Introduction
Jesus has just fed the 5000 five small barley loaves and two small fish, John 6:1-15. The miracle was the fourth miraculous sign of Jesus, which was done to bring about faith in Him, John 20:30-31.
After feeding the 5000, the disciples are out on a boat in the Sea of Galilee, when all of a sudden they witness Jesus walking on water, John 6:16-21 / Matthew 14:24 / Mark 6:48.
In John 6:25-34, after a search, the crowd find Jesus and He is going to explain to them the meaning of the sign of loaves and fishes and amplify it with teaching on the True Bread of Life.
FOUR MAIN INTERPRETATIONS
1. That the bread of life primarily applies to the Lord’s Supper.
2. That it deals with only spiritual realities using the figures of Jesus’ body and blood.
3. That while it does deal with spiritual realities, it sets forth principles that also apply to the Lord’s Supper.
4. That it teaches that at the Lord’s Supper we physically eat and drink the Lord’s body and blood.
After asking the question, John 6:25, we find Jesus’ response in John 6:26-27. Jesus replies in a form of a statement regarding their motives for seeking Him. Jesus knows that they haven’t understood the signs of the loaves and fishes.
Remember these signs are to point to who Jesus is, John 20:30-31, they aren’t meant to be miracles just for the sake of feeding hungry bellies.
Jesus tells them their motives were wrong, they can’t work for eternal food, John 6:26-29. They wanted to benefit from the miracle worker and wanted to make Him their king by force, John 14:15, so that they could snap their fingers and Jesus would feed them while they lounged about doing nothing.
Jesus offers them two kinds of food, He had filled them with physical food, John 6:5-13, now He offers them spiritual food, and He encourages them to eat this food which leads to eternal life, John 6:27.
Jesus is the giver of the food, Psalms 104:27-28 / Psalms 136:25 / Matthew 6:26. Just as the Manna was given daily, Exodus 16 so it is even today, Matthew 6:11.
Jesus is the giver of all food since He is God. We have spiritual fellowship with Jesus and partake of Him in communion for which Jesus chose the symbols of bread and wine, Matthew 26:26-29.
The whole idea of breaking bread is about being intimate in sharing your meal, your bread, your fellowship and friendship, Acts 2:42 / 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
They were concerned about the food that perishes, He wanted them to be concerned about the food that endures to eternal life, John 6:27. Jesus alone was that food, on Him the Father has set His seal, set his approval, John 1:32-33 / Acts 2:22, take up your cross and follow me, Matthew 16:24-26.
In John 6:28 they ask, ‘how can we do what God requires?’ This is in the continuous sense, ‘What are we to do as a habit that we may go on working the works of God’. They were probably thinking of Law works. ‘The work of God is to believe in the one He has sent’, John 6:29, means you need to keep on believing in me as the Messiah.
In John 6:30-31, they ask ‘for a sign’. All the miracles they have already seen are forgotten and they seek to base their faith on sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7. It was a common Jewish belief that the Messiah would repeat the miracle of the Manna.
Perhaps they are thinking Moses supplied a nation with Manna but Jesus only fed a multitude. Moses fed Israel for forty years but Jesus has only fed a multitude twice. Perhaps they are saying this is what Moses did, what credentials do you have?
They never seek the fulfilment of physical needs as opposed to spiritual needs. Jesus never performed any superfluous miracles, each had a purpose.
Jesus now indicates the nature of the miracle in John 6:32-33, and corrects their mistaken impression. It wasn’t Moses but God who fed them bread in the desert, Exodus 16, now He sends the true living bread, His Son.
He then describes in detail what He means by this true bread.
1. True, ‘alethenos’, genuine, real, John 6:32.
2. The bread of God, provided by God, John 6:33.
3. The bread of life, spiritual life, John 6:35.
This is all conditional, trust, belief, accept, obey, follow, that you may have eternal life. In every instance, He is speaking of Himself.
Then He tells them of its origin.
1. From heaven, John 6:32.
2. Comes down from heaven, John 6:33. Again He insists He is talking about Himself, ‘I have come down’, John 6:38.
JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
‘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. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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. 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.” John 6:35-41
‘I AM’
John never uses the word miracle in his gospel but he does use the word sign regularly. There are 16 signs recorded in John’s gospel, 8 are things which Jesus did and 8 were things which Jesus said.
John is basically saying that the ‘I AM’ claims of Jesus are signs, selected from many other signs. And he says these signs are selected with a purpose in mind and that purpose is that you believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, John 20:30-31.
Here we find the first of eight of Jesus’ I AM’ claims, John 6:35 / John 8:12 / John 8:58 / John 10:9 / John 10:11 / John 11:25 / John 14:6 / John 15:1.
Each of His ‘I AM’ claims are claims that He is God, EGO EIMI, is he Greek equivalent of YHWH, Exodus 3:13-14 / John 5:18. He is Eternal, Psalm 135:13, and self-existent, Psalm 88:6-7.
When we come to the ‘I AM’ claims of Jesus, we need to remember that Jesus was not giving Himself a Name or a title, but was asserting His Deity. In other words every ‘I AM’ reveals some aspect of His nature and purpose. Here He is ‘The Bread of life.’, John 6:35 / John 6:41.
In John 6:34 they ask for this bread but in John 6:35-40, Jesus declares Himself to be the bread of life again. Jesus is the sustainer of life, all who come to eat of Him, will never go hungry. Eternal life is a present reality and possession of the believer, John 3:15-16 / John 5:11-13 / John 10:27-30.
How do we receive this bread? He who comes to me, John 6:35. He who believes in me, John 6:35. He who sees the Son and recognises and appreciates His purpose and identity. He who believes in Him, John 6:40.
And what are the benefits of this bread? This bread gives life, John 6:33. We will not hunger, John 6:35. We will not thirst, John 6:35. We will have eternal life, John 6:40.
We will be resurrected to salvation in the last day, the believer in the Lord will be raised at the last day, John 6:39-40 / John 6:44-54. If the Lord repeats Himself, that means that what He says is important, there is no room for a second resurrection 1000 years later, Hebrews 9:27-28 / 2 Peter 2:4, Christians are being described here.
‘So, the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 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— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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.” John 6:41-51
This is the first of many grumbles, John 6:52, and the Jews start to grumble disapprovingly among themselves. They know His parents and His family but how can He be the Christ? John 6:41-42. Jesus hears grumbling and interjects answering the questions they were asking among themselves, John 6:42-51.
It’s no longer just the crowd who is grumbling, but that group of people called the ‘Jews’, including the rulers of the synagogue. The text implies that they were following Him around in order to trap Him, Matthew 15:1-7 / Mark 2:23-24 / Mark 3:1-2.
Initially, the people were called the ‘crowd’, John 6:24, now the term ‘Jews’ is used, John 6:41. Jesus has confronted the multitude, now He is to confront the Jews and later confront His disciples, John 6:67-70. This is the watershed time when the rubber hits the road.
In John 6:43-45 Jesus says that no man can come to Him unless drawn by the Father. There are two factors involved in coming to Jesus, firstly, man’s own will, no man can come to Jesus unless he wants to come, Matthew 5:40 / Matthew 23:37. Secondly, God’s drawing power, Romans 1:16 / John 6:45 / 2 Thessalonians 2:14-15.
John 6:45 makes it clear that people are drawn to God through teaching, Romans 10:17 / 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15. We are born again into God’s family after being taught the reality of sin and our need for a saviour and accepting the Good News that Jesus is and brings, Jeremiah 31:31-36.
In John 6:46-51 we see that Jesus is ‘the living bread’, Jesus again declares Himself to be Deity. ‘All’, He says, are taught, those who listen can come and have life and if any eat of the bread of life, He will live forever. This is being re-emphasised because of the Jews.
God will not materialise in front of people to teach them Himself, no one has seen God except the one whom He has sent. Jesus will give Himself, His flesh for the world and so, He is food for the soul.
‘The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 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. 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.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.’ John 6:52-59
Here we find the second grumble, ‘how can this man give his flesh to eat?’ The Jews don’t understand, and a fierce argument breaks out, they disputed. They have ears but don’t wish to hear, Isaiah 6:9-10 / Mark 4:12. No great hidden truth is being revealed, yet the Jews practice a dose of spiritual blindness.
The manna in the desert brought physical life for a short time, forty years, Exodus 16:35, but Christ brings eternal spiritual life, John 6:58.
Those who ate the manna died, those who eat of the bread of life live on. He will give of Himself, His flesh for the world and He is food for the soul. Jesus again refers to Himself as the food giving life and He goes over the previous message again, but this time makes it more literal.
He rubs it in so to speak, to make sure they get the point unless you eat My flesh and blood you haven’t lived. He introduces the idea of blood and the role it will have to play, John 6:53-56, but He isn’t referring to cannibalism, as that would be against God.
He is referring to the commitment and trust of those who become His followers, what they will understand will change their lives and create a new birth because of His sacrifice.
In other words, this is not literal but a figurative description of belief in, relying on, trusting in and obeying Jesus. This passage acts as a summary of Jesus’ teaching on the bread of life and Him as that Bread.
John 6:57 gives an idea of the closeness of the relationship between Jesus and the one who feeds Him. The words, ‘remain in me’, John 6:56, give the same same thought which is found in John 15:5-7.
Was He a literal vine, were His follower’s literal branches? Also, 2 Corinthians 6:16 says that God dwells in the lives of His people, we are His temple.
Is this a literal temple? No. Acts 17:24 says He doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. Are His words, ‘if anyone keeps My word, he will never die, John 8:51-52, are they literal?
We who look at the picture as a whole have a distinct advantage over those of His day. We can see how the blood and the bread tie in to be representative of Christ’s body and blood on the cross, Matthew 26:26-29, the sacrifice of Jesus, Hebrews 10:19-20.
So, this passage is primarily a reference to the death and sacrifice of Jesus which the Lord’s Supper became a memorial, 1 Corinthians 11:24.
So, when Jesus is here speaking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He is referring not to a literal act but rather a call to His audience to place their faith in what He will achieve for them through His death on the cross. His sacrificial death is the only way salvation and eternal life are possible for the sinner, John 14:6.
There were many other times when Jesus capitalised upon a situation that was presented to Him in order to teach a lesson, which is what He is doing in this chapter with the feeding of the five thousand.
John 6:59 confirms that the discussion took place in Capernaum, at the synagogue, but this doesn’t mean that it would have had to be on the Sabbath as there were meetings at the synagogue on other days of the week. It is claimed by archaeologists that the remains of this synagogue have been discovered in a dig at Capernaum.
MANY DISCIPLES DESERT JESUS
In John 6:60-66, these verses, we see the followers who sought Jesus after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand are being discussed. These people seem confused by what Jesus has said and they now count the cost of following Jesus and find they aren’t willing to pay the price, John 6:66.
The Jews with the preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would be like and what His plan would be weren’t pleased with this revelation of the Messiah which asked for commitment, Jesus doesn’t fit their bill, and so, once again they grumble.
Jesus asked His disciples, ‘does this offend you?’ John 6:61. In other words, what if you see Me ascend into heaven, would that make any difference, John 6:62.
Those who had put a crudely literal interpretation on His words were disgusted. The law forbids the drinking of blood, meat had to be specially prepared to meet the law’s requirements. Yet if they had bothered to think back to the reason for this rule they might have understood.
Leviticus 17:11 says ‘It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life’. Jesus is saying, ‘I am atoning for your sins’. The centrality of the crucifixion of Jesus as the only refuge for sinners and the only way for salvation, John 14:6, was to prove an offence not only for these people here but also for many more in the future.
Paul writes later in 1 Corinthians 1:18 and says that, ‘the world thinks it is foolishness. To the Jews, a real stumbling block’ and that is what we read of happening here.
John 6:62-64 brings out the thought or question regarding faith. Does man’s faith come from within himself? Or are we led to faith by the Spirit of God? John 6:65 may be read to suggest that God gives faith which leads to eternal life but this leads to the question of predestination.
John 6:45 tells us that all who listen and learn come to Jesus. Jesus can’t be telling us to literally eat His flesh and blood for He now says in order to clarify the point that the flesh profits nothing, we cannot, by eating the flesh of Jesus, gain anything, but the sacrifice spiritually accepted by God can give us eternal life.
This tells us that the Spirit gives life, the Spirit is active in the heart before, Acts 16:14, and after a person commits themselves to God, Ephesians 2:1-3.
The true understanding is that the Spirit is waiting to help the willing heart examine the evidence, but if a person is dead set against the Gospel, then even the Spirit of God can only stand by helpless.
The Spirit has been involved in ensuring we have the message of the Gospel to read and understand and listen to, 2 Timothy 3:16. He will help us if we strive to understand the message and will help us if we are willing to apply the message, 1 Corinthians 2:14. The teacher teaches all who accept will be saved, and all who reject will be lost, Mark 16:16 / 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10.
John 6:66, says, ‘after this’ which means literally as a consequence of this teaching, many of His disciples left. The Messiah they wanted was a Messiah who would make things easy for them, who would be a powerful earthly ruler, who would miraculously feed and clothe them, a nice easy road to follow.
The road Jesus offers will not be an easy road to some earthly utopia but a road that may demand suffering and self-denial, or self-sacrifice just as Jesus gave Himself.
His teaching tested their faith, with Him there was no compromise, notice this in John 6:41. The crowd turn away because they don’t want this kind of Messiah
Jesus has just witnessed many of His regular followers giving up and turning around and He now gives His innermost circle the opportunity to examine themselves and ensure they are willing to continue on the road in John 6:67-71. It’s also an opportunity for them to be tested. They had an opportunity to make a conscious decision at this point.
Peter answers on behalf of them all, and shows an understanding of His Master’s teaching, although not, perhaps, on behalf of Judas. He states the common belief of the 12, that He is the Holy One of God.
They all, by not objecting to Peter’s answer, commit themselves to follow Christ. This phrase ‘Holy One of God’ is only used one other time when Jesus healed the demoniac by casting the demons into the swine, Mark 12:34 / Luke 4:34.
John 6:70-71 reveals a deep dark secret. Jesus knows which one of the disciples is a betrayer. The full impact can only be seen and understood as we see Judas, staying in apparent full agreement with Peter while the rest of the crowd of followers left.
John explains what is meant in John 6:70. The betrayer was a chosen apostle, like the rest, he was given miraculous powers, Luke 6:13, yet Jesus calls him ‘devil’ ‘diabolos’, accuser, slanderer. This was one of the names of Satan himself.
Jesus doesn’t say that Judas was a devil when he first became an apostle but rather we see that he was a covetous man, ‘pleonexia’, John 12:4-6 / John 13:20-27. Remember, John is writing in retrospect, He and the others didn’t know this at the time.
Conclusion
Jesus says, ‘All that the Father gives me will come to me,’ John 6:37, are said in connection with the fact that God does not want that anyone should perish.
The plan of salvation consists of:
1. The initial objective aspect.
An action coming forth from God who gives to everyone without distinction or discrimination whatsoever the chance to be saved.
2. There is the subjective aspect.
An action coming forth from a man who individually has to decide whether or not he will grasp God’s lovingly extended hand.
The subjective aspect being possible thanks to the objective aspect, we might say that, although the sinner decides out of his/her own free will and not by coercion.
God gives the repentant sinner into the arms of Jesus their Saviour. Without the initial objective aspect, which is an act of merciful grace given by God, salvation would be an impossibility.
What an assurance of security we find in Jesus words in John 6:40!
If we do what is expected from us, if we believe, go to Christ, keep on believing in trusting obedience He will not cast us out! Psalms 91. And He will raise us on the last day to the resurrection of life, not of judgment as for those who did not do what is good, John 5:29.
