{"id":18670,"date":"2019-03-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/israel-trip-2019-003\/"},"modified":"2019-03-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T05:00:00","slug":"israel-trip-2019-003","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/israel-trip-2019-003\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Trip 2019 – 003"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[497],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18670","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-israel-trip-2019","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Israel Trip 2019 - 003","sermon_date":"20190324","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":"","sermon_slides":6514,"sermon_mp3":6519,"sermon_id":"324191327322159","series_or_event":497,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"6:35-36","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nIsrael Trip 003 2019\n\n3-24-19\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John 6:35-36\n\nFather, we are grateful for today, grateful for this morning, grateful for a chance to gather with Your people and I do ask that You would bless this particular class on the geography of Israel. I pray it will be a blessing to everybody that\u2019s listening out there in cyberspace, and I pray You\u2019ll bless our main service that follows.\u00a0 Help it to be a time where Your Word really comes alive to us.\u00a0 And we ask that You would grow us, not just intellectually but in our personal walk with You.\u00a0 If anybody here is unsaved, Father, or listening today is unsaved I pray that today would be the day of salvation, that they would trust in You and would receive the greatest miracle a person can receive, the transference from death unto life spiritually.\u00a0 So we ask that You\u2019ll do this work and we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026.\u00a0 Amen.\n\nNo handouts for this series because it\u2019s mostly pictures but all this material that I\u2019ve got here on Power Point is posted on our website so you can get that and download that at will.\u00a0 And let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to John 6 for just a minute, and verses 35-36.\u00a0 We\u2019re continuing (we\u2019re already on part 3) on the lessons related to Israel based on some trips that I took there recently, along with my family, so I\u2019m kind of trying to retrace some basic sites that we saw and tie those in in terms of biblical significance.\n\nSo in our first lesson we talked about Tel Aviv, Joppa, Caesarea <\/em>Maritma, Mt. Carmel and Megiddo.\u00a0 And then in lesson number two we talked about <\/em>Sepphoris, Upper Galilee which would include Caesarea-Philippi and the Tel Dan.\u00a0 We talked a little bit about the Sea of Galilee, and we were just sort of there on the Sea of Galilee working our way to some key places, one of which was the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.\n\nSo we\u2019re continuing on with the Sea of Galilee and then from there we\u2019ll move into the southern direction, down the Jordan River.\u00a0 So today, if time permits, we\u2019re looking at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, a place called Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, and then the Jordan River as it leaves the Sea of Galilee and travels down south to a place called Bet She 'An, and then also a place called Jericho.\n\nSo let\u2019s start off with the Sea of Galilee and talking at a place called Capernaum.\u00a0 And if you look there at the lower right you can see a map of the sea of Galilee and we have Capernaum circled.\u00a0 Capernaum was located at a major crossroads connecting with Damascus, so it\u2019s sort of a, I don\u2019t know, a main travelled place.\u00a0 And who remembers where Jesus grew up?\u00a0 Anybody remember?\u00a0 A place called Nazareth, and what you find is Jesus saying things like this: \u201ca prophet is without honor\u201d where?\u00a0 \u201cin his home town.\u201d\n\nOver in Mark 6:1-6 it talks about how in Nazareth He couldn\u2019t do (it doesn\u2019t say He wouldn\u2019t do) it says He couldn\u2019t do many miracles there because of their unbelief. \u00a0[Mark 6:1-6, \u201cJesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. [2] When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, \u201cWhere did this man get<\/em> these things, and what is this<\/em> wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? [3] \u201cIs not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?\u201d And they took offense at Him. [4] Jesus said to them, \u201cA prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own<\/em> relatives and in his own<\/em> household.\u201d [5] And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. [6] And He wondered at their unbelief.\u00a0 And He was going around the villages teaching.\u201d]\n\nAnd in fact, He kind of started His ministry there in Nazareth and He preached in a synagogue in Nazareth and that story is in Luke 4:14-28, and His home town appreciated Him so much that they tried to throw him off a cliff.\u00a0 So if you think your first preaching experience is rough as a pastor I don\u2019t think anybody has tried to throw me off a cliff yet, although maybe some have fantasized about that.\u00a0 I\u2019m probably too tall to be thrown off a cliff, and I don\u2019t know how many cliffs there are around here that I can think of.\n\n[Luke 4:14-28, \u201cAnd Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. [15] And He began<\/em> teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.\u00a0 [16] And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. [17] And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, [18] \u201cTHE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, [19] TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.\u201d\u00a0 [20] And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. [21] And He began to say to them, \u201cToday this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.\u201d [22] And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, \u201cIs this not Joseph\u2019s son?\u201d [23] And He said to them, \u201cNo doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, \u2018Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.\u2019\u201d [24] And He said, \u201cTruly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. [25] \u201cBut I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; [26] and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land<\/em> of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. [27] \u201cAnd there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.\u201d [28] And all the people<\/em> in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; [29] and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.\u201d]\n\nSo basically you have this idea that Jesus is basically rejected in His home town so consequently His ministry headquarters becomes a place called Capernaum, and\u00a0 I know I had\u00a0 you open up to John 6 but you\u2019ll see a reference to that in Matthew 4:13 which says, \u201cand leaving Nazareth,\u201d why is that?\u00a0 Because they tried to throw Him off a cliff, \u201cleaving Nazareth He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea,\u201d which sea would that be?\u00a0 The Sea of Galilee, \u201cnear the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.\u201d\u00a0 And so this becomes Jesus\u2019 ministry headquarters, this place called Capernaum.\u00a0 And a lot of things happened here at Capernaum.\u00a0 For one thing, if you go over to Matthew 8:5 it says, \u201cAnd when Jesus entered Capernaum\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 And then dropping down to verses 14-17 it makes a reference there to a miracle Jesus performed at the home of His mother-in-law.\u00a0 \u201cWhen Jesus came into Peter\u2019s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. And you know the story of the miracle there and if\u00a0 you don\u2019t know about it you can read about it. [15 \u201cHe touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. [16] When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. [17] This was<\/em> to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: \u201cHE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.\u201d]\n\nAnd I think it\u2019s always interesting when it makes references in the Bible to Peter\u2019s mother-in-law because the Roman Catholic Church teaches the celibacy of the priests going all the way back to who they think is the first Pope (Peter), and they teach this doctrine that you know a priest, or a religious clerical figure can\u2019t be married.\u00a0 Well, then why is it that your first Pope has a mother-in-law?\u00a0 Peter was obviously married.\u00a0 And just as a side note, if you jot down 1 Corinthians 9:5 Paul says, \u201cDo we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as [the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and] Cephas?\u201d\u00a0 Cephas is Peter\u2019s Aramaic name.\n\nSo, Paul says one of His rights that he didn\u2019t exercise was to take along a believing wife and He uses Peter as an example.\u00a0 So obviously this idea of the first Pope and the celibacy of the priesthood doesn\u2019t hold up when you actually look at what the Bible says.\n\nSo in Capernaum He healed Peter\u2019s mother-in-law.\u00a0 Also, He called Peter from his fishing trade into a life of discipleship.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll see that in verses 18:22. [Matthew 4:18-22, \u201cNow as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. [19] And He said to them, \u201cFollow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.\u201d [20] Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. [21] Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son<\/em> of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. [22] Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.\u201d\n\nAnd we know that this happened in Capernaum because verses 18-22 of Matthew 4 is preceded by verses 13 which we read just a moment ago, which gives us the place of geography.\u00a0 And one of the things that\u2019s very important to understand is when Jesus called Peter into a life of discipleship, where He said to him, \u201cLeave your nets and I will make you fishers of men.\u201d\u00a0 [Mark 1:17, \u201cFor the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.\u201dAlso, Matthew 4:19, \u201cAnd He said to them, \"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s very important to understand that that was not Christ\u2019s first interaction with Peter.\u00a0 If you have a good study Bible, and I recommend the Ryrie Study Bible, at least in the edition I\u2019m using, pages 1156-1157, what it\u2019ll have is it\u2019ll have all of the events in the life of Christ put in chronological order for you.\u00a0 And that\u2019s very helpful because what you discover by studying that chronology is Jesus encountered Peter in event 20 in the life of Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s in John 1.\u00a0 And then He called him into a life of discipleship in event number 35.\u00a0 So, you see the order here? First you get justified by faith alone and then you get called into discipleship.\u00a0 So, the calling into discipleship at Capernaum was an event subsequent to Peter\u2019s initial justification by faith alone.\n\nAnd the reason I bring up these little things is because many people teach that when Jesus went to Peter and called him into a life of discipleship He was actually calling Peter to salvation and they mix sanctification with justification together; they mix discipleship with justification together and that\u2019s a doctrine called Lordship salvation where you hold out to the lost sinner, not the hope of the gospel per se,\u00a0 you also tell them they have to submit to discipleship and all these other things.\u00a0 And I think it\u2019s very interesting that Jesus did call Peter into discipleship but it was only after Peter was justified before God.\u00a0 And you can see this very clearly by just studying the chronology of the events of the life of Christ.\n\nThe pattern is first you\u2019re redeemed, and that\u2019s by faith in Christ alone, plus nothing<\/u>!\u00a0 \u00a0And then God begins to deal with you in a walk of sanctification.\u00a0 And Lordship salvation basically gets the cart before the horse and in the process, they end up teaching a works-oriented gospel to the lost. That\u2019s why this lordship salvation issue is a big deal.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll see the exact same pattern with God\u2019s work with the nation of Israel.\u00a0 The nation of Israel is redeemed, probably at Passover, and that occurs in Exodus 10, 11, 12, right in there.\u00a0 And then Exodus 19:1 says two months pass and after those two months have passed, as they were wandering in the wilderness, God brings them into discipleship by putting them under the Mosaic Law. \u00a0\u00a0[Exodus 19:1, \u201cIn the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.\u201d]\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that in God\u2019s dealing with Israel, first comes redemption and secondly comes discipleship as God put Israel under the Mosaic Law.\u00a0 And by the way, if there was ever a group of people that needed to be under the Mosaic Law it would be those Hebrews, wouldn\u2019t it, as they were going through the wilderness, coming out of Egypt, complaining every step of the way.\u00a0 So you have a reality of saved people not yet being discipled.\u00a0 And you have the same pattern with Peter as God is dealing with Peter.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s why we at Sugar Land Bible Church make a distinction between justification and then your growth in Christ, sanctification which is the second step.\u00a0 And people that are heavily under Lordship salvation teaching this is new to them, they\u2019ve never heard this.\u00a0 And the reason I bring this up is it\u2019s just studying the basic chronology of the Bible and you\u2019ll see these various steps. If you\u2019re honest with yourself as a Christian that\u2019s how God has dealt with you; first He brought you to an initial faith and then it\u2019s not catching the fish that\u2019s the hardest part, it\u2019s cleaning the fish and then the Lord has to start dealing with us in terms of our daily walk and our daily life and sin patterns and wrong ways of thinking, etc.\n\nSo anyway, that\u2019s why Capernaum is sort of a special place.\u00a0 Peter is called into discipleship. And when you go over to Matthew 17 what you discover is one of the tools that God used to bring Peter into discipleship was a lesson related to fishing and taxes.\u00a0 I wish the Lord would let me pay my taxes this way.\u00a0 But notice what it says here in Matthew 17:24-27, \u201cWhen they came to Capernaum,\u201d that\u2019s our location, \u201cthose who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, \"Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?\u201d\u00a0 [25] He said, \u201cYes.\u201d And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, \u2018What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?\u2019\u00a0 [26] When Peter said, \u201cFrom strangers\u201d Jesus said to him, \u201cThen the sons are exempt.\u201d\u00a0 [27] However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea\u201d what sea would this be?\u00a0 It\u2019d be the Sea of Galilee, that\u2019s very near Capernaum or on the shores there of the Sea of Galilee where Capernaum was located.\u00a0 \u201cHowever so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo, part of his walk of discipleship was teaching him how to submit to authority.\u00a0 And this is why when Peter is going to write his own book under the Spirit\u2019s guidance, in 1 Peter, about A.D. 64, Peter makes a reference whenever possible submit to the authorities that be.\u00a0 1 Peter 2:16-17, and I believe Peter is writing that out of a personal lesson that the Lord gave to him there at Capernaum as Peter was called into a closer walk with the Lord and a walk with discipleship\u00a0\u00a0 [1 Peter 2:13-17, \u201cSubmit yourselves for the Lord\u2019s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, [14] or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. [15] For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. [16] Act<\/em> as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it<\/em> as bondslaves of God. [17] Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.\u201d]\n\nNow when you go to Israel, it\u2019s interesting, they do have a restaurant set up there (surprise, surprise), and these places always lead you to the gift shop (surprise, surprise), and there\u2019s a place where you can eat lunch called Saint Peter\u2019s fish, where they serve fish from the Sea of Galilee. And I warned my daughter about this because there\u2019s a lot of bones and things you\u2019ve got to work your way through, so I think she ordered a hamburger or something like that.\u00a0 But I carefully watched the fish and ate the fish, enjoyed the fish, and you could see its mouth and everything.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t eat the skin or the tail but I kept looking for the coin and I didn\u2019t find it, so I\u2019m hoping to go back and find that coin.\u00a0 But anyway, all these things are taking place at a place called Capernaum.\n\nAnd one other thing before we leave Capernaum is this is where Jesus gave a sermon at Capernaum that to me is probably one of my favorite sermons that Jesus gave.\u00a0 Flip over to the Gospel of John and take a look at chapter 6, verse 17.\u00a0 And this is what we call Christ\u2019s bread of life discourse and if you look there at verse 17 it says, \u201cand after getting into a boat, they started to<\/em> cross the sea to\u201d to where? \u201cto Capernaum.\u00a0 And if you jump down to verse 24 it says, \u201cSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to\u201d where? \u201cto Capernaum seeking Jesus.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So, Capernaum is the site of a tremendous sermon that He gave here called The Bread of Life Discourse in John 6.\n\nAnd one of the reasons I like this sermon is because it doesn\u2019t show up on the map of any church growth expert because church growth is all about teaching things in such a way to get the church to grow and if your church is not growing then you\u2019re basically a failure in the ministry.\u00a0 And nobody ever quotes the bread of life discourse because Jesus basically started with a megachurch here in John 6.\u00a0 According to verse 22 it mentions the crowd.\u00a0 Verse 24 mentions the crowds, in fact he had just fed the masses with a few fish and a few loaves, earlier in the chapter.\n\n[John 6:22, \u201cThe next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone.\u201d\u00a0 John 6:24, \u201cSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.]\n\nSo everybody is on board with Jesus.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s here in verse 15 and verse 26 that people are trying to actually take him and make him king by force.\u00a0 [John 6:15, \u201cSo Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.\u00a0 [26] Jesus answered them and said, \u2018Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd so consequently at this point in Christ\u2019s ministry everybody loved what He was saying because they are all thinking this is the guy that\u2019s going to meet our physical needs forever and this is the guy whose going to get the boot of Rome off of our throats because Rome at this time was an occupier.\u00a0 And everybody is on board with Jesus, He actually has a mega church at this point in His ministry.\n\nAnd then He starts to preach this sermon and the megachurch disappears, to the point where you get to the end of verses 66-71 the whole crowd is gone.\u00a0 The whole crowd dissipated.\u00a0 [John 6:66, \u201cAs a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. [67] So Jesus said to the twelve, \u201cYou do not want to go away also, do you?\u201d [68] Simon Peter answered Him, \u201cLord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. [69] \u201cWe have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.\u201d [70] Jesus answered them, \u201cDid I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet<\/em> one of you is a devil?\u201d [71] Now, He meant Judas the son<\/em> of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.\u201d]\n\nAnd the only people that are left are the twelve and this is where Jesus says to Peter, Well, you\u2019re not going to leave too are you?\u00a0 And Peter makes the classic comment, where else are we going to go, I mean, you\u2019ve got the words of eternal life.\u00a0 [John 6:66, \u201cAs a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. [67] So Jesus said to the twelve, \u201cYou do not want to go away also, do you?\u201d [68] Simon Peter answered Him, \u201cLord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.\u201d]\n\nSo he went from a mega church to a church of twelve and then he shrunk the number even further because he said of Judas, one of you is a devil, so that goes from twelve to eleven. [John 6:7, \u201cJesus answered them, \u2018Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 So that goes from twelve to eleven.\u00a0 And I\u2019m just wondering if any church today would hire Jesus with this on His resume?\u00a0 I started with a church of\u2026 you know, ten thousand people and I shrunk the whole thing to eleven.\u00a0 And I\u2019m kind of wondering what He said here that alienated everybody.\u00a0 He says a lot of things here at Capernaum, such as, if you look at verses 28-29 He says one of the most offensive things that a lot person could ever hear, He says in verses 28-29, \u201cTherefore they said to Him, \u201cWhat shall we do that we may work the works of God.\u201d\n\nDoesn\u2019t that sound like a religious person?\u00a0 What have I got to do to please God?\u00a0 And people are generally like this because if they can contribute to their own salvation then who gets to brag?\u00a0 They do.\u00a0 So a works oriented religious system is always appealing to pride.\u00a0 And then, verse 29,\u00a0 \u201cJesus answered and said to them, \u2018This is the work of God, that you\u201d what? \u201cbelieve in Him whom He has sent.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You mean I made it right with God simply by believing in the finished work of Christ without a bunch of religiosity?\u00a0 And that\u2019s true.\u00a0 And as inviting as that message is to a lot of people it\u2019s also very offensive because it\u2019s an attack on pride.\n\nAnd so consequently the whole crowd begins to dissipate and it\u2019s at this point He stops talking about politics and physical needs.\u00a0 See, a lot of people are with you as long as you\u2019re talking about things at the physical level but once you start talking about the real need, the ultimate need that we have that we can\u2019t necessarily feel, and the only way we\u2019re aware of this need is through divine revelation.\u00a0 People are no longer interested in that; give me a sermon on how to make my marriage better, give me a sermon on how to catapult my career, give me a sermon about how to make more money, but once you start talking about the real need that we have as lost sinners that we can\u2019t necessarily feel and we stop talking about felt needs, felt needs, felt needs, felt needs, and really get to the root of the problem what you discover is that message is not very popular.\n\nAnd so what He begins to say in verse 35-36 is your problem is not a lack of physical bread, it is a lack of spiritual bread.\u00a0 Verse 35 says this, \u201cJesus said to them, \u2018I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. [36] But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.\u201d]\u00a0 Everybody loved Him when it was all about physical bread but then when He starts talking about spiritual bread and the need to receive this spiritual nourishment through faith alone, the word \u201cbelieve\u201d is used about 99 times in John\u2019s Gospel) suddenly people aren\u2019t interested in that because you\u2019re dealing with a realm of philosophy and thought in theology that we as human beings can\u2019t necessarily feel and it may have to be disclosed to us from above for us to even know that they\u2019re true.\n\nAnd it\u2019s at this point that Jesus gives the first of the seven I am statements. \u00a0In John\u2019s Gospel, as you probably know, He divulges Himself as the \u201cI am\u201d at least seven times.\u00a0 \u201cI am the bread of life.\u201d [John 6:35] \u00a0\u201cI am the light of the world.\u201d\u00a0 [John 8:12]\u00a0 I am the good Shepherd.\u00a0 [John 10:11-14] \u00a0\u00a0I am the resurrection and the life.\u00a0 [John 11:25]\u00a0 I am the way, the truth and the life.\u00a0 [John 14:6] I am the true vine.\u00a0 [John 15:1, cf. v. 5]\n\nAnd here at Capernaum is His first \u201cI am\u201d statement.\u201d\u00a0 And when you drop down to verses 52-56 He says something else that\u2019s very troubling to a lot of people.\u00a0 Verse 52 says, \u201cThe Jews began to argue with one another, saying, \u2018How can this man give us His flesh to eat?\u201d\u00a0 [John 6:52] So he\u2019s trying to connect the spiritual level, they\u2019re still talking about felt needs.\u00a0\u00a0 So verse 53, \u201cJesus said to them, \u201cTruly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man drink His blood you have no life in yourselves.\u00a0 [54] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.\u00a0 [55] For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.\u00a0 [56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.\u2019\u00a0 [58] This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.\u201d\u00a0 And then it says, verse 59, \u201cThese things He said in the synagogue as He taught\u201d where? \u201cin Capernaum.\u201d Which is our location.\n\nSo, you Roman Catholics come along and they basically say well, communion or the Lord\u2019s Table is what\u2019s called transubstantiation; when you partake of the mass you\u2019re actually physically eating the body and the blood of Jesus.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not our view, our view is Jesus said concerning the Lord\u2019s table, \u201cDo this in\u201d what? \u201cremembrance of Me.\u201d\u00a0 But they believe to a large extent that it\u2019s talking about eating the physical body and blood of Jesus Christ, and that has many, many problems, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Not the least of which is Jesus has to be recrucified every single mass and that can\u2019t be because the Book of Hebrews tells us He died how many times?\u00a0 ONE time!\u00a0 And so your Roman Catholics will come along and they\u2019ll quote this verse, they\u2019ll say it\u2019s right here in the Bible, Jesus said you\u2019ve got eat His flesh and drink His blood.\u00a0 And so they\u2019ll use this sermon at Capernaum as support for the doctrine of transubstantiation.\u00a0 And your average Protestant looks at that and is kind of caught-flatfooted that they don\u2019t know how to answer that.\n\nAnd in fact, there\u2019s a very simple answer.\u00a0 Part A of the answer is the Lord is not dealing with the Lord\u2019s Supper here in John 6; He doesn\u2019t deal with that until the final week of His life, after it\u2019s very clear that the nation of Israel is going to reject Him when He begins to hint of the coming church age.\u00a0 So to read into this passage a bunch of stuff about communion is to just ignore that basic chronology of John\u2019s Gospel.\n\nAnd secondly, all He\u2019s doing here in verses 53-59 is using a metaphor that he\u2019s already established earlier in the chapter.\u00a0 Remember what He claimed to be?\u00a0 Verse 35-36, \u201cI am the\u201d what? \u201cI am the bread.\u00a0 [John 6:35, \u201cJesus said to them, \"I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.\u201d] \u00a0Well, what do you do with bread?\u00a0\u00a0 You eat it.\u00a0 So He\u2019s using eating as a metaphor for what?\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in verse 36, \u201cBut I tell you that you have not seen Me and yet you do not\u201d what? \u201cbelieve.\u201d\u00a0 When He says \u201ceat of My flesh and drink of My blood\u201d He\u2019s not talking about that in a literal sense; we try to take the Bible literally whenever we can but the context here doesn\u2019t argue to that.\u00a0 He\u2019s using eating and drinking of Him as a metaphor for faith alone in Him.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not me unpacking that metaphor, it\u2019s me just paying attention as to how He set up the metaphor in verse 35.\u00a0 And then He gives it a little bit further explanation there in verses 53-59.\n\n[Verse 53, \u201cJesus said to them, \u201cTruly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man drink His blood you have no life in yourselves.\u00a0 [54] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.\u00a0 [55] For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.\u00a0 [56] \u00a0He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.\u2019\u00a0 [58] This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.\u201d [59] \u201cThese things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.\u201d\u2019\n\nIt\u2019s the same kind of thing He did in John 4 when He said to the woman at the well, \u201cIf you drink from this water you\u2019ll thirst again, but if you drink from the water I give you\u2019ll never thirst again.\u201d\u00a0 [John 4:14, \u201cbut whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.\u201d]\u00a0 And there He\u2019s using drinking as a metaphor for believing, and He\u2019s doing the exact same thing here in John 6.\u00a0 So this in no way, shape or form is talking about transubstantiation or cannibalism or anything like that.\u00a0 He\u2019s just unpacking a metaphor, His first \u201cI am\u201d statement.\u00a0 \u201cI am the bread of life\u201d delivered at Capernaum.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that when you walk around Capernaum there\u2019s at least three things that are very interesting here.\n\nYou have a synagogue in Capernaum that\u2019s being excavated and there at the bottom, in between the two bottom pictures is my family and myself in front of this excavated synagogue. And that shouldn\u2019t surprise us because Jesus did a lot of His teaching, according to John 6, in this synagogue.\u00a0 So they found excavated remains of it there in Capernaum and archeologists are working on that.\u00a0 And then they\u2019re also found what they believe is the home, Peter\u2019s home, the home of Peter\u2019s mother-in-law and that\u2019s there on the upper right.\u00a0 And then it\u2019s very interesting that when you walk through here and a guide has to show you it\u2019s there it\u2019s so small but it\u2019s so small, but it\u2019s to my left there inscribed in a rock is a picture of something that looks an awful lot like the tabernacle, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 So some\u00adbody in history, early on in history chiseled that out into the rock wall there, the tabernacle which clearly establishes the Jewish presence there in Capernaum, exactly like the Bible says because of course Jesus did a lot of these things, interactions in the synagogue in Capernaum.\u00a0 Capernaum is a very interesting place and this is what became Christ\u2019s ministry headquarters after He was kicked out of Nazareth.\n\nAnd from there we move a little further south, southwest and we come to a place called Tabgha.\u00a0 Tabgha, you\u2019re not going to find that name in the Bible, it\u2019s an Arabic name and it basically means seven springs.\u00a0 And the name that they\u2019re given to this place is what\u2019s called Peter\u2019s primacy.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a very special place that the Lord had with His disciples.\u00a0 It\u2019s where the disciples, most believe, kept their fishing boats here.\u00a0 It served as sort of a meeting place that Jesus had with His disciples.\n\nThere are all kinds of miracles and interesting things that happened here but one of the things that\u2019s most interesting is this is the place where it\u2019s believed that Jesus engaged in His post resurrection ministry with His disciples.\u00a0 If you go over to John 21, which is the very last chapter in John\u2019s Gospel, this is the location of this famous story.\u00a0 And the disciples who really didn\u2019t believe Jesus was going to die but was going to bring in the kingdom were as freaked out as anybody that He actually went to the cross and died. And, of course, they thought it was all over and they went back to their fishing trade.\u00a0 And this is where Jesus meets them in His resurrected body, post-resurrection.\n\nTake a look at John 21:3-6.\u00a0 \u201cSimon Peter said to them, \u2018I am going fishing.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 See, that\u2019s what you do, isn\u2019t it, when you hit a crisis in life, and we just go back to what we know.\u00a0 Simon Peter understood fishing and so that\u2019s what he went out to do.\u00a0 And where would he be fishing?\u00a0 He would be fishing in the Sea of Galilee, right?\u00a0 \u201cSimon Peter said to them, \u2018I am going fishing.\u2019\u00a0 They said to him, \u2018We will also come with you.\u2019 They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.\u201d\u00a0 How humiliating, these are the professionals and they can\u2019t catch a single thing.\n\nAnd then if you look at verse 4\u2026 and think about that, being out there all night in humiliation.\u00a0 And the Lord kind of pushes us to that point many times, doesn\u2019t He?\u00a0 He takes us to things that we\u2019re good at, or we think we\u2019re good at them and He allows us to have absolutely no fruit in it because He\u2019s trying to get us to see something that He wants to work through us.\u00a0 And He can\u2019t really get us\u2026 it\u2019s hard to fill a cup with water when the cup is already full.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 A lot of times the Lord Jesus Christ will just kind of empty out the cup and we go through humiliation because He wants to fill it with something better, it\u2019s just we don\u2019t realize that and we have to be shown that through failure.\n\nVerse 4,\u201d But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach;\u201d this is where He did this, at that place called Tabgha, \u201cJesus stood on the beach yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. [5] So Jesus said to them, \u201cChildren,\u201d interesting He calls them children here, they haven\u2019t really developed in the full stature spiritually, had they.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 Children you do not have any fish, do you?\u201d They answered Him, \u201cNo.\u201d [6] And He said to them, \u201cCast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.<\/em>\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Now think about that, you\u2019re the professional, you\u2019ve been out there all night, not a single thing has worked out for you and some guy you don\u2019t even recognize starts yelling out from the shore, oh, all you\u2019ve got to do is throw your net on this side of the boat.\u00a0 And you can think how the disciples could have resisted this and said this is the most ridiculous thing I\u2019ve ever heard.\n\nBut you see, this is how the Lord works.\u00a0 The Lord oftentimes asks us to do things that completely humiliate us because He\u2019s trying to show us that human pride really doesn\u2019t get us anywhere.\u00a0 And this is why salvation is so simple; what is going to send people to hell largely is something called pride where think the whole thing is just too easy.\u00a0 I mean, it can\u2019t be that easy can it, throw your nets on the other side of the boat.\u00a0 It reminds me of the prophet, it wasn\u2019t the prophet but it was the story of the healing of Naaman, the Syrian, 2 Kings 5, and he was afflicted with a skin condition and what did the prophet of God tell him to do to get rid of the skin condition.\u00a0 Dip yourself in the Jordan, was it seven times, if I remember right. And he went away in a huff and his own servant confronted him and said well, you know if that the prophet had told you to do some great thing you would have done it but because he asked you to do something simple you rejected it.\u00a0 So he humbled himself and did what he was supposed to do and when he came out of the water the Bible says his skin was like that of a little baby.\u00a0 In other words, his skin affliction had been totally healed.\n\n[2 Kings 5:1, \u201cNow Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was<\/em> a leper. [2] Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman\u2019s wife. [3] She said to her mistress, \u201cI wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.\u201d [4] Naaman went in and told his master, saying, \u201cThus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.\u201d [5] Then the king of Aram said, \u201cGo now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.\u201d He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels<\/em> of gold and ten changes of clothes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, \u201cAnd now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.\u201d [7] When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, \u201cAm I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word<\/em> to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.\u201d [8] It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word<\/em> to the king, saying, \u201cWhy have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.\u201d]\n\nAnd this is what the offer of salvation is to people?\u00a0\u00a0 You mean I just have to trust in Christ to go to heaven, I don\u2019t have to do a bunch of stuff, and they walk away in a huff and they try to find a religious system that will appeal to their pride and consequently they end up missing the healing that God wants to do in their lives.\u00a0 So no obedience in 2 Kings 5, you\u2019re not going to have a healing; no obedience in John 21, you\u2019re not going to have a miraculous catch of fish.\n\nSo they did what they were supposed to do and it says, verse 6, and this is so interesting, they were not even able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.\u00a0 I mean, they were out there all night and they didn\u2019t catch anything and they fulfill a simple command in humiliation and now they\u2019ve got so many fish they can\u2019t even bring the thing to the shore.\u00a0 So this is all happening there in Tabgha.\n\nAnd if you go down to verses 9-14 Jesus continues to minister to them in his post resurrected state.\u00a0 It says, [9] \u201cSo when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.\u201d\u00a0 [10] Jesus said to them, \u2018Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.\u201d\u00a0 [11] Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.\u201d\u00a0 Now for the last two thousand years of church history you could study commentaries, everybody is trying to figure out why it says \u201ca hundred and fifty-three\u201d fish.\u00a0 And people go on and on about all of the codes and all of these kinds of things what this really means.\n\nAnd I\u2019ve looked into a lot of those things and here\u2019s my conclusion.\u00a0 Are you ready for this?\u00a0 When it say \u201ca hundred and fifty-three\u201d fish what it means is there was \u201ca hundred and fifty-three fish.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not any hidden code.\u00a0 And these little numbers and things like this are given to remind us that John was an eyewitness to these things and if you\u2019re an eyewitness to these things you remember little details like that.\u00a0 So they have this hundred and fifty-three fish.\u00a0 It says, verse 12, \u201cJesus said to them, \u2018Come and have breakfast.\u2019 None of the disciples ventured to question Him, \u2018Who are You?\u2019 knowing that it was the Lord.\u00a0 [13] Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.\u201d\u00a0 So this is a very fascinating story here that took place at this place called Tabgha.\u00a0 I think I left out verse 14, \u201cThis is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.\u201d\u00a0 [John 21:14]\n\nThis is an interesting story because it demonstrates that Jesus is concerned with their spiritual well-being but that never subtracts the fact that He\u2019s also concerned with their physical well-being.\u00a0 I mean, the Lord\u2019s ministry to us is so complete that He takes care of the spiritual food we need but He\u2019s also in the business of providing for our physical needs as well.\n\nPaul, in Philippians 4:19 says, \u201cAnd my God will supply all your\u201d what? \u201cneeds according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 And you see how practical Jesus is here.\u00a0 He\u2019s concerned about what they\u2019re going to have for breakfast.\u00a0 I mean, the very hairs on our head are numbered, right?\u00a0 And that\u2019s how intimate the Lord is with each of us.\u00a0 And this is all happening here at Tabgha.\n\nAnd then you go down to John 21:15-17 and Jesus now deals with the spiritual issue in Peter\u2019s life. [15] \u201cSo when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, \u2018Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?\u2019\u201d Now there\u2019s a debate on what \u201cthese\u201d are; I\u2019m sort of the impression that \u201cthese\u201d could be a reference to the 153 fish they just ate because after all, I\u2019m not sure if they ate all 153 but there was 153 of them.\u00a0 After all, this was Peter\u2019s livelihood, this is where he got his sense of importance and Jesus is trying to get Peter to understand that in the walk of discipleship you put the Lord first, even before your occupation, which is a male at least, that\u2019s where you get a lot of\u00a0 your satisfaction as a man, certainly that can apply to a woman as well.\n\nIt says there in verse 15, \u201cSo when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, \"Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?\u201d He said to Him, \u201cYes, Lord; You know that I love You.\" He said to him, \u201cTend My lambs.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 16, \u201cHe said to him again a second time, \u201cSimon, son of John, do you love Me?\u2019 He said to Him, \u2018Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.\u2019 He said to him, \u2018Shepherd My sheep.\u2019\u00a0 [17] He said to him the third time, \u2018Simon, son of John, do you love Me?\u2019 Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, \u2018\"Do you love Me?\u2019 And he said to Him, \u2018Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.\u2019 Jesus said to him, \u2018Tend My sheep.\u2019\u201d\n\nWhy would Jesus ask this question three times of Peter?\u00a0 Because Peter had denied Jesus how many times?\u00a0 Not two times, not four times, but three times.\u00a0 So when Jesus spiritually restores Peter He asked him the question three times.\u00a0 And I think what\u2019s largely happening here is an outworking of what we today called 1 John 1:9, where if we get out of fellowship with the Lord because of unconfessed sin, 1 John 1:9 says we\u2019re to confess our sin and He cleanses us from all unrighteous\u00adness.\u00a0 [1 John 1:9, \u201cIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our<\/em> sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d]\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t get us saved, we\u2019re already saved.\u00a0 What that does is it restores broken fellowship.\n\nSo Peter, through the threefold denial of Christ pre-resurrection, had committed a sin against the Lord and now the Lord gives him a three-fold restoration.\u00a0 So the Lord is taking care of him physically, He\u2019s also taking care of their spiritual needs as well.\u00a0 And when you study this in Greek, most of you know this, that in Greek there\u2019s different words for love.\u00a0 People say there\u2019s three words for love in Greek, there\u2019s probably actually four.\u00a0 There\u2019s something called storg\u0113 <\/em>which means family love, and then beyond that you have something called philia<\/em> which means brotherly love.\u00a0 You have something called \u00e9r\u014ds<\/em> which means romantic love, and then you have something called ag\u00e1p\u0113<\/em> which is self-sacrificing love.\u00a0 And as you work through this interaction between Jesus and Peter in Greek you\u2019ll find that the words start off at the surface level and eventually graduate to the ag\u00e1p\u0113<\/em> level.\u00a0 And it\u2019s at this particular point in time that Jesus is actually giving Peter his calling.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to be responsible for tending and some of your versions say \u201cfeeding God\u2019s flock.\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s what a pastor is supposed to do.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I think when you walk into Sugar Land Bible Church and you\u2019ll see the table and look up to the right, there\u2019s a sign there from Ezekiel 34:2 which asks a rhetorical question, \u201cShould not the shepherds feed the flock.\u201d\u00a0 [Ezekiel 34:2, \u201c\"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, \u2018Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?\u201d\u2019\n\nAnd what do you feed them with?\u00a0 Well, Deuteronomy 8:3 says man shall not live by bread alone,\u201d but by what? \u201cevery word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.\u201d\u00a0 So our philosophy in ministry here at Sugar Land Bible Church is we believe one of our primary callings is to feed God\u2019s sheep through a continual intake of God\u2019s Word, feeding and tending sheep is what Peter is called to do.\u00a0 So one of the things you discover at [can't understand word] when you\u2019re there thinking about this is you\u2019re thinking about the fact that God is a God of second chances.\u00a0\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you happy about that?\u00a0 Because a lot of us think we\u2019ve gone too far in rebellion and that God is not interested in us any more, He doesn\u2019t want to use us any more.\u00a0 And here\u2019s a guy that denied the Lord three times and yet the Lord not only forgave Him in terms of restoring broken fellowship, but actually gave him a calling into ministry.\n\nAnd a wonderful Scripture, it\u2019s starting to become one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible us Jonah 3:1, \u201cNow the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time,\u201d isn\u2019t that great?\u00a0 Because if anybody didn\u2019t deserve to be used it would be Jonah, right?\u00a0 Because Jonah had four chapters in it, Jonah chapter 1 is the fleeing prophet from Joppa.\u00a0 Jonah 2 is the praying prophet in the belly of the fish.\u00a0 Jonah 3 is the preaching prophet where he was actually successful but he was upset about his success when Nineveh repented.\u00a0 And then Jonah 4 is the pouting prophet.\u00a0 So what chapter are you in?\u00a0 Are in you the fleeing part of it, the praying part of it, the preaching part of it, or the pouting part of it?\n\nYou would think that God would have just washed His hands of Jonah but it says \u201cthe word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time.\u201d\u00a0 And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening here with Peter at Tabgha, \u00a0he\u2019s getting another opportunity via the grace of God.\u00a0\u00a0 And in fact, the opportunity that Peter is getting here at Tabgha is so significant that Peter actually, verses 18-19, is going to be given a rare privilege. And what is that rare privilege?\u00a0 To die what?\u00a0 A martyr\u2019s death.\u00a0 It says in verse 18, \u00a0\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.\u201d\u00a0 John 21:19, \u201cNow this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.\u00a0 And when He had spoken this, He\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201csaid to him, \u2018Follow Me!\u2019\u201d\n\nAnd I like Peter\u2019s answer, verse 20, \u201cPeter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved\u201d who would that be? John, \u201cfollowing them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said \u2018Lord, who is the one who betrays You?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [21] So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, \u2018Lord, and what about this man?\u2019\u201d\n\nIn other words, I\u2019m going to die a martyr\u2019s death, and by the way, we know he did die a martyr\u2019s death from tradition, he was crucified upside down to glorify Jesus, about thirty years later.\u00a0 And according to tradition the reason he was crucified upside down is he didn\u2019t see himself as worthy as dying the exact same way that Christ died.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that Jesus is revealing all of these things to him prophetically at this place called Tabgha.\n\nVerse 22, \u201cJesus said\u201d concerning Peter\u2019s interest in John, I mean we\u2019re not like that as Christians are we, always interested in what God is doing in someone else\u2019s life, when the reality of the situation is God doesn\u2019t call us to be buttinskies into everybody else\u2019s life, He calls us to walk our own walk with Him.\u00a0 And He makes a statement there in verse 22, \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!\u00a0 \u201cJesus said to him, \"If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In other words, you follow Me in discipleship and let me do what I\u2019m going to do with your neighbor, with John.\n\nSo as we\u2019re studying the Book of Revelation we know that John had a different destiny.\u00a0 He would live three decades (roughly) longer than Peter.\u00a0 They would try to martyr John boiling him in oil, according to tradition.\u00a0 The guy wouldn\u2019t die; talk about a stubborn person, he won\u2019t even die.\u00a0 So Domitian put him out on this little island in the middle of nowhere, off the coast of Asia Minor, called Patmos, and it\u2019s there John received the vision that we\u2019re studying in our main service, the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 Peter had a totally different destiny; he was just to follow the Lord and die the sacrificial martyr\u2019s death which happened three decades after Jesus spoke these things.\n\nSo I don\u2019t know, we\u2019re very worried about what\u2019s this church down the street doing, and what\u2019s going on in this person\u2019s life and with social media we can check up on everybody which sort of feeds envy, I think, a lot of times.\u00a0 And I think what the Lord is saying is you just follow Me, you don\u2019t have to worry about everybody else, you walk out your own personal walk with Me.\u00a0 And these are profound and powerful lessons that Jesus taught them all right here at Tabgha.\u00a0 I believe that Jesus did here his ninth sign.\u00a0 You know, these verses when we were in John, we were actually in John longer than Christ\u2019s whole earthly ministry, about three years.\u00a0 Remember the point of John\u2019s Gospel?\u00a0 \u201cTherefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [John 20:30-31]\n\nJohn\u2019s Gospel is all about signs, not so much as a magic show but to reveal the identity of Jesus as the Son of God.\u00a0 And not just as a theology lesson in Christology but to inculcate faith in people.\u00a0 John wants people to believe in Christ.\u00a0 And then notice it doesn\u2019t just say believe, it says \u201cbelieving.\u201d\u00a0 He wants us based on these signs and a revelation of who He is to keep trusting Him through the exigencies and the emergencies of life.\u00a0 That\u2019s the point of John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 That\u2019s why when you\u2019re interacting with somebody at your office or in your family and they are actually intellectually honest and they want to investigate the claims of Christ and they know you are a Christian and they ask you where should they start in the Bible I would not send them to the Book of Leviticus or some book like that, I would send them to John\u2019s Gospel because John\u2019s Gospel is set up to reach the lost through a revelation of Christ\u2019s signs.\u00a0 And in John\u2019s Gospel Jesus did seven signs.\u00a0 He turned water to wine, He healed the nobleman\u2019s son, He healed the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda, He fed the 5,000, He walked on water, He healed the blind man and He brought back Lazarus from the dead.\u00a0 And we know that John is setting up an intentional list here of seven because it says in his first miracle, John 2:11, turning water into wine.\u00a0 [John 2:11, \u201cThis beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.\u201d]\n\nAnd by the way, it seems like there is only two verses unbelievers know, they know about Him turning water to wine, they like that one, and they also like the part of the Bible that\u2019s says don\u2019t judge.\u00a0 So, they\u2019ve got those two things down.\u00a0 But it says there in verse 11, \u201cThis beginning of His signs\u201d after he turned the water into wine at Cana of Galilee.\u201d\n\nAnd then when you go over to John 4:54 it talks about His second miracle, and what does it say? \u00a0\u201cThis is again a second sign that Jesus performed [when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.]\u201d\u00a0 So obviously John is setting up an intentional list here. \u00a0So, he gives us these seven and I would push it a step further and say there\u2019s actually an eighth sign.\u00a0 What would that eighth sign be?\u00a0 His own bodily resurrection from the dead, which He predicted.\n\nAnd may I push it a little bit further?\u00a0 There\u2019s actually a ninth sign, this is a sign He did in His post-resurrection ministry with the miraculous catch of fish right there at Toga.\u00a0 So it is sort of a wonderful thing to be able to stand there in the actual location where this post resurrection ministry took place.\n\nSo, we\u2019ve looked at number one, Capernaum.\u00a0 Number two, Tabgha. We\u2019ll talk about the Jordan River next week.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t