Isaiah 43 makes it quite clear that the LORD is Israel’s only Savior. Isaiah speaks eloquently of all the ways the LORD has shown Himself as Savior and deliverer of Israel. He considers Egypt a ransom for her. He makes a powerful statement that before Him there was no god, and after Him there shall be no other. He alone is God, and He has chosen Israel as His people. Despite Israel’s sin, despite their constant turning away, the LORD has not abandoned them.
Isaiah 44 offers us an interesting “sandwich.” I call it a sandwich because the “bread” is the LORD’s explanation that He is the Savior, redeemer and creator of Israel. The “meat” inside the sandwich is an explanation of the futility of idols. He explains that a carpenter takes a tree, albeit a special tree of cedar or oak, and uses half of it to heat his home and cook his food. The other half he fashions into an idol that he worships. How absurd, right? Yet, in our day, we often worship money, or success, or fame, or beauty, or ______ you fill in the blank with people or things that are no more gods than the piece of wood used by the carpenter in Isaiah’s illustration. There is only one, true, and living God. He created all things, He redeemed the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and He lives in all who call on Him through the Holy Spirit. Let’s be certain we don’t laugh at the foolishness of those who worshipped hand carved idols, while forgetting to worship the living God ourselves!
As we return to John 6, we return to one of the most challenging passages in Jesus’ teaching. First, Jesus feeds the five thousand (men, and many more including women and children) with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Afterwards, the people proclaim Jesus a prophet. Jesus leaves the crowd to pray. Meanwhile, the disciples cross the Sea of Galilee in a boat. Jesus comes to them at night walking on the water. The next day, the crowds find Jesus by walking around the lake. They ask Him how he got there? But Jesus cuts right to the point: You came not because of the miracles, but because I fed you. The get into a long disagreement with Jesus, which ends with nearly everyone leaving Him, because He told them they had to “eat” His “body” and “drink” His “blood.” We understand Jesus was using a figure of speech, but they did not, so they left. Jesus made it clear once again, He was the Messiah, the Son of God, but the people weren’t receiving it. Finally, Jesus turned to the disciples, and asked, “Are you leaving, too?” Peter responded by saying Jesus had the words of life. Where would they go? We must also respond in the same way. Jesus’ teachings are sometimes hard, and it’s alway hard to follow Him as a humble servant, when the world calls us to flamboyant lives of indulgence. Nevertheless, Jesus’ way is the way, so we must choose whether to follow Him, to believe in Him, to do the Father’s will in that way and to receive eternal life, or to follow the world’s way, which ultimately leads to death both physically and spiritually. Jesus never leaves us the middle road. He doesn’t permit us to stand on the fence. It’s either “Follow me,” or “Reject me.” Which do we choose today?