Mission Control

John 6:66-69 (NIV) – 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.”

Jesus alone has the words of eternal life because He alone is the Source of all life (John 1:3-4). Eternal life begins now. It is a quality and length of life the begins the moment we first “believed” and were born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, and continues on forever in the new heavens and new earth. How could Peter, representing the Twelve, recognize this so clearly at that moment when many were deserting Jesus? It is only by God’s grace for no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them (John 6:44). Therefore, let’s not be presumptuous. Let’s be humble before the Word of God in all of its forms – read, preached, prayed, and sung. Throughout this series, may we come to Jesus as regularly as we eat physical food, thus expressing our trust in Him.

Let’s worship to the song, “The Blessing” by Elevation Worship.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for drawing us to Your Son. Jesus, we declare that you alone have the words of eternal life. Through the Spirit, may you draw to Yourself those we are ministering to. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

– CR

John 6:53-56 (NIV) – 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. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

 Augustine of Hippo, who wrote, “Believe, and you have eaten.” What is the work that we must do to receive this bread, and how do we eat it? They are one and the same. Believing in Jesus is the work that the Father wants from us, and believing is eating. The person who places their trust in Christ will direct their whole way of life according to that trust. Biblically, “believing” is more than just mere intellectual ascent. It is primarily the attitude by which the believer attaches him or herself to Jesus, their Savior, with all of their heart. He who “believes” in this way abides in Christ, and Christ abides in them.

 Let’s worship to the song, “Build My Life” by Housefires.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for Your salvation in my life. I pray, help me to abide in You that my whole way of life may be directed by Your Spirit. I also pray for my friends and family that they would find life in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

– CR

John 6:40-42 (NIV) – 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.” ⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² 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’?”

“But just as the Israelites murmured and grumbled, even after God had delivered them, so in his long discourse Jesus’ claims to give God’s life to the world provoke increased murmuring and grumbling about him (6:41, 60). Their grumbling increases the more that Jesus focuses on his identity as the means of receiving God’s life, and on the necessity of his death in his life-giving work (6:41, 52).” [Marianne Meye Thompson, John: A Commentary, p. 146, 161]

The crowd’s dissatisfaction with Jesus’ answers as expressed through grumbling revealed their disobedience to God and their unbelief in the One God sent. What are the areas of discontent, grumbling, and complaining in our lives that show our disobedience and lack of trust in Christ?

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times when I grumble and complain against You. Help me to see it for what it is. I repent today for any areas of disobedience, lack of trust in You, and Your goodness and faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Let’s worship to the song, “Mercies (New Every Morning)” by Matt Redman.

– CR

John 6.35 (NIV) – 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.”

“The motif of thirst recalls Jesus’s dialogue with the Samaritan woman (see 4:14). By combining hunger and thirst in the metaphor of the bread of life, Jesus embodies in his person all promises of satisfaction and satiation. Jesus is the recipe for the soul…The ‘bread of life’… serves to convey the absolute necessity of Christ by linking the most basic and foundational needs of human life to his person and work. In a manner not yet fully described, the phrase signifies that in Jesus, there is an eternal sufficiency in which there is no want. In Jesus, there is an ‘eating’ that provides deep rest for one’s whole being, ‘even if all about me should go to pieces.’” [Edward W. Klink, John (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary)]

Let’s worship to the song, “Abide With Me” by Matt Maher.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for your promise and your continued provision in my life. Lead me into an encounter with You today, the only One who truly satisfies. Help me to trust in You alone for from my most basic needs to those of meaning and fulfillment in life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

– CR

John 6: 26-29 (NIV) – 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. ²⁷ 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.” ²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

“Throughout the Gospel, many persons seek Jesus, often for the wrong reasons or unaware of what they are looking for or why. In such cases, Jesus guides them into a new understanding of the goal of their quest… Jesus has told the people to work for, or devote their energies to, the food that brings eternal life. They inquire what constitutes the ‘works of God,’ meaning the deeds that God desires and commands. Jesus compresses the plural ‘works’ (6:28) into a singular ‘work’ (v. 29): God desires faith in the one whom he has sent (cf. 4:23).” [Marianne Meye Thompson, John: A Commentary, p. 157]

Let’s worship to the song, “This I Believe (The Creed)” by Hillsong Worship.

Prayer: Jesus, I praise you as the only One upon whom the Father’s seal of approval rests. I love and trust You. Increase my faith and dependence upon You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

– CR