John

Check out all the previous John readings here.

John Reading Plan | Week 6, Day 4

Prayer

Pause for a moment of quiet and calm. To be fully present in both body and mind, inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Repeat this three times. Ask God to grant you His wisdom today.

Bible Reading: John 6:41-59

Read these verses three times slowly.

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves,“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Reflection & Questions

Jesus’ conversation with the crowd that He miraculously continues – and this is not going in a good direction (for the Jews).

We’re told that they “began to grumble about [Jesus] because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They just couldn’t believe that this local boy, who they’d all seen grow up could have also come down from heaven. But this disbelief has passed the point of curiosity to grumbling. Grumbling is a very significant word to use here, because it is the exact same word to describe how the Israelites grumbled to Moses when God brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Instead of trusting God’s plan, they complained and griped. They forgot all God had done for them.

How quickly had the crowd forgotten what Jesus had done for them (feed 5,000 with a little boy’s lunch). Rather than leaning in to hear more from Jesus they feed off each other’s disbelief.

In response to their stubborn disbelief, Jesus amps up his rhetoric. He tells them that not only is He is the bread of life, you must eat His flesh and drink His blood. We understand what Jesus is talking about here (not being literal, but trusting in His sacrifice on our behalf), but for those who are not willing to lean in, this is all the ammunition they need to walk away (which is what happens in our reading tomorrow).

1. Why is grumbling a serious disease that needs to be eradicated from our hearts?
2. Why do some lean in when they don’t understand Jesus and some harden their hearts? How can we cultivate the instinct to lean in?

Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?