ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
Norma A. Boeckler took this photo at the dog park when she visited us.
Sassy had trouble jumping up on the bed as she got older. She could do it most of the time, but she liked being encouraged. I even put my foot near her tail to encourage her. She did her, "Rar, rar, rar!" warning bark but did not mean anything by it. She is known for being gentle but very loud.
She kept making fake attempts at jumping up one night, and I got angry. Then I sat down and petted her, telling her how much we all loved her. She gave me a gentle little lick of affection.
Sassy jumped, ran, and fetched better than the four-legged dogs.
That - I learned to my sorrow and laughter - was the beginning of the lovey needed for the jump. She no longer jumped for any reason but pushed her chest up against the bed, looked up, and grinned at me for a lovey. That had to be fairly wordy and effusive in language about her many friends, her gentleness, and her love for everyone.
So that immediately became a requirement. Her fake run turned into parking her chest against the bed. When we took off the legs of the bed - for her - she continued pushing her chest against bed and grinning. I took that as the new expectation, but I was wrong.
Soon Sassy began to park her chest against the corner of the bed. I thought maybe she was saving time. No. After that was done, she pretended to get her fun going, but pushed her chest in the same place again. She began giving me really big grins for this. (I gave her an M.A. - honoris causa - in adult education - for training me so well. The honorary doctorate will come later, I am sure.)
Tonight I tried to get her to jump after the first lovey, at the corner of the bed. She wiggled around and stopped with her chest against the bed again - big grin. She likes a longer bout of petting for the second time, and she wants an elaborate discussion of her merits, friends, and awesome reputation. I get a second gentle lick for being such a good student at her academy.
People loved seeing Sassy in the back seat, with me as the chauffer, in the Lincoln Town Car. It was a beautiful, smooth, dependable car that went 205,000 miles for us and then provided transportation for a friend's mother.
Among the great dogmaticians of the Lutheran Church, there is great unanimity in maintaining that predestination takes place in view of foreseen faith. It seemed necessary to teach this to guard the doctrine against Calvinistic error. Though all our writers did not use the same terms in designating faith as necessary to predestination, as Baier punts out, yet they agreed in the substance of the doctrine, that God predestinated whom He foresaw in Christ by faith. Hollaz, whose celebrated work was published in 1685, says: Our theologians in explaining the eternal decree of predestination, agree entirely as to the matter, teaching with one consent that God, to whom also the future is objectively present, by the infinite light of His intellect from eternity foresaw the faith of certain men, who had fallen into sin, and in view of their faith thus foreseen elected them to eternal life. They differ only in the mode of speaking and in the use of some technical terms.” Exam. P. III. Sec. 1, cap. 2, qu. 9.
From “Election in Foresight of Faith” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
1 Pet. 1:2, where Luther explains “foreknowledge” by “ordination,” because God in election had respect to the order constituted by Himself, in which order not our works, but Christ, together with all His merit, is included. Contrarily, the interpretation of the Calvinists is false, who interpret this “foreknew” by “recognized as His, loved, elected.” For then there would be no difference between foreknowledge and predestination or election, whereas they here must be accurately distinguished one from the other, as distinct steps in procuring our salvation.
From: “Rom. 8:28-30. By Prof. F. W. Stellhorn” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
We had two brief episodes of sleet, which melted fast, then experienced the edge of the Sno-Pocalypse, which was relatively mild all the way to Maine. The snow melted from the roads and driveways as it fell, but accumulated on the ground and birdfeeders. Now we have a week of 60 to 70 degree days.
The starlings knew where to search for food under the snow, so we hosted most of the starlings in Springdale, almost like Hitchcock's The Birds. It did seem as if their relatives from Fayetteville joined the food line. They pecked through the snow and found corn and peanuts galore.
The shy male cardinal landed on the kitchen window sill, where food is always placed. Like the squirrels who know their rights, the cardinal looked into the kitchen to remind me of our long and affectionate relationship. I was only two feet away, the reward for having food there most days, extra food for extreme weather.
The blue jay stopped on the other window sill to scream at me. Yes, yes, you are hungry too. I removed a lot of snow from their feeding zones - garbage barrel lids, window sills, the hanging wire bun baskets, and the cinder block.
The single purchase of suet lasted all winter. I had it hanging from an extra birdfeeder (squirrel proof, hahahahaha) in the mild fall weather, and it was totally ignored. Suet eaters, like the chickadees and woodpeckers, want suet when it is very cold and when they feel secure about the source. So when the snow and sleet were falling I saw the bug eating birds use the suet to tide them over.
Mulch is the best bird feeder of all, but more awkward to enjoy at ground level. A layer of leaves and wood mulch is a choice zone for all the critters birds love to devour.
I leave the garden trashy into the spring, to let the beneficial insects thrive, which also feed the birds and even the squirrels.
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy loving-kindnesses: for they have been ever of old.
Let not mine enemies triumph over me: God of Israel, deliver us out of all our troubles.
Psalm. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed.
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
O God, who seest that of ourselves we have no strength, keep us both outwardly and inwardly that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 Hymn # 50Lord Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing
Prayers and Announcements
Medical care - Pastor Jim Shrader, Christ Shrader, Doc Lito, Pastor K, Callie and her mother Peggy, and C.
Wednesday, 7 PM - MidWeek Lenten service,
Thank you for the donation of the Cambridge Lectern KJV Bible. One year anniversary.
KJV 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God,even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
KJV Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Second Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Thy grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin, and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Thy grace, and in every trial and temptation find Thee a very present help and refuge, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
I AM the Light of the World
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
KJV John 8: 12 Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 13
The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy
record is not true. 14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record
of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go;
but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. 15 Ye judge after the
flesh; I judge no man. 16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent me. 17 It is also written in your law,
that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am one that bear witness of myself,
and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. 19 Then said they unto him,
Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye
had known me, ye should have known my Father also. 20 These words spake Jesus
in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for
his hour was not yet come.
We should view the Gospel of John as the fulfillment and the commentary on the Books of Moses. When we see the obvious parallels, the more subtle ones become clearer. In this case, the statement - I AM the Light of the Word - takes us back to the beginning of time. Believe or not, one "lifelong Lutheran" was shocked that the Son existed from eternity. This reference to Creation makes that clear, and the chapter builds upon that.
As Luther observed, God created light before the sun, moon, and the stars. Thus light is first of all that truth belonging to God and the Son is that light. As spectacular as the creation of the universe is, calling forth the Light is even greater. Every step of the Creation, each 24 hour day, shows the Son as the Logos (John 1, interpreting Genesis 1) executing the commands of God the Father.
The nit-picking nannies of fake scholarship want to find differences and contradictions everywhere, but this is another example of the Father and Son in perfect harmony with the Holy Spirit witnessing.
The emphasis on I AM is not minor but major as the rest of the chapter shows. Jesus declared His divinity to the Jewish opponents, and their opposition is clearly stated in the Fourth Gospel.
I AM the Light of the world
God teaches us here that there is only one Truth, just as the Bible, as the Trinitarian revelation, is the one true Book, which is not judged by any book and judges all book. I have tell some Biblical students - "No, this man is not the last word in what the Bible says, the Bible is the last word. One passage illuminates another, and we are continuously learning. The Holy Spirit is the professor, teaching through the Word."
The experts would have us thing there are many truths, many perspectives. They long to fuse all religions together. The often overlooked part of Westcott-Hort has been overlooked. He was deeply involved in teaching that Christianity and Hinduism should be one religion, together, that the Incarnation would be complete when every person on earth was someone in every person (not through faith).
As many atheist world religion professors have proven, there is no way to integrate darkness and light, except to have even more darkness.
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Lenski noted that following the Light means the Light is moving. Jesus reveals the truth as we move through life. We can see what a difference that makes when we rely on His Truth as the Light of the world. Darkness seems to loom all around us, but light eliminates darkness. The smallest light will show what is in a darkened room.
KJV Psalm 119:105 Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
We have this constant reminder, when we use a lamp to find our way (or our keys or wallet or part from the computer) in the darkness. The everyday use of light in darkness reminds us that Jesus as the divine Word lights our path.
The Canaanite Woman
Some people like to portray this Gospel text for today, this miracle of healing as Jesus being mean. He does not listen. His disciples urge Him to act! - Send her away with a miracle!
He seems to try hard to insult the woman by using the term "dogs."
But this is really a miracle about faith in spite of all our emotions, fears, and rational judgements. First of all, her faith is so great that she as a pagan approaches the Jewish Messiah, because she has heard the Report (Isaiah 53, Romans 10) and believes.
Second, her faith is revealed in how she persists in view of Jesus' total silence, a silence so great that the disciples want her gone, dismissed with the miracle she wishes.
Third, her faith is shown in that Jesus rebuffs her with words that could be taken as insulting, just as people say to Christians, "Where is your Jesus now? Why does He treat ministers and members so badly? Look at us!" Some of those taunters are busy in many congregations, where the insults smart the most.
Finally, her faith is shown in her being willing to accept anything that Jesus will offer. She may be a dog, but "even the little pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table."
Jesus played the foil so that this woman's faith, which He knew by divine intuition, would be revealed outwardly and recorded for all time. This pagan turned believer through the Gospel Word is our example in remaining full of trust in Christ, no matter how:
God seems to be silent.
God seems absent for a long time.
God lets us take insulting abuse and worse...
This is the key example of faith in Jesus resulting in blessings, rejoicing - even in the crumbs that fall from the Master's table.
“The Waltherites claim that their fight is a fight for divine truth and for God’s Word… [but] where is it expressly said in the Bible, that faith comes from election, that the Holy Ghost in conversion also overcomes and removes willful resistance, that God could convert all men, but from some unknown reason chooses not to do it—that the reason why some men are converted, and others not, is simply because God removes willful resistance in some and in others He does not—that He bestows larger measures of grace upon some than upon others, etc.? Where are these and other similar things which New Missourians now hold, set forth? Not a shadow of proof has been furnished for any of them. And yet they are all boldly declared to be Bible truths and parts of the “reine Lehre,” just as the Papists claim their tenets to be contained in the Bible, being slow, however, to adduce the evidence."
From “The Lutheran Doctrine Of Election: Its Scriptural Evidence And Proof. By Rev. P. Eirich, Hoboken, N. J.” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Walther lied about Stephan's many affairs with young women, until an opportune time came to talk about the bishop's syphilis and that of his young girlfriends. He insisted on his false doctrine and controlled everything as a cult - seminary, publications, synod, calls. So Missouri built him a shrine or two.
Turbo Tax headquarters - I used to teach their employees, but not about taxes. One CPA student said, "Any idiot can do Turbo Tax." That was after I confessed to using it. I said, "That's why I use TT."
I had so much trouble with someone's federal return, stuck on one page, for the 1099-R, that I did my own. It did nothing, went nowhere, and said there was an error. I went to the Net and searched the problem. Turbo Tax added the page, and it can be removed. Upper right-hand corner is search. Put 1099r or 1099-r in the search. That should bring up the page and delete it. I had delete twice, for each client.
John Sparky Brenner WELS professor at two seminaries, MLS and Mordor, admitted in his Jesuit dissertation at Marquette University that Walther's predestination rampage was promoted simply to back up his Objective Justification.
“It is only an effort to mislead the unwary when the cry is raised that grace is disparaged when stress is laid upon faith as indispensable to salvation. There is no such opposition between grace and faith as there is between grace and merit or works, because faith is the only means of appropriating the only merit which can avail for our justification.
From “Election and Justification” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
“That the doctrine of justification by faith is thus placed in jeopardy is plain to the view. According to God’s revealed order of salvation He cannot eternally save the soul that has not the righteousness of Christ, which is appropriated only by faith. But the Missouri doctrine of election claims that He selects those whom He designs to save, and infallibly decrees their salvation, without any foresight of faith. The divine declaration, “He that believeth shall be saved,” is translated into the proposition, He whom God pleases shall and must be saved.”
From “Election and Justification” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Frosty Bivens, Fuller Seminary alumnus (or not, depending on the audience) claims that Objective Justification is the Chief Article of the Christian Faith. His pal Valleskey did not go to Fuller either (or he did, if talking to Fuller fans).
Zarling, WELS, wrote an unintentionally funny essay on Objective Justification as a "diamond." The essay was so bad that Bivens stole Zarling's main points on OJ being the Chief Article. Kids - plagiarize and you could teach at Mordor.
The Walther-Stephan faction put F. Pieper (Wisconsin Sect) in place to canonize CFW's crypto-Calvinistic OJ. Why did Walther call Loy to be a Missouri professor? Perhaps to silence him.
Valleskey's lopsided smile is disturbingly like Mark Jeske's.
This will revolutionize anyone's grasp of nutrition.
Somebody - send this to Matt the Fatt in a plain brown wrapper. I consider this a faster read and more concise version of Eat To Live.
I was on the SAD (Standard American Diet) so long that I forgot what vegetables were like, delicious and satisfying.
Souped-up Vegetables
Dr. Fuhrman promotes greens, beans, fruit, and nuts. I tried microwaving some frozen vegetables, but the results were uneven. I changed to souped-up vegetables. Here is the approximate recipe, based on what I had yesterday:
Partial can of soup, with chicken and sausage
Frozen mushrooms
Frozen asparagus
Frozen mixed vegetables
Tomato paste
Frozen pearl onions
Milled flaxseed
Almonds
Tabasco sauce or black pepper
I slowly stirred this in a covered sauce pan, on the gas stove. I ate about half and saved the rest in the refrigerator for today.
The fast Fuhrman meal is - a large bowl of spinach, a tablespoon of milled flaxseed, a tiny bit of salad dressing, plus almonds and blueberries. I alternate almonds with walnuts.
I eat four or more servings of apples and oranges each day.
Incomplete Protein Myth
We were told, falsely, that it was hard to build complete protein from eating plants alone. The body does the finishing part during digestion, including some recycling from the body in the intestines.
The Fats Group
We overdo the fats group, promoted by various nutrition experts hired by the fat group producers, far too much:
Milk and cheese
Meat and fish
Eggs
Fried foods
Gobs of salad dressing and "healthy" oils
I know the bakers-confectioners were upset when a cigarette company promoted, "Instead of a candy, I reached for a Lucky Strike. They got the company to pull the ad campaign.
Sweets
The sugar group, which fed and clothed the Jackson kids, and helped me through college, are
well represented by:
Hard candies and chocolate
Various types of gum
Cakes and pies
Soda pop
Sugar-free, anything with artificial sweeteners, which have the same effect on the body as sugar, but without tasting good.
Juices, which are like drinking maple syrup
Don't Tell Me God Created
Vegetables This Way!
Fuhrman opened my sweets-blinded eyes by pointing out the remarkable volumes of nutrition found in vegetables. Since we do not and cannot eat the same vegetables all the time, the variety of foods we like will balance nutrition and slow down the digestion, since sugar and fats have instant unbalancing effects.
On Google, look up the "nutritional benefits of..." and add various foods.
I was sure we would get a lot of snow, based on the maps. Instead of getting that Ozarks effect, storms going north or south of us, we got the full treatment. The driveways and streets melted on their own. About 50 blooming daffodils are under the snow, so it will be interesting to see how the blooms take it.
A snow blanket on the garden is very good for the plants, protecting them and hydrating them at the same time.
Sassy and I went out several times, and she walked through snow rather than using the sidewalk.
The birds and squirrels, with all their food covered, saw our yard as the place to be during the snowfall. Shy cardinals looked at the kitchen from the outside window ledges. "Are you unable to discern our plight, our starvation, our dependence on your store-bought food?"
They were well fed all day. That was great fun.
I was going to write about my patented vegetable soup, but that will have to wait until the morning post. One of our members has lost 15 pounds from using the Fuhrman-Jackson Delicious Vegetables Plan.
The Name of God is
unique and should fill us with wonder and praise. The thousands if not millions
of divine names in paganism are connected with animals and many kinds of gross,
human references. I AM is all-encompassing and puts to shame all the local gods
and goddesses. This Name unites the Old and New Testaments because Jesus
Himself employed it in His Gospel of John sermons. Unworthy scholars would make
Jesus in the Fourth Gospel to be Gnostic – occultic – and not Jewish. Nothing
is truer to Israel than Jesus as the human face of God, using His Name again from
the Burning Bush – I AM.
John was the disciple Jesus loved. He was present at the
cross, when he was given the honor of taking care of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
He was one of the first the empty tomb, and the risen Christ came to him and
the disciples while they were fishing, providing a cooked meal before they
could bring their catch ashore.
The hot air merchants of rationalism have much to say
about the Four Gospels, mostly wrong. One thing is very clear – the Fourth
Gospel is the capstone of the Gospels. John’s Gospel completes and comments
upon the events we know from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Fourth Gospel also preserves
unique sermons and narratives, and reveals the public ministry of Christ as
three years with the disciples.
Those who want to understand the Torah, the Five Books of
Moses, whether they are Jews, Christians, or non-aligned, should study the Gospel
of John. The Fourth Gospel is a commentary on the Books of Moses, revealing to
us that many unusual stories from that era foreshadowed the Christ of the New
Testament. By reading and meditating on John, we see the Christian Faith in Moses,
and by reading the Torah again, we understand how God fashioned the future to
fulfill the Promises of the past.
Chapter
6 of John’s Gospel is rich with lessons, starting with the feeding of the
multitude, followed by Jesus coming to the disciples as they were dealing with
a great windstorm at night on the sea.
KJV
John 6:19
So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus
walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20
But he saith unto them, “It is I; be not afraid.” εγω ειμι μη φοβεισθε – Literally
– I AM, do not be afraid.
Some would take issue
with that, but the disciples, knowing Greek, also knew the language of Exodus
3, when the Angel of the Lord named Himself as I AM, εγω ειμι. Who but the Word
incarnate could walk on water?
People came looking for Jesus, after the great miracle of
healing, and He challenged them about their motives, which anticipated the last
few decades of the Gospel bringing material success instead of the cross. After
this miracle, the people wanted even more, so Jesus questioned their motives.
KJV
John 6:26
Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not
because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were
filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for
him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do,
that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
This is a fine example
of Jesus teaching something that would have enormous importance if it were not
ignored. How do we work the works of God? On the Roman Catholic side, there is
a long list of works, including praying for the dead to stay a shorter time in
Purgatory. Money given to the priest helps too. That is a “reparation offering,”
meaning literally in Latin that they are paying for sins – reparations. But
this also addresses the limit of works.
The work of God is to believe on Him He has sent – Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. The Midwestern Objective Justification scheme has clergy wildly
and dramatically saying, “You are making faith a WORK!” The Bible does not
speak about works on their own but the works which are the fruit of Gospel
faith. This faith does not happen as a decision or an effort of intelligence
but develops from the Spirit conveying Jesus to the individual. What is spoken
is heard and understood, even by babies. Anyone can see that when the baby moves
his head to hear his mother’s voice and cries when seeing a stranger the first
time. When nurses tried to teach Jesus to Erin, her response (without words)
was, “I know Him.” She was baptized and brought into the Kingdom of God as a
tiny baby.
In viewing this accusation of faith being a WORK – that is
exactly what Jesus said, and it is sad that clergy do not know or believe that.
The effective Work works on those who have been taught error. It is not the
speaker but the Word that converts.
The Gospel of John especially emphasizes faith in Jesus
Christ as the One who teaches His Father’s teacher and does His Father’s will. Faith
– as trust in the Savior – is powerful because it gives us access to God’s
grace through faith in Him. (Romans 5:2) Those who oppose this are against the
Fourth Gospel and the Apostle Paul. Faith in Him must be first or else human
solutions and attitudes will prevail with bad consequences. The religious
opponents then, like those today, knew the truth enough to hate it and remove
it, any way possible.
The curious then said to Jesus – show us a miracle
(literally a sign, which meant much more then than our watered-down idea – “I
saw… it was a sign from heaven.” These signs in John are divine miracles to be
seen and experienced, not a daydream. They went on to brag about Moses providing
bread in the desert (Exodus again). “What can you do?”
KJV
John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave
them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down
from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of
life:
εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης
he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe
not.
I
AM the Bread of Life:
he
that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Our tendency is to focus
on the bread of life. Since this is about His divinity, I AM is more appropriate
for emphasizing the meaning of the Bread of Life. One of the Beatitudes is – He
who hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be satisfied. Faith in Him
means that hunger and thirst will be satisfied, just as food and water take
care of us when we are faint with hunger and dehydrated.
This is the dramatic difference between the opponents
dealing with material things and relying only on their reason and senses. What
Jesus teaches is intangible and eternal.
