Thoughts on the Gospel of John (27) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

The Jews then complained about him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Do not murmur among yourselves.
John 6:41-43.

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (27)
Jesus had provided His listeners with bread, but the spiritual teaching that He added was rejected. Only a few minutes before the people had pleaded, "Lord, give us this bread always" (v. 34). Now they were complaining. They took offence at what Jesus had said, and their murmuring expressed their annoyance. They realised that there was more in the phrase "from heaven" than a mere symbolical sense: namely, that Jesus had existed from eternity and been born miraculously. Could this Jesus, whom they considered to be Joseph's son, really have come from heaven?

Jewish scholars have been discussing this question until the present day. The Bible gives a clear answer: Jesus was Mary's son, therefore truly Man, yet without sin; otherwise He could not have stood in for others to atone for their sins. He was not Joseph's son, except in the legal sense that Joseph had married Mary. The angel of the Lord had said, "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).

Had Jesus been the son of Joseph, as He was of Mary, then He would not have been the Son of God. In that case faith that the eternal Son of God was born into the world as a child would be an error, and reconciliation with God would be impossible.

He was indeed God the Son, who condescended to become Man. Only in this way could we be eternally blessed through faith in Him.

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today's reading: Ezra 4:17-5:5 · Proverbs 5:15-23