Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19990915.htm

JOHN: TRIUMPHING IN LIFE'S MOST CRITICAL ISSUE
Part III: Presentation Of The Messenger Of Salvation
C. Christ's Credentials Revealed In Confrontations With Men
3. Christ's REAL Messianic Identity Evidenced In Accepting The Cross Before The Crown
(John 6:1-15)
  1. As human beings, given the choice between living a life of ease and one of hardship, hands-down we would opt for the life of ease. After all, trouble is the antithesis of what we naturally need for our welfare .
  2. However, being released from trouble is not always the right route to take, and God can accomplish so much more by allowing us to go through trials than through the easy route.
  3. Because Jesus chose the right path to the crown, the path of the cross, we are enriched in our faith in His credentials as the Messiah. We see this truth and learn its lesson in John 6:1-15 as follows:
    1. Christ's REAL Messianic Identity Evidenced In Accepting The Cross Before The Crown, Jn. 6:1-15.
    2. When Jesus performed the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, He did so in a clear effort to reveal Himself as the Promised Messiah predicted by the man of God in Moses, John 6:1-13; Deut. 18:15-19.
      1. Moses had predicted that a Prophet would come like unto himself, Deuteronomy 18:15. Unto this Prophet the people of Israel were to hearken at the requirement of God Himself, Deut. 18:18-19.
      2. Well, unlike any other time in His earthly ministry, Jesus revealed Himself in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand to be that Prophet predicted by Moses to come as Moses had come:
        1. Like Moses who crossed the Red Sea before miraculously feeding the people manna, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee before performing the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, Jn. 6:1; Ex. 14.
        2. Like Moses who had a Israel follow him out of Egypt across the Sea due to the miracles he had performed in Egypt, Jesus had a crowd following him for His many healings, Jn. 6:2; Ex. 4:29-31.
        3. Like Moses who went up into a mountain with the elders of Israel for fellowship with God, Jesus ascended a mount with His disciples before the feeding of the five thousand, Jn. 6:3; Ex. 24:9-11.
        4. As Moses was used of God to institute the Passover in celebration of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, Jesus performed this feeding miracle near the Passover when the Jews would have thought about the need for the predicted Prophet to deliver their generation from Rome, Jn. 6:4; Exodus 12:22-27.
        5. Like Moses who miraculously fed Israel, Jesus miraculously fed the 5,000, Jn. 6:5-12; Ex. 16:14-15.
        6. As the people in Jesus' day ate to their fill as proved by the gathering of leftover fragments, so the people ate to their fill with the bread Moses had supplied by God's power in his day, John 6:13; Exodus 16:17-18. Jesus provided extra, something Moses had not done, Jn. 6:13 with Ex. 16:18b!
    3. In fact, so powerfully did Jesus in this miracle signal Himself to be the predicted Prophet to come spoken of Moses that witnesses at the miracle event were persuaded Jesus was that predicted One, John 6:14.
    4. However, realizing that the men would seek to force Jesus to be their King to rescue them from Rome without His first having gone to the Cross, Jesus thwarted their coronation plans altogether, John 6:15.
      1. Jesus recognized that the men who had considered Him to be Moses' predicted prophet to come were intending to come and forcibly make Him their king, John 6:15a,b.
      2. He reacted to their intentions by leaving these men and going off to a lonely place by Himself, obviously rejecting their coronation effort, John 6:15c! In no way did He want the crown apart from the Father's route of going to the cro ss before gaining Israel's throne!
    5. Because of this reaction by Jesus, we see that He avoided becoming Israel's king under pretenses other than the Father's will, indicating that He was indeed the REAL, righteous Messiah after all!
Lesson: Though Jesus fulfilled Moses' prediction of Israel's Prophet who would come like Moses, He refused to submit to coronation by force at the feeding of the five thousand as it would have violated the Father's will that He provide redemption b y first going to the Cross for our salvation! In refusing the crown this way, Jesus gave evidence that He was the TRUE Messiah as He was submissive to God!

Application: As Christ's followers, we must submit to the RIGHT path even if it is not the EASIEST we can take. In doing so, God can make our witness VALID as He did of His Son's witness!

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