John 6:30-40

John 6:30-40
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  Did you ever have a teacher in school that seemed eager to punish you?  You had the feeling that you were walking on eggshells, because they seemed to watch you so closely in the hopes that you might slip up so they could punish you.
  We often have the same impression of God -- this is the Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon preached so long ago.  We get this idea that God is out to punish us for our sins, that God gets bonus points for each soul condemned to suffer.
  Instead, Jesus paints a picture of a God eager to save, willing to feed us and nourish us, body and soul.  He comes as bread, and while we're trying to figure out how this means we won't have to go to the grocery store any more, Jesus points to the eternal realities present in God.  Jesus is trying to teach us that God wants us to be saved, that God wants to make sure Jesus doesn't lose a single one.  God wants us to experience the salvation that is a free gift in Jesus Christ, and he sends his Spirit to change hearts and minds to receive the eternal truth of God's free gift of salvation.  God is eager to save, and my we release our guilt and relax into that joyous truth.