Isn’t that precious, sweet news? He is guiding you, keeping watch over you, caring for you, providing for you. And when we become part of God’s people, God himself becomes our shepherd. The glorious good news is that when we embrace Jesus as our joy and treasure, we enter through him into God’s people. There is a single door to God, and that door is Jesus himself. There are not many paths or many doors to God. He’s saying that the only way to be part of God’s people is through him. When Jesus says that he’s the door of the sheep, he’s making a startling claim about himself. God is the good, faithful shepherd, and he keeps vigilant, zealous watch over his sheep. Time and again in the Old Testament, God calls himself the shepherd and his people sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep ( John 10:7). God has opened our eyes to see behold the glory of Christ and we now walk in the good, well-lit paths of God.Īren’t you glad that Jesus is the light of the world? Aren’t you grateful that even though you were once blind, now you can see? 3. They do what is right in their own, sin-blinded eyes.īut we who know Christ have had the light of Christ shine in our hearts. They don’t walk in the path of peace and joy and righteousness. Those who don’t know Christ walk in the darkness, stumbling into landmines of sin and destruction. He provides spiritual light for anyone who follows him. Scripture says that God dwells in “unapproachable light”.Īnd yet here, Jesus is putting himself in a different category altogether. He led the people of Israel by a pillar of blazing fire.Īfter Moses beheld the glory of the Lord, his face was so bright that he had to wear a veil. In the very beginning, God said, “Let there be light.” Consider all the times that God gave light to his people. This is truly a profound, “I am,” statement by Jesus. Jesus’, “I am,” statement that he is the bread of life is a profound reminder to us that our only hope for joy and satisfaction is in him. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life ( John 8:12).? He satisfied her even though she had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. The old woman in the cottage truly understood what it meant that Christ is the bread of life. Lifting up her hands, she said as a blessing, “What! All this, and Christ too?” I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water. With Jesus, we can be content even in the midst of poverty. Without Jesus, even the most sumptuous pleasures of the world are empty and unsatisfying. He is the one who “fills us”, our deepest joy and most satisfying pleasure. Just like physical bread satisfies our deepest hunger cravings, so Jesus satisfies the longings of our hearts. What is this bread of life? It’s Jesus himself. Rather, they are to long for and live for the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus tells them not to long for physical bread, even if that bread is provided by God himself. You could say that had bread on the brain.īoth the feeding of the crowd and the manna in the wilderness were intended to point to a greater reality. God had miraculously provided bread in the desert for the people of Israel.They had just seen Jesus miraculously feed a massive, teeming, ravenous crowd using nothing but a few loaves and fishes.The original hearers of this, “I am,” statement of Jesus would have had two things in mind: I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst ( John 6:35 ). With that in mind, let’s spend some time savoring Jesus’, “I am,” statements. He’s telling us something profoundly important – something we don’t want to miss. He’s pulling back the curtain on his glorious character. So when Jesus says, “I am…,” we should pay close attention. About what is most important to them and about them.įor example, when I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m making a big, bold statement that my identity in Christ is what’s most important to me. When someone says, “I am…,” it reveals something about their identity.
I love Jesus’, “I am,” statements in the book of John.
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