Judges 12 & 13, John 6: 60-71, John 7: 1-13, Psalm 78: 9-16
John 6: 63 (ESV)
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at
all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
In verse 63 from John 6, the disciples were complaining to
Jesus that many of the things he was teaching were hard to accept, and Jesus was
explaining to them why his teachings were hard to accept. Jesus tells his disciples that it is the Holy
Spirit who gives life, and that the flesh or human efforts cannot grant life.
The writers of a Bible Study I read wrote that “flesh” could also mean
adherence to law or traditions, and that you need the divine intervention of
the Holy Spirit to understand their spiritual significance. In other words, it
would be hard to accept the teaching of Jesus without help from the Holy
Spirit. Then Jesus tells them that his words and teachings are spirit and life,
meaning that they are transformative because they carry information and the
power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ words are full of spiritual life and power. This
verse teaches how important it is for believers to read out loud and study the
word of God, because the words themselves are alive with spiritual power and
life. The words of God have the power to transform our lives just to speak them
out loud, but we need the help of the Holy Spirit to help discern them. We
cannot accept or understand God’s words by using our human faculties alone. I
know for myself I have a hard time understanding the teachings of Jesus, but when
I pray to the Holy Spirit to help me then a whole world and new level of
understanding opens up for me.
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