Don’t forget the last of John’s other big themes is that we believe / know Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ), the Son of God. So note what he includes in this major theme section.
At the end of the feeding of the 5000 the people gathered there say “He is the Prophet we have been waiting for”. [6:14] During the walking on the water John repeats the same words the other gospel writers include “I Am”. (See Bible Gem 38) John omits the classic comment from Matthew from the disciples “clearly you are the Son of God and they worshipped Him”. We would think he would include that segment, it fits his theme. Why not? because he has other plans inspired by the Holy Spirit. What he writes is just as clear as the reaction of the disciples in Matthew’s account. In 6:27 Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man and then says, “God the Father has given Me the seal of approval.” What work do we do they say? Jesus says “Just believe in Me.”
Jesus / John then work that theme – “who is this Jesus?” Remember John told us in his theme that these things were written that we might believe He is the Son of God and that by believing we would have life in His name. Can you see how John keeps returning to or working his theme at every opportunity? He really did write these things – all of them – so that we would know. He is stacking the evidence from the things that happened and the things Jesus said.
Look at the rest of this section in the light of this theme: Jesus keeps using the term the Bread that came down from heaven. Such a comment is emphasizing the source of where He came from. It is also reminiscent of John 1:51 and the Son of Man descending and ascending. This One we are referring to comes from and goes back to heaven! He is from heaven, He is truly the heavenly bread who has come down. Forget manna we have the real thing among us.
“Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again?”
John 6:62
Then John closes the section with :-
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know You are the Holy One of God. ”
John 6:68-69
The disciples now say it is clear to us, WE BELIEVE, you are the HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL – we get it. But there is more to come when we reach John 16. Keep thinking about it. Enough for now.
When a back injury paralysed Angela Madsen from the waist down, she vowed to do whatever it took to get back up. As a result she started training to be the first woman with a disability to row across the Atlantic. Angela, a paraplegic, from Long Beach, CA USA, and Franck Festor, a single below the knee amputee, from Metz France, decided to ROW across the Atlantic Ocean in the 2007 Atlantic Rowing Race. On Feb. 7, 2008, after 66 days at sea, they succeeded.
Angela Madsen
He who deliberates fully before taking a step will spend his entire life on one leg.
Chinese Proverb
One who lacks courage to start has already finished.
Anon