Scripture
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Observation
Jesus tells His followers that to receive eternal life they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Many of the people are offended by this.

Jesus tells them that His words are spirit and life. Some of them do not believe and this is why He has told them that no one can come to Him unless the Father enables them.

Many of the disciples turn back from following Jesus. He asks the Twelve if they want to leave too. But Jesus says “Where else could we go?”

Application
Following Jesus is not always easy. Often He will challenge our thinking in order to confront the sins we love and the lies we trust.

We all have our idols, and Jesus is determined to strip them of the power they have over us.

When Jesus leads us into water too deep for us to stand, the true disciple keeps looking towards Him and trusting Him to lead us through. The ones who never really knew Him will turn away and complain that it is too hard.

Prayer
Lord Jesus please help me to trust you more, especially when things seem too hard. Amen.

Scripture
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Observation
Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. If we eat this bread we will live for ever.

The Jewish people begin to argue among themselves. Jesus tells them that without Him they have no life in them. The one who eats His body and drinks His blood has eternal life.

Jesus lives because of His relationship with the Father, and so the one who feeds on Him will live because of Him. This is better than the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert.

Application
In Communion we feed on the body and blood of Christ. This is not some kind of gory ritual, but a representation of the life-giving power of Jesus’ death on the cross for us.

Eating bread and drinking wine or grape juice do not give eternal life in themselves. It is only when by faith we take the spiritual meaning of the physical objects that we feast on Jesus.

It was Jesus’ union with the Father that gave Him life, and it is our union with Christ that gives us eternal life. By faith in the death and resurrection of Christ we too are raised for eternity.

Prayer
Thank you Father for the power of faith in your Son setting us free from the law of sin and death. Amen.

Scripture
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.”

Observation
Jesus declares that He is the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven.

The people murmur against Him because He says He came from heaven. He is Joseph’s little boy!

No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him. Everyone who believes in Jesus has eternal life. The manna in the desert fed people for a limited time, and then they died. Jesus is the bread who gives eternal life.

Application
Jesus is the food for eternal life. We feed on Him and He sustains us into eternity.

The only way into heaven is through Jesus. No other way will provides us with access to the Father.

Good works are not good enough to obliterate sin. Other religions offer their own ideas about justifying ourselves, but they don’t deal with the root problems of sin.

Only Jesus takes away our sin.

Only Jesus counteracts the law of sin and death.

Only Jesus can bring us to the Father.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the true Bread of Heaven. Thank you for setting me free from sin through your death in the cross. Amen.

Scripture

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Observation

The people go across the lake in pursuit of Jesus. Jesus tells them they are following Him for the bread and not out of a desire to see God. He tells them not to work for physical food but for the food of eternal life.

They ask Him for another sign so that they can believe in Him, just as Moses gave their ancestors manna in the desert.

Jesus says it was the Father who gave them bread from heaven, and now Jesus Himself is the true bread of life that satisfies spiritual hunger and thirst.

Application

We can be so locked in to our unbelief that the greatest miracles no longer hold any wonder for us. The people who had experienced the feeding of the 5000 ask for a sign that Jesus is the Messiah. How many signs does it take?

Those who are spiritually hungry, the desperate ones, will reach out to Jesus and feast on Him because He really is the bread of life.

When we devote ourselves entirely to serving Him, to intimacy with Him, to following Him, then we are filled with every good thing.

Prayer

Lord Jesus you really are the bread of life. Thank you that in you I am satisfied. Amen.

Scripture
After the people saw the miraculous signs that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Observation
Jesus and His disciples cross the lake and the people follow them. Seeing the crowds, Jesus asks Philip, “How are we going to feed these people?”

Andrew brings a boy with his lunch. Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks and distribute it. He does the same with the fish, and 5000 men are fed. When they pick up the crumbs, they fill twelve baskets.

Seeing that the people want to make Him king by force, Jesus draws away by himself.

When night comes, the disciples get into a boat to cross the lake. A storm breaks out and Jesus appears walking on the water. He gets into the boat and immediately the boat arrives at its destination.

Application
I am always amazed at the stories of the feeding of the 5000 and of the 4000. John links this story to Jesus walking on the water, with the detail that the boat is miraculously transported to its destination.

The take home message from this passage is trust Jesus for everything.

He knows what you need and is able to supply it in abundance. If you are walking with Jesus then He will make sure you get what you need. Do not be anxious.

He knows where you need to be and He will get you there. Many people struggle with questions about where they should live or work or what God’s plan is for their life. Do not be anxious- He will get you to the place He wants you to be,

Prayer
Lord Jesus help me to trust you for everything I need, for food to eat and the knowledge that I am in the right place. Amen.

Scripture

“I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the evil one.”

Observation
This is part of Jesus’ prayer before He is arrested.

Jesus has revealed the Father to His disciples. His prayer is not for the world but for His followers. All who are Christ’s belong also to the Father.

During His time on earth, Jesus protected the disciples by the power of the Father’s name. The world hates them because they do not belong to the world. His prayer is not to have the disciples separated out of the world but for the Father to continue to protect them.

Application
The world is hostile to those who truly follow Jesus because we are not like the world. We don’t fit because Jesus has transformed our values and priorities.

When Jesus speaks of the world, He is not talking about individual unbelievers but about the powers and principalities, the spiritual forces that direct the culture in which we live.

Jesus sends us into this world not to be overcome it but to transform it one life at a time.

We are not to expect an easy ride through life. Nor should we expect to be isolated from the world with its antagonism, temptation and pressures.

Prayer
Lord help me to stand for you in the world, to overcome and not be overcome. Amen.

Scripture

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

Observation
Jesus loves us in the same way the Father loves Him. We must remain in His love. We do this by obeying Him in same way He obeys the Father.

As we live in Christ we will be filled with joy- abundant, overflowing joy.

We must love one another in the same way He has loved us. We must even lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

We are no longer slaves of Christ but friends. We aren’t compelled to obey Him, but we obey Him from love. His greatest commandment is to love one another.

Application
Love is the heart of all discipleship- love for God, love for our fellow Christian and love for our neighbour (regardless of whether they are born again).

The love that Jesus commands is sacrificial love. We must be ready to lay down our lives for others. This doesn’t just mean physically dying to save a life, although that may be necessary. It does mean placing the welfare, joy and needs of others as a higher priority than our own desires and plans. It means dying to my own ambitions and letting the service of God’s people become my highest goal.

In return, Jesus promises joy- overflowing, abundant joy. When we let go of our own selfishness and learn to put others first, we are living God’s best life and joy is the inevitable result.

Prayer
Father teach me how to love you and to love others. Amen.

Scripture

“I am the true grape vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

Observation

Jesus is the true vine. The Father is the gardener who cuts off unproductive branches and prunes the fruitful ones so that they will be even more fruitful.

If we remain in Christ, He will remain in us. The only way to be fruitful is to remain in Him.

He is the vine, we are the branches. If we remain in Him, and His words remain in us, we can ask for anything and know it will be granted.

Application

Jesus is the true vine, the real “Israel.” He is the life of the people of God.

To have spiritual life means we have to be connected into Him. When His personality and words flow through our lives then we can ask for anything and have our prayers answered because we are praying in accordance with His will.

My responsibility is to stay close to the Lord, filling my heart and mind with Him and His word.

Then I will be fruitful.

Prayer

Lord please help me to stay connected to you, the true source of eternal life. Without you I can do nothing of lasting value. Amen.