In considering John 6
● remember that this chapter contains the first of several “I ams” that Jesus declares: “I am the bread of life” (35, 48),
● see how Jesus “he himself knew” (6) what he was going to do in staging another sign providing plenty (with leftovers) for a multitude,
● register how Jesus manages the occasion, controlling the response by withdrawing as he reads the desire to make him king (15),
● recognize how Jesus’ way of working with those who seek him by boat is similar to his way of working with the woman at the well: Actual bread- “your fill of the loaves” (26)- is contrasted with living bread (51) as well water is contrasted with “living water” (4:10),
● understand that the work of God is “believe in him whom he has sent” (29),
● notice that Jesus clarifies the reality that it was God who provided the manna in the wilderness (32) and that now it is God again who provides bread from heaven (33),
● hear the language that previews Jesus’ declaration in the garden: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (38),
● marvel at the repetition of the great hope of being raised “on the last day” (39, 40, 44, 54), and
● delight in Peter’s words, the simple and bold words of the disciple who sometimes gets the idea just right: “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” (68, 69)
Thank you,
Randy Tumlinson