Bread of Life
- Cornerstone Church
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
All four Gospels record the feeding of the five thousand. Matthew also includes a separate event in non-Jewish territory where Jesus feeds four thousand miraculously in the same way. The scripture this week also records the Transfiguration, or when Jesus showed His glory as God for a brief time on a mountaintop. Moses and Elijah also appeared there, which would represent the Law and Prophets. Jew's whole belief system was given through and based on the Law and Prophets. In both these events, there are examples of how the crowds and the disciples were focused on their kingdoms in this world instead of understanding Christ’s purpose. The crowd wanted to make Jesus a local king to feed their bellies. The disciples wanted to stay on the mountain and pitch three tents, making Jesus, Moses, and Elijah equal. However, Jesus did not come to help them build an earthly kingdom of their own imagination, or be equal to Moses and Elijah. Jesus came to bring His heavenly Kingdom to earth through repentance and faith in Him as the one who fulfills the Old Testament, and that is the Big Picture.
Each week, as you take in the Bible, find some friends to talk it out. You can follow this simple guide to help. First, R.E.A.D. and P.R.A.Y. on your own. Then, meet with friends to share what you've learned.
R - Repeated words
E - Examine and mark
A - Ask what you learn about God
D - Do if there is anything to do
P - Praise
R - Repent
A - Ask
Bible Reading Plan - Week 16
Daily Prayer Plan – Week 16
START IT.
We're reading the Bible together in 2025 to see how Love Shows Up from the Old Testament and into the New Testament. How do we understand so many stories and lessons through the entire Bible while trying to stick to the "sacred timeline"? The answer is the big picture. If we get the big picture, we get the story the Bible is trying to tell. From Sunday's message or The Big Picture Bible Reading Plan this week in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what is impacting you the most? How has praying daily through the Psalms impacted you? Was there a word, phrase, Bible verse, or theme that impacted you?
STUDY IT.
Read John 6:4-9. What is Jesus’ question and the disciples’ response? Read John 6:10-13. What does this sign tell us about Jesus?
Read John 6:15. What was the response of the crowd after being fed? How did they miss the point of Jesus’ miraculous sign?
Read John 6:26-29. What was Jesus’ rebuke to the crowds? What was their question and Jesus’ answer in John 6:30-35?
Read John 6:51-58. How does Jesus explain the way to eternal life? How is this surprising to the crowds? What was their response in John 6:60?
How does John 6:60 highlight the exclusiveness of the Gospel and the struggle with that?
SHARE IT.
What is something you would like Jesus to do for you right now, or what is something that you are praying for?
Read John 6:26. How can you tell the difference in yourself between wanting God and wanting what God can do for you?
Is it wrong to ask God for the things you need, why or why not? Read what Jesus taught in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:11. How does the prayer start in verse 9 and 10?
Read Phillipians 4:6-9. What is the connection between asking, thanksgiving, peace, your thought life and obedience?
Read Psalm 37:4. How might your desires change if you begin to delight yourself in the Lord? What is this verse telling you about how your deepest desires are fulfilled?
FINAL THOUGHT
In a Sermon to Angola Prison in 2009, John Piper stated that the main point of the feeding of the five thousand was, “Jesus did not come into the world mainly to give bread, but to be bread.” That Jesus came to be your satisfaction, fulfillment, and life by restoring you to a relationship with your creator. Often, we focus on the bread we need for our bellies more than Christ. This is what the Bible calls idolatry. God does care for and provide daily bread, but Jesus came to be the Bread of Life. Jesus is the Bread of Life that has secured an eternal and glorious marriage, home, body, family, position in the cosmos, and any other deep desire in your heart you might have. That is why scripture states to “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:25-34) and “delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). All those things will be perfectly taken care of in the next life, so for this life seek the Bread that will not perish through belief in Him (John 6:29).
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