Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how you and I, or we, fit into that story today. Today is day 100, you guys, we did it. Phenomenal.

Well done. You are almost a third of the way through. You are definitely way over a quarter. I don't do math well, but today is day 100 and we have the second day of our messianic checkpoint. We're reading through the Gospel of John.

Today is John, chapter four, five and six, three chapters in John's Gospel. We're also reading from proverbs, chapter five, verses seven through 14. As always, the translation that I am reading from is the revised standard Version, second catholic edition. I'm using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension. To download your bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleinayear.

If you have not yet subscribed on day 100, then we don't want you to subscribe. That's it. I'm done asking. Just kidding. I'm practicing.

I have to keep asking. But you know that there's no pressure. Also, this is a little pro tip. Maybe I've already shared this. I don't know.

If you're sitting there thinking, father, why do you have to say the same thing every, every time? And I already know this and I already know what day it is because I downloaded my bible in the year reading plan from ascensionpress.com bible in the year like 98 days ago. You can just hit that fast forward button a couple times and man, all of a sudden you're already there. We're reading the Gospel of John like we're doing right now. I'm just excited.

I'm sorry, I need to calm it down. When we get to the gospels, get to the New Testament, I love the Old Testament. It is incredible. It's incredible. The Hebrew Covenant, the hebrew story, the hebrew scriptures, so good.

But there's something about even today's gospel of John, chapter four, five and six that I gotta tell you right now, it's changed my life. It has changed my life, especially that last chapter, John chapter six. So I will try to contain myself as we read the Gospel of John, chapters four, five and six. Book of proverbs, chapter five, verses seven through 14. The gospel according to John, chapter four.

Jesus and the woman of Samaria. Now, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John. Although Jesus himself did not baptize, baptized, but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again to Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar.

Near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. And so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the 6th hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.

Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria, for Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God. And who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink. You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.

The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself and his sons and his cattle? Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

The water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right in saying, I have no husband.

For you have had five husbands. And he whom you now have is not your husband. This you said truly. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain.

And you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming. When neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth. For such the father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who was called Christ.

When he comes, he will show us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman. But none said, what do you wish? Or why are you talking with her?

So the woman left her water jar and went away into the city. And said to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of the city and were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples begged him, saying, rabbi, eat.

But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. So the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him food? Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are yet four months? Then comes the harvest.

I tell you, lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages. And gathers fruit for eternal life. So that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true.

One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from that city believed in him. Because of the woman's testimony.

He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, it is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves.

And we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. Jesus departs for Galilee after the two days he departed to Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. Having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast.

For they, too, had gone to the feast. Jesus heals an official's son. So he came again to Cana in Galilee. Where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.

When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee. He went and begged him to come down and heal his son. For he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The official said to him, sir, come down before my child dies.

Jesus said to him, go. Your son will live. The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was living. So he asked them the hour when he began to mend.

And they said to him, yesterday, at the 7th hour the fever left him. The father knew that was the hour when jesus had said to him, your son will live. And he himself believed in all his household. This was now the second sign that jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. Chapter five.

Jesus heals on the Sabbath. After this there was a feast of the Jews, and jesus went up to JeRusalem. Now there is in JeruSalem, by the sheep gate a pool in Hebrew called Betsatha, which has five porticos. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for 38 years.

When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled. And while I am going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rise. Take up your pallet and walk.

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, it is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your pallet. But he answered them.

The man who healed me said to me, take up your pallet and walk. They asked him, who is the man who said to you, take up your pallet and walk. Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, and there was a crowd in the place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see, you are well. Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, my father is working still, and I am working. This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his father, making himself equal with God, the authority of the Son. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing.

For whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. For the father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel, for as the father raises the dead and gives them life. So also the Son gives life to whom he will. The father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.

That all may honor the Son even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming.

And now is when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God. And those who hear will live. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this.

For the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life. And those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. The testimony to Jesus. I can do nothing on my own authority.

As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness to me. And I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true.

You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which I receive is from man. But I say this, that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp. And you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John. For the works which the father has granted me. To accomplish these very works which I am doing. Bear me witness that the father has sent me. And the father who sent me has himself borne witness to me.

His voice you have never heard, his form, you have never seen. And you do not have his word abiding in you. For you do not believe him whom he has sent. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness to me.

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men. But I know that you have not the love of God within you. I have come in my father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

How can you believe who receive glory from another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God, do not think that I shall accuse you to the father. It is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Chapter six.

Feeding the 5000. After this, jesus went to the other side of the sea of Galilee. Which is the sea of Tiberias. And a multitude followed him because they saw signs, which he did on those who were diseased. Jesus went up into the hills and there sat down with his disciples.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a multitude was coming to him. Jesus said to Philip, how are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him. For he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him, 200 denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many? Jesus said, make the people sit down. Now, there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about 5000.

Jesus then took the loaves. And when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king. Jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself. Jesus walks on the sea. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat and started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark and jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea rose because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or 4 miles. They saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat. They were frightened, but he said to them, it is I, do not be afraid. Then they were glad to take him into the boat.

And immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. The bread from heaven. On the next day, the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. And that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. However, boats from Tiberias came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give to you. For on him has God the father set his seal.

Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they said to him, then, what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness.

As it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

They said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the father gives me will come to me.

And him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me. That I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my father.

That everyone who sees the son and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. They said, is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven?

Jesus answered them, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me.

Not that anyone has seen the father except him who is from God. He has seen the father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living father sent me.

And I live because of the father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. Not such as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever. This he said in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum the words of eternal life.

Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, this is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, do you take offense at this? Then? What if you were to see the son of man ascending where he was before?

It is the spirit that gives life. The flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe. For jesus knew from the first who were those that did not believe and who it was that would betray him.

And he said, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my father. After this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. Jesus said to the twelve, will you also go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God.

Jesus answered them, did I not choose you? The twelve, and one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For he, one of the twelve was to betray him.

The book of proverbs, chapter five, verses seven through 14. And now, o sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house lest you give your honor to others and your ears to the merciless lest strangers take their fill of your strength and your labors. Go to the house of an alien and at the end of your life you groan when your flesh and body are consumed. And you say, how I hated discipline and my heart despised reproof.

I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. I was at the point of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.

Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory, man. Lord God, I just thank you so much. Thank you so much, God, for the gift of calling the samaritan woman that she can have hope in her life. Thank you so much, Father for the gift of revealing your love and who you are that you have the authority to tell a paralyzed person, someone who is suffering for 38 years, to rise and walk. Lord God, thank you so much for revealing that you are equal to the Father and yet you have the humility of only doing what the Father asks.

And, Jesus, thank you so much for the gift of yourself in the Eucharist. It's a gift that we cannot fathom and we can never thank you for enough. We receive our thanks, Lord God, today and every day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As I mentioned yesterday, I said that today's reading, his reading, that has changed my life. It has truly changed my life and all of it. Of course, as I mentioned, the woman of Samaria and we have the man who's suffering for 38 years.

We have the official son. But here, when we get to John, chapter six, it's remarkable. We have the feeding of the 5000. Incredible. We have the walking on water on the sea of Galilee.

Amazing. And then we get to this place where all these people, 5000 people, this big crowd is wondering, who is Jesus? And they come to him and Jesus sees them coming and he basically says, you're not here because you believe in me. You're here because you got fed. You just want more food.

That's all that it is. My feeding you yesterday with five loaves and two fish didn't convince you to believe in me. Because if you believe in me, here's what you're going to do, you're going to realize that not only am I the one sent by the father, but also if you want to have life, here's what you need to do. You have to recognize that I'm the true bread that came down from heaven. Of course they murmur against this.

We know where he came from. We know his mom, we know his dad, we know his brethren, we know his relatives, that kind of situation. But Jesus makes it very clear. He says in John 651, he says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. Remember the manna that came down from heaven?

Book of Exodus and numbers. Yeah, that, that's awesome. But Jesus is saying, I'm the true bread, living bread that came out from heaven. And he goes on, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.

Now this is remarkable. Why? Because not only is Jesus saying that I'm the new bread came from heaven, but he also is making a connection between what we heard yesterday, which is when John the Baptist said, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Because remember this, what happened when you ate the flesh of the lamb, you were given freedom and life. Remember this.

You had to eat the flesh of the lamb, be marked with the blood of the lamb, and you were given freedom and you were given life. And Jesus is saying so clearly here, if you eat the bread of heaven, which is my flesh, you will have what you have, freedom, you have life. And now to think that, well, maybe that's just being symbolic. Maybe Jesus is being figurative in this case. Well, you read chapter verse 52.

The Jews disputed, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? It does not sound like they're taking him figuratively. They are taking him literally. And if Jesus wanted to correct them and saying, you guys, I'm not being literal, I'm being figurative. That's disgusting.

He doesn't. In fact, from verses 53 all the way down to 58, Jesus is five times reiterating the fact that he just said, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. In fact, he goes on to say, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. That he says this five times.

Jesus reiterates, when they're taking him literally, he is saying, yep, absolutely. That is exactly what I'm saying. And they take offense at it. In fact, in verse 66, it says, that as a result of this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. I don't know if you know this, but this teaching, this is the teaching on the Eucharist.

Is this teaching that at the mass, what we have, that bread and wine, actually becomes Jesus's body and blood, soul and divinity. We don't say this because it's a recent invention. We say it because that's what he said. That's what he said. In fact, the last supper, Jesus doesn't say, this is like my body.

This is like my blood. This is a symbol of my body. This is symbol. He says, this is my body. This is my blood.

Do this. You know, all the time we spent in Exodus, all the time we spent in Leviticus and in numbers and deuteronomy, where it was so important that we get the worship of God right in the new covenant, Jesus makes it absolutely, unmistakably, undeniably clear how he wants to be worshiped. Or he says, at the last supper, take this, all of you, and eat of it. This is my body. Do this in memory of me taking the chalice filled with wine.

Take this, all of you, and drink of it. This is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant. Drink of it in memory of me for the forgiveness of sins. It's incredible that Jesus makes it absolutely clear. And as a result of this, people turned away.

I don't know if you know this, but this is the one spot in the entire gospel where you have actual disciples of Jesus leaving him over a teaching that he offers. There's people who leave him over fear. People leave him out of covering their own tails. But this is the only time when someone has ever left Jesus over one of his teachings. And that teaching is what the teaching is about, the Eucharist, that at the mass, what we have is Jesus truly body, blood, soul, divinity.

The stakes are so high. I know this is the longer one, but thousands of people are walking away. Hundreds of disciples, maybe even are walking away, that Jesus turns to his apostles and he doesn't say, oh, you guys stay here. Stay here. Don't go anywhere.

He says, are you also going to go? Will you go away as well? Basically, Jesus is saying, everyone can leave me. I'm not changing this teaching because we can't change the teaching that the mass, the Eucharist, really is Jesus blood, soul, and divinity. And I love Simon Peter's answer because Simon Peter doesn't act as if he understands.

He doesn't act as if he under gets like, oh, of course. It's called transubstantiation, where the accidents remain the same, but the substance changes. Peter looks at Jesus and he says, master, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God.

Basically. I have no idea what you just said, but I trust in you. And this is the big challenge for all of us. The big challenge for all of us is that Jesus has revealed that he's given us himself in the Eucharist, and that's how he wants to be worshiped. And if I don't want that, then I don't want him.

If I don't want that, then I don't want him. It's interesting, I have a family member who, after I was ordained a priest, she wanted to convince me that I shouldn't be Catholic anymore. And so out of kind of her heart, right. You know, she just wanted. We had a lot of debates, and at one point we were walking through this, John, chapter six.

This is the last thing here before we end walking to John, chapter six. And she saw, yeah, I can see that's an interpretation. This is a legitimate interpretation. Someone might say, wait a second, it says that Jesus says, the spirit gives life, the flesh is of no avail. Well, obviously that's not Jesus saying the flesh doesn't mean anything because he literally just said, if unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.

In this case, Jesus is referring to flesh, meaning the fallen human nature. Just clarifying this. So we went through the whole thing and she said, I guess that's one interpretation. I can see how that is one interpretation where Jesus is saying, making it very clear that Eucharist really is him, and then that's what he's calling us to do. And I said, yes, that is one interpretation, but keep these two things in mind.

For 1500 years, every Christian believed that one interpretation. Keep that in mind. That's one interpretation. But listen, 100% of Christians for the first 1500 years of Christianity all believed this interpretation, and that's massively important. Secondly, if this interpretation is wrong, that means that all Catholics worship a piece of bread.

That means that all Catholics, basically, for the last 2000 years, which also means that the first 1500 years, every Christian was guilty of idolatry in the most horrible degree. Remember what happened in the golden Calf episode that Moses is on the mountain in Mount Sinai and people turned to make a golden calf? You know how quickly God put a stop to that saying, oh, this is the Lord God who set us free from slavery in Egypt, and God stopped that immediately. And yet, do we really believe that if the Eucharist really isn't Jesus, that God allowed 100% of Christians to worship bread and worship wine as if it was actually him? God would never tolerate that kind of thing.

And so what we are left with is we're left with, this is the one interpretation that 100% of Christians believe for 1500 years, that in the mass, in the Eucharist, that is truly Jesus Christ, the bread and wine transformed into his body and blood, and he is in every tabernacle in every catholic church throughout the entire world. My invitation today. Gosh, I'm praying for y'all. Go to a catholic church today. Kneel down in front of the tabernacle, that holy place where the body and blood of Christ are, and give him your heart.

Hear him ask the question. Will you walk away as well and give the answer that Peter answered, Lord, I don't have anywhere else to go. You have the words of eternal life. We have all believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. I know it's a big teaching and it's a big maybe pill to swallow, but it's a long one too here today.

But I hope you stuck through. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me, all of us, whether you're Catholic or not, this is the truth. This is the reality of what every Christian believed for 1500 years of Christianity. Maybe, maybe Jesus is asking you to put your faith in his word even more today.

Anyways, my name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless it.