​Day 75 – March 16, 2021

​Day 75 – March 16, 2021
Scriptures:  Numbers 24, John 6
 
Balaam’s message is simple. Nations won’t last forever. They will come and go. Israel stands as a blessed nation because God has redeemed them and delivered them out of Egypt. There is a hint of something ahead, a star out of Jacob. (Numbers 24:17). Is that the star the wise men see? Not sure that’s what is meant in the text at all, but perhaps.
 
The point is more about the special identity that Israel holds in the world as God’s holy and set apart people. And no amount of coaxing and sacrificing is going to get God to turn on his promise given to Abraham.
 
It is in John 6, where we see the opposite come true. But first, the good.
 
We have a Moses sighting in John’s gospel. Not directly related, but certainly, we should get every sense that Jesus is pointing us to the faithfulness of God, caring for the Israelites. God provided food for the Israelites.  And Jesus offers himself to the world as the bread of life. He is our hope and salvation.
 
 Unfortunately, as the reading continues, Jesus startles his audience with a demand they aren’t ready to hear. He invites his followers to drink his blood and eat his flesh. Yikes!
 
We know that Jesus was calling us to a full embrace of his Lordship and benevolence. It was a full acceptance of his sacrifice and the gift of life in Him.  Some rejected. Some walked away.
 
But those who stayed knew the truth about his identity. 
 
He has the words of eternal life.
 
He was the bread of life. What came to the Israelites, with Moses, was a shadow of the thing to come. Something that would fulfill and complete us in every way.
 
Jesus, the Bread of Life. His love lasts forever. All will be made new. The Promise is fulfilled. The star is here. The one who rights the world, is Jesus.
 
Be Blessed!
 
Jordan