Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 27
J ohn 5 : 3 3
testifying about me, and I assure you that everything
he says about me is true. 33 In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony
about me was true. 34 Of course, I have no need of
human witnesses, but I say these things so you might
be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp,
and you were excited for a while about his message.
36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these
works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me
himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him
face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in
your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one
he sent to you.
39 “You search the Scriptures because you think
they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to
me! 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
41 “Your approval means nothing to me, 42 because
I know you don’t have God’s love within you. 43 For I
have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have
rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name,
you gladly welcome them. 44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t
care about the honor that comes from the one who
alone is God.*
45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you
put your hopes. 46 If you really believed Moses, you
would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But
since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you
believe what I say?”
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
6
After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the
Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias.
2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went,
1288
because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed
the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with
his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the
Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge
crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to
Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all
these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already
knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we
wouldn’t have enough money* to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.
9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves
and two fish. But what good is that with this huge
crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all
sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves,
gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the
people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And
they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After every
one was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather
the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they
picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with
scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five
barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him* do this miraculous
sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we
have been expecting!”* 15 When Jesus saw that they
were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped
away into the hills by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 That
evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the
shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus
still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and
headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon
a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very
LIVING INSIGHTS
5:44 Some manuscripts read from the only One. 6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. 6:14a Some
manuscripts read Jesus. 6:14b See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
A SHINING LAMP John 5:35 John was not just a
IMPOSSIBILITIES John 6:1-15 Have you ever faced
lamp—he was a lamp that was “burning and shining.”
A lamp doesn’t burn by itself; it must be lit. When it is
shining, it gives warmth and welcome.
There’s just something about having a light on when
you come home. When I’ve been away on a trip, I just love
turning into my driveway and seeing the lights on in the
house. It says, “Welcome home.” John brought light like
that. Behind his stern and independent character, there
was a warmth and a welcome.
You may be the only lamp where you live or work or go
to school. You need to be burning and shining. Bringing
the Good News of our Lord calls for character, but it also
calls for warmth and welcome as we represent the person
of Christ.
an impossible situation that chased you down with the
ferocity of a lion? Do you remember how, no matter where
you turned, this trouble pursued you, threatening to destroy
your faith?
I’ve learned that impossibilities can either drive us to God
or they can devour us, leaving the carcass for the scavengers
of depression and loneliness and inferiority to pick apart.
But no problem can come in for the kill unless we allow
it to. Our hope dies because we focus on the impossibility itself, letting it sink its teeth into the jugular vein of our
faith. I’ve also learned that the more obsessed we become
with an impossibility, the more it squeezes the life out
of us.
There is an alternative: Go to God. He is the God of the
impossible. If you have any doubt, just look at what He did
with five loaves and two fish to feed over five thousand
hungry people.
