Day 291 – John 6

Talking Points

• As the cleanup from the feeding of the great multitude took place, the people couldn’t escape remembering God’s provision of daily bread in the Old Testament. Just as God had miraculously provided manna enough for each day, He had now provided the Bread of Life — Jesus. The people, reeling in the aftermath of the day and remembering the promise of Deuteronomy 18:18, declared, “This is truly the Prophet” (John 6:14).
• Impressed with Christ, the people asked an age-old question: “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (6:28). They simply wanted to know what they could do to satisfy God. Jesus told them salvation is not earned by merit or secured in effort. Rather, it is received only in faith. His response? “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (6:29).
• Jesus made clear that salvation is received only by faith. In this section, He also made another important distinction — salvation is also settled in faith. There will be no work requirement to keep that which is established in belief. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (6:40) Praise our gracious Savior! Faith is the final word on salvation.

Thoughts

In the last several chapters, we find Jesus wildly overrun by the surging crowd. It seemed to find Him wherever He went, almost anticipating His every move. After He fed the multitude, the crowd pressed in closer. Jesus told them a harsh truth — they sought Him because they “ate the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26). They wanted Jesus, not for who He was, but for what He could do for them.

Maybe we’d do well to pause and consider the question: Why do we seek out Jesus?

Do we run to Him for what He can do for us or what we can get from Him? Are we like those in the crowd with their temporal focus, seeking a quick fix to some uncomfortable problem? Is He a distant thought until trouble pushes us in His direction?

Is our walk with Jesus about Jesus, or is it about us?

Jesus offers us more than stuff, more than remedies to problems. He offers us Himself! What a sad tradeoff to have settled for the fleeting things of life instead of a deep relationship with our Savior.