A Brewing Storm

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Read John 6:53-58.

As Jesus described Himself as the “Bread of Life,” He prepared His disciples for their last Passover together—which He established as the Lord’s Supper. Very soon, He tells them, He’s going to give His life for them—the basis for the Lord’s Supper that we observe today.

When Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum that this remembrance of the Lord’s Supper included eating and drinking His flesh and blood, four different groups of people reacted:

* Some stopped following Him, saying, “This is too hard to hear” (6:60).

* Some following Him never believed. Jesus invited them, but they wouldn’t come (6:64, 65).

* Some in the crowd were hostile religious leaders looking to trap Jesus.

* And Jesus’ own 12 disciples, including Judas, were completely confused by His teaching. He asked them, “Do you also want to go away?”

Read John 6:68, 69.

What an insightful response Jesus had. Many wonder today if the Lord Jesus is really the Savior. The question must be asked: Where else are you hoping to find life? Who will give it to you? The Lord Jesus is the only one who can do that.

A storm was brewing around Jesus’ ministry, drawing Him closer to the cross, now just six months away. During this last year of ministry, Jesus stayed mostly in Galilee because the religious leaders in Judea wanted to kill Him. Jesus guarded His time on earth, according to His Father’s schedule. Everything He did honored His Father’s plan, His Father’s timetable—His Father’s will.

Next, Jesus showed up in Jerusalem at the temple to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Everyone marveled at how He taught. Such authority! Such insight!

Jesus invites anyone and everyone to Himself who wants to investigate if God is really good. The wonder of God’s Word is that if you’re willing, God will make His truth real to you.

“But do men want to hear God?” If they do, God will speak to them in His Word. Some think the Bible is foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). This shouldn’t bother us since that’s the way God said it would be.

Jesus made it clear that He was sent by God. Some believed in Him; others dismissed Him. The leaders were furious, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37). You want real water? “Come to Me,” He said.

“If anyone”—that means you! Thirsty? Tired of drinking at mud holes? Then get to Jesus. Come to Him and receive Him as your Savior.

He was the greatest teacher who ever lived, but He doesn’t save you by His teaching. He saves you when you acknowledge that He died for your sin—when you admit in faith and humility that He took your place on the cross.

Next, watch Jesus stand up to the proud religious rulers.

1. What do you think God wants us to learn about Himself through the image of Jesus as bread?

2. What do you think God wants us to learn about Himself through the image of Jesus as bread?

3. Imagine you had been one of the Jews surrounded by pillars of fire, hearing Jesus teach about being the light of the world. Do you think you would have found His teaching too difficult to grasp? Why or why not?