This chapter is one account in several parts, spread over a couple of days. It began with the well-known record of Jesus' first miraculous feeding of a multitude. Overnight, it progressed to another miracle (actually, four at once!), the center of which was Jesus walking on the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee. Today's text finds us in the synagogue in Capernaum (59), as Jesus builds on the miraculous meal, and the crowd's worldly appetite, to turn their focus from the bread that perishes to the Bread that never will.
As the account will continue (6), Jesus' attention will shift from the crowd to the Jewish leaders. And by the end of the chapter, it will be clear that Jesus' disciples have right there.
Jesus' address to that persistent but confused crowd is framed up-on four exchanges: the crowd makes a statement, Jesus responds. Rinse and repeat. Let's unpack this synagogue dialogue like this: Jesus exposes the religion of the crowd (…and the world). …today… 1. vv.25-27 The crowd's temporal appetites. The world wants a religion of prosperity. 2. vv.28-29 The crowd's false religion. The world always defaults to a religion of works. 3. vv.30-33 The crowd's skeptical response. The world demands proof in the place of faith. …next Sunday… 4. vv.34-36 The crowd's spiritual blindness. The world can't see the truth. 5. vv.37-40 The crowd's only hope. Jesus – "I am the Bread of Life."
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