God's Word for You (Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010)
A Daily Devotion by Pastor Tim Smith
John 6:60-65
Jesus, The Bread of Life
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” (NIV)
The Jews listening to Jesus were grumbling the whole time he was speaking (verses 41-42, 52, and 60-61). They didn’t object to just one or two of the things Jesus was saying; they objected to all of it. They didn’t like him saying that he was the Bread of Life, or that he had come down from heaven, or that they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood, or that he would give eternal life to whoever believed in him. For them, “This (was) a hard teaching,” like an old dry tree root sticking out of the ground waiting to trip someone. But Jesus’ reply is, “Just wait till you see me ascend into heaven.”
In the end, we see that even faith is a gift. Jesus shows us that it’s a gift that can be refused, and that there are some who are so stubborn and hard-hearted that they will refuse it. But it is still a gift given to us. Cherish the faith God gave to you. It’s a spiritual gift, and it’s also life. Eternal life.
Something Extra:
Philemon 1-3
Paul was in prison. After a long winter voyage lasting from the fall of 58 to the spring of 59 AD, Paul was finally in Rome, under house arrest, and visited by friends and others, among whom was a man named Epaphras from Colosse. Paul had converted some of the Colossian Christians himself, including a wealthy businessman named Philemon. As it happened, another man who came into contact with Paul in Rome was a runaway slave—runaway from that same Philemon. Paul didn’t make the slave (Onesimus) go back right away; he talked with him and taught him about Christ, first. But now Onesimus was more than a casual acquaintance; he was a brother in Christ and a dear friend. So at about the same time (perhaps the same day) that Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, he dashed off another quick note to his friend Philemon who lived in the same city…
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV)
The reason for the letter is far from the usual things Paul wrote about. Philemon was a slave owner, and one of his slaves—a man named Onesimus (Oh NESS ih mus)—had run into Paul in Rome. What makes this even more amazing is that Paul was in prison at the time, and it’s clear from the rest of the letter that Onesimus is not a prisoner like Paul.
How did they meet? Onesimus must have heard about Paul’s preaching, and he went to find Paul, to meet him in person. Now Paul is going to plead with Philemon for Onesimus. He’s not going to beg Philemon to free his slave or to sell his slave. All Paul is going to do is ask Philemon to forgive his slave. Whatever else Philemon would choose to do would be up to Philemon. Paul was really leaving things in the hands of God.
We can’t always accomplish everything we want in life. Sometimes we’re paralyzed because we don’t think we can accomplish anything at all from where we are or who we are. Paul was in prison, but he reached out with his pen to make a difference in the lives of two men.
Jesus let himself be beaten, mocked and even murdered to make a difference in our lives. He did it to free us from our sins. He reached out with everything he is to make a difference in our lives, and the difference he made is forgiveness. Jesus reached out with his whole life, and he gave us heaven.
Note: There is an early Christian tradition that says that Philemon and his wife Apphia (verse 2) were martyred. Although we can’t prove that to be true, it’s at least likely to be true. Archippus (their son?) is noted by the early church (Apostolic Constitutions 7:46) as having been the leading pastor or bishop of nearby Laodicea (cf. Colossians 4:15-16) and theologically of the same authority as the bishops of Rome and all the other churches.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn's father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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