Jesus uses physical objects as metaphor to teach spiritual realities. Here His body is likened to bread and His blood to wine. The crowds misunderstand that He is pointing ahead to the cross where He will die and His blood be shed. As that which is physical gives life, bios, so does the death of Jesus: His broken body and shed blood bring life that is eternal in nature. To trust in Jesus as Savior is to “ingest” Him, and then it can be said that Christ is in us and that we are in Christ.

Now we encounter the first of seven “I Am” sayings. The construction of the Greek phrase “I Am” matches the name God spoke to Moses when Moses asked who it was who was sending him to the Egyptian Pharaoh (see Exodus 3:13–15). There is bios, or physical life, but then there is zoe, or spiritual life. To “eat” of Jesus gives eternal life. And in this passage we find the statement that only those whom the Father gives to Him will come to Him, and these will never be cast out.

Miracles stir up the crowds, and they set out to find Him. They find Him in Capernaum. It is noted that Jesus never alludes, in any way, to either the feeding of the 5,000 or the walking on water. They are seeking Jesus to feed their stomachs. But Jesus tells the people to do the “work” of God: to believe Him on whom He has put His seal. He warns then not to work for that which perishes. Miracles do not yield saving faith. Salvation in Jesus produces something far deeper and more significant.

Two miracles of nature, defying the laws of science. 5,000 men plus women and children are fed from one boy’s basket of food. Then 12 leftover baskets of food are collected. When the crowd sees the miracle, they want to make Jesus king, but He slips away. Then Jesus walks on water across the tip of the Sea of Galilee. These are signs as to who Jesus is. The miracles are stated in a simple manner and not trumpeted.

Jesus continues defending Himself by showing that He has witnesses to His claim to be equal with God the Father, witnesses that are needed according to the law that requires two or more. First the Father witnessed to Him, then John the Baptist, then are the works Jesus performs, the signs and wonders, and also the Scriptures, the words of Moses. Jesus concludes the presentation of His witnesses by stating if they do not believe Moses, they will not believe Him.

When the religious leaders hear Jesus say, “My Father,” they accuse Him of blasphemy, since He claims equality with God. Jesus proceeds to identify Himself as equal with God to the point that He says the Father has committed all judgment to Him. He goes on to say that to dishonor Him is to dishonor God the Father. If Jesus’ claims are not true, then He is guilty of blasphemy. Now again Jesus and the religious authorities are in conflict, which will continue.

In Jerusalem was a pool where the ill came hoping to be healed. Jesus finds an invalid man there and asks him if he wants to be healed. The man says he cannot get into the pool quickly enough, and Jesus tells him to get up, take up his bed, and walk. He does, but religious authorities accost him for carrying a bed on the sabbath—a sin. Jesus later finds the healed man and tells him to sin no more. When the religious leaders question Jesus He tells them “My Father is working, and I am as well.”

An official, probably attached to Herod Antipas at Capernaum, had a son who was near death. He travelled to Cana hoping to bring Jesus back so Jesus could heal his son. Jesus responds that unless someone sees “signs” they will not believe. Jesus tells the man that his son will live. The man believes Jesus’ word, starts for home, and on the way his servants tell him his son is recovering, which began at the very time Jesus told him his son would live.

Jesus heals the son of an "official" from a distance, and the man and his household "believe" in Jesus. What does this mean for the process of coming to faith? Must we see miracles in order to believe? Is it our faith itself that is the key, or is it Jesus, the object of our faith?

The disciples return to Jacob’s Well from the town of Sychar to find Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman who then rushes back to her town to tell others that she has found someone who may be the Christ. The disciples want Jesus to eat, and He tells them He has food to eat they know nothing about. The food is doing the work of the Father. Citizens of Sychar come to the well, and after seeing and hearing Jesus, they become convinced Jesus is the Savior of the world.