Category: Thoughts

As we ended last time, Jesus was explaining the spiritual significance of His “eating My flesh and drinking My blood” metaphor.  Eating the flesh of Christ and drinking the blood of Christ is a metaphor for appropriating Christ by faith, embracing the message of Christ.  It is the same as believing in Christ.  It is meant to be understood in the spiritual realm, not the physical realm.

55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.” (Eating is a word picture for belief in Christ.  Eating leads to eternal life.) 58 “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” (Unlike those who ate the manna in the wilderness, he who eats this bread will live forever.) 59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. (This discourse, which began in verse 26, took place as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.)

60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (Who can accept these difficult teachings?  They are even a challenge to His closest followers.) 61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62 What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” (If I were to disappear into heaven, then would you realize that I am speaking in the heavenly realm, the spiritual side of life?)

63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (True life is given by God’s Spirit and is found in the spiritual realm.  The flesh in this discussion represents the material world.  You are not going to find your answers to life’s big questions in the material world.  An important principle of the Christian message is that there is an unseen spiritual aspect to our existence that is just as real as the material world that we see, smell, hear, and touch.  Just because we cannot experience it with our senses does not make it less real.  It exists!)

64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

The idea that only those chosen by the Father can grasp the spiritual significance of what is going on here is such a weighty topic that we will give it our full consideration next post.

We are near the halfway mark in our exploration of John chapters 5 through 7.  Summarizing to this point in the story, Jesus is confronted by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem over what we might now consider a minor offense, healing on the Sabbath.  The confrontation escalates when Jesus claims to be following the example of God, His Father.  Jesus first made the Son of God claim in John 5:17 and followed it up with the statement that, therefore, eternal life is found only in Him.  Between His discourse in Jerusalem (John chapter 5) and His teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum (John chapter 6), Jesus has claimed at least seven times that believing in Jesus, the Son of God, is the path to eternal life.

• John 5:21 – The Son gives life.
• John 5:24 – He who believes has eternal life.
• John 5:25 – Those who hear (synonymous with believe) will live.
• John 6:29 – The work of God is that you believe.
• John 6:33 – The Bread of God gives life.
• John 6:35 – He who believes in Me will never thirst.
• John 6:40 – Everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.

All this talk of bread coming down from heaven and believing in the Son left the Jews in Capernaum pretty confused and they began to discuss among themselves, “We know this guy.  We know his parents.  He can’t be anything special.  Messiahs don’t grow up from little boys.”

So Jesus addresses their confusion. 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. (Don’t be stumped by this.  Here is some more explanation.) 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; (God the Father does the calling,) and I will raise him up on the last day. (And I do the raising.) 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. (Jesus says that He has seen the Father.) 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” (For the eighth time; belief equals eternal life.)

48 “I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; (ninth reference to eternal life) and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” (Christ is now referring to His death on the cross.  His death is both voluntary – “the bread which I will give up” – and vicarious – “for the life of the world.”  Christ is going to die in place of the world to bring life to the world.  The use of “world” emphasizes the global scope of Christ’s death in our place.  The gospel message is not targeted to a specific group, but is open to all.)

52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” (The Jews are still thinking on the physical level with their concern, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”) 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 yourselves. 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

I am not so sure that this last statement of Jesus really cleared anything up in the minds of His listeners.  The idea of eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood was not only confusing by outright offensive to the Jews.  But again, their focus was purely on the physical angle of bread and drink, flesh and blood.

Of course, we see now that Jesus is focused on the spiritual and the spiritual significance of His teaching about bread and drink.  The spiritual lesson here – Jesus’ tenth reference to Him being the path to eternal life – is that to share in God’s life, the eternal life, it is necessary to be united with Christ by faith.  “He who eats and drinks (is connected to Christ in a spiritual union) has eternal life.”

Jesus is in the middle of a dialogue with the Jews as He taught in the synagogue in Capernaum.  He has just emphasized the need to believe that He is the Son of God sent by the Father.  His hearers aren’t so sure, so they quiz Him further.

30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?” (If you are really the one God has sent, what sign do you do in order that we might believe?) 31 “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ “ 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.” (Jesus ignores their request for a sign, and goes on with His discussion about bread.  Unlike the manna in the wilderness, God is sending you “new bread”.  This bread is not coming from Moses, but from God Himself.)

33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” (This “new bread” from God gives life.) 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” (The crowd is still focused on the physical, thinking whatever this bread is, we want some.) 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” (Jesus says plainly, “I am the bread of life.  I am not only the giver of the gift, the new bread, but I am the gift itself!)

36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (In this one verse, we have reference to God’s sovereignty in salvation… “the Father gives”, man’s responsibility in salvation… “the one who comes”, and our security in salvation… “I will not cast out”)

38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (The will of God is not the wish of God.  It is the promise of God.  The will of God is not a wish that everyone who believes in the Son will have eternal life.  It is a promise that everyone who believes in the Son will have eternal life.  It is God’s will.  It is God’s promise.  It is God’s purpose.  It is God’s plan that “everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.”  The salvation message is made quite clear as John zeroes in on its essential truth.)

Now, what is the audience reaction to all this talk of Jesus, the bread of eternal life? 41 Therefore the Jews (probably refers to the congregation in the synagogue, not just the religious leaders) were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” (The Jews are complaining because Jesus said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  To them this does not make sense; it borders on crazy talk.) 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

You can understand why this does not make sense to them.  Messiahs do not grow up from little boys!  They knew Jesus’ parents.  In this area of Galilee, some in the crowd may have known Jesus as a child.  To say He is the Son of God, the Bread of Heaven is too much of a stretch for them.  I used to think that being in the crowd, hearing Jesus in person, would have made it much easier to believe; seeing Christ in the flesh.  But it some ways, seeing Jesus in person made it harder.  They knew Him as a regular person.  He was as far removed as possible from their Messianic expectations.  No, for His first century hearers, the need to believe by faith was just as great, if not greater, than our need to believe by faith.

We were not in that Galilee crowd.  For us looking back it does make sense, because we hear Jesus’ words through the ears of faith.  Because we have only known Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, His words make perfect sense to us.  But the requirement of faith is the same now as it was then.  Their faith requirement was to believe in spite of being well connected to Jesus’ humanity and linage.  Our faith requirement is almost the opposite.  It is to believe – almost 2000 years after the fact – that Jesus did come in the flesh and was and is who He said He was.  Salvation comes by faith.  “Everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life” (Jn 6:40).

John 6:16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea (the Sea of Galilee), 17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. (Jesus walking on the water – another supernatural sign.) 20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (It is not clear if they were near their destination when they received Jesus into the boat or if this is another miracle – instantly transported to shore.)

22 The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. (A little mystery as to where Jesus was) 23 There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. (Given their experience from yesterday, it makes perfect sense that the crowd would be looking for Jesus and more miracles.)

25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” (When the crowd finds Jesus, they quiz Him about his path to Capernaum.  But rather than answer their question, Jesus begins another long discourse concerning His identity.)

26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” (You are looking for Me because your tummies were filled, but the miracle you witnessed is merely a shadow of something greater.) 27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” (The something greater is to eat the food that leads to eternal life.  We will learn later that this food is Christ Himself, but at this point Jesus only identifies Himself as the agent God has appointed to deliver this life-giving food.)

28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (What work must we do to receive this food that will not perish?) 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (The only “work” that a man or woman can do that is acceptable to God is to believe in Jesus Christ; believe in His claim to divinity, believe He has been sent by the Father, believe He is the path to eternal life.  The only “work” that is required is to believe.)

We have now landed on the theme of John’s gospel message:  Belief in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, leads to eternal life.  In fact, this is his summary message at the conclusion of the book.  “These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (Jn 20:31).

Coming back to what is next in chapter 6, Jesus continues His analogy about food and bread.  We will explore what He has to say next time.  But let me leave you with this pointed question from the passage, “Do you believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent?”  This the only work required to receive the food of eternal life.

Moving now to John chapter 6, Jesus has left Jerusalem and gone to Galilee.  1 After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias ). 2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6 This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii (two hundred days wages) worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” (Philip was from this area so it made sense to ask him where to buy some food.  Of course, it was just a test and rather than giving a grocery store recommendation, Philip stated the obvious that the crowd was much too large for the disciples to feed.)

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” (Andrew draws attention to the ludicrous idea that we could somehow use this boy’s lunch to feed the crowd.  Besides it being far too small, the word for fish here is a specific Greek word for small fish used as a relish.  These were not a couple of ten pound catfish and two traditional loaves of bread.  The boy’s meal was basically some kipper snacks and small dinner rolls.)

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. 12 When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (Starting with the boy’s meal of kipper snacks and dinner rolls, Jesus feeds five thousand people and the disciples pick up twelve baskets of leftovers.  Jesus had said earlier that His miracle works were one of the signs He had been sent by the Father and this is one of the more spectacular.)

14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (When people saw the “sign”, they immediately proclaimed Jesus to be the Prophet of Moses [see Deut 18:15].  The people were looking for the Prophet of Moses and in fact had asked John the Baptist [Jn 1:21] if he were the Prophet.  John correctly answered, “No.”  But now, they give that title to Jesus based on the miracle He had just preformed.  Despite this recognition, it must be pointed out that the Jews did not necessarily put the Prophet of Moses and the Promised Messiah together as the same person as we do today.

15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, (If Jesus is the Prophet of Moses, the next logical step is to make Him king.  If Jesus is the Prophet of Moses, He would surely do what Moses did for their ancestors and deliver them from the oppression of the Romans.  The crowd understood the Prophet’s appearance only on the material level.  They did not understand or embrace the spiritual significance of Jesus’ arrival on the scene.  In fact, later in this chapter, when Jesus explains the spiritual significance of His coming, many fall away.)

withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. (It was not yet time for Jesus to accept the King title – a mantle He would accept and embrace on Palm Sunday – so He slipped away from the crowd.)