2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary John Chapter 6
Commentary - John Chapter 6
John 6:1-5
Joh 6:1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
Joh 6:2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.
Joh 6:3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
Joh 6:4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
Joh 6:5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
As with chapters 4 and 5, a significant amount of time passes between chapter 5 and 6.
At the end of chapter 5, Jesus was in Jerusalem healing a handicap man.
Chapter 6 opens with Jesus back in Galilee by the Sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee).
Jesus decided to go to the “other side of the sea.”
Matthew 14:13 calls the location a “desolate place.
Luke 9:10 names this desolate place, Bethsaida.
A large crowd of people was following Jesus.
They were following Him because they had witnessed His miracles.
Some of them may have been visitors who had come to the area on their way to Jerusalem for Passover (verse 5).
Upon seeing the multitude of people, Jesus asked Philip (one of the Apostles) where they were going to buy bread to feed all the people.
There probably isn’t enough bread in a local Walmart to feed 5,000 men.
Imagine the 1st Century when bread was prepared in small local bakeries.
No doubt, Jesus’ question took Philip off guard.
John 6:6-9
Joh 6:6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
Joh 6:7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
Joh 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
Joh 6:9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
Philip had no idea how to answer Jesus.
He pointed out not even 200 denarii worth of bread would feed the huge gathering of people.
200 denarii was probably around 200 days wages.
The Apostle Andrew took a look around and was able to find a boy who had 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, but as he said, “what are they for so many?”
Jesus knew Philip had neither the money nor ability to prepare bread for 5,000 people.
The text says, “He said this to test Him.”
The Apostles didn’t have the resources for this job.
Jesus knew it.
Why did He ask?
The Apostles needed to learn where their sufficiency would come from for their future work in the Church.
They were going to be empowered by God.
The Church wasn’t going to be fueled by manpower.
It was going to be fueled by God power.
APPLICATION:
Maybe Jesus still places seemingly impossible tasks in front of us to see if we will trust Him to help us?
John 6:10-13
Joh 6:10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
Joh 6:11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
Joh 6:12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”
Joh 6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
Jesus told the crowd, which included 5,000 men and an unknown number of women and children, to sit down on the grass in groups.
He then distributed the bread and fish to the entire multitude.
The miracle provided as much food “as they wanted.”
When everyone had finished eating, Jesus told the disciples to pick up the leftovers.
In total, they collected 12 baskets.
What was the point of cleaning up the leftovers?
When Jesus initially asked the Apostles how they were going to feed the crowd, they immediately pointed out their insufficient resources.
At the end of the meal, they found themselves gathering the leftovers of an abundance of resources.
It would have been a lesson to them that God isn’t short on resources to accomplish His work.
It would also be a lesson to them that God could take something that seemed insufficient and make it sufficient.
This is a lesson taught throughout the Bible.
God used many men to do great things who initially thought themselves insufficient.
The Apostles may have believed themselves insufficient to do what Jesus wanted them to do.
They were!
But God was going to make up the difference.
APPLICATION:
You may believe yourself insufficient to serve God greatly.
Don’t worry… there is strong precedent in scripture showing God will make His sufficiency known through those who think little of themselves.
John 6:14-15
Joh 6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
Joh 6:15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Upon seeing the miracles the people concluded Jesus must be “the Prophet.”
This is probably the same prophets the Jews asked John the Baptist about in John 1:21
Joh 1:21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
“The Prophet” is probably a refence to the prophet foretold by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses foretold of a prophet like himself who God would send to the Jews.
Deu 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
They concluded correctly that Jesus was “the Prophet,” but they misunderstood the work of “the Prophet.”
They wanted to make Jesus their king.
As many of the Jews believed, they probably thought “the Prophet” (their Messiah) had come to restore the glory of Israel and reign over the nations.
In their minds, Rome and its allies needed to be thrown down in order for Israel to rise.
Jesus, perceiving the people were about to take Him by force and make Him their king, withdrew to a mountain to be alone.
Many of the Jews had the image of an earthly kingdom fixed squarely in their minds.
Their inability to open their minds to other possibilities led many of them to reject their Messiah.
They rejected the true nature of His Kingdom because they wouldn’t relinquish their incorrect expectations.
APPLICATION:
Many of us have expectations/assumptions clouding our ability to understand Jesus clearly.
We must be willing to allow the Scriptures and the words of Jesus to lead us wherever they lead us, even if that is somewhere we never thought we would go.
Even if that means we end up believing something fundamentally different in the end than we believed in the beginning.
I don’t want to make this sound easy because it isn’t.
A common Jew would have had to accept that the rabbis, who they had always been told knew so much about the scriptures, had actually misinterpreted them.
Their knowledge wasn’t as complete as many of the Jews had been led to believe.
But acknowledging that would have meant having people distant themselves from them.
This is an important observation because many Christians are in the same situation today.
A Christian can grow up believing and being told that the leaders of their congregation really know the scriptures.
But upon further investigation, that Christian may find their leader’s knowledge isn’t as complete as they had been led to believe.
It is hard to come to grips with that.
And acknowledging it may mean having people distance themselves from you.
This is why you should never entrust your soul to the absolute guidance of another person, no matter how respected they are!
This is why a study like this is so important.
So you can learn about Jesus for yourself.
John 6:16-21
Joh 6:16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
Joh 6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
Joh 6:18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
Joh 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.
Joh 6:20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
Joh 6:21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
Matthew’s gospel tells us Jesus dismissed the crowds before withdrawing to the mountain.
He then told His disciples to return home to Capernaum in their boat.
Jesus remained on the mountain until late into the night.
While attempting to row their boat back to Capernaum, the Apostles got caught in a storm.
Matthew tells us this was sometimes between 3am-6am.
Matthew also tells us the wind was contrary to them and they were “beaten by the waves.”
In the midst of the darkness and storm, Jesus approached their boat walking on the sea.
The Apostles were afraid and thought Jesus might be a ghost (Matthew 14:26).
But after revealing Himself to them, He got into the boat and John tells us the boat immediately arrived at the land (miraculously).
If you are familiar with Matthew’s account of this story you’ll notice the section about Peter walking on the water isn’t included.
APPLICATION:
When Jesus met the Apostles on the water they had evidently been rowing for a long time (the text seems to suggest hours).
Matthew tells us the elements were “against” them.
The physical world was contrary to their destination.
But Jesus had mastery of the elements.
They were in support of whatever He wanted to do.
And when Jesus got in the boat with the disciples, they immediately arrived at their destination.
How often do you (if you’re a Christian) spend all night rowing against the wind and forget to ask for help from the One to whom the elements submit?
The first thing we should do when attempting to accomplish anything is to ask God for help with all the variables.
John 6:22-24
Joh 6:22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
Joh 6:23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
Joh 6:24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
The next day (when the sun came up), the crowds Jesus had fed the previous day, woke up and were searching for Him.
They had only seen Jesus and the Apostles bring one boat to Bethsaida and they knew Jesus’ Apostles had departed in that boat without Jesus.
So they assumed He was still somewhere around Bethsaida (apparently, Jesus walking on the water back to Capernaum wasn’t their first guess).
When they realized He wasn’t there, they got in their boats and sailed back to Capernaum to continue the manhunt.
John 6:25-27
Joh 6:25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Joh 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
When the crowds made it to Capernaum, they were able to locate Jesus and they asked Him how He got to Capernaum without a boat.
John doesn’t record Jesus giving them a direct answer.
Jesus wasn’t interested in discussing His method of transportation.
He was more interested in discussing their motives for following Him.
Many of those who had made the trip from Bethsaida to Capernaum weren’t following Jesus because they were genuinely interested in His message or had been convinced of His identity by the miracle He performed, they were following Him because He had fed them the day before.
They liked the free food.
That may sound odd at first but if you’ve ever been part of a local church, you’ll know people like this exist.
They will stay interested in Christ so long as the Church gives them handouts, buys them groceries, helps with their utility bill, provides them with a service, etc.
But as soon as those handouts dry up, their interest in Christ evaporates and you never see them again.
It also isn’t hard to believe these people followed Jesus for food when you’ve witnessed how excited people get and how long they are willing to wait to get something for free (even things of small value).
The Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) went to the well seeking physical water, but Jesus wanted her to think about spiritual realities (living water).
Likewise, these people came to Jesus seeking physical food but Jesus wanted to elevate their minds to think about spiritual realities (food that endures to eternal life).
Jesus tells them He, the Son of Man, could give them this food and that God had “set his seal” upon Him.
In the old days, if you wanted to send an important letter to a person living far away, you would fold the letter with a wax seal on the outside
When the recipient received the letter, the seal confirmed the letters authenticity and the identity of the sender.
Jesus (the Word) was a man with a message sent from a God who no one had ever seen (John 1:18).
How could they know if Jesus was actually from God?
They could know by looking at the details of His life, His words, and His miracles.
They were the seal of God and testified to the identity of the One who had sent Him and His authenticity.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Jesus had the seal of God which qualified Him to speak about spiritual food and eternal life.
John 6:27-29
Joh 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Joh 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
I read verse 27 again because it is important to understand the people’s question in verse 28.
Their interest was in food.
Jesus tells them not to “work” for food that perishes.
Their interest needed to be on higher things.
There were more important things than physical labor for physical food.
So they asked Jesus how to do the “work of God.”
Jesus told them to “believe in him whom he has sent.”
Jesus was the one God had sent.
Shifting your affections from the physical to the spiritual began by believing in the Word of God (John 1:1).
Belief in Jesus was the only pathway to the “food that endures to eternal life” and the “water of life.”
That was the food they should be pursuing.
SIDE NOTE:
I’ve often heard this verse used in discussions about justification by works vs. faith alone.
People see the words “belief” and “work” in the same sentence and they say, “Look, Jesus here calls belief or faith in God a work.”
And while I don’t always disagree with the final conclusion being supported by people who use us the verse that way, in my opinion, the context of this passage doesn’t make Jesus’ usage of those words relevant to that argument.
This passage is not a discussion of works vs. faith based salvation.
Other passages in Romans and James deal with that discussion.
But I don’t see Jesus’ usage of these words speaking into that issue.
Not every usage of the words “belief” and “work” in the Bible were meant to speak into the faith vs. works debate.
When we approach this verse in context, I think it becomes a bit more obvious that that isn’t the discussion Jesus is having here.
John 6:30-33
Joh 6:30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Joh 6:31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Joh 6:32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Jesus told the people they needed to believe in Him.
Their response is curious.
“Why?”
“What evidence can you show us so we can believe?”
That would have been a very natural response if they hadn’t just seen Jesus feed 5,000 people the day before.
Why did they need additional proof?
Their next statement helps us understand their thought process.
“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Their point seems to be, “Just because you gave us food yesterday doesn’t make you the Messiah. That has happened before! Moses gave our ancestors miraculous bread to eat everyday in the wilderness.”
They were referencing the “manna” talked about in Exodus 16.
God gave the Children of Israel bread 6 days a week while they were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
Jesus makes a clarification to their statement.
It was not Moses who gave them bread in the wilderness. It was God!
The Father (God) gave their ancestors physical food in the wilderness and the Father was now providing them with “the true bread from heaven.”
“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Jesus was the bread of life (verse 48).
If you are going to stay alive on earth, you better know where to find some bread.
If you want to stay alive in eternity, you better know where to find some bread of life.
Eternal life isn’t possible without Jesus.
There are a lot of parallels between the manna in the wilderness and Jesus as the bread of life.
The manna in the wilderness was a gift from heaven. Jesus came “down from heaven” as a gift of grace.
The manna provided physical food in a physical wilderness. Jesus provided spiritual food in a spiritual wilderness.
The manna gave life to hungry travelers. Jesus gave spiritual life to all human beings, who are really just travelers on their way to eternity.
John 6:34-36
Joh 6:34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Upon hearing about the “bread of God,” the people were immediately interested and asked Jesus to give it to them.
Jesus told them He was the bread of life and anyone who accepted Him would never hunger or thirst again.
But there was a problem, His audience had not come with hearts ready to believe.
John 6:37-40
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Notice the words of verse 37 again, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John’s gospel in particular gives us a picture of God giving the saved to Jesus.
Joh 17:4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Joh 17:6-12 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
God gave the believers to Jesus
How did he give them to Jesus?
This is a tough question but I think the answer is found in the verses we just read.
Joh 17:7-8 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
Christ preached the message (words) of God. Jesus said those words were given to Him by God. It was those words that drew true believers to Christ.
God gave Jesus the words which possessed the drawing power, therefore it is fair to say God gave the believers to Jesus.
This interpretation fits with what Jesus says next in verse 38.
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
Jesus came with God’s words to complete God’s work of drawing men to God.
Jesus then promised to “never cast out” those who came to Him in belief.
Some relationships are too be true.
They are great in the beginning but sour over time.
Jesus’ invitation and our relationship with Him isn’t one of those.
He invites us into the house of the King and He will never change His mind and cast us out.
John 6:39-40
Joh 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
Joh 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
What was the will of God Jesus had come from heaven to complete?
God desired the eternal preservation of those who believed His words (in contrast with eternal destruction).
That, through Jesus, none of them would be lost but raised up at the last day (resurrected to eternal life).
John 6:41-42
Joh 6:41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
Joh 6:42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
What did Jesus mean by “I have come down from heaven” (verse 38)?
As far as the Jews knew, He hadn’t come from Heaven!
They knew His mom and dad (Mary and Joseph).
SIDE NOTE:
We’ve been through 2.5 gospels at this point and we’ve seen very little to no teaching from Jesus about His virgin birth.
Evidently, it was not something He felt needed to be widely publicized during His ministry.
He could have very easily responded to these Jews with the details of His birth but He chooses to go in another direction.
I think the way they respond to Him is very interesting.
Verse 41 says they grumbled about Him amongst themselves.
Verse 42 says, they asked each other how He could possibly say He had come from heaven.
What is wrong with their response?
Why are they talking to each other about what Jesus said?
If they are confused, why don’t they ask Him?!
They are confused, frustrated, and maybe outraged about something Jesus said but rather than ask Him about it, they decide they are just going to complain to one another.
They weren’t seeking truth.
Jesus’ statement didn’t fit comfortably into the world they were familiar with, it was therefore rejected.
How would a humble person respond to this confusion?
They would acknowledge they didn’t know everything in the world.
They would give an honest evaluation to the claim and ask for more details.
How did the Jews respond to their confusion?
They assumed they already knew everything about Jesus.
And because Jesus claim didn’t make sense to them, they wrote it off as nonsense.
This short exchange between Jesus and the Jews is a small picture into the big picture of Christianity.
Whether we choose to submit to God depends largely on the way we respond to the words of Jesus.
Are we humble enough to admit we don’t know everything?
Because God tells us He has a lot to teach us, about who He is, who we are, and He has things to tell us that may not fit comfortably into our current worldview.
Will we evaluate His claims? Seek the truth? Ask the right questions?
Or will we just discard it as nonsense?
Why didn’t Jesus convince the Jews by explaining the details of the virgin birth?
Probably because they weren’t interested in facts.
They made that clear when they chose to complain about Jesus’ statement instead of asking for clarification.
John 6:43-44
Joh 6:43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.
Joh 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
Grumbling with one another wasn’t a solution to anything.
They wouldn’t find any answers that way.
They wouldn’t find the bread that endured to eternal life that way.
The only way to find that bread was to be drawn by the Father.
The Father drew people to come to Christ (verse 44).
How did that happen?
Joh 17:7-8 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
Jesus informs us in His prayer in John 17 that people came to believe in Him by receiving the words He spoke to them.
Where did those words come from?
From the Father!
God gave the words to Jesus, Jesus preached the words to the people, the people believed the words, they accepted Jesus as having come from God, and they were drawn to God through Jesus and His message.
God’s words and the message they contain are the only power on earth to lead someone into a saved state in which they will be raised up on the last day.
Why is this important? Why does Jesus tells them they can’t be saved without being drawn by God’s message?
Because the grumbling Jews have just made it clear they aren’t all that interested in Jesus’ words (God’s words).
They aren’t seeking truth.
John 17:7-8 is a section of Jesus prayer where He is praying for His 12 Apostles.
Contrast the response of these Jews to the 12 Apostles.
The Jews discarded Jesus’ words.
The Apostles were constantly asking Jesus to explain His words and parables to them.
And just as Jesus says here, by meditating on God’s words, the Apostles concluded Jesus had come from God.
Anyone unwilling to listen to the Father will not have the bread that endures to eternal life and cannot be raised up on the last day because the Father is the only one who can draw someone to those blessings.
If you reject the Father’s words, you’ll never accept the Son, if you never accept the Son, you won’t have eternal life.
Why was that an important statement for Jesus to make in this context?
Because the Jews were, at that very moment, grumbling about the words of the Father.
John 6:45-47
Joh 6:45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
Joh 6:46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Joh 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
The quotation in verse 45 is probably from Isaiah 54:13.
Isa 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.
Those who are willing to be taught by God come to Christ and have eternal life.
Those who are not (like the Jews) will not come to Christ and do not have eternal life.
What does verse 46 mean?
Jesus just quoted a prophet who said, “All will be taught by God.”
Jesus confirmed the prophets words to be true.
He said, all will hear and learn from the Father.
But then seems to clarify what He means.
They will all be taught by God, they will all hear and learn from God, but that doesn’t mean they will physically see Him or physically hear Him.
They haven’t sat across from Him in a classroom.
They haven’t heard Him teaching in the streets.
Because no one has ever seen God (John 1:18).
So how have they been taught by Him?
They’ve been taught by Him through the only One who has ever seen Him.
The One who is sharing His words with them.
Jesus!
Throughout this whole text we’ve seen the harmony between and the inability for one to disconnect the work of the Father and the Son.
You must be drawn by the Father to accept the Son.
You are drawn by the Father through the words He gave to the Son.
The Son communicates the words which draw you to the Father.
The Son is the only one who has seen and can reveal the Father.
You must be taught by God to know the Son.
The Father teaches us through the words given to the Son which testify to the identity of the Son and the Father.
John 6:48-51
Joh 6:48 I am the bread of life.
Joh 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
Joh 6:50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews had compared Jesus’ work to Moses’ work in giving the people manna in the wilderness (see verse 31).
Jesus now contrasts His work with Moses’ work.
God, through Moses, gave the people physical bread to keep them physically alive for a time.
But just like all those who eat physical bread, they eventually died.
Jesus tells them He is the bread of LIFE.
The one who eats of Him and is sustained by Him will never die.
In John 3, we saw Jesus as the living water.
In John 6, we see Jesus as the bread of life.
All people need bread (food) and water to live.
Bread and water give us food and energy for a period of time but they don’t keep us alive forever.
Jesus is telling us that He is the food we need to be consuming if we want to stay alive eternally.
Jesus tells them the bread that gives life is His flesh.
John 6:52
Joh 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Again, we see the exact same response from the Jews in verse 52 as we observed earlier.
There is no question Jesus’ statement wasn’t the easiest thing to understand.
I would have had the same question the Jews were asking…
“What does He mean?”
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
But they choose to grumble about Jesus amongst themselves rather than inquiring to Jesus about the meaning.
John 6:53-59
Joh 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Joh 6:54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Joh 6:56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
Joh 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Joh 6:59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Jesus doubled down.
He felt no need to simplify His teaching for people whose hearts had no interest in considering their truth.
He tells them they have no life in them if they don’t eat His flesh and drink His blood.
Whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will have eternal life and Jesus will raise Him up at the last day.
“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
We can fall into the trap of believing we were made for this life and the food we east and drink give us energy to live this life “to the fullest.”
Jesus is telling us we were made for greater life and to be able to live that life we need “true food… true drink.”
You don’t neglect eating and drinking on a daily basis… otherwise you’re dead.
You better not neglect the bread and water of life on a daily basis… otherwise you’re dead (“you have no life in you”)
I think the idea of verse 57 is similar to John 5:26
Joh 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
God is depicted as the source of all life (the living God/the living Father).
Jesus possesses the life of the Father.
Jesus makes that life available to us.
Jesus is not only describing a way for us to escape death but a way for us to live a beautiful life in unity with Him and His Father.
As you and I grow as Christians, I hope our faith is motivated more and more by a desire for that unity and an appreciation of the incredible opportunity afforded us by Jesus.
That we start to lose interest in this world’s offerings as we comprehend more deeply and fully the beauty of life in God.
In what sense do followers of Jesus eat His flesh and drink His blood.
This is a good question, especially if you’ve never read the New Testament before (you might be a little freaked out right now)!
This becomes clearer later in John when Jesus creates the “Lord’s Supper.”
We will go into more detail when we reach that section of the book but let me give you a quick summary.
The Jews ate a meal once a year called Passover.
The meal was a memorial of God saving the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
In preparation, they killed a lamb whose body (meat) and blood were important elements of their salvation.
Before Jesus’ death, He changed the meaning of the meal to memorialize His body and His blood which were about to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.
The meaning of the meal shifted from a memorial of salvation in Egypt to a memorial of salvation from sin.
If you want more information on this topic check out the video on my YouTube channel entitled Why do Christians Eat Bread and Drink Grape Juice.
You’ll notice, Jesus doesn’t feel the need to lay all of these details out in this discourse.
Jesus does this at other times in His ministry.
He introduces an idea but that idea only comes to full light at a future time.
This happened in John 2 when Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
That was a pretty incredible claim.
The Apostles didn’t understand these words until after Jesus’ resurrection.
Joh 2:22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
In our text in John 6, Jesus makes another incredible claim, but full light will not be shed on His words until later in His life.
Jesus evidently expected His followers to keep some of His words in the back of their minds until they could come to an understanding.
That may seem really odd to us but I think this would have been a powerful way of teaching.
When those words finally clicked into place, they would have had a powerful impact on the disciple.
This was in some ways, a method of teaching unique to Jesus.
He could see the past, present, and future which enabled Him to teach lessons over a period of time using future events.
This method of teaching probably had a greater impact on Jesus’ followers than if Jesus had just explained all the details to them up front.
Jesus said these words in the synagogue at Capernaum.
The synagogue was a place the Jews were accustomed to going to hear the words of God (Old Testament scriptures) read.
This would have included the Torah.
Also the haphtaroth (selections from the prophets).
If the people had been familiar with the prophets, they would have known at least two things.
1. The prophets often spoke difficult things.
2. Their fathers had rejected the words of God as delivered by the prophets.
Now the Word of God was standing in front of them delivering the words of God to them.
There is no doubt Jesus’ words were difficult.
The question was, how were they going to respond?
We find out in the next few verses.
John 6:60-63
Joh 6:60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
Joh 6:61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
Joh 6:62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
Joh 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
The 1st Century Jews responded similarly to their fathers, they grumbled.
They grumbled at Jesus saying He had come down from heaven.
They grumbled at Jesus calling Himself the Bread of Life.
They grumbled at Jesus telling them they needed to eat His body and drink His blood.
Again, rather than walking back His comments or rephrasing them in a way that was easier to stomach, Jesus doubles down.
If they found these claims unbelievable, what would they say if they saw Jesus ascend back to God?
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
This verse is a bit tricky.
Let me give you 2 potential interpretations:
1. Specific Interpretation:
Jesus may be referring specifically to the comment He just made about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
Trying to interpret those words in a literal (physical) way wouldn’t have been helpful.
The problem was, their minds were geared to think in a physical way.
In order to interpret them properly they needed to interpret them in a spiritual way, with spiritual minds.
Only when interpreting them in a spiritual way could understand the spiritual realities and the spiritual life contained in them.
2. General Interpretation:
It is the Spirit of God that gives new life.
Joh 3:5-6 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Flesh (or physical things) are no help at all.
The people listening to Jesus had approached Him because they were interested in the physical bread He had provided them with the day before.
Their interest was physical.
But the physical couldn’t provide them with what they really needed.
Jesus had presented them with spiritual things (in contrast to physical) and they grumbled at them.
He had just given them the words of eternal life and it was through those words that the Spirit of God worked to make a person spirit and to give them eternal life.
John 6:64
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
Many of the Jews listening to Jesus didn’t believe the things He was saying.
Jesus, being God, knew who those people were.
He even knew “who it was who would betray him.” (Judas)
John 6:65
Joh 6:65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
When had Jesus said that? In verse 44…
Joh 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
And as we discussed, God grants us the opportunity to have life in Jesus by believing His words, His message.
This is consistent with verse 63.
A fleshly human being can’t become spirit and can’t have life without what?
“The words that I have spoken…”
If you don’t believe God’s words there is no route to faith in Jesus or the Father or to have eternal life.
This is why Jesus repeats verse 44 at the end of this discussion.
Because, as He pointed out in verse 64, some of them didn’t believe.
They had been rejecting God’s message the entire time Jesus had been speaking.
They had been grumbling at every point He made.
They needed to know, if they rejected these words, there wasn’t another route to God.
If they didn’t come through God’s words, they weren’t coming at all.
So He drives that point home again.
John 6:66-69
Joh 6:66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
Joh 6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
Joh 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
Joh 6:69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
This claim was too much for His fellow Jews.
After hearing these things, many of His disciples left Him and didn’t return.
APPLICATION:
Audience size was not the most important thing to Jesus.
He taught difficult truths knowing people would abandon Him.
Jesus turned to His Apostles and asked them, “Do you want to go away as well?”
Although I seriously doubt Peter had understood every word of Jesus’ teaching, he definitely picked up on the overall principle.
He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
He learned the lesson his fellow Jews hadn’t.
Jesus had God’s words.
They led to eternal life.
He said, “… to whom shall we go?”
He understood, there was no other route.
In contrast to their unbelieving fellow Jews who had just walked away, the 12 had believed Jesus’ words and they had led them to the conclusion Jesus told them they would lead them to and that was that He was the “Holy One of God.”
John 6:70-71
Joh 6:70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”
Joh 6:71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Peter spoke on behalf of the Apostles and his statement was accurate for 11 of the 12.
Jesus took this opportunity to inform them that one among their number was a “devil.”
He was not all he appeared to be.
He was a betrayer or at least would become a betrayer.
From the gospel accounts, it appears none of the Apostles knew the identity of the betrayer until the night of the betrayal.
But John, having written his gospel some time after Jesus’ death and resurrection, makes the identity of the betrayer known to his readers.
It was Judas the Son of Simon Iscariot (Judas Iscariot).
