John 6:52-59
Find a place and time free of distractions for the next 7-10 minutes. Sit comfortably and breathe deeply for a few seconds before you begin. If you haven’t read the Introduction to John’s Gospel, read it here.
Today’s passage continues Jesus’ discussion with the large crowd for whom he multiplied the bread and fish. If you haven’t read the previous part of this narrative, look back over John 6:22-51 before you begin today’s meditation.
Read John 6:52-59 noticing any thoughts or feelings that arise in you as you read.
Clearly the crowd of people have misunderstood what Jesus is trying to tell them, but rather than back down from his graphic words, Jesus presses in further. The crowd is so fixated on their experience of having Jesus meet their physical need that they cannot understand his deeper meaning, and they are in danger of missing the more important gift he has for them.
Take a moment to think about your prayers. When you talk to Jesus, how much of your conversation involves asking for physical or other temporal needs?
It’s not wrong to share our needs with God, Jesus instructs us to share all our needs in prayer. But is it possible that if our prayers are largely made up of pleas for help with temporal needs, we might miss something more important that Jesus wants to give us? Take a moment to consider this and talk to Jesus about it.
Read John 6:52-59 again noticing Jesus’ words about the source of his life and the source of our lives.
As Jesus receives his life from God the Father, so we receive life from Jesus. We live by feeding on Jesus through a living relationship in which our souls are fed and our spiritual thirst is quenched. And just as he multiplied food for the crowd, he multiplies his nourishment for our souls so that we become channels of life to those around us.
Take a few minutes to contemplate the following questions and discuss them with Jesus:
In what circumstances do you feel most connected to Jesus? How does your connection with Jesus affect your actions and attitudes during the day?
In what circumstances do you feel most disconnected from Jesus? How does your disconnection with Jesus affect your actions and attitudes during the day?
Is it possible that Jesus is inviting you to new ways of feeding on him?
What will you do about that?
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