I Am the Bread of Life

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray walked the congregation through John 6, the full account from the feeding of the five thousand through Peter's confession and the mention of Judas. The thread running through all of it was John's purpose: to present evidence so that people would believe, and believing, have life in Jesus' name. The chapter keeps coming back to that one point no matter which direction the crowd tries to...

Read together

1. John 20:31 Pastor Ray's repeated citation of John's stated purpose: 'these things I have written so that you may believe and believing have life in his name'
2. John 6:1-71 the main passage for the sermon, covering the feeding of the 5000, walking on water, and the bread of life discourse
3. John 6:14 the crowd recognizes Jesus as 'truly the prophet who has come into the world' after the feeding miracle
4. Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses's promise that God would raise up a prophet, which the crowd connects to Jesus
5. John 6:25-27 Jesus tells the crowd they seek him because they ate the loaves and were filled, not because they saw the signs
6. John 6:28-29 the crowd asks what they must do, and Jesus answers that the work of God is to believe in him whom he sent
7. John 6:30-35 the crowd asks for a sign, references manna, and Jesus declares 'I am the bread of life'
8. John 6:41-44 the crowd grumbles; Jesus says no one can come to him unless the Father draws him
9. John 6:52 the Jews quarrel among themselves asking how Jesus can give his flesh to eat
10. John 6:60-66 many disciples find the teaching too hard and walk away; verse 66 cited as the saddest verse in the New Testament
11. John 6:67-69 Peter's declaration for the Twelve: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'
12. John 6:70-71 Jesus responds that he chose the Twelve and yet one is a devil, referring to Judas Iscariot

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray said John wrote his gospel to get past the details and see 'the forest and not the trees,' focusing on belief over particulars. What do you think is lost or gained when we focus on the big picture of who Jesus is rather than the specific details of what he did?
2. When the crowd found Jesus after the feeding, he told them they were seeking him because their bellies were full, not because they understood the sign. In what ways do we seek Jesus for physical or immediate benefits rather than for what he truly came to offer?
3. Pastor Ray said 'doing follows being' and 'you do according to that which you are, and you are according to that which you believe.' How does that idea challenge the crowd's question, 'What shall we do that we may work the works of God?'
4. Bonhoeffer's description of cheap grace includes 'grace without discipleship, grace without the cross.' Where do you see the temptation toward cheap grace in your own life or in church culture generally?
5. Many of Jesus's disciples heard the bread of life teaching and walked away. Peter stayed and said, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.' What is it that keeps a person holding on when the teaching of Jesus is hard to receive?