It’s easy for Christians to fall into a rut: Church is a thing you do, prayer is a box to check, and faith seems far from “the real world.” This fall we let Jesus himself confront our ruts. “Do you believe this?” he asks (Jn. 11:26).
To believe in Jesus is to experience him. It’s more than logic, argument, and doctrine. It is intimate knowledge of God himself. This fall, let Jesus himself speak to you in his seven “I AM” statements in the gospel of John. How is he changing you? What response is he inspiring in you? To believe in him changes everything.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ponder:
Ponder the I AM statement: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Consider how Jesus said “way,” singular. Ponder how our society is pluralistic – many ways. What do you think when you hear Jesus’ exclusive claim?
Word
John 6:42
“They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Meditation: “What is it?” by Julianna Shults
The Israelites left enslavement in Egypt through God’s mighty hand and were on their way to the Promised Land. As they traveled, complaints rose about, of all things, the food. The Israelites were about as patient for God to provide a meal as a hangry middle schooler. So God provided the impossible: In the evening quail would appear for meat, and in the morning they found bread on the ground.
When God provides such a great and miraculous gift, you imagine they fell down in immediate thanks. Not exactly. “When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ for they did not know what it was” (Exodus 16:15).
“Who is he?”
People were seeking Jesus out as he traveled, taught, and performed miracles. They followed Him looking for tangible signs, healing, and power in a time of oppression, not to hear Jesus was the Son of God sent to save them. They were looking for an easy meal, but Jesus reminds them that He was here for far more than that. He had come to bring salvation to all who believed in Him.
When God provides the gift of His Son to give eternal life, you imagine they would have faith to follow Him. Not this time either. “They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
God’s good and gracious gifts are often hard for us to recognize in the moment. In fact, our sinful nature makes us more inclined to doubt, to question, than to believe and give thanks. We skip out on worship and Communion. Our lives become filled with activity and we don’t have time for Bible study or prayer.
We come from a long line of people who missed the beautiful, life-giving gifts of God right in front of their eyes. Yet, that doesn’t stop God from providing for us. God provided life giving sustenance to His people in the wilderness. It foreshadowed the Bread of Life that would come into the world to save us not just from hunger, but from sin, death, and the devil.
When God provides such a gift, it is only through faith that we can give thanks and praise for what He has done. We confess the times we dismiss and doubt the life-giving bread right in front of us. As forgiven children, we give thanks as we always should, recognizing and celebrating the Bread of Life given for us.
Lord, we are sorry for the times that we doubt or are not grateful for your gifts. You are all that we need. Amen.
Prayer
Jesus, you said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In a world of competing ways, show me the narrow path that leads to you. I have tried paths that lead to nowhere. You alone are truth and life. Draw me close to you. Amen.
Benediction
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (I Tim. 1:17)