it happened in the spring just before the Passover. He also tells us that the loaves were made of barley. The disciples faced disbelief, John says, but Jesus commanded them to pass out the food. There was also enough food to spare. All of those details place this story of the feeding of the 5,000 alongside the way God provided manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. See, Jesus was showing the disciples that he is more than a prophet, he's more than a miracle worker. He is the I am from the Old Testament. He is God in the flesh. Yes, he was. He was a miracle worker. He is the world. He was

was born in a manger, outside the circles of kings and influence, but he is the promised king. So John shows us what happens when everyone was full and the leftovers were gathered into baskets. He writes, after the people saw the sign Jesus performed, which means feeding the crowd, they began to say, surely this is the prophet who has come into the world. Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. The people wanted to make him a king because he gave them something. In fact, he gave them more than they needed. They wanted someone like this on the throne. They wanted Jesus because he saw and met their needs. But Jesus wasn't going to the throne via the people's path. He had come to do the Father's will,

and then to sit at the right hand of the Father. So he retreated and waited for the Father's timing. I don't know about you, but when what Jesus gives lines up with what I need or want, it's easy to be a follower. It's easy to try to make him my king or to make him my king. The problem is that I'm not very good at knowing what I want. I think I want to be full of things that I don't really need. I think I want success for me and my family today in this moment.

But those things aren't always in line with God's will. Now, after seeing Jesus perform a miracle in the desert, the disciples marched right into a terrifying experience on the water. Sometimes successes are more dangerous to our spiritual life than defeats because we take our eyes off Jesus. The disciples were in a pickle on the water, and Matthew and Mark tell us, that they thought Jesus coming toward them was a ghost.

And Mark expanded that their hearts were hardened because they did not understand about the loaves. Now, John describes Jesus as having a calming effect on the disciples when they were in the boat, and they began to see and understand that it was Jesus walking toward them, not a ghost. And when Jesus called out to them, don't be afraid, I am here.

They were eager to let him in the boat, and then John says they immediately arrived at their destination. It can be easy to make Jesus a king when things are going well, and it can be natural to trust him as a Savior when we need help. But above all, we need to trust in Jesus' presence with us as we seek to follow him in all of life's moments, whether we're full of bread or we're struggling in a boat and we're afraid. the ups and downs of life, especially the in-betweens. These are all opportunities for us to believe that Jesus is more. We want to be like Peter, because at the end of this chapter, his only hope is in Jesus. Jesus said something amazing that applied to them and also to us,

and while a lot of people turned away from him when he said it, Peter's attention was fixed on Jesus' words. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven't believed in me, even though you have seen me. However, those that Father has given me will come to me and I will never lose them. This made people turn away. This made people desert him.

But Jesus turned to Peter, and he said to Peter, don't you want to leave to? And Peter said, Lord, to whom? would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know that you are the holy one of God. Has Jesus shown himself to you in the way that he has cared for you, cared for your family? Has he comforted you when other people rejected you? Have you felt the calm of His Holy Spirit when you were afraid? Have you received discernment from him when you needed it? Have you been assured of his forgiveness for you? When Jesus points to himself as the true bread of heaven,

it's not just that he gives us certain gifts, but that he is himself the gift. Only he can satisfy our material and spiritual hunger. The child that was born in a manger outside the circles of influence gives meaning to your life. The child that fled for his life gives you a problem, promise that you will never be lost or rejected. The one who knew hunger in the desert satisfies your hunger for approval and acceptance. The Savior who gave up his life outside the city gates gives you renewed life in his presence. If you have become too familiar with the miracles of

Jesus, take some time this week to reflect on those miracles in the Bible and on the ones in your own life. Practicing to Jesus in the storms and in the regular days, where else would I go? You have the words of eternal life. I believe, and I know you are the Holy One of God.