Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 6:1-15.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 6:1-5 (NIV)
1  Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2  and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
3  Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4  The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5  When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
 
On verses 1-5:  Notice that when Jesus sees the crowd, his heart goes out to them and he wants to serve them.  When he sees the crowd, he probably envisions fields ripe for harvest and sheep without a shepherd.  Also, since verse 4 mentions that the Jewish Passover Feast was near, Jesus probably thought, “Let’s have a party with these people.”
 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 5:19-30.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 5:19-23 (NIV)
19  Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
20  For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
21  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
22  Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
23  that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

On verses 19-23:  Here Jesus describes how intricately entwined he and the Father are:
–        Jesus the Son can do nothing by himself but only does what he sees his Father doing (v19);
–        Whatever the Father does Jesus the Son also does (v19);
–        “For the Father loves the Son” (v20):  It’s a love relationship between the Father and Jesus the Son;
–        “…and shows him all he does” (v20): It’s a relationship of transparency between the Father and Jesus the Son;

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 5:10-18 (but for context we’ll start at verse 9).  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 5:9-10 (NIV)
9  At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,
10  and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

On verses 9-10:  In the Ten Commandments, God commanded His people to honour the Sabbath day by resting and not doing work on that day (Exodus 20:8-9).  The religious elite among the Jews would interpret this command in an extreme and overly strict way, such that they considered carrying one’s mat from one place to another on a Sabbath day to be a violation of the command to honour the Sabbath day.  By focusing on these technicalities, the religious elite missed the purpose and heart of God’s commands.  All of a sudden, a command that was meant to bring joy, refreshing and rest became a legalistic burden.