Daily Dose of Hope

October 14, 2025

Scripture – John 6:25-55

Prayer: Holy God, We come before you today with such gratefulness. You are a good God and you love us so very much. Thank you, Lord. Help us seek holiness. Help us set aside our worldly distractions and focus on you today, Jesus. In your name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional/podcast that goes along with New Hope Church's daily Bible reading plan. As most of you know, we are in the middle of a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we are finishing John 6.

We mentioned this briefly in yesterday's devotional - the people have come looking for Jesus. They don't know how he got across the lake but when they discover where he is, they go seeking him. They want more food! Honestly, we can't blame them. They were very hungry people. But Jesus can see in their hearts. He knows that they need so much more than physical sustenance.

Jesus tries to explain that what he offers is better than the manna that God provided Moses and the people in the wilderness. He offers the bread of life. Not surprisingly, this doesn't make a lot of sense to them. Of course they want this bread. It sounds amazing. To never be hungry would be a huge thing to this group.

But Jesus knows that this group of people isn't quite ready for what he really means by bread of life. They aren't ready to understand the kind of salvation that Jesus offers. They can't quite get it that Jesus, as manna, is the true source of life. And the theme of Jesus as manna from heaven continues through the chapter.

Here is where things start to get hard. Some of the Jews in the crowd start grumbling. "Isn't this Jesus, Joseph's son?" they ask. How could he be from heaven? The grumbling is possibly intended to echo the grumbling of the Israelites in the Exodus story. They have experienced God's salvation – it's right in front of them – but they don't fully trust in God's provision.

Jesus is different from manna in an important way through. The ancestors died in the wilderness but those who eat Jesus' bread do not die. Jesus as manna is redeeming the sin of the previous generations of God's people. Jesus is providing nourishment that endures and saves.

But this was really hard teaching. Many people stopped following Jesus. I think this is a good lesson for us. When we get discouraged because people we know and care about refuse to follow Jesus, we can think about all the people who had Jesus directly in front of them and they still did not believe. Flesh and blood Jesus Christ walked among them and they walked away.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki