God sent Jesus for one purpose
We live daily in a world that turns, and in fact, some days, we sense that quite possibly, we might be meeting our end with the other end, better known as our beginning. As we do, the space in the middle becomes less and less, until there is no middle space, only ends touching.
Stay with me for a moment. Consider the simple device we carry in our pockets. It never sleeps; although it may rest while we plug it in to recharge. Even so, while our cell phone recharges its battery, still it is ready “to go to work for us” as soon as we pick it up and slide the screen open.
- Never Sleeping.
- Always Awake.
- Never Resting.
- Always “On” Call.
Never Placed Away in a drawer, but always close beside us, ready.
Even centuries ago, Jesus understood the threat of being “always on” OR “always awake.”
However, unlike our cell phones that demand our attention, Jesus Christ remains close beside us, filling us with His Spirit, & gently reminding us how we crave quiet time—away with Him!
“Now when Jesus heard about John,
(Matthew 14: 13 NASB)
[when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded & later buried]
He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself;
and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.”
- God sent Jesus to earth.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Seek & To Save!
- God sent Jesus to mankind.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Show Us the Only Way to Know Him!
- God sent Jesus to humanity.
- God sent Jesus so we could come to know Him as Savior: Our Ultimate Rest!
God sent Jesus to us!
Jesus withdrew from the crowd and went by boat to the other side of the sea. As Jesus did, He reminds us how we each need rest—time away from the life-stressors—time with the Father.
Jesus withdrew from the crowd for one purpose—to share time with God.
The people saw Jesus going away, leaving, and “they followed Him on foot” probably walking a long distance from where they were in the city to reach Jesus on the other side of the sea, where He went to pray, to rest.
Then Jesus reached the other side of the sea—
“When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.”
(Matthew 14: 14 NASB)
- God sent Jesus to earth.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Seek & To Save!
- God sent Jesus to mankind.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Show Us the Only Way to Know Him!
- God sent Jesus to humanity.
- God sent Jesus so we could come to know Him as Savior: Our Ultimate Rest!
God sent Jesus to us!
After Jesus went ashore, after the hour grew late, after He had the disciples gather the available food, after He instructed the disciples to have the people sit down on the grass, after Jesus blessed the food & broke the loaves of bread in half, & after He handed the food to His disciples—JESUS fed the thousands of people (men, women, & children).
“Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.
(Matthew 14: 22-23 NASB)
After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray;
and when it was evening, He was there alone.”
- God sent Jesus to earth.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Seek & To Save!
- God sent Jesus to mankind.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Show Us the Only Way to Know Him!
- God sent Jesus to humanity.
- God sent Jesus so we could come to know Him as Savior: Our Ultimate Rest!
God sent Jesus to us!
God sent Jesus for one purpose: To Show Us the Only Way to Know Him!
May we follow Jesus’ example to withdraw to a secluded place—with our Father God.
May we follow Jesus’ example to go up to the mountain—to pray with the Father.
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: May we come to know Jesus!
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: May we know God!
- God sent Jesus for one purpose: May we walk with the Holy Spirit!