“Encountering the Word” – 6 Studies in John 6 – 8

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Sample questions from this study guide:

John 6:41: – 71
The Bread of Life, Part 3

1.      What do you feel is the hardest thing about following Jesus?

2.     What reasons have you heard people give for their decision not to follow or obey Jesus?

Read John 6:41 – 71

3.     If you had to choose a key verse that summed up or represented this section, which verse would you choose?

4.     What have the Jewish opponents of Jesus not understood about God?

5.     What does this section add to our understanding of Jesus’ identity as “the bread of life?”

6.     How is the comparison between “the bread of life” and the manna during the wilder­ness wanderings continued and developed in these verses?

7.     In verses 44 & 45 Jesus draws on the words of Jeremiah (31:34) and Isaiah (54:13). What does he use these two Old Testament quotations to teach about himself?

In the Old Testament, the separation of blood from flesh was the ultimate picture of a violent and humiliating death (ie Isaiah 49:25 – 26).  In John 6:35 Jesus has already spoken of what it means to eat of him and drink from him.

8.     Within this context, what does Jesus mean when he speaks of the necessity to “eat my flesh and drink my blood” (v 54)?

9.     Write verses 53 & 54 in your own words, without any Christian jargon.

10.   Do you feel that there is a particular aspect of Jesus’ teaching here that is “a hard teach­ing” (v 60)?

11.    Do followers of Jesus who abandon him (in his day and ours) do so because they haven’t understood what he taught, or because they have understood, and they don’t like it?

12.   What impact does the truth of Peter’s words in verse 68 have on you today?

13.   Why does Jesus respond to Peter the way he does: “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve” (v 70)?

14.   How does this passage encourage you to pray for Christian brothers and sisters who might be at risk of turning away from Jesus?

Over the years some Christians have understood this eating and drinking of Christ to be a reference to the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion. However, there are a number of reasons – contextual, grammatical, and textual – why that is unlikely to have been Jesus’ or John’s intention.

15.   What reasons can you think of why this passage is probably not referring to the Lord’s Supper?

16.   A friend says to you, “I believe in Jesus, but I don’t believe he died for me, or for any­one else for that matter.”

How does this section of John 6 help you frame a gracious response?

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