Daily Bible reading and prayer, Wednesday, October 18, 2023
John 6 (chronological); Isaiah 65-66, 2 Thessalonians 1 (OT/NT)
We are on our chronological journey through the New Testament.
Our daily plan usually assigns whole chapters, so we end up reading different gospel writers’ versions of the same account on different days. If you want to explore all the gospel writers’ accounts of a single event on the same day, I have compiled a Chronological Study of the Gospels, that is available by subscription. You should be able to preview it, here. As we follow various clues in the Gospel writers’ accounts and look at smaller segments consisting of particular verses from all the accounts about the events of Jesus’ life and ministry, sometimes in that study we find ourselves either behind or ahead of the daily chronological assigned reading plan. We have yet to cover in our study the events we’ll read about today.
Obviously, our daily Old Testament and New Testament plan will have us in the Old Testament through the rest of the year, but this will be the second time this year we have read each Old Testament reading.
A overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here.
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 chronological reading: John 6
John 6
v1-14 “After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?’ This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.’ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were leftover by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’
v15 “So 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.
v16-21 “Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.’ So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
v22-25 “The 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. There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So 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. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You get here?’
v26-34 “Jesus answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.’ Therefore they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ So they said to Him, ‘What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.”’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’
v35-40 “Jesus 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. 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 the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.’
v41-51 “Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, “I have come down out of heaven”?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.’
v52-58 “Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 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. 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.’
v59 “These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
v60-65 “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, ‘Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’
v66-71 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?’ Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 OT/NT readings: Isaiah 65-66, 2 Thessalonians 1
We are finishing Isaiah for the second time today. We finished Paul’s 1 Thessalonians yesterday and start 2 Thessalonians today.
Paul went to Thessalonica on his second missionary journey. Barnabas had left with John Mark, so Paul had taken Silas (or Silvanus) along with him. They met Timothy in Galatia and had brought him along also. They had traveled through Asia, the Spirit not allowing Paul to speak the word there. He finally received the vision to go to Macedonia and went first to Phillipi, where he was imprisoned but led the jailer and his family to Christ when he did not escape after an earthquake freed him. He went from Phillipi to Thessalonica. He was only there 3 weeks, before he had to be sent away to Berea to escape from a mob of Jews. He escaped from these same Jews when they came from Thessalonica, went to Athens, and finally ended up for an extended period of time in Corinth, where he likely wrote his letters to the Thessalonians.
We are not reading Paul’s letters chronologically (we’ll do that later in the year). We’ve finished, in chronological order of their writing, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans, all written before his imprisonment and Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, written after his imprisonment. A summary of the events in the book of Acts, which is helpful in the timeline of the apostle Paul’s letters, can be found here.
Paul always has a purpose in his letters, but through them he always teaches theological truths his readers, including us, may not be aware of and how those truths impact how they (and we) should live in fellowship with one another and as followers of Christ.
Review of 1 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians was a letter of affection, and longing, as Paul was so quickly taken away from them, and encouragement, and challenge, for how they are walking: “we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1). He teaches us what will happen on the day of the Lord, reassuring those of us in Christ that we will always live together with Him. Encouraging one another with this, “having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation,” he teaches us how we should live.
Chapter 1: Paul, Silas, and Timothy only spent 3 weeks in Thessalonica, but obviously with great impact. Paul comments that the gospel did not come to them in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction, so that the Thessalonians became imitators of them, receiving the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. They are an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia and beyond, as people hear about their turning from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, and the word of the Lord spreads from them.
Chapter 2: Paul reflects on their boldness to speak the gospel to the Thessalonians amid opposition, given the mistreatment they received in Philippi before they came to Thessalonica. They speak, however, not as pleasing men, but God, who examines hearts. He shares how very dear the Thessalonians became to them and how they exhorted and encouraged and implored them, as a father would his children, to walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls us into His own kingdom and glory. He is thankful for their acceptance of the word of God, which performs its work in all who believe. The Thessalonians became imitators of the churches of God in Judea, suffering at the hands of their own countrymen. The Jews killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove Paul out. Such men are not pleasing to God, hindering the sharing of the gospel so that people might be saved. Wrath has come upon them. Paul wanted to see them again, but Satan hindered them. He wants them to know they are his hope, joy, and crown of exultation in the presences of the Lord Jesus at His coming.
Chapter 3: Paul, Silas, and Timothy went from Thessalonica to Berea, and then they sent Paul on to Athens alone [Acts 17:15]. Out of concern for the Thessalonians, he sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage them in their faith, so they would not be disturbed by the afflictions they were enduring. Paul had warned them they were destined for this and that they were going to suffer affliction. Paul was concerned that the tempter might have tempted them to lose faith. But Timothy brought him good news of their faith and love, which comforted them in their own affliction, saying, “now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.” Paul thanks God for all the joy their faith brings them, and prays they can see them and that their love for one another and all people would grow, so that He might establish their hearts without blame in holiness before God at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all His saints.
Chapter 4: Twice in this chapter, Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to “excel still more,” even though they have received instruction, by the authority of the Lord Jesus, in how they ought to walk and please God, and they actually do walk in that way. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” He even likens sexual immorality to transgressing and defrauding others, saying “the Lord is the avenger in all these things….For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” and “he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. He also admonishes to “excel still more” by making it “your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands…so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.” He transitions to good news about our eternal security: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Chrsit will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Chapter 5: Paul ends his letter with admonishment that results from the hope of our salvation. For those who are in darkness, “the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night….But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief….let us be alert and sober…having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation….whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another.” He calls for loving esteem and appreciation for those who “have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction….Live in peace with one another…admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass….The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
2 Thessalonians 1
v1-2 “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
v3-12 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Dear Lord,
This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.
Help us to understand the simplicity of Your message: repent and believe. We want signs and miracles and gifts and benefits, and to display marvelous works of You in our lives. Jesus is the work, giving us the gift of eternal life. You are willing to choose all of us, even a devil such as Judas. But there is an eternal penalty for “those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” I heard a timely message from Pastor Voddie Baucham: the gospel requires repentance and belief; the gospel produces obedience. Thank You that it is the Holy Spirit, given to us as a gift when we believe, who works in us. We are helpless to obey or transform ourselves.
Thank You for the hope that Jesus will come “to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.”
To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In His name, Amen.