When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. John 15:26 NKJV.

When we consider how short a time Jesus had with His disciples, His words become more impactful and needed. And again in our chapter, John 6, Jesus, the Son, Creator God, goes deep. After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. v. 1-4. The crowds follow Jesus because they have never seen these things He is doing and are drawn to see more. Jesus sees a crowd coming and asks His disciples where to buy food, testing them, for no one could feed so large a crowd. Andrew tells him a lad has five barley loaves and two fish. It’s enough. Jesus has them sit. He takes the food, blesses it, and has them distribute it to the five thousand men seated. There is enough left over to fill twelve baskets. And the people believe this is a prophet sent to them, v. 5-14. So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. v. 15. The disciples leave by boat to cross the sea to Capernaum, and it’s dark and the wind grows strong and the disciples are rowing against the wind when they see Jesus coming toward them on the water. Can you imagine? It’s a lot to take in and Jesus reassures them it is Him. When the crowd found Him on the other side of the lake with His disciples, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” v. 16-25. Imagine being one of the crowd. Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of Heaven to eat.’” v. 26-31. Do they think He will give them manna again? We are so confused by the ways of this world that we seek familiar signs to be sure of God. And here Jesus goes really deep. Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” v. 32-40. They couldn’t understand. Here is a man doing amazing miracles which they themselves see – and who is telling them things difficult to understand. It must have been hard to connect everything with what they knew of this life we live. Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, “I have come down out of heaven?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ (Isaiah 54:33). Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” v. 41-51. Wow! And that is still amazing to read. Jesus, the Son, Creator God, gave His flesh for our life with Him. The Passover was near. Lambs were sacrificed for the people. How can they yet connect the two? He explains. Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” v. 52-58. The manna was physical food given by God for the people. The lambs sacrificed annually for the Passover were physical lambs born of sheep to live and die as are all sheep. Those who ate the manna, those who ate of the lambs sacrificed for Passover, all died. They were part of the physical creation Creator God created…and a type of what was to come. These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. v. 59-71.

Jesus is still calling us to follow Him. It is the Spirit who gives life…the flesh profits nothing…the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. We can let the cares and worries of this life in this broken world – the flesh that profits nothing – carry us away. Or – we can choose to follow Jesus, Creator God, as He leads us to follow the Father. He gave His life for us that we could live and abide with Creator God now, led by the Spirit to grow in understanding. For truly….Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. Can we begin to grasp so great a love of Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit? We can with His help.