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2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

August 6, 2025

John 6:14-51

  1. After Jesus provoked the Pharisees in chapter 5 concerning their superficial belief in the law of Moses, Jesus continued to show how his ministry was a greater ministry than the ministry of Moses. Jesus did this to indict the religious leaders about their superficial faith. If they really believed Moses, they would see that Jesus was the Messiah. The problem was that they only followed the teachings of Moses as much as those teachhgs gave them power and influence. They didn’t follow the precepts of the Law to become closer to God. Moses’s ministry foreshadowed the ministry of Christ. The ministry of Moses was a precursor to the ministry of Christ. Moses said in Deut. 18:15, that “A prophet like me will the Lord your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one whom you will listen.” This was a prophecy that pointed to Jesus. Jesus came with signs, wonders and the Word. Moses was a physical deliverer, but Jesus is a physical and spiritual deliverer. Moses could deliver for a season; Jesus can deliver for an eternity. Moses led the people to a temporary physical promise land, but Jesus leads us to a prepared eternal place of rest. In the beginning of the 6th chapter, Jesus performs a miracle of supernatural provision to a hungry crowd of over 5,000. This is a sign that Jesus is truly the Son of God. Like Moses, Jesus provides food for the Israelites, but in a far greater way. Moses could only bring the need to the Lord and the Lord then provided. Jesus simply takes the bread and fish in his own hands and multiplies it. In today’s lesson we will see Jesus do another miracle that was like Moses, but greater.

  2. Verses 16-21. This story is captured in three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and John. All three together give us a wonderful picture of what we are to understand about this passage. The Matthew 14 version says that the disciples declared that Jesus was the Son of God afterwards. The Mark 6 version says that they were amazed for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. These other versions help us see that the Disciples were supposed to see the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and clearly see that Jesus was the Messiah. The sign went over their heads, but the miracle of Jesus walking on water would open their eyes.

    1. Jesus sent the disciples ahead of him in a boat at night. In the middle of the night, the boat was hindered by strong winds and waves. This area was known for such conditions. While the disciples struggled in the boat, Jesus appears to them walking on the water. Jesus tells the disciples to not be afraid. When he got on their boat, in this version of the story, they are miraculously at the other side safe and sound. John is only interested in pointing out that Jesus did a water miraele and got the disciples to dry ground. John only cares about his readers connecting Jesus’s miracle with Moses Red Sea miracle which happened at night (Exodus 14:20). Jesus words of not being afraid echo what Moses said to the Israelites in Exodus 14:13. In the Red Sea story, strong winds are prominent, and the winds are doing the will of God. Jesus walks on the water and is not affected by the wind because Jesus oversees the winds and the waves. Jesus proves his divinity by controlling the very laws of nature to his purpose.

  3. Verses 22-28. While Jesus and the disciples arrive and enter the synagogue in Capernaum, the crowd from the other side followed Jesus and the disciples in their boats to Capernaum that monring. Jesus addressed the crowds who had gathered to hear Him speak. Many of the people who had been among the 5,000 – those who were miraculously fed – were in attendance. Jesus challenges them for following him, not because they thought he was the Messiah, but because he gave them food to eat. Jesus tells them to seek after food that doesn’t spoil (works of flesh Exodus 16:20), but food that is eternal which comes from the Son of Man through grace. Jesus is basically saying believe that he is the Messiah and receive his words that give life. Jesus was telling the people to accept him as Lord.

  4. Verses 28-40. Jesus quickly escalates the conversation by identifying Himself as the Messiah by saying that He has been given the Father’s seal (anointed by God) and been sent by Him into the world. Upon hearing this the people ask for a sign to accompany such a bold claim. They say, “Then what sign do you do, 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 from heaven to eat’” (Jn 6:30-31). To which Jesus responds, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. . .I am the Bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (Jn 6:32-33, 35). Jesus told the crowd that they saw the miracles but still don’t believe who he is. Jesus makes the bold statement that those who believe belong to God and win come to him. Jesus told the crowd that his mission was to do the will of his father who sent him to save those who the Lord has given to him. Jesus says he will not lose any that are his and will raise them up at the last day. Jesus said that the will of the Father is that everyone who looks to (believes) the Son will have eternal life.

  5. Verses 41-51. At this point the people begin to murmur and grumble amongst themselves. The murmuring and grumbling is like how the Israelites grumble and murmured in the wilderness because they didn’t believe the Lord could provide. Again, the issue of belief is at the core of the issue. The people resisted believing Jesus was the Messiah. They began to say talk about his earthly father Joseph and questioned Jesus’s divine origins. The crowd simply ignored all the miracles and refused to believe the divinity of Christ. Jesus told them to stop grumbling and recited Isaiah 54:13 referring to the idea that the people that really hear God’s voice will be drawn to the Messiah. Jesus told the crowd that he is the bread of life that gives eternal life. The bread that Moses gave could not give eternal life, but the Bread that Jesus has gives eternal life. Jesus told the crowd that he is the true bread that comes from heaven that give eternal life. The Manna God provided during the time of Moses was a sign of the true bread that is Jesus.

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