Sermon Central
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Is He In You?
Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Mar 14, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Every year just before Easter and Christmas the world sets out to attack Jesus. A recent example is a movie recently produced by an American entertainer named Bill Maher. He called the movie "Religulous" borrowing from the word incredulous.
Is He In You?
The sermon title today is a little like the slogan used by a popular sports beverage "Gatorade". That companys slogan is "Is it In You"? The suggestion is that if you don’t have Gatorade in you that you will not be able to perform to your best as an athlete.
Iam sure that they did not realize that the company slogan is really borrowed from todays scripture passage. So much of what we use to motivate, inspire and hold up as examples for our society comes from the bible but there are few executives who would realize or much less admit this fact. Hollywood continues to borrow from the bible for its themes and plots. In reality there is no escaping the power and the message of the bible even in our popular anti-Christian society.
The word for today is a Greek word a verb "Horaoo" it means "to see". It has three meanings, to see with the eyes, to see with the mind and to become acquainted with by experience. John 6:46
Well let us backup a little so we can understand the context of todays scripture. Just one day before Jesus spoke the words of todays scriptures He was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Tiberius) where He had had feed more than five thousand people who had come to hear Him preach. Jesus took bread and fish broke it and by a miracle it was multiplied to an amount that was able to feed the huge crowd. In fact there were 12 baskets full of bread left over.
After feeding the five thousand the bible tells us that Jesus went up to a mountain top to avoid being made King by the people. John 6:15
Then the disciples got in a boat but Jesus stayed behind. The disciples made their way across the sea to Capernaum by boat but Jesus was not in the boat. The crowd that had followed Jesus also knew Jesus did not get into the boat. John 6:22
We then find the disciples at sea in a storm and Jesus is walking on the water. Jesus calms the storm and the sea. John 6:16-21
The next day, back at the scene of the feeding of the five thousand, some men show up with boats from Tiberius and some of those who were fed by Jesus miracle of the loaves get into the boats and head across the sea in the hope of finding Jesus and His disciples. John 6:23-24.
Now everyone has arrived at Capernaum. Capernaum had been Jesus hometown after John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod Antipas who was ruler of Galilee (tetrarch) ruler of a quarter. This happened early in Jesus ministry so the people of Capernaum would have known Jesus for almost the full three years of His ministry.
It is from Capernaum that Jesus chose some of the disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. Jesus regularly taught in the synagogue there according to the scriptures.
In fact a Roman Centurion is credited with building a synagogue there and Jesus is recorded as having healed a Roman Centurions servant there and cast out an unclean spirit from a man as well as other wondrous signs and miracles.
It was Jesus home base of operations for His ministry. The town sat about 60 miles north of Jerusalem and was on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.
So here we have a crowd of people who followed Jesus home after he feed them the day before. Kind of like feeding a stray animal they kept coming back for more. But this time Jesus offered to feed them with a different kind of food and they lost faith and stopped following Him. Here is why.
John 6:41 - Jesus says He is the bread that came down from heaven, this is a reference to the Old Testament miracle where God fed those in the Exodus from Egypt by creating manna from heaven that fell on the ground each day. Exodus 16
Our bible says "The Jews" which is a reference to the Jewish leaders. It is the leaders who grumbled. They knew the scriptures, they were the teachers and preachers but they did not lead the people to Jesus nor recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They had their doubts.
Who could blame them? Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph. Jesus did not drop out of the sky in a fiery chariot. How can Jesus be the Messiah? There was even some question about the legitimacy of Jesus birth.
Jesus responds by explaining His right to the title of Messiah.
Jesus explains that He was sent from the Father (God). That only those who are drawn to God the Father can be drawn to Jesus. Jesus will raise up those who are drawn to Him at the last day. John 6:43-46
