Show Me The Proof

Show Me the Proof (John 6:30-31, 35-36, 41-47, 66-69) Some people have no intention of believing in Jesus, no matter how strong and convincing our witness. (John 6:36, 64 & 66; 12:37) Some of the miracles of Jesus: John 2:9 - Changed water to wine Luke 5:6 - Caused a miraculous catch of fish Luke 4:35 - Delivered a demoniac in the synagogue Matt. 8:3 - Cleansed the lepers Luke 7:11 - Raised the widows son Matt. 8:26 Calmed the Storm-- walked on water Matt. 9:27 Caused the Blind to see Matt. 14 - Feed the 5000 Mark 7:34- Healed the deaf and the dumb John 11 - Raised Lazarus from the dead The story is told of two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?" The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That’s a lot of money." "But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you’ve been blessed...." "You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week... nothing!" Faith does not arise simply because there is clear evidence to support it. “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.” (Exodus 4:8) “The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, [It will be] fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring (i.e. covered with clouds). O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed. (Matt. 16:2-4) “Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matt 12:38-39)

“For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.” (Luke 11:30) “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18-24) No one can come to Jesus unless the Father first draws him to (John 6: 37, 43-47, 65) Jewish leaders complained in John 6:41 & 60 “This teaching is hard! Who can accept it?”

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Jesus responded that “the Spirit is the One who gives life” (John 6:43) meaning that God’s Holy Spirit must first work in the life of a person for them to the truth about Jesus. (See also Rev. 22:17)

The people asked for “bread from heaven” and Jesus revealed that He himself was the “bread of life”. (John 6:31-35, 48-51) In his book entitled God’s Psychiatry, Charles Allen tells this story: As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well-fed. Despite excellent care, they slept poorly. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep. It seems that regardless of the socio-economic group to which we belong, or how sophisticated our palette becomes, every one of us recognizes the significance of bread as a staple of our basic human existence. The crowd is under the misapprehension that Moses and not God was ultimately responsible for the manna; and this crowd is following Jesus now not because they want to hear the words of eternal life, but because they think they’ve found in Him a neverending supply of bread. The same phenomenon occurs, you recall, when Jesus reveals Himself to be living water to the woman at the well. She replies, “Great! Give me some of this water so I don’t have to keep coming to Jacob’s Well for water.” Missionaries in third-world countries often talk about “Rice Christians.” These are people who will quickly convert to Christianity in exchange for food or some other physical benefit. The problem with Rice Christians is that when goodies are gone, so are they.

Author Jeanne Zornes writes: “As a new Christian, I presumed Jesus’ main job was taking care of me. He led to me a job, roommates to share apartment costs, and a car that ran. But after a while my tastes got fussier. Like the Israelites waking up to manna every morning, I was tired of the same-old, same-old. I wanted a home with more privacy, a more interesting yet less stressful job, and a shinier new car. My list continued to grow. I wanted Jesus to perk me up when I was down, remove my difficulties, and make living a whole lot easier. When those things didn’t come, I felt as if Jesus had walked away from me. What I didn’t realize was that He had put loving distance between us, just as He did with the crowd that night, knowing that they wanted to force Him to be king. For me, and for them, it took a stormy night to point out why those expectations were off base.” Biblical commentator Ravi Zacharis writes: “Jesus’ words were intended to lift the listeners from their barren, food-dominated existence to the recognition and acknowledgment of the supreme hunger of life that can only be filled with a different bread. Food and power blind the mind to the need for nourishment and strength of soul. Unfortunately, many fail to pause here long enough to really hear what Jesus is teaching and understand the life-transforming power contained in this truth.”