The Things Behind

From this time many of His disciples went away into the things behind, and no longer walked with Him. (Interlinear)
John 6:66

I like The Interlinear Bible’s version of the verse above.  If you’re not familiar with this translation by Hendrickson Publishers, I would highly recommend it.  It gives the literal translation of the words in the original Hebrew and Greek.  In most translations, the above verse simply reads that many of Jesus’ disciples “went back” or “turned back.”  I don’t disagree with these translations.  They capture the point to the text, but the Interlinear’s version highlights to what Jesus’ disciples turned back.  They went back  to the way things were, to the things behind.  At the  beginning of this chapter of the gospel of John, the Lord feeds the five thousand.  These same individuals are the ones that turn and leave in Jn 6:66.  Why did they leave?  Christ was bringing them into a place of greater spiritual light.  He was turning their minds from the physical bread they had eaten earlier to the spiritual bread that we must consume to be eternally sustained.  That living bread was none other than Christ Himself!  This truth was beyond what they were willing to consider, so they turned back to their old way of thinking, “the things behind.”

Be careful about the temptation to go back to where you were spiritually when the Lord is leading you on into greater revelation.  These men wanted to go back to the loaves and the fishes instead of following Christ into these deeper waters.  He led them into the spiritual, but they wanted to remain in the flesh.  He had led them to faith, but they wanted to stick with sight.  “Remember Lot’s wife”! (Lk 17:32) She had left Sodom in body, but her heart remained there.  It cost her life!  The Lord is very plain in Lk 9:62: “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  We must press on with Christ.  We must go where He leads us.  We would be foolish to think we’ve got a proper understanding of all things.  God’s bigger than we think, and as we seek after Him, He will reveal more of Himself.  Be ready for Him to tear down false concepts.  When He does, learn to say, “Yes, Lord.”  Even if you can’t fully grasp what He’s teaching you, don’t throw it away just because you’ve always heard differently.  Instead, be like the Bereans that searched the Scriptures to see if the things they were hearing were true. (Ac 17:11) Approach him with the understanding that “…if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.” (1 Cor 8:2)

Our text above is also pertinent to the topic we will consider this week in Conformed to His Image.  We’re on pg 34 looking at “Loving Ourselves Correctly.”  To do this properly, we must understand what we were before God saved us, but we must also live in the awareness of what we are now in Christ.  We cannot live in the victory that we have in Christ and the joy that should accompany it (Jn 16:33) if we’re controlled by the guilt of what we used to be.  Paul never forgot that he had once persecuted Christians, but he remembered this fact only as a reminder of the amazing grace that Christ had bestowed upon him.  That awareness fueled His love for Christ and prompted him to labor harder than the other apostles. (1 Cor 15:10)  But, when it came to following the Lord, he didn’t make the mistake of returning to “the things behind.”  He had one rule: “…one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Ph 3:13, 14) I’ve said recently that I believe God is growing our Bible study group.  I’m not talking about numbers, but we’re growing on the inside.  He’s revealing more of Himself and maturing us in the faith.  May we press on in this journey and drop any baggage that religion has hung around our necks.  May we come not to know about God, but may we come to know God!  I hope we see there is a difference between those two statements…

Jamie

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