Saturday, March 7, 2026

Opening Scripture

“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power and the wonders he has done. He did miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt. He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.

He split the rock in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers. He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.” Psalm 78 (selected)

Opening Prayer

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

John 6:25-71

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 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 them up at the last day.”

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Reflection  

Today’s passage is long, but worth our time and attention. There’s a great deal of truth packed into these verses.

The crowd that was miraculously fed on the eastern shore was hungry again. They headed to Capernaum in search of Jesus, since that had become His new base of operation. When they found Him, they inquired when and how He got there, but Jesus left that story for His disciples alone.

Instead, He got down to the heart of the matter. “Amen! Amen! Verily! Verily! I tell you the truth.” John records Jesus using this emphatic phrase twenty-five times in his gospel – four times just in this discourse. Essentially, Jesus is saying, “Listen up! I’m about to tell you something important.”

Jesus rebuked the crowd for their selfish motivation and lack of divine perception. They wanted food, not forgiveness. They wanted miracles, not mercy. Their focus was on the material and immediate. Jesus was calling them to raise their gaze to the spiritual and eternal.

Finally, they understood that something was required of them. A system of transactional righteousness would necessitate that they do something good to earn God’s favor and continue the healing and feeding.

Jesus quickly upends their expectation by declaring that the most important thing anyone can do is to believe in the One God sent – the Son of Man – Jesus.

In an interesting twist, the people challenged Jesus’ claim to be sent from God by belittling His one-time feeding of the ten thousand, compared to Moses’ feeding of the entire nation of Israel for forty years. Jesus corrects them again. It was God who provided the manna then, and it is God who is providing the bread from Heaven now.

At this point, Jesus makes an “I AM” (ego eimi) declaration: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” That is the food that endures to eternal life!

The crowd continued to struggle with offense over their familiarity with Jesus’ family and humble beginnings, and with confusion over their literal and material interpretation of His words. They all knew that Levitical law forbade eating blood, yet they also knew that blood was essential for atoning sacrifice.

Jesus was foreshadowing the events that would occur at next year’s Passover in Jerusalem when He would offer His body to be crucified for the sins of the world.

Flourishing Habit

Character and Virtue

The crowd is fickle. Popularity is fleeting. When people realized that Jesus would not bend to suit them, they lost interest. They wanted free food and entertainment. Jesus’ teaching was too hard to understand and to accept. Most of His followers walked away at this point.

Yet, Jesus’ investment in the Twelve seems to have paid off. Though Judas, the Betrayer, chose not to believe, the others finally understood. “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

In the kingdom of God, believing is seeing. Don’t wait in unbelief while your understanding catches up to your faith. Trust that God is who He says He is. Believe that God will do what He says He will do. The righteous live by faith!

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see… By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command… Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11 (selected)

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!