They say you should think before you speak. That’s not always easy because we haven’t always though it all through. We don’t know what we don’t know. Or we know a little but not enough to see the whole picture. That’s where we find Peter in our story today, and where we find ourselves more often than we might like to admit.

How would you feel if someone you looked up to, someone you thought was, well, perfect, turned out to be less than you had hoped for?

How do you love God?

That’s the big question at the heart of our passage this morning and it’s a pretty big and important question so we should probably try to pay attention and not be distracted by other things. And that’s kind of how this conversation comes about.

In the flesh. There. Present. Right in front of them. Just like them.  In John’s Gospel it matters that Jesus is human. But it also matters that he is God’s Son. But that’s a hard idea to get our heads around so today we’re going to think about why it’s important and why it leads to a crucial choice for all of us.

More bread.  Again.  Isn’t that dull?  What more can there be to say?  But what if this is an opportunity to savour something so amazing that it needs time.  Not to be rushed so that we can full appreciate it in all its complexity and wonder?

Who am I? Where do I fit in? Where do I belong? Identity is important and so it’s no surprise that the people Jesus meets want to know about his.  But when he starts talking about eternity they really don't understand!

What is it that you are looking for?  Do you really know?  Is it the thing that’s most immediate?  The thing that will make you feel better for now?  Or is it something deeper, more filling, more lasting?

When Jesus takes a few loaves and a couple of fish given to him by a child nobody expects what will happen next.  After all, there are thousands of hungry people there.  How could he possibly feed them all?

There are moments when we get just what we need, rather than what someone else tells us we should get.

They say that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. That’s certainly what we see with Herod in our passage today.  Speaking truth to power doesn’t always end well. Just ask any of the Old Testament prophets. Calling out those with power, those in charge, those with much to loose can put you in a position where all of their power can be focused on you.