The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 41: The Crisis in Galilee
This chapter is based on John 6:22-71.
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When Christ forbade the people to declare Him king, He knew
that a turning point in His history was reached. Multitudes who desired to
exalt Him to the throne today would turn from Him tomorrow. The disappointment
of their selfish ambition would turn their love to hatred, and their praise to
curses. Yet knowing this, He took no measures to avert the crisis. From the
first He had held out to His followers no hope of earthly rewards. To one who
came desiring to become His disciple He had said, "The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay
His head." Matthew 8:20. If men could have had the world with Christ,
multitudes would have proffered Him their allegiance; but such service He could
not accept. Of those now connected with Him there were many who had been
attracted by the hope of a worldly kingdom. These must be undeceived. The deep
spiritual teaching in the miracle of the loaves had not been comprehended. This
was to be made plain. And this new revelation would bring with it a closer
test. {DA 383.1}
The miracle of the loaves was reported far and near, and
very early next morning the people flocked to Bethsaida to see Jesus. They came
in great numbers, by land and sea. Those who had left Him the preceding night
returned, expecting to find Him still there; for there had been no boat by
which He could pass to the other side. But their search was fruitless, and many
repaired to Capernaum, still seeking Him. [384] {DA 383.2}
Meanwhile He had arrived at Gennesaret, after an absence of
but one day. As soon as it was known that He had landed, the people "ran
through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those
that were sick, where they heard He was." Mark 6:55. {DA 384.1}
After a time He went to the synagogue, and there those who
had come from Bethsaida found Him. They learned from His disciples how He had
crossed the sea. The fury of the storm, and the many hours of fruitless rowing
against adverse winds, the appearance of Christ walking upon the water, the
fears thus aroused, His reassuring words, the adventure of Peter and its
result, with the sudden stilling of the tempest and landing of the boat, were
all faithfully recounted to the wondering crowd. Not content with this,
however, many gathered about Jesus, questioning, "Rabbi, when camest Thou
hither?" They hoped to receive from His own lips a further account of the
miracle. {DA 384.2}
Jesus did not gratify their curiosity. He sadly said,
"Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of
the loaves, and were filled." They did not seek Him from any worthy
motive; but as they had been fed with the loaves, they hoped still to receive
temporal benefit by attaching themselves to Him. The Saviour bade them,
"Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto [385]
everlasting life." Seek not merely for material benefit. Let it not be the
chief effort to provide for the life that now is, but seek for spiritual food,
even that wisdom which will endure unto everlasting life. This the Son of God
alone can give; "for Him hath God the Father sealed." {DA 384.3}
For the moment the interest of the hearers was awakened.
They exclaimed, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of
God?" They had been performing many and burdensome works in order to
recommend themselves to God; and they were ready to hear of any new observance
by which they could secure greater merit. Their question meant, What shall we
do that we may deserve heaven? What is the price we are required to pay in
order to obtain the life to come? {DA 385.1}
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of
God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." The price of heaven is
Jesus. The way to heaven is through faith in "the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. {DA 385.2}
But the people did not choose to receive this statement of
divine truth. Jesus had done the very work which prophecy had foretold that the
Messiah would do; but they had not witnessed what their selfish hopes had
pictured as His work. Christ had indeed once fed the multitude with barley
loaves; but in the days of Moses Israel had been fed with manna forty years,
and far greater blessings were expected from the Messiah. Their dissatisfied
hearts queried why, if Jesus could perform so many wondrous works as they had
witnessed, could He not give health, strength, and riches to all His people,
free them from their oppressors, and exalt them to power and honor? The fact
that He claimed to be the Sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel's king, was
a mystery which they could not fathom. His refusal was misinterpreted. Many
concluded that He dared not assert His claims because He Himself doubted as to
the divine character of His mission. Thus they opened their hearts to unbelief,
and the seed which Satan had sown bore fruit of its kind, in misunderstanding
and defection. {DA 385.3}
Now, half mockingly, a rabbi questioned, "What sign
showest Thou then, that we may see, and believe Thee? what dost Thou work? Our
fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from
heaven to eat." {DA
385.4}
The Jews honored Moses as the giver of the manna, ascribing
praise to the instrument, and losing sight of Him by whom the work had been
accomplished. Their fathers had murmured against Moses, and had doubted and
denied his divine mission. Now in the same spirit the [386]
children rejected the One who bore the message of God to themselves. "Then
said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven." The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was
Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and had daily
fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread
from heaven. The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God,
is the true manna. Jesus said, "The bread of God is that which cometh down
out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33, R. V. {DA 385.5}
Still thinking that it was temporal food to which Jesus
referred, some of His hearers exclaimed, "Lord, evermore give us this
bread." Jesus then spoke plainly: "I am the bread of life." {DA 386.1}
The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews.
Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had said, "Man doth not live
by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the
Lord." And the prophet Jeremiah had written, "Thy words were found,
and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart." Deuteronomy 8:3; Jeremiah 15:16. The rabbis themselves had a
saying, that the eating of bread, in its spiritual significance, was the study
of the law and the practice of good works; and it was often said that at the
Messiah's coming all Israel would be fed. The teaching of the prophets made
plain the deep spiritual lesson in the miracle of the loaves. This lesson
Christ was seeking to open to His hearers in the synagogue. Had they understood
the Scriptures, they would have understood His words when He said, "I am
the bread of life." Only the day before, the great multitude, when faint
and weary, had been fed by the bread which He had given. As from that bread
they had received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might
receive spiritual strength unto eternal life. "He that cometh to Me,"
He said, "shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never
thirst." But He added, "Ye also have seen Me, and believe not." {DA 386.2}
They had seen Christ by the witness of the Holy Spirit, by
the revelation of God to their souls. The living evidences of His power had
been before them day after day, yet they asked for still another sign. Had this
been given, they would have remained as unbelieving as before. If they were not
convinced by what they had seen and heard, it was useless to show them more
marvelous works. Unbelief will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason away
the most positive proof. {DA
386.3}
Again Christ appealed to those stubborn hearts. "Him
that cometh [387] to Me I will in nowise cast
out." All who received Him in faith, He said, should have eternal life.
Not one could be lost. No need for Pharisees and Sadducees to dispute
concerning the future life. No longer need men mourn in hopeless grief over
their dead. "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will
raise him up at the last day." {DA 386.4}
But the leaders of the people were offended, "and they
said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
how is it then that He saith, I came down from heaven?" They tried to
arouse prejudice by referring scornfully to the lowly origin of Jesus. They
contemptuously alluded to His life as a Galilean laborer, and to His family as
being poor and lowly. The claims of this uneducated carpenter, they said, were
unworthy of their attention. And on account of His mysterious birth they
insinuated that He was of doubtful parentage, thus representing the human
circumstances of His birth as a blot upon His history. {DA 387.1}
Jesus did not attempt to explain the mystery of His birth.
He made no answer to the questionings in regard to His having come down from
heaven, as He had made none to the questions concerning His crossing the sea.
He did not call attention to the miracles that marked His life. Voluntarily He
had made Himself of no reputation, and taken upon Him the form of a servant.
But His words and works revealed His character. All whose hearts were open to
divine illumination would recognize in Him "the Only-begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." John 1:14. {DA 387.2}
The prejudice of the Pharisees lay deeper than their
questions would indicate; it had its root in the perversity of their hearts.
Every word and act of Jesus aroused antagonism in them; for the spirit which
they cherished could find in Him no answering chord. {DA 387.3}
"No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath
sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the
prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." None will ever
come to Christ, save those who respond to the drawing of the Father's love. But
God is drawing all hearts unto Him, and only those who resist His drawing will
refuse to come to Christ. {DA
387.4}
In the words, "They shall be all taught of God,"
Jesus referred to the prophecy of Isaiah: "All thy children shall be
taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isaiah
54:13. This scripture [388] the Jews appropriated to
themselves. It was their boast that God was their teacher. But Jesus showed how
vain is this claim; for He said, "Every man therefore that hath heard, and
hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." Only through Christ could
they receive a knowledge of the Father. Humanity could not endure the vision of
His glory. Those who had learned of God had been listening to the voice of His
Son, and in Jesus of Nazareth they would recognize Him who through nature and
revelation has declared the Father. {DA 387.5}
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on
Me hath everlasting life." Through the beloved John, who listened to these
words, the Holy Spirit declared to the churches, "This is the record, that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath
the Son hath life." 1 John 5:11, 12. And Jesus said, "I will raise
him up at the last day." Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we
might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to
come forth from the grave,—not merely as a manifestation of the power
of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see
Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting
life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God,
received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal. {DA 388.1}
The people had referred Christ to the manna which their
fathers ate in the wilderness, as if the furnishing of that food was a greater
miracle than Jesus had performed; but He shows how meager was that gift when
compared with the blessings He had come to bestow. The manna could sustain only
this earthly existence; it did not prevent the approach of death, nor insure
immortality; but the bread of heaven would nourish the soul unto everlasting
life. The Saviour said, "I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat
manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from
heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which
came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live
forever." To this figure Christ now adds another. Only through dying could
He impart life to men, and in the words that follow He points to His death as
the means of salvation. He says, "The bread that I will give is My flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world." {DA 388.2}
The Jews were about to celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem,
in commemoration of the night of Israel's deliverance, when the destroying
angel smote the homes of Egypt. In the paschal lamb God desired them [389]
to behold the Lamb of God, and through the symbol receive Him who gave Himself
for the life of the world. But the Jews had come to make the symbol all-important,
while its significance was unnoticed. They discerned not the Lord's body. The
same truth that was symbolized in the paschal service was taught in the words
of Christ. But it was still undiscerned. {DA 388.3}
Now the rabbis exclaimed angrily, "How can this Man
give us His flesh to eat?" They affected to understand His words in the
same literal sense as did Nicodemus when he asked, "How can a man be born
when he is old?" John 3:4. To some extent they comprehended the meaning of
Jesus, but they were not willing to acknowledge it. By misconstruing His words,
they hoped to prejudice the people against Him. {DA 389.1}
Christ did not soften down His symbolical representation. He
reiterated the truth in yet stronger language: "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no
life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My
blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth
in Me, and I in him." {DA
389.2}
To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive
Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are
complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking
it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body,
Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it
becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know
Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must
feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life.
His love, His grace, must be assimilated. {DA 389.3}
But even these figures fail to present the privilege of the
believer's relation to Christ. Jesus said, "As the living Father hath sent
Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by
Me." As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so are we to live by
faith in Christ. So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the
Father alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points like as we
are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that surrounded Him. Thus
we also are to overcome as Christ overcame. {DA 389.4}
Are you a follower of Christ? Then all that is written
concerning the spiritual life is written for you, and may be attained through
uniting yourself [390] to Jesus. Is your zeal
languishing? has your first love grown cold? Accept again of the proffered love
of Christ. Eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and you will become one with
the Father and with the Son. {DA
389.5}
The unbelieving Jews refused to see any except the most
literal meaning in the Saviour's words. By the ritual law they were forbidden
to taste blood, and they now construed Christ's language into a sacrilegious
speech, and disputed over it among themselves. Many even of the disciples said,
"This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" {DA 390.1}
The Saviour answered them: "Doth this offend
you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." {DA 390.2}
The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His
word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His
word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that
His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all
the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a
manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His
followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word
must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live "by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4. {DA 390.3}
As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual
life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from
God's word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive
nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it
merely through the medium of another's mind. We should carefully study the
Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His
word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of
ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should
dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know "what saith
the Lord." {DA 390.4}
In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved
the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in
Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The experiences related in
God's word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and
warning, are mine. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself [391]
for me." Galatians 2:20. As faith thus receives and assimilates the
principles of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of
the life. The word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and
enters into the development of character. {DA 390.5}
By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we
shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His
hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour.
As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word
destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of
His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new
creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine
similitude. This is what it means to live "by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God." This is eating the Bread that comes down from
heaven. {DA 391.1}
Christ had spoken a sacred, eternal truth regarding the
relation between Himself and His followers. He knew the character of those who
claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their faith. He declared that
they were to believe and act upon His teaching. All who received Him would
partake of His nature, and be conformed to His character. This involved the
relinquishment of their cherished ambitions. It required the complete surrender
of themselves to Jesus. They were called to become self-sacrificing, meek and
lowly in heart. They must walk in the narrow path traveled by the Man of
Calvary, if they would share in the gift of life and the glory of heaven. {DA 391.2}
The test was too great. The enthusiasm of those who had
sought to take Him by force and make Him king grew cold. This discourse in the
synagogue, they declared, had opened their eyes. Now they were undeceived. In
their minds His words were a direct confession that He was not the Messiah, and
that no earthly rewards were to be realized from connection with Him. They had
welcomed His miracle-working power; they were eager to be freed from disease
and suffering; but they would not come into sympathy with His self-sacrificing
life. They cared not for the mysterious spiritual kingdom of which He spoke.
The insincere, the selfish, who had sought Him, no longer desired Him. If He
would not devote His power and influence to obtaining their freedom from the Romans,
they would have nothing to do with Him. {DA 391.3}
Jesus told them plainly, "There are some of you that
believe not;" adding, "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can
come unto Me, [392] except it were given unto him of
My Father." He wished them to understand that if they were not drawn to
Him it was because their hearts were not open to the Holy Spirit. "The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is by faith that the soul beholds the
glory of Jesus. This glory is hidden, until, through the Holy Spirit, faith is
kindled in the soul. {DA
391.4}
By the public rebuke of their unbelief these disciples were
still further alienated from Jesus. They were greatly displeased, and wishing
to wound the Saviour and gratify the malice of the Pharisees, they turned their
backs upon Him, and left Him with disdain. They had made their choice,—had
taken the form without the spirit, the husk without the kernel. Their decision
was never afterward reversed; for they walked no more with Jesus. {DA 392.1}
"Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge
His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner." Matthew 3:12. This was
one of the times of purging. By the words of truth, the chaff was being
separated from the wheat. Because they were too vain and self-righteous to
receive reproof, too world-loving to accept a life of humility, many turned
away from Jesus. Many are still doing the same thing. Souls are tested today as
were those disciples in the synagogue at Capernaum. When truth is brought home
to the heart, they see that their lives are not in accordance with the will of
God. They see the need of an entire change in themselves; but they are not
willing to take up the self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their
sins are discovered. They go away offended, even as the disciples left Jesus,
murmuring, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" {DA 392.2}
Praise and flattery would be pleasing to their ears; but the
truth is unwelcome; they cannot hear it. When the crowds follow, and the
multitudes are fed, and the shouts of triumph are heard, their voices are loud
in praise; but when the searching of God's Spirit reveals their sin, and bids
them leave it, they turn their backs upon the truth, and walk no more with
Jesus. {DA 392.3}
As those disaffected disciples turned away from Christ, a
different spirit took control of them. They could see nothing attractive in Him
whom they had once found so interesting. They sought out His enemies, for they
were in harmony with their spirit and work. They misinterpreted His words,
falsified His statements, and impugned His motives. They sustained their course
by gathering up every item that could be [393] turned
against Him; and such indignation was stirred up by these false reports that
His life was in danger. {DA
392.4}
The news spread swiftly that by His own confession Jesus of
Nazareth was not the Messiah. And thus in Galilee the current of popular
feeling was turned against Him, as, the year before, it had been in Judea. Alas
for Israel! They rejected their Saviour, because they longed for a conqueror
who would give them temporal power. They wanted the meat which perishes, and
not that which endures unto everlasting life. {DA 393.1}
With a yearning heart, Jesus saw those who had been His
disciples departing from Him, the Life and the Light of men. The consciousness
that His compassion was unappreciated, His love unrequited, His mercy slighted,
His salvation rejected, filled Him with sorrow that was inexpressible. It was
such developments as these that made Him a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief. {DA 393.2}
Without attempting to hinder those who were leaving Him, Jesus
turned to the twelve and said, "Will ye also go away?" {DA 393.3}
Peter replied by asking, "Lord, to whom shall we
go?" "Thou hast the words of eternal life," he added. "And
we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God." {DA 393.4}
"To whom shall we go?" The teachers of Israel were
slaves to formalism. The Pharisees and Sadducees were in constant contention.
To leave Jesus was to fall among sticklers for rites and ceremonies, and
ambitious men who sought their own glory. The disciples had found more peace
and joy since they had accepted Christ than in all their previous lives. How
could they go back to those who had scorned and persecuted the Friend of
sinners? They had long been looking for the Messiah; now He had come, and they
could not turn from His presence to those who were hunting His life, and had
persecuted them for becoming His followers. {DA 393.5}
"To whom shall we go?" Not from the teaching of
Christ, His lessons of love and mercy, to the darkness of unbelief, the
wickedness of the world. While the Saviour was forsaken by many who had
witnessed His wonderful works, Peter expressed the faith of the disciples,—"Thou
art that Christ." The very thought of losing this anchor of their souls
filled them with fear and pain. To be destitute of a Saviour was to be adrift
on a dark and stormy sea. {DA
393.6}
Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to
finite minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the work for
our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own result. If we [394]
were capable of understanding His purposes, all would appear important,
complete, and in harmony with His mission. {DA 393.7}
While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we
can discern His great love, which underlies all His dealings with men. He who
lives near to Jesus will understand much of the mystery of godliness. He will
recognize the mercy that administers reproof, that tests the character, and
brings to light the purpose of the heart. {DA 394.1}
When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many
of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words;
but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that in the hour of
temptation every one of His beloved disciples would be severely tested. His
agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal and crucifixion, would be to them a most
trying ordeal. Had no previous test been given, many who were actuated by
merely selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their Lord was
condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who had hailed Him as their
king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the jeering crowd cried, "Crucify
Him!"—when their worldly ambitions were disappointed, these
self-seeking ones would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought
upon the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to their grief
and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest hopes. In that hour of
darkness, the example of those who turned from Him might have carried others
with them. But Jesus brought about this crisis while by His personal presence
He could still strengthen the faith of His true followers. {DA 394.2}
Compassionate Redeemer, who in the full knowledge of the
doom that awaited Him, tenderly smoothed the way for the disciples, prepared
them for their crowning trial, and strengthened them for the final test! {DA 394.3}
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