The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 6 - Who is Jesus? - Part 2
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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.
Easy English Bible homepage | Matthew (commentary) | Mark (commentary) | Luke (commentary) | John (commentary)
After Jesus fed 5000 people by a *miracle, the *disciples left
in the boat. But Jesus was not with them. He went up a mountain to pray.
On the lake, suddenly a storm began. A strong wind blew. The
waves on the sea became very big. The *disciples were in danger. Jesus walked on
the water to get to the boat. Immediately the *disciples were safe, and they
reached the land.
But the crowd had seen that the *disciples left without Jesus.
People then tried to find Jesus. They did not find him, and so they went to the
other side of the lake themselves.
When the rest of the crowd found the *disciples with Jesus, they
had a question to ask. They wanted to know how Jesus had got there. Jesus did
not answer this question. Instead, he said this to them. He wanted them to think
about him seriously. He said:
John 6:26, 27 Jesus
answered, ‘I tell you the truth. The reason why you are looking for me is
not the *miracles. You are looking for me because I gave you plenty of bread
to eat.
Do not work for food
that becomes bad. Work for food that gives you eternal life. [Jesus used the
word 'food', but he did not really mean food here. Read my explanation in the
next paragraph. 'Eternal life' is the life that God gives to believers
now, and which will continue in heaven.]
The Son of Man [Jesus] will give you this food. God the Father has shown that
he approves of him’.
They expected good things from Jesus, but he wanted to give them
much better things. But first they had to trust him. The crowd then asked Jesus
to prove who he was. They remembered that, for 40 years, Moses had given food to
the Jews in the desert. Jesus told them that the food came from God. It did not
come from Moses. Now God would give them the best food. By 'food', Jesus did not
mean the food that you eat. This 'food' really meant Jesus himself. He had come
to give the world the best way to live. He was here now, with them. The crowd
did not understand. They asked for bread that they could put in their mouths.
Then Jesus made a series of wonderful statements.
John 6:35 Then Jesus
declared, ‘I am the *bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry.
He who believes in me will never need a drink’.
John 6:38 ‘I have
come down from *heaven to obey God. I do not do the things that I want to do.
I do the things that God wants me to do. He has sent me’.
John 6:40 ‘This is
what my Father [God] wants. Everyone who believes in the Son [Jesus] shall
have *eternal life. That person will be with me at the last day’. [The last
day will be when Jesus comes back to the world. He has promised to do this in
the future.]
Jesus declared that God sent him to this world. Jesus came to
show people in the world how to live. He can satisfy completely those who
believe in him. He also declared that they are safe for all time. They will be
safe with him on the last day. [The last day
will be when Jesus comes back to the world. He has promised to do this in the
future.] And they will always live with him in heaven. Jesus, and only
Jesus, can show us how to live in God’s way. People must believe and trust in
him.
The Jews did not like this and they said so. They knew that
Jesus came from Nazareth. So they did not believe that he came from heaven. They
did not believe that God sent Jesus to this world.
Jesus had said some difficult things. He said that before his
birth to Mary, he had already existed. That was before he came to earth (for
example: John 8:23, John 3:13 and John 3:31.) Later the *apostle John wrote
wonderful words at the beginning of his *gospel: John 1:1-5. These words explain
this well. Men could understand what Jesus said later. Jesus died on the *cross
and came alive again. After that it was easier to understand some things. When
he died on the *cross, he gave himself for the *sins of other people. He died so
that we can live in God’s way. Because he did this, God can forgive us. If we
believe, God forgives us and blesses us.
Jesus then explained again what he had said.
John 6:47-51 ‘I
tell you the truth. He who believes in me has *eternal life. I am the *bread
of life. Long ago your people ate the manna in the desert, but yet they died.
[Manna is the name of the bread that God sent to the people with Moses.] But
here is the bread that comes down from *heaven. A man may eat it and not die.
I am the *living bread that came down from *heaven. If anyone eats of this
*bread, he will live for ever. This *bread is my body. I will give my body so
that the world can have *eternal life’.
'A man may eat it and not die.' Jesus did not speak here about
the death of a person’s body. He spoke about the death of the *spirit that is
inside a man. He called this the ‘second death’. These verses in the Bible
give a wonderful promise to those who believe in Jesus. But when he spoke these
words, many people did not understand. They went away from him. Jesus turned to
the *disciples. He asked if they also were going to leave him. Peter answered
for them all:
John 6:68-69 Simon
Peter answered him, ‘*Lord, we cannot go to anyone else. You have the words
of *eternal life. We believe in you. We know that you are the Holy One of
God’.
There were many things that
the disciples did not understand. But they knew that the promise of *eternal
life came from Jesus. One day, Jesus would give his body on the *cross so that
people could have *eternal life. This whole event taught them this. Jesus fed
5000 people by a *miracle. Then Jesus taught them. This *miracle showed them a
wonderful truth.
©
2002-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)