Monday, April 20, 2015

Is Jesus The Lord?

The crowds try to make Jesus the servant.



John 6:1-5  After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias.

A huge crowd kept following Him wherever He went, because they saw His miraculous signs as He healed the sick.

Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with His disciples around Him.  (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.)  Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for Him. Turning to Philip, He asked, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?"

John 6:14-15  When the people saw Him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, "Surely, He is the Prophet we have been expecting!"  15  When Jesus saw that they were ready to force Him to be their king, He slipped away into the hills by Himself.

The crowds that are following Jesus are continuing to grow, and why not? Jesus is doing some pretty cool stuff. After a big disturbance in Jerusalem he moved on to Galilee and he is really gaining in popularity.

In Galilee alone the Centurion's servant has been healed, the son of the widow of Nain is alive again, remember Jairus' daughter, the two blind men, the woman who touched His clothes, a demonic who couldn't speak. All of this has happened right here in Galilee!
Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
This crowd was looking for someone that would save them from the oppression of the Romans, they wanted to see the fulfillment of the hope that Moses gave them that another prophet would rise up to help them.

The crowds were looking for somebody that would make their life a lot easier, they wanted a Messiah who healed and fed them and was a physical earthly Messiah that would help their country. The free lunch and healing Messiah was all they wanted and sometimes Jesus disciples felt the same way.
What Can Jesus Do For Me?
John 6:29-30  Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent."

They answered, "Show us a miraculous sign if You want us to believe in You. What can You do?"
They were just like a lot of people in our world who want that same kind of Jesus. They want one who will just do everything for them and make no demands. They like the help but they don't want to hear that this Jesus requires something of them. They didn't have any thought of repentance at all.

One test of whether I am truly submitting to God is how I react to my circumstances. Am I grumbling or giving thanks when things don't go the way that I wanted them to go. If God choose this situation that I am in and he did so for my good then who am I to try to take charge.

Who is really the lord of my life? If I am using God then I am promoting myself to the position of lord and I am trying to make him my servant. Jesus does not want followers who use Him for their own purposes, but followers who grow to know Him and trust Him for who He is and allow him to be Lord.

Forgive me Lord for making myself the lord and putting you in the place of the servant. I want to live for your glory and be obedient to you instead of trying to get you to obey me.