May 11 – Why Was Jesus Teaching Cannibalism?

TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
  1 Samuel 10:1-11:15
  John 6:43-71
  Psalm 107:1-43
  Proverbs 15:1-3

1 Samuel 10:2 — Rachel died around 1900 BC, we’re now at 1050 BC.

1 Samuel 10:9 — “He gave him such virtues as were fitting for a king.” (per Geneva Bible)

1 Samuel 10:26 — After reading through the gross sins of Judges and the failure of the sons of Eli and Samuel, it’s refreshing to hear of the men “whose hearts God had touched.”

1 Samuel 11:13 — Often when we think of King Saul, we think of his wild later years, but we forget that he started out merciful and grateful to the LORD.

1 Samuel 11:15 — What’s significant about Gilgal? The kingdom was renewed where Joshua entered the land 350 years earlier (Joshua 4:19). Gilgal was the place of the first Passover in the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10), and it was Joshua’s base of operations (Joshua 9:6, Joshua 10:6, Joshua 10:15, Joshua 10:43, Joshua 14:6). The Angel of the LORD descended first in Gilgal (Judges 2:1).

John 6:43 — Yesterday we read how the Jews murmured. Nine times in the Gospels does someone murmur. Throughout the Old Testament we read of the problem of murmuring.

John 6:53 — Jesus seems to be deliberately provoking His audience. At multiple times in the Old Testament – not to mention the New Testament (Acts 15:20, Acts 15:29, Acts 21:25) – God clearly prohibits eating blood. Jesus used a difficult analogy to Nicodemus when He talked about being born again (John 3). Now, He’s provoking the audience with an idea of cannibalism when He urges them to be eating the Living Bread (John 6). Jesus is fulfilling the almost 1,500-year-old Mosaic Code that pointed to Him. What was different from the blood of Jesus compared to the blood of every other creature on the earth? It was the blood of the New Testament (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20). His blood was shed on the cross (John 19:34). It is by faith in His Blood that we have a propitiation (Romans 3:25). We are justified by His blood (Romans 5:9). We have redemption through His blood (Ephesians 1:7, I Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:9). We are made nigh by His blood (Ephesians 2:13). We have peace through His blood (Colossians 1:20). We are purged by His blood (Hebrews 9:14). We have boldness by His blood (Hebrews 10:19). We are sanctified by His blood (Hebrews 13:12). We are cleansed by His blood (1 John 1:7). We overcame by His blood (Revelation 12:11). And yes, we are washed in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 1:5)! Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Psalm 107:8 — Let us give thanks (Psalm 107:1) and say so (Psalm 107:2) and praise Him (Psalm 107:8)! By the way, if you memorize this verse it counts 4x (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, and 31). If a teacher in school repeats something – it’s usually because it will be on the test. Let’s pass God’s test!

Proverbs 15:1 — So many times when we’re tempted to fight back (either verbally or on Facebook), remember this verse!

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