ONLY A NAZARENE?

John 7:25-36

But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.

The people made a critical error in judgment. They thought Jesus was only a Nazarene, a person from the city of Nazareth.

True, Jesus’ hometown was Nazareth. But before He lived there, heaven was His hometown. This the people did not know. Did not take time to find out!

Today, many make the same kind of mistake about Jesus. They think He is just another teacher. Merely another wise philosopher or moral teacher in a long line of wise men of history!

They do not realize He comes from heaven.

Jesus attempts to expand their thinking about His origins – I am not here on my own…because I am from Him and He sent me.

Our Teacher is more than He appears. Students of the Teacher have come to understand this. He is not just a Nazarene!

He is the Teacher sent from God.

Jesus said, I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me.

Understanding who Jesus really is, where He comes from, changes everything. Suddenly this Teacher becomes greater than anyone who ever lived.

The realization grows that being a student of Jesus is the greatest opportunity a person will ever have in life.

Listening to the voice of Jesus! Hearing the voice of God! This is wisdom for living from the One who created everything.

THE DECISION

John 7:14-24

The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?

Here everyone is surprised by Jesus’ teaching. They wonder how He came by His extraordinary understanding. They are especially astounded because they think He never studied.

They’re wrong. This Teacher is also a student. He’s been paying attention to His Father all His life.

At twelve years of age in the temple, He amazed the teachers of the law. Even then, He told them He must be about His Father’s business.

Now the Teacher reveals the source of His wisdom - My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.

He then shares the secret to acquiring such life-changing knowledge.

If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

Students of the Teacher take note. From the beginning Jesus made a choice. He made a decision to seek the Father’s Will.

This is His secret that opened for Him a life of wisdom and power. And the decision to seek God is still the secret to every successful student’s life.

Certainly Jesus studied and knew the Scriptures, but the secret to His amazing knowledge goes far deeper. His deep understanding did not come primarily from studying. Other rabbis knew the Scriptures very well.

No, He was given Wisdom from above because of the decision He made – a commitment to do God’s Revealed Will.

When you think about it, why would God reveal amazing, insightful truths to one who isn’t first seriously committed to follow them? Such knowledge would be wasted on one who doesn’t intend to do what God desires in the first place. That’s why the Teacher says the road to real wisdom begins with THE DECISION.

RELUCTANT STAR

John 7:1-13

No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.

Here Jesus’ own brothers – who don’t believe in Him yet – attempt to goad Him into going public. You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.

For all His notoriety, Jesus wasn’t a publicity seeker. He preferred family, a small circle of close friends, remote areas and quiet evenings alone in prayer. Many students of Jesus identify with this.

Yet, His compassion drives Him to use His energy and power to help the poor and the sick. Naturally, His fame grows.

His brothers chide their humble Brother without mercy - Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.

Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”

Jesus has a mission and in His time He will shine brighter than the stars. The cross is waiting. There will be an empty tomb and exaltation to the throne of heaven.

But not yet…

In this moment, we glimpse the path Jesus would have preferred to walk if not for His love of people. In fact, would He have ever left heaven in the first place if not for His love for people?

Our Teacher is a reluctant star, and He will choose the path less travelled. The difficult and treacherous way - The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

And He shines all the more brighter in our eyes because of this.

SAY GOODBYE!

John 6:60-71

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Strange isn’t it? The people gladly accept Jesus’ incredible miracle of feeding 5,000 with only five loaves, but they can’t believe Jesus’ claim to change their lives.

When He talks about being the bread of heaven, they walk away.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

When Jesus seeks to turn the focus from the physical to the spiritual; most Say Goodbye.

Is this the way it is?

Do followers of Jesus come to Him only for what He can do to improve their physical lives – put more bread on the table, bring greater success in business, maintain physical health?

The Teacher’s reaction is very interesting. He doesn’t go running after them. He simply keeps speaking the truth.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.

Students of the Teacher come to experience greater physical blessings as they follow Him, but their greater concern is the eternal life He is providing. They understand if they walk away from Him, they say goodbye to their futures.

They have come to understand from His life story that eventually the physical existence gives way to death and a new resurrected life.

To whom shall we go? You alone have the Words of eternal life!

BREAD OF HEAVEN

John 6:52-59

This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Jesus fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. Excitedly they pursue Him – seek Him out - but Jesus knows they are only after another miraculous meal.

By focusing on the loaves instead of the compassion and power of the One who fed them, the crowd completely misses the point of the miracle of bread.

If they would only believe in the Person, He could do so much more for them than provide lunch.

Jesus attempts to turn their attention to the greater possibilities He offers - Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

In this highly symbolic language, Jesus asks them to pursue Him with the same vigor that caused them to run around the lake seeking another free meal.

Pursue the Teacher. Take Him into our very being. Allow Him to get down inside of us, change our lives!

There is such harmony in this story of the loaves. As we seek bread to nourish our physical bodies for a day, we pursue Jesus to eat of the Bread of Heaven and change our lives forever.

This is the work of the student of Jesus. Seeking the daily bread of His presence and allowing His teaching and His power to come inside of us!

Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven.

WHO'S TEACHING?

John 6:41-51

It is written in the Prophets: “They will all be taught by God.”

Is it really possible to have God as a Teacher?

Jesus says it is.

In fact, when we listen to Jesus, we are actually being taught by God Himself.

Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
This is the great privilege of becoming a student of Jesus. Our Teacher is God!

Everyone in the world is listening to some voice. Friends, scholars, scientists, religion, gurus, or even their own thoughts… So the question is – Who’s Teaching?

Only a student of Jesus is listening to the voice of God and so has God as a Teacher.

Then why isn’t everyone in the world excited to become a student of Jesus?

Perhaps for some it seems too good to be true. They just can’t believe the Creator would have a personal interest in them. Have difficulty receiving and internalizing God's love.

Apparently some in Jesus’ day couldn’t believe in Him - They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

Those who become students of Jesus have come to understand and know that what He says is what God is saying.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

Who’s Teaching?

FIRST A STUDENT

John 6:34-40

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

It’s true. The Teacher invites us to become His students. In doing so, He is not asking us to do anything He has not already done.

For the Teacher Himself was first a student! Even as He taught great truths to the world, He was a Student-Teacher.

The One who asks us to listen to Him was Himself listening to His Father. He was always seeking to follow the Will of His Father.

For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

There was significant meaning and purpose for Jesus in being a student of His Father. By this life process, He allowed Himself to be led to gradually fulfill His Father’s plan for His life. A life that created eternal possibilities for all of mankind as well!

What a perfect student our Teacher was! And what an example of what it means to be a good student!

When we pay attention to Jesus, He leads us to fulfill our destiny. We become more like our Teacher and enter by degrees into the eternal life the Father purposed for us.

Jesus fulfilled His God-given destiny on earth by being a student of His Father. Only in this same way do students of Jesus journey to their ultimate destination and fulfill their destiny.

No, it wasn’t one way for Jesus and another way for us. The life of a student was His before it ever became ours.

The path is the same and the destination is the same. A changed and purposeful life and glory with God in heaven!