And When You Pray ...: John 6 and Lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube

John 6

In John 1, we read about Jesus: “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” In addition to Jesus being the light of the world, we learn in John 6 that Jesus is also the bread of life. This discussion came about as a result of Jesus feeding the five thousand (plus women and children). It was a major miracle. Jesus distributed five barley loaves and two small fishes to all of these people. And, when he was done and everyone had eaten to their heart’s content, there were more leftovers than the food they had started with.

The miraculous feeding of people was a familiar part of Jewish heritage. After the Jews left Egypt, God fed them with manna from heaven. All they had to do was gather it. Here was a man who fed so many people with a little bread and fish. The people were astounded and made the statement, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting. Jesus perceived they were ready to make him king and slipped away by himself.

Eventually, the crowd found him – wouldn’t you have searched until you found him? Here was a man who could heal the sick, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and feed them.

Jesus saw right through them. He knew why they followed him and that they didn’t understand the miraculous signs they were seeing. He uses this as an opportunity to make a spiritual point: “Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.” Of course, they reply that they want to perform God’s works also.

Jesus is so clear with his answer: “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

They then have the nerve to ask him to show them a miraculous sign. When they say, “What can you do?” you can almost hear a sneer in their voice. He straightens them out, telling them about the true bread from heaven, that he is the bread of life. They then start murmuring and talking about who Jesus is. They refer to his father Joseph and wonder how he came down from heaven.

Jesus gives them something else to complain about when he tells them that unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, they cannot have eternal life within them. At this point, many of his disciples left him. Jesus asks the twelve if they are also going to leave. Can’t you imagine the expression on Peter’s face when he said, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus talks about choosing the twelve and says that one is a devil. John, as he often does, explains what will happen in the future.

Tomorrow, we’ll read Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

Lunch at Quaker Steak and Lube

Today, Richard and I met Vivienne and Irene at Quaker Steak and Lube. We had a great lunch and a lot of fun talking. Here are some pictures from our lunch: