Category: Bible

John 6, Jesus feeds five thousand, He is the bread of life, walks on the water and has the words of eternal life. Many disciples abandon him.

Five thousand men, not counting women and children.

Twelve baskets left over after all were satisfied!

The Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias) is about 8 miles wide at its widest point.

“I am, not fear ye”

Some comments on “eat of my flesh and drink of my blood.” Jesus explained that the Word was his flesh, but he didn’t explain what the blood meant. The disciples knew from Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Jesus was clearly pointing to the future complete atonement on the Cross, but this was before the Cross, so how were they to get it? It did not make sense until fifty days after his death, burial and resurrection when the Holy Spirit came “like a mighty wind”.

Then it became clear that His flesh symbolizes the word of God and his blood symbolizes His sacrifice on the cross and saving us from all our sin.

John 4, the woman at the well, healing of the official’s son at Capernaum.

Richard Blanchard (1925-2004)

It would have been much easier to follow the Jordan River up to Galilee.There are two possible routes, both cumbersome.

Nobody draws water in the middle of the day unless they have to.

Jesus spoke in Aramaic, which makes the statement “I am” even stronger. Jesus claimed he is God.

As opposed to the previous “I am” Jesus said “I am” at many other occasions. These are normal I ams, and does not in any way imply divinity or eternity.

The last word is “cosmos”. Jesus really is the savior of the universe.

John 3, you must be born from above, John testifies about Jesus.

Jesus did really say (translated from Aramaic to Greek) γεννηθη ανωθε “born from above,” not “born again“.

Again it is “from above,” not “again“.

“men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” as valid today as ever.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

 

John 2, the wedding in Cana, clear the Temple, a Sign.

The water jars were big indeed!

Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

The gospel of Matthew mentions

Notice it states “three days and three nights”, in that order. In Jewish counting of days  the new day starts at sundown.

John 1, In the beginning was the Word.

Alone in the world the New World Translation (Jehova’s Witnesses) claims that “the word was a god”. But then again, JW do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as one person of the triune God.

Tekna – teachable ones, not just sons

Verse 16 is very interesting. The second half reads in Greek “και χαριν αντι χαριτος”  which literally translates “and grace instead of grace” King James translation reads “and grace for grace, which lost a lot in the translation. The first “grace” is in the accusative, the second in the genitive. A better translation would be ” and proactive, dynamic grace instead of grace more like mercy. The Old Testament concept of grace is more like mercy, the New Testament concept of grace is best expressed in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Notice the world “sin” is singular.

There are many songs on “the Lamb of God”

Here is an example of the importance that the sin is in singular.

 

Daniel 11, the great prophesy.

 

Yes, there were five kings in 303 B.C., Antigonus amassed a large army and fleet, but the other kings attacked, defeated and killed Antigonus in 301 B.C., his kingdom divided, and then there were four.

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. It is now 2250+ years later, and it seems the rest of the prophecy is to be fulfilled.

Let us take a pause and see what is happening.

Let us take a look at the people of the world, starting from Genesis.

 

Looking at the map of the Middle East today, these are the people mentioned and their original settlements.

This is where Ishmael spent his life. He helped bury Abraham. His descendants branched out  from there, mostly in the Levant.

 

Who is this King?

The one desired by women is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The desire of all nations is the Messiah, Jesus Christ

This king is most likely the Mahdi, yet to be revealed.

He will be joined by the forces of communism, socialism and humanism.

The prophetic clock started again with the

All this is yet to happen.

Daniel 9, Daniel’s Prayer, the seventy sevens.

 

Many are they who have tried to calculate the day of the return of Jesus Christ. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was recorded four times in the Bible.

First in modern times to head for the hills and watch the return of Christ.

When that didn’t happen they modified the date, also at no avail.

Next came Russell, founder of Jehova’s Witnesses. He proclaimed a spiritual return (since nobody can possibly physically rise from the dead)

And there are many other, one of which was

The end of the Mayan Calendar came and went, but still no return of Christ. Last to make this ridiculous list is physicist Randall Smith, claiming the end of the world thanks to Earth colliding with a hitherto unknown planet.

Another question pops up, when did the age of Grace start?

 

At the birth of Christ the angels sang: Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

At the start of Jesus Ministry Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and said: Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

At the Cross Jesus proclaimed : “It is finished”

At Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out and power was given to the Disciples.

Any clue?

At this point, I realized I had fallen into the same trap as all the previous people trying to figure out the date of Christ’s coming: The time of grace is “Today”.

This is it: We live in “Today”. Today is the day of salvation.

And then comes the tribulation.

There is one more thing: What is the meaning of “seven”? In the original text it can mean three things.

And the center of action will return to Jerusalem.