MORE THAN ENOUGH: HOW JESUS MEETS OUR DEEPEST NEEDS

Transcription

1 MORE THAN ENOUGH: HOW JESUS MEETS OUR DEEPEST NEEDS 14

2 Peace, security, and fulfillment. Denying we need these is pointless. Trying to meet these needs in unhealthy ways is counterproductive. Languishing in frustration when they are not met is unnecessary. God has a better plan. Jesus came announcing I am your Source for profound satisfaction. Jesus did not come to tell us about a source where we can go to find peace, security, and fulfillment. He came to tell us about Himself. I Am. 1. I am the bread of life. John 6:35 2. I am the light of the world. John 8:12 3. I am the door. John 10:7,9 4. I am the good shepherd. John 10:11 5. I am the resurrection and the life. John 11:25 6. I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6 7. I am the true vine. John 15:1 We find our satisfaction in a relationship with a Person. No rules, rituals, or memorized dogma. We relate to a Person Jesus who is our peace, security, and fulfillment everything we need. And that s more than enough. Jef f Iorg Jeff is the President of Golden Gate Seminary (soon to be Gateway Seminary ) in California. Jeff has also been a church planter in the Pacific Northwest. He is a seasoned ministry leader who writes about real life issues not just academic theories. He is the editor of the book, Ministry in the New Marriage Culture (B&H, 2015). You can read his leadership insights at Jeff is married to Ann, has three adult children, and one awesome grandson. He is on a life-long quest to find the world s best BBQ restaurant. 15

3 Connect to Christ, Community, and Cul ture As you lead your group in this study, help them to know CHRIST and His gracious work, live as contributing servants in the COMMUNITY of faith, and effectively engage the CULTURE without losing distinction. Note in the group plans the icons (below), which identify activities to help group members connect in specific ways to Christ, Community, and Culture. Christ Community Culture Christ Jesus made an undeniable connection between Himself and God the Father, the great I Am. Jesus is God. Jesus is the source of everything we need for this life and for eternity. Jesus death and resurrection made a relationship with God possible, and it is through that relationship we experience contentment, direction, protection, hope, peace, and purpose. 16

4 Community When we follow Jesus as our Shepherd, we are a part of His fold. We are part of a community of fellow believers. A daily commitment to walk in the light of Christ is an encouragement for other believers to do the same. Culture We can point others to Jesus as the only way to life, hope, and peace. Your contentment in Christ points others to something the world cannot offer them. Helping you move from where you are to where God wants you to be. This is your passion for your class or group. Yet helping different individuals each take their next step to grow as disciples is challenging. The Transformational Discipleship Assessment (TDA) is a quick and easy tool to help you discover how you and the members of your group are doing in eight essential areas of discipleship. The TDA provides next steps to help your group move from where you are to where God wants you to be. The assessment is online which allows each group participant to complete it in the comfort and privacy of their homes, offices, or even on their mobile devices. Discover more at TDA.LifeWay.com. 17

5 GET INTO THE STUDY 10 minutes GUIDE: Direct attention to the contents page in the PSG (p. 3). Review the titles of the six-session study about how Jesus meets our deepest needs. (ENHANCEMENT: Pack Item 1: More Than Enough. Display Pack Item 2: Jesus I am Statements alongside item 1 for the entire study. Use as desired throughout the study to remind the group of Jesus I am statements.) Introduce session 1. Note the picture on PSG page 12. DISCUSS: Question #1 (PSG, p. 12): When have you had too much of a good thing? GUIDE: Introduce The Point (PSG, p. 13): Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. Direct attention to The Bible Meets Life (PSG, p. 13). When we ve lived a long time, we know the things of this world don t provide true satisfaction. We find true contentment only in Jesus. SESSION 1 OUR NEED FOR CONTENTMENT The Point Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. The Bible Meets Life Advertisements are created on the premise that the advertised product will meet a need or give you contentment. There may be truth about contentment in some of those ads, but any contentment gained is never permanent. Products wear out. A delicious meal may give great satisfaction, but you ll still get hungry a few hours later. We often settle for temporary satisfaction, but Jesus offers us a far greater contentment. It s a contentment found only in Him. The Passage John 6:26-27,35-40 The Setting John 6 opens with Jesus feeding the 5,000 (though that number refers only to the men present, not including the women and children there). That multiplying of food, coupled with earlier healing works Jesus had performed, had the crowds ready to make Him king (v. 15). Jesus and the disciples departed that evening. The next day, the crowds, still exhilarated over the free feast, came looking for Jesus (vv ). 18 Session 1

6 John 6: Jesus answered, I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him. People seek satisfaction in things that don t last. 1 Here is the developing context. Jesus feeding miracle had provoked messianic expectations among the crowds. Moses had predicted a future prophet would come on the pattern of his own ministry to whom everyone would be accountable (Deut. 18:15-18). God, using Moses, had delivered the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, and Passover celebrated this deliverance. After Jesus had performed a miracle similar to the prophets of old (Elisha, 2 Kings 4:42-44), the people naturally concluded, This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world! probably inferring the prophet like Moses (John 6:14). John s Passover reference comes into focus. The crowds expected their own deliverance, this time from the bondage of subjugation to Rome. To this end, they were ready to force Jesus to become their king (v. 15). This detail we do not get from the Synoptic accounts; this detail, however, explains precisely why Jesus left the area. In the meantime, the account of the storm at sea ensues. The disciples were caught in the storm, but afraid to take Jesus on board as He walked on the water toward them (vv ). When they eventually did, John said they immediately were at the shore where they were heading (v. 21). Almost anyone would call walking on water a miracle, but John did not explicitly make anything of the matter. He did not even point to this event as a sign. John simply told about the event to transition Jesus and His disciples to the other side of the sea, a location change unknown to the crowds. After the crowds perceived the absence of both Jesus and the disciples, they went looking for Him. They found Him in Capernaum (vv ). Then came the question that provoked Jesus response that begins our focal passage, Rabbi, when did You get here? (v. 25). The crowds seemed eager to acclaim another miracle by their would-be STUDY THE BIBLE John 6: minutes GUIDE: Before reading the focal passage, set the context by briefly summarizing the information in the introductory paragraphs from the Bible commentary 1. READ: Ask a volunteer to read John 6: GUIDE: Note that on some level, Jesus criticism might seem harsh. Finding and preserving food in ancient times was much more difficult than it is today. The miraculous provision of food met a legitimate human need. However, while Jesus met their physical need, it saddened Him that the people were unable or unwilling to see the spiritual reality the miracle revealed. Jesus Himself was the lifegiving food that would last for eternity. SUGGESTED USE WEEK OF MARCH 6 19

7 THE POINT Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. DISCUSS: Question #2 (PSG, p. 15): Why do people seek satisfaction in things that don t last? (Alternate: What are some ways people seek satisfaction in today s culture?) GUIDE: Emphasize that we are more than physical beings with physical needs. We are also spiritual. Note that the people were looking for someone to satisfy their immediate physical needs, but Jesus wanted to fill their souls. TRANSITION: People often fail to see Jesus for Who He truly is the One in whom we find complete satisfaction both now and forever. 20 Session 1 messiah-king. The pressure exerted by the crowd on Jesus to fulfill its expectations was intense. Verse 26. Jesus answered in a way that redirected the question to expose the false messianic expectations. I assure you is an attempt to bring across the strong affirmation of the phrase in the original Greek. In the KJV, this phrase is rendered, Verily, verily, and in the NIV, Very truly. Jesus in this way strongly signaled He was getting ready to say something that the listener should trust absolutely. Jesus then acknowledged that the crowds were looking for something ( You are looking for Me ), but they were looking for all the wrong reasons. They experienced a miracle, you ate the loaves and were filled, but did not see the signs, the true spiritual reality to which this physical event was meant to point, which is John s hallmark contribution to the story of who Jesus really is. We often see miracles as what we want them to be warm and fuzzy feel goods. Signs challenge our thinking about what we expect. With His sign of the feeding of the crowds, Jesus meant to draw attention to Himself in order to challenging false expectations about Messiah and what Messiah would accomplish. The crowds sought free food for their bellies; Jesus wanted them to seek Him for their souls. Verse 27. Jesus warned the listeners on the basis of their false expectations, Don t work for the food that perishes, which seems to echo Isaiah 55:2. Food and water are necessary for daily living, of course. Yet, food for this life perishes. What is necessary for today is not sufficient for tomorrow. What we often do not recognize is that as much as we search for food for the body, which does not even last, we just as earnestly should search for food for the soul, which does last. Thus, we have the contrasting food that lasts for eternal life. Humans are more than biological beings. They are spiritual, and John acknowledged this reality with his favorite term, eternal life. One instantly thinks of John 3:16, of course, as the premier verse that puts a laser focus on this spiritual reality, but more to the point of the analogy Jesus was producing here would be John 12:25. The crowds were looking for a king to fill their stomachs, but Jesus wanted to fill their souls. He would not lower Himself to be the king of their expectations, because He is the Son of Man. He was not the type of Messiah for whom they were looking. To

8 authenticate and authorize this new and unexpected Son of Man role for the Messiah, Jesus pointed out that God the Father has set His seal of approval on Jesus as the Son of Man. So, people seek satisfaction in things that do not last. They look at Jesus and fail to see the significance of who He is and what He does. We need to gain clearer insight into who Jesus really is. John 6:35 35 I am the bread of life, Jesus told them. No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again. KEY WORDS: Bread of life (v. 35) An allusion by Jesus to the white substance that tasted like wafers made with honey miraculously provided by God for the Israelites wandering in the desert that the psalmist called bread from heaven (Ex. 16:31; Ps 78:24). In Jesus we find complete satisfaction now and forever. 2 The crowds were confused by Jesus response. They asked what they could do to perform the works of God (v. 28). They remained focused on physical food and working wonders. Whatever power Jesus used to turn five barley loaves and two fish into food for thousands, they wanted in. Yet, Jesus knew that even if they gained this power for the day, they still would be hungry the next. Jesus again redirected their thinking. If they wanted to do the works of God, they needed to reconsider what life is all about, which is not recreating a permanent picnic. The true work of God is that you believe in the One He has sent (v. 29). The crowds correctly took this remark by Jesus as a self reference. They correctly deduced that believing in the One sent is believing in Jesus. So, they demanded a sign from Jesus (v. 30). This demand is the height of irony since Jesus just had performed a sign by feeding over 5,000 men and that didn t count the women and children! How blind is that? The crowds then made plain their expected role for the messiah: Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness (v. 31). Thus, when Jesus produced the physical food for the crowds, they thought He would be their expected prophet like Moses. But, Jesus importantly pointed out, Moses did STUDY THE BIBLE John 6:35 10 minutes GUIDE: Using the Bible commentary 2, set the stage for Jesus dramatic statement in verse 35 by summarizing the interaction between Jesus and the crowd in verses READ: Invite the group to read verse 35 in unison. GUIDE: Direct attention to the KEY WORDS feature on PSG page 16. Note the reference to manna as bread from heaven. IN ADVANCE, obtain a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water. Display the items. Remind the group that food and drink are necessities of life, and God provides them for us out of His love. Jesus taught His followers to pray, Give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11, KJV). State that God wants us to depend on Him to meet our physical needs. 21

9 THE POINT Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. GUIDE: Point to the food and drink display. Remark that food and drink satisfy our hunger and thirst for a time, but after a few hours, we are hungry and thirsty again. Stress that those who place their faith in Christ find an ever-flowing source of spiritual nourishment that will never run out. DISCUSS: Question #3 (PSG, p. 17): When have you experienced spiritual hunger or thirst? OPTION: IN ADVANCE, gather hymnals. Lead the group to sing or recite Break Thou the Bread of Life. Use as many of the stanzas as time will allow. 22 Session 1 not produce the manna; God did (v. 32). Even Moses had to remind the Israelites that God provided the manna, not him (Ex. 16:15). The true manna that is the true bread from heaven is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33). Having their thoughts redirected to the true bread from heaven, the crowds then demanded, Sir, give us this bread always! (v. 34). Much like the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), the crowds could only think in terms of physical nourishment. Jesus responded with a famous saying. Verse 35. Here we have one of the famous I am statements from the Gospel of John distinct to John compared to the other Gospels. These statements are where John loaded his theology and concentrated on clarifying for his readers the true identity and mission of Jesus. To the crowd s request for this unique bread from heaven, Jesus responded, I am the bread of life. The Greek text puts emphasis on the subject, I. Jesus and Jesus alone provides the nourishment necessary to properly sustain spiritual life. The wilderness manna pointed to Jesus the Son of Man, whose life purpose was not simply to bring food for a day but life for eternity. The crowds no doubt looked for a repeat of the previous day or the Old Testament manna, both of which filled the stomach and nourished the body. But Jesus spoke of greater fulfillment to which each of these had pointed that which fills the spirit and nourishes the soul, Jesus Himself. The manna quenched the physical hunger for a little while, but the next morning the wilderness ancestors once again made their way outside their tents to gather up fresh manna to satisfy that day s hunger. Even on the Sabbath, when no manna came from heaven, these sojourners ate from the double portion they had gathered the day before. The manna s satisfaction wore off in a matter of hours, then the people hungered for more. Even the crowds who now sought Jesus and a repeat of the previous day s feast demonstrated how temporary was the satisfaction the physical nourishment. But the satisfaction Jesus offers is not measured in hours but in eternity. His satisfaction is complete and ongoing. Thus, no one who comes to Jesus will ever be hungry. But Jesus not only said that the one who comes to Him will not hunger again, He also said no one who believes in Him will ever be thirsty again. Those who had wandered in the wilderness and had to depend on God to send manna

10 to eat also found themselves with a shortage of water. After all, it s not called a wilderness for nothing. On more than one occasion God had provided water for the multitude from a rock (Ex. 17; Num. 20). But like the manna, this water only satisfied the thirst of these wanderers for a brief period of time unlike what Jesus promised to the seaside seekers looking for another miraculous banquet: food and drink for the soul. To this promise of Jesus one can compare Isaiah s promise, Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! (Isa. 55:1). The writer of Revelation used a similar analogy (Rev. 2:17), promising unseen manna to those who hear and heed His words. John affirmed that only in Jesus will we find complete satisfaction now and forever. John 6: But as I told you, you ve seen Me, and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. DISCUSS: Question #4 (PSG, p. 18): What does Jesus I am statement teach us about His nature and character? (Alternate: How would you explain the term bread of life to someone who s never heard it?) TRANSITION: No matter what we do, we will never find true contentment outside of a saving relationship with Christ. STUDY THE BIBLE John 6: minutes READ: Invite a volunteer to read verses KEY WORDS: The last day (v. 40) A phrase embodying Jewish thought about a final judgment by God featuring the resurrection of the dead that ends history and establishes ultimate justice. People who put their trust in Jesus experience true contentment. 23

11 THE POINT Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. GUIDE: Focus on verse 36. Emphasize Jesus direct confrontation of the crowd s unbelief. Note that many people have a shallow interest in Jesus but do not believe. People say they will believe if God will do a miracle. Yet in John 6, we see dramatic evidence of people refusing to believe even when a miracle was performed right in front of their eyes. We should not be surprised when modern skeptics scoff at an empty tomb, or when unbelievers dismiss God s working as happenstance or the result of a rational albeit unknown explanation. SUMMARIZE: State that verses lay the foundation for emphasizing God s work in accomplishing salvation. God s initiative. God always takes the first step in the salvation process. He sent Jesus as a Savior, empowered His resurrection, assured His ascension, and shares the throne room of heaven with Him. 24 Session 1 Verses Jesus directly confronted the crowd s unbelief. Why should they ask for a sign? Jesus insisted, You ve seen Me. He d already fed a crowd of well over 5,000, including the very ones who now stood before Him seeking a sign of verification. If that was not enough, what more would really do in the face of such skepticism? Thus, their interest in Jesus was shallow, lasting no longer than the bread and fish they had eaten the day before. And this was not lost on Him. Jesus stated the reality, you do not believe. If anywhere in the New Testament we have evidence that miracles do not produce belief, this is one chapter that dramatically tells the story. We should not be surprised when equal skepticism confronts an empty tomb, nor when unbelievers today dismiss a great work of God as happenstance or the result of a rational albeit unknown explanation. Jesus, however, was not disturbed by this skepticism, as if His ministry had failed. He knew some would see Him at work and see more than simply a miraculous meal. They would perceive a sign from God that the pregnant moment of God s promised future action through a redeemer like Moses had arrived. The Son of Man had come to redeem the world. Jesus was confident in His mission, because Jesus had God s assurance of results: Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me (v. 37). Jesus then made His own wonderful promise to those who come to Him. These He will never cast out. Verses Knowing God s will is one of the great challenges of life s journey. We strive so hard to scale the heights of heaven in order to grasp God s will. Yet, we really do not have to. That is the miracle of Jesus. He has come down from heaven (v. 38). Now, that s the real miracle incarnation, the Word made flesh (1:14), God with us (Matt. 1:23). Jesus has come expressly to do the will of Him who sent Me. God s will is revealed in Jesus. God s will is the work of Jesus in His mission as the Son of Man, the Redeemer. Further, God in His sovereignty will not let the work of Jesus falter or fail. Jesus will lose none of those He has given Me (John 6:39). We may buy life insurance to provide for those whom we love in the event of our own death, yet in doing so we quietly suppress the truth that life really has no insurance. We accumulate until our garages and attics are crammed full, yet a genuine sense of true security constantly eludes us. We

12 know that no matter how much we own or how much money we save, not a penny goes past the grave. Ever. The only real life insurance is Jesus. Only in Jesus does death have no hold. Yes, death grabs us all, but for the believer, death does not have the final word. The believer has the promise from Jesus that He will raise him up on the last day (v. 40). The reference to the last day here is to the Jewish expectation of a final day of reckoning by God. God was expected to bring present history to an end in order to judge humanity and establish ultimate justice. In this judgment, rewards and punishment would be meted out. The righteous would be rewarded with a resurrection to life eternal. Jesus defined the righteous as the one who believes in Him. Jesus declared that He Himself is the agent of this judgment. This reality of Judge of the world is part of the meaning infused into the concept of the Son of Man figure with whom Jesus identified Himself earlier in this passage, and being Judge of the world is another part of the seal of God on Jesus (v. 27). Seeing this truth, one can catch how one of the realities of Jesus being Son of Man comes home to roost. The Son of Man is the Judge of all. Thus, one should make every effort to see beyond the miracles of Jesus to perceive the signs of who Jesus really is. One day out there in the future, be it near or be it far, that understanding will make all the difference in the world as to what happens in the judgment. When Jesus raises believers to eternal life, we will eat the true heavenly manna. In this way, Jesus fulfills the promise of the Passover festival, the salvation of the world, a deliverance by God to be equaled by no other. This food and drink is better than any manna their forefathers in ancient Israel ever ate (vv ) and more refreshing than any water that ever gushed forth from its rock reservoir. The Israelites ate their heavenly manna and drank their divinely provided water, but eventually they still died. Jesus is the true Bread of Life. When we partake of His heavenly manna, we have eternal life. We trust Him now, and He holds us to the end. Then, He raises us to eternal life. Talk about true security! Because people seek satisfaction in things that do not last, this promise from Jesus powerfully cuts through the world s noise and nonsense about true security in life. Our response. Acknowledging God s initiative does not diminish our need to respond to Him. God prompts, convicts, and draws people to Himself. Yet, repentance and faith are also biblical essentials for salvation. A permanent relationship. Through repentance and faith, we receive Jesus and our relationship with God is sealed permanently. The permanence we have in our relationship with God is guaranteed by His power, not through our efforts. Nothing can threaten your relationship with Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). DISCUSS: Question #5 (PSG, p. 20): How would you describe your experience with the bread of life? (Alternate: What do these verses communicate about eternal life?) DO: Direct attention to the activity, True Satisfaction (PSG, p. 20). Invite volunteers to share their responses. 25

13 THE POINT Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. LIVE IT OUT 5 minutes GUIDE: Emphasize The Point: Jesus is the bread of life who gives us true satisfaction. Review Live It Out (PSG, p. 21; see text to the right). Invite group members to think about which application speaks most to their needs. Wrap It Up GUIDE: State that the second stanza of the hymn Break Thou the Bread of Life ends with these words: And I shall find my peace, My all in all. SAY: Let s trust in the Lord Jesus in all we do and say this week, and we will find Him to be our peace our all in all. LIVE IT OUT If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, your relationship with Him is secure for eternity. On the day you received Him into your life, that relationship became permanent. His indwelling Spirit is the source of true satisfaction in your life. This week, continue to feed your soul with the food that lasts by adopting one of these applications. > > Give up. Perhaps you thought retirement, a vacation home, travel, or something else would provide lasting contentment. But you found that something was still lacking. Turn to Jesus. Read Spring Fever on page 2, and decide to give up all your efforts to find satisfaction outside of a relationship with Christ. > > Give time. Increase the time you spend in prayer and Bible study. If you currently spend 15 minutes a day, try 20 or 30. Gain the extra time by sacrificing an activity that can t provide true satisfaction. Maintain the new habit for at least 30 days. Ask God to strengthen you as you seek to find true satisfaction only in Christ. > > Give yourself. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. We feed our own souls when we serve others. This week, volunteer to help with a ministry of your church or community that serves those in need. Volunteer for a task that puts you in personal contact with those who are in need. Share the love of Jesus in word and deed. PRAY: Thank God for the true satisfaction that we find in Jesus. Ask the Lord for the strength to never seek contentment in the things of this world. 26 Session 1

14 a small part of dough from the previous day also served as a sourdough leavening. The leaven made the texture of the loaf bread much lighter than the previous SHARING THE GOOD NEWS The only way to experience real and lasting contentment is to turn from sin and trust in Jesus Christ. ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/MICAH KANDROS Bread seller on the streets of Old Jerusalem. The following excerpt is from the article Bread and Bread Making in the Ancient World (Fall 2011), which relates to this session and can be purchased at com/biblicalillustrator. The earliest breads, which were flat and circular, were cooked on heated stones. Gideon overheard a Midianite soldier relate a dream about such a cake of barley bread hard flat cakes. The night before leaving Egypt, the Israelites ate unleavened bread at the first Passover (Ex. 12). Jews thereafter ate unleavened bread each year at Passover as a memorial of that night. Read the article Signs in John s Gospel in the Spring 2016 issue. Previous articles To Believe (Spr. 2014), Beside the Sea of Galilee (Win ), and Galilee in Jesus Day (Win ) relate to this session and can be purchased at biblicalillustrator. Look for Biblical Illustrator for Bible Studies for Life. Subscribe to Biblical Illustrator at or call Each week, make yourself available either before or after the session to speak privately with anyone in your group who wants to know more about becoming a Christian. See the article, Leading Someone to the Greatest Decision of All, on page 2 for guidance in leading a person to Christ. Remind group members that page 2 in the PSG offers guidance in how to become a Christian. Encourage believers to consider using this article as they have opportunities to lead others to Christ. rolling into his camp (Judg. 7:13). Fermenting yeast leavened the dough, causing it to rise. Saving > > Get expert insights on weekly studies through the Ministry Grid (MinistryGrid.com/web/BibleStudiesFor Life). >Grow > with other group leaders at the Groups Ministry blog (lifeway.com/groupministry). > > Additional ideas for your group are available at BibleStudiesFor Life.com/blog. 27