John-Bread of Life
Orient John 6:22-69
Today’s scripture reading is best understood connected to the previous section, so feel free to read the entirety of chapter six if it puts it in context. In this section, Jesus is able to explain the significance of providing a meal for thousands out of one boy’s lunch. It is the first of the famous “I am statements,” where Jesus speaks in metaphor to compare Himself to an object to teach his followers about Him. We also find figurative language where Jesus talks about his salvation in abstract terms. Following a common pattern we’ve seen, His teaching confuses those who miss the spiritual metaphors in His teaching and as a result, many of His followers leave. The 12 disciples are first mentioned as the core group that will remain with Christ till the end of passion week.
Introduction
I love food! When I first got married, I didn’t know how to cook but since I loved to eat, I quickly started reading cookbooks (these were the day’s before you could quickly pull up a recipe on Pintrest). I love hosting dinners and going out with friends, sitting around a table eating and talking. There is something special about enjoying your favorite dishes during holidays and how comforted you feel after a great meal. It is those feelings that Jesus wants us to conjure up when He calls Himself the bread of life. He is community, satisfaction, and comfort. He sustains and nurtures us from within. Without Him we starve and grow hungry. He fills us up like nothing can. May you get a sense of the fulfillment only He provides as you study His teaching today.
Opening Prayer
Jesus, Your words endure and give me life. I come today to believe in deeper ways that the Father has sent You to be the true bread from heaven in my life. Satisfy my spiritual hunger in You. You have drawn me, engage my heart once again to feast on You. Like Israel, I find myself in dessert places in need to nourishment. Your Spirit gives life and reminds me that You are the Holy One of God. There is no other place to go. Your words endure for all time. Amen
Meditation
Read and reread the following passage, taking God’s word in deeply. As you do be sensitive to a phrase or verse the Holy Spirit emphasizes to you personally.
2 On the next day the crowd that 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. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 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 on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 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’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 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. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 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. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Paraphrase
Rewrite the phrase or verse that the Holy Spirit highlighted during meditation. What is your take away?
Reflect
1. Often we put our efforts toward temporary things: getting a job, a college degree, a new house, or planning a vacation. These things are certainly good things, but often they get in the way of us working toward things that endure. When has that been true in your life? Has your faith been weaker or strong in those situations?
2. Jesus points out that in Exodus story, Moses was not the one to provide bread-the Father was behind it. When God uses you in someone’s life do you rely on your own abilities instead of Him to minister to others?
3. In verse 34, the people ask for the bread Jesus gives always. Though they were satisfied with food, Jesus offers Himself new to us each day. Sometimes I feel like I partake of Him only once-in-a-while. Do you come to Him daily or inconsistently? How can point other believers to go to Jesus when they seem unfulfilled?
4. No one can come to Jesus and know Him as Savior unless the Father draws them. When desiring for a friend or family member to come to faith, how often to you pray asking God to draw them to Him? How does knowing God is the active agent of salvation prepare you to share your faith with nonbelievers?
5. The disciples admit that Jesus taught things that were hard to understand, yet wanted to stay under His teaching because there was no one else to go to! If you feel that way, you are in good company. Reflect on these verses next time you are reading the Bible and something doesn’t make sense right away. Though Scripture is hard to understand, Jesus has the only words that are true. Is there something you have been challenged by? Take it to Him in prayer and ask for perseverance to continue in His word, even when you don’t understand fully.
Closing Prayer
Jesus, I want to work for the things You value, the things that last and that will endure when all things are made new. Let me stop seeking the temporary comforts and pleasures of this world to pursue Your forever kingdom. You are the giver of every good thing and I am grateful that sometimes You use me as a conduit of Your provision. Let me lean on You when I encounter every need, knowing that You are the source of all things. Every good and perfect gift comes for You. I need the nourishment You provide every day to sustain my spirit. Remind me when I am hungry that only You satisfy and that You are waiting to nourish me. Draw others to you, those that I love [insert specific names here], so they can experience salvation as I have. Open up my mind to understand hard teachings. Remind me that it isn’t my intellect but Your Spirit who gives understanding. Your words are life, let them refresh me today.
Continue praying personally to the Lord with what He showed you during mediation and reflection.
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