John 6:32-40 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is John 6:32-40. I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
John 6:32-33 (NIV)
32 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
On verses 32-33: Keep in mind the context: Just the day before, Jesus has fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread (v5-15). So now the crowd continues to follow Jesus, hoping to get another free lunch from him. They ask Jesus for another miraculous sign and talk about how their ancestors got to eat bread from heaven in the desert (v30-31). In this context, Jesus makes two important clarifications:
– First, it wasn’t Moses who gave the Israelites bread from heaven. It was God (v32). Moses was a conduit for that bread, but every good and perfect gift is sourced in your heavenly Father (James 1:17).
– Second, Jesus clarifies that the true bread from heaven is not actual physical bread, but a person. The true bread of heaven is not the manna that the Israelites ate in Moses’ time. Rather the true bread of heaven is “he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v33). It’s Jesus himself.
John 6:34-35 (NIV)
34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35 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.
On verses 34-35: As the bread of life, Jesus came to satisfy a much deeper and more important hunger than just our need for physical food. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, God has set eternity in the hearts of people. Jesus came to fill the God-sized hole in our lives, and only He can fill it completely, such that you’ll never need to look for that filling anywhere else. As Jesus says, “he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (v35)
John 6:36 (NIV)
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
On verse 36: Seeing is not always believing. That’s because faith is not just a matter of the eyes but a matter of the heart. If your heart is closed, Jesus himself could appear before you and still you will find an excuse not to believe. That was the case with the Jews here.
John 6:37 (NIV)
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
On verse 37: I’ve met people who were much less important than Jesus who wouldn’t give you the time of day. But praise God, when you come to Jesus, he will not drive you away. Though he is the king of kings, the holy of holies, still he does not push away or reject anyone who comes to him humbly and with an open heart.
John 6:38-40 (NIV)
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
On verses 38-40: We see Jesus’ shepherd’s heart here. The Father has given to Jesus people for Jesus to call his own, and Jesus is intent on protecting them and not losing a single one (v39). That’s the heart of a shepherd. Also, notice that in verses 38-40 a key idea that keeps getting repeated is the Father’s will. In verse 39, Jesus tells us the Father’s will for His Son Jesus, that Jesus would be a faithful shepherd who does not lose anyone the Father has given him (v39). In verse 40, Jesus tells us the Father’s will for us, which is that we would look to Jesus the Son and believe in him and in so doing have eternal life and be raised with Jesus in the end (v40).
God has a will for your life. He is not indifferent or apathetic toward you. He desires for you to be with Him for eternity. Still, God does not impose His will on us in that we still have a choice whether to receive Him and believe in Him, or to reject Him. Now it is up to us to choose either to align ourselves with God’s will, believe in Him and find life, or reject God and His will and in so doing lose our lives.
Jesus, thank You for being the true bread of life, the One who satisfies our deepest hunger in ways that no one and nothing else can. Thank You also being such a faithful shepherd, committed to taking care of, protecting and not losing anyone who comes to You. Thank You that everyone who looks to You and comes to You You will not drive away but You give them eternal life. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
