What Jesus Did

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, "Are you also going to leave?" Simon Peter replied, "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."

—John 6:67-69 NLT

Key Thought


We come to many crucial decision points in our lives. None is more important than this one. What do you do with Jesus? He has been pressing us to decide about him for several days. Most of the world will turn away from him...

 

[Jesus said,] "The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, "That is why I said that people can't come to me unless the Father gives them to me." At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

—John 6:63-66 NLT

Key...

 

Many of [Jesus'] disciples said, "This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?" Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?"

—John 6:60-62 NLT

Key Thought


"Make it easy for them!" That seems to be the slogan today. "Don't set the bar too high!" "Don't make it difficult!" Unfortunately, the best things in life and the truest...

 

[Jesus said,] "I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever." He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

—John 6:57-59 NLT

Key Thought


Our power comes from a living Lord who was sent to us by the living...

 

Then the people began arguing with each other about what [Jesus] meant. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they asked. So Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood...

 

[Jesus said,] "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh."

—John 6:51 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus, unlike wheat that has to "die" to be made into flour, is alive. He died and rose again. He is "living bread." The gift of his flesh, taken to the cross and sacrificed as a sin offering for us and then raised up on the third day, is offered so...

 

[Jesus said,] "Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die."

—John 6:48-50 NLT

Key Thought


Manna came down from heaven once a day (Exodus 16:4-5). It couldn't be kept until the next day except for the Sabbath. It was a blessing from God, but it wasn't enduring. Jesus, however, is the bread of God that comes down out of heaven and gives lasting life. His...

 

[Jesus said,] "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life."

—John 6:47 NLT

Key Thought


John repeatedly reminds us that deciding about Jesus is THE watershed event in our lives. When we believe and obey Jesus, we pass from death to life — this is not a delayed transaction, but something that happens now. We no longer stand under judgment, but share in eternal life. While that life is not all that it will be when Christ returns, it is a quality of...

 

But Jesus replied, "Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up."

—John 6:43-44 NLT

Key Thought


One of the reasons we pray so fervently for the lost is that God's work of opening their hearts and drawing them to Jesus is crucial. Who are you praying for God to draw closer to Jesus? Or maybe better questions are, "Who do you know that needs Jesus? Are you praying...

 

[Jesus said,] "As it is written in the Scriptures, 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)"

—John 6:45-46 NLT

Key Thought


Sometimes we miss the exclusive claims of Jesus because we've heard them so often. This claim is bold: "If you have learned the truth from God, then you are going to come to me!" Jesus not only...