Obedience, a Different Kind of Food | Mysteries in the Gospel of John Season 5

SPEAKER 03 : 0:01

Jesus refused the earthly food, and he said, I have food to eat that you guys don’t know anything about. I’m eating from a different place. There’s something that I’m eating, and I’m eating in a way that you guys are ignorant about. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels. And the reason they’re called the synoptic gospels is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke all synchronize with each other and tell us the same story. The gospel of John, however, is very unique. It’s separate from Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the sense that it brings to us a whole different dimension. Whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke are primarily focused in space and time, John is focused in the spirit and eternal realities. For example, John reveals to us Jesus’ words where Jesus said, I am from above, you are from below, you are from this world, I am not of this world. In other words, the gospel of John speaks to us of the mysteries of the spirit. This particular series that I’m in is called Mysteries from the Gospel of John. We’re picking up now in the fourth chapter. Now, Jesus had just got done dialoguing with the woman at the well. He told her how he had water to give her, That if she drank of it, it would eventually become within her, through the course of her life, a well that would satisfy her deepest longings as a human soul. Because she had been created to know God. And only in being brought into intimacy and relationship with him would her deepest heart’s desires be fulfilled. I want to move on now and cover some new territory. Jesus left the well. He left the woman from Samaria. And as disciples are walking, we pick back up at verse number 30. They went out of the city and people were coming to them. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, no one brought him anything to eat, did he? Jesus said, my food is, is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish His work. I want to take a couple steps back and think about this concept of how doing the will of God becomes food to us. Again, Jesus refused the earthly food and He said, I have food to eat that you guys don’t know anything about. I’m eating from a different place. There’s something that I’m eating and I’m eating in a way that you guys are ignorant about. My food, Jesus said to them, is to do the will of Hashem, to do the will of the Father. Now I want to take that concept that Jesus modeled for us, and I want to try to make some application for your life and for my life. We don’t understand that doing the will of God, that obeying Him actually is food for us. Some people, when they relate to the will of God, they relate to the will of God as if the will of God is law. like as if it’s rules, as if it’s simply commandments that they’re obligated to keep and somehow by keeping them, God’s wrath won’t be upon them. And if they keep them enough, they won’t go to hell. In other words, they look at obedience to the word of God as simply something that they have to do to get to heaven or something that they have to do to be in good setting. But beloved, it’s so much more. Doing the will of God, Obeying His commandments, relating to His law through spiritual eyes, actually becomes food to us. We read in the New Testament that the law is good for those that use it lawfully. What does that mean? That when we approach the law of God, both in the Hebrew Bible and the commandments of Jesus, when we approach them with the right spirit, it’s all good for us. In other words, a lot of Christians have been taught that we should completely forsake the law of God in the Old Testament. But the New Testament never teaches us to completely forsake the law of God as if it’s irrelevant, as if it has no purpose. What the New Testament does teach us is that we have to relate to the law contained in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible properly in the Spirit. Let me give you an example. The Lord, Hashem, gave the children of Israel the commandment of keeping Shabbat. It’s part of the Ten Commandments, keeping the Sabbath, taking one day a week and resting unto God. We, many of us as New Testament believers, think there’s no relevance for that principle in our life because we think the law has been done away with. But Jesus himself in the book of Mark said that the Sabbath… was made for man.” Notice that when Jesus brings up the Sabbath, which is the fourth of the Ten Commandments, He doesn’t bring up the Sabbath as some type of rule that we need to submit to, to be considered righteous before God, but rather when Jesus brings up the law or the commandment of the Sabbath, He says it was made for man. Man wasn’t made for the Sabbath. Rather, the Sabbath was made as a gift for man. What I’m trying to help you understand is that Jesus said his food was to do the will of him who sent him. And when we approach God’s self-revelation, which is given us through His commandments, through His laws, through His ordinances, when we approach it in a way that we’re not under it, but that there’s life in relating to it properly, it becomes food to us. So, for example, with the Sabbath. For me, I practice Shabbat from Friday night at sunset to Saturday night at sunset. I’m a Jewish person, and I want to relate to my God as a Jewish person. I don’t feel like I’m under the law. But for me, Shabbat is important. It’s holy. And when I practice Shabbat, beloved ones, not making this a rule or a law for you, but for me as a Jew, when I practice Shabbat, it’s food for me because I disconnect myself from responsibility. I stay at home or very close to my home. I rest. I read spiritual literature. I enjoy my family. I disconnect from the world to just be before God, to be a human being rather than a human doing. I just put myself on Shabbat in a place of receiving because six days God worked and then on the seventh day he rested. So when I align myself with this creation principle, because Shabbat or the principle of the Sabbath existed before the law in the Torah was given. So Shabbat is actually a creation principle. We read about it in the first few chapters of Genesis. God created the world in six days and he rested on the seventh. This is before the law was given to Moses. This goes all the way back to creation. So I find when I honor Hashem, when I honor God by resting on the seventh day of the week, making it a day that’s different from the other days by not doing the same things, I don’t recreate on the day. It’s not a day of recreation, but it’s a day of restoration in Hashem. It’s a day of looking to God to receive from Him. And when I do that, what happens is I receive food. You see, Jesus at his food was to do the will of him who sent him. The same thing is true when we obey the word of Jesus in our life in other areas. For example, when I go visit somebody that I feel the Lord is calling me to visit, maybe I’m tired. Maybe there’s other things that I could be doing, but I sense the Lord says, I want you to reach out to that person for me. And out of obedience, I go visit that person. I go reach out to that person. I call them up. I show them love. I sacrifice my own maybe spirit of being tired to give. What happens in doing that? I’m refreshed. I receive food. I’m strengthened. And so I want you to understand doing the will of God and obeying him. We don’t do it simply because we want to be obedient. Yes, but we do it also because we realize it’s life for us. We receive from him in it. In other words, by obeying God, listen, through whatever commandments, we call them in Hebrew, mitzvot, by obeying Father God, by keeping his commandments, Jesus said, if you love me in John 14, you’ll keep my commandments. By obeying his commandments, beloved, we create a lifeline between heaven and earth. We’re not just doing it out of religious obligation, but in obeying Him, we create a channel for Hashem, for the Spirit of Elohim, for God’s Spirit Himself to impart Himself into our life. When we align ourself with Him by obeying Him in specific acts of obedience, what we’re actually doing is creating a lifeline between Him and us so that we receive Him in obedience.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:37

You’ve been listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back. But first, I want to let you know that these teachings, they’re available for you to watch on Roku TV, and it’s completely free. You can watch full TV episodes of Discovering the Jewish Jesus from the comfort of your home or on the go. See Rabbi on screen as he brings biblical truths to life and deepens your understanding of Jesus the Messiah. Just search for Discovering the Jewish Jesus on Roku TV. today. Discovering the Jewish Jesus could not accomplish its mission without partners like you. Together, we are preparing men and women for the soon return of Jesus. So please stop by our website to give a one-time donation or to partner with us on a monthly basis. Through your simple act of generosity, you are making an impact. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com or call 800-777-7835. And now with the conclusion of today’s message, here is Rabbi Schneider.

SPEAKER 03 : 11:42

Let me tell you a secret. We can’t separate loving God from doing the work of God. Let me say it again. We can’t separate loving God from doing the work of God. Remember, we’re in John chapter 4. Jesus just got done saying to his disciples when they said, eat something, Rabbi, eat something. I’ve got food, he said, that you don’t know about. And then he went on to verse 34. He said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Let me just read it again. I want to just bring it back to the text. The disciples were saying to him, the end of verse 31, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, no one brought him anything to eat, did he? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. And now I’m following this concept up by sharing this. We cannot separate loving God from doing his work and completing the work that he gave us to do. Some of us think that we can love God. We go to church on Sundays. We listen to the worship music, which too oftentimes is way too loud. Why are we doing this in the church? It’s crazy. It’s crazy. Anyways, loving God is not just going into a worship service and thinking, well, we love God because we feel something when the music’s playing. No, loving God is obeying him. It’s doing his commandments. Jesus said, my will is to do the will of him who sent me. If we love him, Jesus said, if you love me, you’ll obey me. Now watch, I’m going to go to John 17. Forgive me for harping on this, but I really want to stress this. It seems a little redundant, perhaps, and I want you to understand loving God is a choice. It’s not about feeling anything first. It’s about doing his will. John chapter 17. We can’t separate loving God from doing the work of God. In John 17, Yeshua is about to go to the cross. And this is what he says in verse number four. He says, Father, I glorified you on the earth. Get this now. Having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross. He’s expressing his love for the Father. He’s saying, Father, I’m so excited that you’re going to glorify me again together with you, that we’re going to experience what we had together before I came to the world. And then he said, Father, I’ve completed the work that you gave me to do. He didn’t separate loving God from having a feeling and completing the Father’s work. They were the same thing. Loving God was doing the work of God. And so what is the work of God? The work of God is to believe in him, to develop a relationship with him. And also, as Jesus continues in the text here in John 4, he speaks about being a witness. So let’s go back to the text where we’re at in John 4. We’re looking to uncover the mysteries. The question is, will you receive it? Because I’m about to share something with you that you’ve heard it so many times, some of you, that it rolls off your back like water off a duck’s back, but the fact is you’ve never actually done it. Jesus says to the disciples, I’ve got food that you don’t know about, and the food that I’ve got is to do the will of the Father. Look what he says in the very next verse. Do not say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They’re white for the harvest already. He who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case, the saying is true, one sows and another reaps. And he sends them then into the harvest field, listen, to be his witnesses and to witness to the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. And what was the food? He was sent into the world to be a witness for the kingdom and then to die on the cross for our sins and all the other work that he accomplished in his own body. But immediately after he says, His food is to do the will of Father. He tells his disciples what they should be doing, what their food should be. And he starts talking about not making excuses about why you’re not witnessing. My food, he said, is to do the will of him who sent me. And then he says, do not say, very next words, do not say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest. What are you saying? He’s saying, don’t make excuses up why you’re not witnessing. Don’t say people aren’t ready yet. Don’t say they don’t want to hear. Don’t say there’s not an opportunity for you. Don’t say there are yet four months until the harvest comes. He says, behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They’re already white for the harvest. There’s already people in your life. God’s created open doors for you to be a witness to. How do you be a witness? You first of all, just be real. Be humble. Don’t act like we’re better than them, right? We don’t witness to people as if we’ve got it all together. No, we don’t lecture them. We don’t operate out of pride. We don’t use our Bible as a sword. We’re simply honest with people. We tell them what we struggle with and we tell them how real Jesus is to us. We share with people what God’s done for us. If he’s done a miracle, we share it with people. We make Jesus real to other people by being authentic with them. not as those that hold our lives over theirs as if we’re more righteous, we’re real. I remember somebody said to me, a person that I just not long ago met, they said that when you talk to us, it doesn’t feel like you’re preaching to us. They said to me, it feels like you’re pulling for us. Why is that? Because I’m humble when I do it by the grace of God. I certainly have a lot of pride to be rooted out of me, but I strive to be humble, to just be another human being, to say we, not you, we. And I just share, beloved, who Jesus is to me and who he is. Beloved, I want you to know we can’t know God if we’re not willing to do his will. Do you hear me, what I’m saying to you? We can’t know God if we’re not willing to do His will. When we do His will, beloved, His will becomes food for us. As we die to ourself to be obedient, we’re strengthened in the Spirit. The Bible says in the book of Acts, God gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey Him. The Spirit’s a gift. But the more we obey, the more we receive. Let’s be like Jesus. I created a website. It’s called WhoAmI.com. All you have to do is take the link WhoAmI.com and post it on your social media pages, your Facebook, etc. It’s a way to be a witness. Beloved, go to WhoAmI.com. Check out the three short videos. Post it on your social media. Let’s be His witnesses in the earth and do His will. You know why the Lord asks you and I to tithe? Because when you and I tithe, we open up our hearts to Him, and in so doing, we’re able to receive in an experiential way His love. You see, when we don’t trust God with our finances, what we’re unconsciously doing is agreeing with fear. That’s why most people don’t honor God with their finances, at least significantly. They might tip God, but they don’t really tithe, which is the precedent of the entire Bible, all the new. Why? Because they’re afraid to. They think if I tithe, then I’m going to fall on my face and I can’t really trust God. I want to encourage you, beloved, and I want to encourage myself. Let’s choose faith, not faith. fear. God told us, if you honor me with the first fruit of your wealth, your barn is going to be full. David said, I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. I want to encourage those of you today that love God. Listen, take that next step. If you haven’t already, honor the Lord and trust him with your finances. Be a giver. Jesus said it will come back to you pressed down, good measure and running over into your lap.

SPEAKER 01 : 20:38

Amen. And I want to encourage you, take that step of faith right now. Just go online to our website. It’s discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And you can also support this ministry by giving us a call today. Our number is 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. and we want to say thank you for your generosity so we’ll make sure that you receive our latest newsletter in the mail and each issue provides additional insights from rabbi plus we’ll also send along rabbi’s exclusive monthly teaching booklet which is broken up in four weekly sections that make learning more about god’s word a breeze along with it you’ll receive heartfelt letters from cynthia and a complete television and radio airing schedule and fresh encouragement to help you grow in your faith, stay grounded in truth and even feel more connected to what God is doing through this ministry. And then let me also remind you about an exciting offer that we have available right now. It’s a complimentary resource package and it explores the wisdom of the Aaronic blessing. It’s absolutely free and it includes Rabbi’s comprehensive guide that walks you through each powerful phrase of this blessing. You’ll discover how these ancient words of the Aaronic blessing carry divine protection and power over your life even today. It’s eye-opening and it’s an audio MP3 message along with a PDF booklet that offers a fresh perspective for applying this blessing to your life today. And it’s available at myfreegift.com forward slash peace. And now let’s wrap up today’s message titled Obedience with that special blessing. Here’s Rabbi Schneider.

SPEAKER 03 : 22:30

In the book of Numbers, chapter 6, the Lord gave instructions to Moses and Aaron to speak this blessing over his people. And the Lord said, When you speak these words over my people, I will place my name on them and bless them. Receive the impartations of the Lord’s blessings.

SPEAKER 02 : 22:48

Yevah Recheche Yahweh Vayishmarech Ya’er Yahweh, P’navei Lecha V’chunecha Yissa Yahweh, P’navei Lecha Ve’asem Lecha

SPEAKER 03 : 23:38

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.

SPEAKER 01 : 23:57

I’m Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Come back next time when Rabbi Schneider asks an important question. What do you think of Jesus? Learn how to be a better witness right here Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.