The Search For Jesus

The Search for Jesus!

John 6:22-27

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Not all Searching for Jesus is Holy

The Bible states we are to “seek the Lord while He may be found” for when we “come near to Him, He will come near to us” (Isaiah 55:6; James 4:8). He who has placed eternity in our hearts so that we might thirst for the living God has sealed His own with His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) so that there is no where we can go where He is not (Psalms 139). Augustine is right when he said, “Thou has formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in three.” Since there is no one righteous (Romans 3:10-18) and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) is it possible to “reach hither thy finger and put it into the prints of the nails, touch the hem of His garment, and be led by the still waters (Psalms 23) so that in His presence forgiveness and the renewing of one’s mind might be obtained (Romans 12:1-2)? I do not doubt that when we had our first love passionately within seeking God was easy for, He already found us, but for most Christians we must admit that walking and talking with God like Adam and Eve did in the Garden is far from continuous and only rare! Though we watch and pray (Matthew 26:41), meditate on His holy word (Psalms 1:2), seek to obey His every command (1 John 5:3), feed the poor (Matthew 25:31-40), and love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), why is it that He who is indivisibly present everywhere seems to be so evasive? When prayers and groans from His own who are thirsty for living waters and mere crumbs from the Master’s table go unanswered what does one do? In today’s sermon we are going to find out that not all seeking of the Lord is holy! Those who focus on what they can receive from the Lord’s hand instead of surrendering the life they cannot keep to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) will not find the Treasure of their hearts (Matthew 13:44-46) but only utter despair and hopelessness! Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (to please Him), for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).

Feeding of the 5000 (6:1-15)

Before we can understand the right way to seek God as given in Matthew 6:22-27 we need to know the miracle that this passage refers too. Because they “saw the signs Jesus had performed by healing the sick” a great crowd followed Jesus to a mountainous region on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 6:1-2). “When Jesus looked up and saw them coming toward Him, He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat (6:5)? Jesus asked this question to test Philip who promptly answered, “it would take more than a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite” (6:7)! Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up and said, “here is a boy with five small barely loaves and two small fish” but how far will they go to feed so many (6:9)? And yet despite there being about 5,000 men, plus women and children, Jesus commanded the disciples to “have the people sit down,” gave thanks for the food (6:10) and distributed the small barely loaves and two small fish to those seated and they ate as much as they wanted (6:10-11). It is likely the boy in this story could never have imagined serving Christ so profoundly with such a small sacrifice! Jesus then commanded the disciples to “gather the pieces that are left over, let nothing be wasted” and twelve baskets of left-over food were gathered (6:12-13). When the “people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, surely this is a Prophet who has come into the world” (6:14). Jesus then withdrew to the mountain by Himself for He knew they wanted to make Him their king by force if necessary (6:15)! It is important to note that there is no mention of faith in Jesus as their Good Shepherd and Messiah in this story but merely of a crowd who having already seen Christ heal the sick and having fed their bellies was to be sought after as a great provider. Being part of the agricultural era when the most one could hope for was to avoid starvation, the crowd most likely dreamed of how much material possessions they could have with Jesus as their king to provide them with unlimited, free food!

The Search (6:22-24)

Later that evening the “disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum” (6:16) leaving Jesus behind. When they are about three miles out in the lake a strong wind began to blow and the waters grew rough (6:18) and in seeing Jesus walking on the water and hearing His words “it is I, don’t be afraid” they invited Him into the boat and immediately the “boat reached the shore where they were heading” (6:20). The next day the crowd searched for Jesus to make Him their king but could not find Him. Realizing there was but one boat, of which the disciples had used the night before, they were “perplexed as to what happened to Jesus.” While they were confident that Jesus would not be separated from His disciples for very long they thought maybe He “walked around the northern shore of the lake during the night” and was now present with them at Capernaum. Once boats from Tiberias landed on the shore near the place of the feeding of the 5,000 they got into the boats and went on a search for their want to be king (6:23-24). Since Capernaum was a small town, they easily found Christ teaching in the synagogue (6:59). And while their motives would soon come into question one can’t help but admire their passion to seek and find the Lord. While we say that Christ is our portion (Psalms 16:5-11), and we want to serve in His kingdom with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength (Matthew 22:37) how can this be when so few of us take any time to be holy (1 Peter 1:16)? And while we don’t need a boat to meet Jesus, whom of us practice the spiritual disciples of solitude, prayer, and fasting that is often necessary to hear and be transformed by His mercy and grace? Truthfully, we don’t take time to be with Christ due to our busy schedules, or not wanting to obey what He might tell us to do, or more likely because we value other activities, relationships, and the accumulation of material possessions far more than having a close, personal relationship with our Lord, Savior, and King! Whatever our reasons the results are the same, God’s own are starving at the communion table in our churches because they refuse to seek and accept the living waters and bread of life being offered!