(Day 27) John 1-12

Jesus says , "unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God". A majority of the scripture in the Gospel of John speaks of accepting Jesus and receiving everlasting life. In John 6 v11 Jesus feeds 5000 people from just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. When every one has eaten their fill, Jesus commands his disciples to "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost." Is he simply speaking about the fragments of bread? I believe this is again a reference by Jesus to how we should act toward our fellow man. In other words, if after hearing the gospel there are still people left over, we should work to gather up the "fragments" so that no one should be lost. I may be completely off on this one, but it seems to make sense and mesh with the teaching of Jesus from all of the other gospels.

In John 6 v 35 Jesus says, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." This statement from Jesus seems to be the most direct response he made. It was almost like he finally said "alright, here's the deal". There is no parable, no possible alternate meaning. Simply, I am the real deal, the son of God, believe in me and you will have eternal life. Really, by Jesus being so direct, it seems simple. Why do I struggle every day to follow what Jesus taught?

Another very direct and simple concept that Jesus puts forth in John is not judging other people. In John 7 v24 Jesus states, "do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." Why is it so hard for all of us, yes all of us, to not accept people without judging them? We are taught through out the scripture that it is not our job to judge our fellow man. That duty lays with God alone. In John 8 v7 Jesus says of a woman accused of adultery, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." Guess what? Every single one of them walks away without throwing one stone at her. Jesus simply says she is forgiven and tells her not to sin anymore. That offer is available to every single one of us. Even though it's not that difficult of a concept, I have to remind myself constantly not to judge other people. I'm willing to bet that most of us struggle with this. Would I be able to cast that first stone? No, I would have been the first to walk away.