Guest Contributor: Sister Carmen Gasilao Ph.D
GOSPEL OF JOHN #18 the 4th teaching – discussions about Jesus as the Bread of Life
John 6:22-71
We saw in the previous section, Jesus feeding the 5000+ and we said that this was a sign pointing to something beyond a miracle of compassion for people who were hungry. He was preparing them for a revelation that He was truly the Messiah.
We shall see here many parallel teachings that Jesus had with the woman by the well (John 4).
In our text today we have a dialogue between Jesus and his hearers.
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (6:21-25)
The feeding occurred on a mountainside above Bethsaida and Jesus was now in Capernaum.
Jesus did not answer their question but immediately said in 26-27
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Jesus knew exactly why they were looking for Him and so he told them of a different kind of food.
Natural food – perishes (work for our meals 2 Thessalonians 3:12 but this should not our chief concern)
Spiritual food – endures (continues, persists) to eternal life
Parallel to John 4: 13-14
Living water quenching thirst eternally = the bread of life satisfying spiritual hunger forever.
Who gives this food? 27 “Son of Man” the title of Jesus to show his humanity. And the Father is greatly pleased with His Son. (seen in Jesus’ baptism Luke 3:22, transfiguration Matt 17:5)
What the people picked up was the word WORK/LABOR and missed out the word GIVE.
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
The Jews were used to the idea of meritorious works that would bring them favour from God.
All religions can be categorized into two kinds: One that believes you have to work your way to heaven by your good works and one that believes that Jesus has completed the sacrifice once and for all and that through Him, as we submit to His Lordship we are saved.
Galatians 2:16 “know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”
Jesus’ response: Believe in the One He has sent.
BELIEVE means to trust, rely upon, have confidence in, so much so that we OBEY what He says.
Jesus’ response was a straightforward answer but how did the people respond?
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Now, did they not just experience a sign? (5000+ people were fed).
They knew the account of Moses and that for 40 years they had manna (Exo 16:35, Nehemiah 9:21) and so the people were really asking for more physical food rather than the “better bread” that gives life to the world.
So, Jesus corrected their wrong thinking: it was NOT MOSES who gave them bread.
The “manna” in the OT is only a type of the “true manna” that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then the people said “always give us this bread” – like the woman (John 4:15) The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus’ response is the first of seven “I AM” passages in the Gospel of John and it is the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses. The Self-Existent One – Rev 1:8 “who was and is and who is to come”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
Jesus is declaring his divinity “I AM.”
To come to Jesus, one must believe. And to believe in Jesus, one has to come.
As we have said earlier, believing is not merely a mental assent, but it means surrender – yielding yourself to Christ and His Lordship. To come to Christ and believe in Him means to receive Him within, just as you receive food and drink.
The following section contains promises for all those who will come to Jesus.
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
What wonderful promises contained in these four verses
Whoever comes – he will not drive away (no sin is too big for God not being able to forgive…no traumatic experience he cannot accept….) abortionist, drug lord, sex slave, arsonist, vilest offender who truly believes – that moment from Jesus a pardon receives (considered as though you have not sinned –JUSTIFIED)
40 “looks” (and keeps looking), believes (and keeps believing-obeying) ..I will not lose them…raise them up at the last day (trumpet call)….have eternal life
But look at how the people began to grumble (murmured, complained) because Jesus once again said “For I have come down from heaven”.
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
At first the Jews were seeking, now they are grumbling (they are known for this Exodus 15:24, 17:3, Numbers 14:2) but they were known for this. They knew Joseph was the legal father of Jesus but Jesus was not his natural son, for he was born of a virgin (Luke 1:34-38).
Jesus emphasized and boldly declared “I came down from heaven” (38, 41, 50, 51, 58)
Let us look for a moment at three verses where Jesus’ says that the process of personal salvation –and how this involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
Salvation is primarily God’s initiative and His outworking in our lives.
No one can say – I was seeking for God that is why I found Him. God has been calling people to Himself (45 They will be taught by God) and causes the hearts of men to respond – this is His grace, without reference to anything we may have done. When we come to recognize our need for a Saviour and come to Him in repentance and receive Him as Lord and Saviour – God has been behind the scene making it possible for us to come.
The Father draws the sinner by His Word – the sinner hears, learns and comes as the Father draws him or her to Jesus. This is a mystery -Yes! But a blessed reality!
Does that mean we should no longer preach the Gospel because anyway God will draw people to Himself anyway?
Just as a hyper-Calvinist told William Carey, whose passion was to go to India with the Gospel – “Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine.”
Jesus’ last commission was to preach the Gospel and make disciples first in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Jesus showed the people that what He was giving was something far better than manna because (49) although it lasted for 40 years, the ancestors died in the wilderness but whoever eats this living bread will live forever.
Jesus then refers to this bread as His flesh – His body which was to be crucified for the life of the world.
As the Jews took this literally, they began to argue sharply among themselves.
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The consequences of “eating his flesh and drinking his blood” are the same as the promises we saw earlier in 36-40. So “eating his flesh and drinking his blood” is an extreme metaphor of putting one’s faith in Jesus.
All that Jesus was saying was: Just as you take food and drink within your body and it becomes a part of you, so you must receive Me within your innermost being so that I can give you life.
In Jesus’ previous encounter, He used illustrations like being “born again”, which is not to be taken literally. Jesus was emphasizing an essential truth.
This portion has been used by the Catholic church to refer to Communion and that the mystery of transubstantiation takes place– where the elements are converted into the body and blood of Christ at consecration.
This is adding to what the Bible says.
One: this does not refer to the Lord’s supper.
Two: Jesus intentionally used a powerful figurative language to make an unforgettable truth: To believe in Christ means to be totally united to Him by faith and to participate in his life.
This illustration was so vivid, so extreme, in fact, it caused an uproar and many “disciples” left Him and no longer followed Jesus.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
We see here that Jesus isn’t really after a big crowd who were not sincere
in terms of their faith.
He did not use fancy language to make people laugh or make them like
Him.
Jesus also taught about “taking up your cross, daily and come follow Me” (Luke 9:23) – this was not a literal cross, but a dying to the pride, to self-centeredness “Big I” and following Jesus.
This was a hard saying -not hard to understand, but hard to accept.
Many of the Jews – if not all, were aware of Moses’ teachings and that a Prophet would come (Deuteronomy 18).
John the Baptist had called their attention and thousands had heard John’s cry to repentance. God has been teaching, using His Word. But many refused and turned away.
Even the rich young ruler turned away (Luke 18:18-30)
From more than 5000+, Jesus was only left with the Twelve.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
LESSONS:
The deepest human need is not met by something but by SOMEONE, and that is JESUS!
Eternal life – meaningful life – true life has been provided for by the
TRUE MANNA, the TRUE BREAD OF LIFE.
I need to come to Jesus (with all I am) and believe and surrender to His authority as the Holy One from God and build TRUE LIFE in Him.
When there are “hard sayings” or difficult things He asks me to do, I will choose to FOLLOW JESUS than my own selfish wants.
Then and until now, God is calling people to turn to Him and the Holy Spirit uses His Word to convict men of sin and grant them salvation.
This passage started with the crowd – from seeking to grumbling to quarrelling to deserting Jesus. They had heard, seen and experienced His presence – but instead of humbling themselves– they just went back to their own way of thinking and living, apart from submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And there was Judas who was with Him along but whose heart was never converted.
Today as you hear the Word of God, do you recognize a spiritual hunger? Have you honestly allowed Jesus Christ into your life both as Saviour and Lord? He has given His very life for your salvation (51).
No one can ever love you more than Jesus.
revdotdavid 