Bread from Heaven
Teaching Pastor; Staff Governing Elder; Staff Director
On the heels of his miraculous feeding of the five thousand, Jesus skillfully uncovers the crowd’s agenda and brings them to a point of decision. Are they willing to believe he is the Bread of Life from God who offers eternal life? We likewise must choose if we are willing to trust Jesus more than we trust ourselves.
Study Questions
On the heels of his miraculous feeding of the five thousand, Jesus skillfully uncovers the crowd’s agenda and brings them to a point of decision. Are they willing to believe he is the Bread of Life from God who offers eternal life? We likewise must choose if we are willing to trust Jesus more than we trust ourselves.Application
To believe in Jesus is to relinquish control fully to him, yet we are naturally bent towards independence. In what areas of your life do you seek to maintain control? What would it look like for you to release that to Jesus?
There are tensions in the Scripture that we cannot resolve. What does this mystery remind us about God? About ourselves?
Reflect on your life as a believer. Can you think of a time when you had to make a decision or take a risk to follow Jesus with little information or control? How did that play out? How did it impact your faith?
Key Points
Many who follow Jesus are more interested in what he can do for them than in Jesus himself. Jesus will bring them to a point of decision—all must either believe in or reject him.
The only work we can do is to believe. Yes, our salvation represents a momentous work, but it is Jesus’ work, not our own.
Our independence is deeply embedded, and we all struggle to trust Jesus more than ourselves.
Like the crowd, we understand that if Jesus is King over our lives, he is in charge and we lose control. That element of risk requires faith in his goodness.
Our obedience to God is not always about our own benefit—it is about his glory. Part of following Jesus is obeying when we do not understand.
God is clearly sovereign over salvation, and we are responsible to pursue God and choose him. This is a mystery, and the fact that we cannot understand it is good.