Jesus Christ In The Writings Of John
JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
Lesson Text:
John 6:22-40 (KJV)
Subject:
The Bread of Life
Golden Text:
“Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)
Lesson Plan:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE CROWDS RETURNING TO CAPERNAUM (VS. 22-24)
3. SEEKING THE BREAD OF EVERLASTING LIFE (VS. 25-29)
4. THE PROOF (VS. 30-34)
5. JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE (VS. 35-40)
6. PRACTICAL THOUGHTS
Setting of the Lesson:
Time: About the middle of April, A.D. 29, the Passover that year beginning April 16 (John 6:4).
Place: Capernaum, on the North-West shore of the Lake of Galilee.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. What does Jesus want us to understand about Him by these expressions? “The Bread of Life” and “the life.”
b. Jesus and the Bread of Life. John 6:48-51; 58; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, and the use of “bread” in the institution of the Lord’s Supper.1
c. The Mana referred to in John 6:49, 50; Exodus 16:14-35; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalms 78:24.
d. Jesus the Life: John 1:4; 5:24; 6; 11:25; 14:6; 17:3; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 5:11-13, 20; 2 Corinthians 4:10; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:1, 10: Revelation 2:7.
e. Old Testament Miracles of Feeding compared and contrasted with this miracle of Jesus. Elijah fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:6); miraculously increases the widow’s meal and oil (1 Kings 17:9-16); Elisha feeds one hundred men with twenty loaves (2 Kings 4:42-44).
The night of prayer (v. 15; Matt. 14:23-25)
When Jesus had fed the multitudes, He sent them away to their homes, constrained the disciples to set out for Bethsaida in their boat, and then retiring to the mountain retreats He spent the night in prayer. Probably the reasons were:
a. He needed rest after the long days of labor teaching and working.
b. In all spiritual work there is need of constant communion with God. The best part of prayer is this communion. If Jesus needed this, how much more do we?
c. He specially needed consolation and strength; for His labors seemed only to collect unspiritual and fanatical crowds, out of all sympathy with the true design of the Messianic mission.
d. The action of the people to make Him a king (v. 15) was a renewal of one of His greatest temptations – to obtain a worldly kingdom, and greatness and honor, with ease and plenty and immediate success, instead of a spiritual kingdom and the salvation of men by the hard and slow way of self-denial and the cross.
The storm at sea (vs. 18, 19)
While Jesus was praying among the hills, the disciples were rowing in a northeast direction toward Bethsaida, where apparently they were to meet Jesus, take Him on board, and then proceed to Capernaum, their home. On the way they were overtaken by one of the sudden, violent storms from the north, so common on the Sea of Galilee. The danger was great, and the tempest drove them away from their harbor.
The reason for this experience probably was to train them in faith, hope and courage. “He will not have them to be clinging only to the sense of His bodily presence – as ivy, needing always an outward support – but as hardy forest trees which can brave a blast; and this time He puts them forth into the danger alone, even as some loving mother-bird thrusts her fledglings from the nest, that they may find their own wings, and learn to use them. And by the issue He will awaken in them a confidence in His ever-ready help” (Trench).
Beginning Suggestions:
a. Seeking the Bread of Life (vs. 22-27)
Picture the scene. The morning after the feeding of the five thousand, the people sought for Jesus (vs. 22-24).
Two Motives for seeking Jesus: (a) The one for His teachings and spiritual blessings, and (b) the other a mere seeking for the worldly results of His miracles. v. 26 does not contradict v. 14, but only explains it.
Illustrate the distinction by various things in common life. A man may be said to work for money, or for the poor on whom he wishes to spend the money he works for. A person may be said to spend time in recreation, or for health which recreation brings.
Illustration
“Him hath the Father sealed.” When most people could not read, it was necessary to use seals and signs. Thus the ancient hotels for names had picture-signs, such as “the
Elephant and Castle,” “The Boar’s Head.” For the same reason seals were used, instead of written signatures. Thus God authenticated Jesus to us as His Son, and our Savior, by signs which all can understand.2
The contrast between food for the body and food for the soul. Show what this food is, and the importance of it, as in the above notes.
Illustrate the need of laboring for this food, hungering for it, by illustrations taken from our bodily wants. If the body has no appetite, no hunger, it is sick. It cannot grow strong and well without an appetite, and food to satisfy it.
b. Finding the Bread of Life (vs. 28-35)
The people were convinced that they needed this bread, and they go on questioning Jesus. In reply, Jesus shows them the bread of life and how to obtain it.
The answer of Jesus to their first question leads them to the great essential truth of the Christian life. The work of God which lies at the foundation of all is believing, trusting and obeying His Son. Why? Because by true faith the heart is changed into a heart that loves righteousness, from which flows all the works God would have us do; and because no work is really good unless filled with faith and love.
Illustrate again by things in common life. An act of kindness is “not good, unless it grows out of kind feeling.” Gifts do not excite our gratitude, if they are made from selfish motives. Obedience to parents is not satisfactory, if it is merely outward and with no obedient spirit. While, on the other hand, we know that obedient acts will flow from an obedient heart, and kind deeds from a kind heart.3
Illustration
The ancient Greeks represented their gods as living on ambrosia and nectar, food and drink of divine delicacy and flavor, but not to be taken by mortals. But our Lord sends from heaven the food of the immortals, that all men may partake thereof and live forever.
Illustration
Several years ago the well known political economist, John Stuart Mill, died. Unfortunately he had been taught by his father to disbelieve in the Bible. Some years before his death he made a remarkable statement, especially considering his supposed disbelief. He said something like this: “There could be no better rule found to decide questions of ethical propriety than for a man to ask himself, ‘What would Jesus of Nazareth have done in such a case?’ There is another felicity here: there are no faults to imitate. You know we have an aptitude for imitating faults. If a man undertakes to imitate a public speaker he always succeeds in imitating his faults, and so with authors, athletes, singers, actors, politicians, etc. But in imitating Christ there are no faults to copy, and if we can bring our thoughts to the right conception, there is nothing to think of, nothing to do, but to imitate His excellences.
Mark Jesus’ answer to their desire for proof (vs. 30-33). He gives them proof. His own person and works and teachings are the proof, as is true today with Christianity.4
Show how Jesus is that bread; how He gives life to the soul, saves from death to eternal life, nourishes and strengthens every part of the soul, develops character, satisfies every longing.
Observation shows that becoming a Christian works a marvelous change not only in the moral character, but in the intellect, culture, in broadness of view, in quality of existence.
c. Eating the bread of life (vs. 35-40)
By trusting and obeying Jesus Christ. Show the harmony of v. 35 with the beatitude, Matthew 5:6. Consider the two sides of our salvation: the “Divine” and the “human.”
Illustration
We may not be able to harmonize both in theory; but we must do with these questions as we do with nature – ascertain the facts, knowing that if they are facts, they must be in harmony whether we see it or not. No one could by reason alone see how spirit could act upon and with matter, as our souls actually do with our bodies. It would seem impossible that water, which is 700 times heavier than air, could float in large bodies on that air; and yet, lakes and rivers are floated there in clouds. The divine and the human elements in our salvation are facts; we all know it; therefore they must harmonize.5
1. INTRODUCTION
Jesus’ discourse in this lesson naturally follows His work of feeding five thousand. He now teaches some of the deepest and most needed truths to the crowds following Him back from Bethsaida to Capernaum.
Consider
a. The last part of the discourse, beginning either at v. 41 or v. 52, was delivered in the synagogue (v. 59) and therefore on the Sabbath. The earlier portion, included in our lesson, was probably spoken without.
b. This should not be studied as a verbatim report of the Master’s discourse, but simply as providing the substance.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 6:22-24
2. THE CROWDS RETURNING TO CAPERNAUM
6:22 ... “The day following” the feeding of the five thousand, the arrival of Jesus and His disciples at Capernaum in the latter part of the night.
6:22 ... “The people which stood on the other side of the sea.” The other side from Capernaum, in the vicinity of the place where the five thousand were fed. These were probably among the number who received the miraculous bread.
6:22 ... “Saw that there was none other boat there, save that one.” This sentence, including the rest of v. 22, is a parenthetical clause, explaining why the people lingered on the plain of Bethsaida, because they thought that Jesus Himself must be there. They had seen the disciples sail away in the only boat; they had seen that Jesus did not go with them. Therefore He must be somewhere in the region.
6:23 ... “Howbeit there came other boats,” etc. This verse is another parenthesis, explaining how the people were enabled to sail across the sea to Capernaum.
6:23 ... “From Tiberias [on the south-west shore of the lake] … after that the Lord had given thanks.” This shows emphasis on giving thanks. Perhaps at this juncture the miracle took place.
Re: vs. 22-23, Coffman wrote, “The next day, a part of the multitude who had partaken of the loaves and fishes confronted Jesus on the western shore, near Capernaum; and they first demanded to know where Jesus had gotten away from them. They knew that there had been only one boat and that He had not entered it. John’s mention of the boats from Tiberius in this place is a reference to taxi boats which, after the storm subsided, had gone to Bethsaida Julius in search of fares. Some of the crowd had probably used the taxis as a means of catching up with Jesus.”
6:24 ... “They also took shipping.” New King James: “they also got into boats,” i.e., the boats that had come from Tiberias, driven perhaps driven by the same gale that had delayed the apostles (Cambridge Bible).
6:24 ... “Came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.” They came here, because this was one of the frequent resorts of Jesus and His disciples, and here they would be most likely to find Him.
They were filled with curiosity regarding how Jesus eluded them. But Jesus did not offer an answer, moving instead to correct their spiritual condition.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 6:25-29
3. SEEKING THE BREAD OF EVERLASTING LIFE
6:25 ... “When they had found Him on the other side of the sea [the other side from the plain of Bethsaida, from which they had sailed], they said unto Him, Rabbi [a title of honor and respect, signifying “Master” or teacher], when camest Thou hither?” Bengel points out that the question ‘when’ includes “how.” They had sought Him in vain.
They could not understand how or when He could have reached Capernaum without their knowing anything about it.
6:26 ... “Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles” (signs). This does not contradict v. 2, where it is said that they followed Him “because they saw the miracles He did on them that were diseased.” In a certain sense they followed Him because of the miracles. However, it was for the “results” of the miracles, not for the miracles themselves as expressing God’s thoughts and Christ’s true mission. They came for the healing and the food, failing to see the true meaning of the miracles.
6:26 ... “But because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” Were satisfied with food, “as animals with fodder” (Westcott). They were not hypocrites; they only took a low view. They were not seeking Him, but His gifts. Therefore, he that loves someone for money or meat loves money or meat more than the person.
What is our focus?
Today the temptation is great for leaders in the church to primarily view the economic sector of holy religion. However, when preachers, elders, deacons, leaders forsake the spiritual aims of the church, pandering instead o the economic and social desires of the people, they succeed only in arousing hopes and ambitions that are doomed to frustration. What happens when a church begins a literal feeding of the multitudes? Do you think it will be any different than what happened here? In other words, it will tend toward the direction of some kind of social upheaval, not in the direction of moral and spiritual improvement. Consider what happened when Christ fed the multitudes. The response was not, “Here is proof – a Savior from sin had arrived.” No, far from it. They concluded, as someone suggested, that “Jesus should feed them three times a day for forty years, thereby releasing them to dedicate their full energies to destroying the Romans. When Christians or churches seek to provide for people what they should provide for themselves, the hopes and ambitions released by such efforts are just as sinister as those released so long ago on the grassy slopes of Butaiha.
6:27 ... “Labor not [work not] for the meat [food] which perisheth.” The food for the body. Daily food is not to be the chief end even of labor. It is not to be the great object for which we work and expend our energies. Labor for earthly food should merely be a means to something higher. That should be the true end of our labor. Therefore, do not make the supply of bodily wants the chief purpose of labor.
6:27 ... “But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.” We should put our life’s work into that which endures.
The great passion of too many of us today seems to be for material, secular and earthly things, not the procuring of food giving eternal life. This verse is not saying, “Do not work for daily bread.” Actually, the opposite is commanded. Even in Paradise, Adam was commanded to labor; and toil was ordained as man’s occupation after the fall. No one should ever be ashamed to work. Our Lord Himself spent most of His earthly life in a carpenter’s shop. Paul the apostle was a tent-maker. The admonition here does not forbid work as the normal employment of a Christian’s time, but that a Christian worker should keep first things first and secondary things secondary. In general, the church today needs this instruction as much as the unspiritual crowd that gathered around Jesus in Capernaum.
Christ and the Social Gospel
Two kinds of food are considered in this verse: the perishable and the eternal. The problem of separation and distinction is one of the great challenges confronting Christianity today.
True religion should have the moral and spiritual as the number one great concern. The concern and consideration of its leaders, overriding all others, is the final attainment of eternal life. Absolutely everything in this world must be subordinated to the goal of Christian faith. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness this very thing came into focus, i.e., making bread out of stones (Matt. 4:4). Today we might ask, “And why not?” Wouldn’t that solve the economic problem? From the miracle here recorded, it is clear that Christ could have done it. He could have made enough bread for all who ever lived or ever would live on earth. Why didn’t He do it? He would have, if miraculous bread was the correct answer – either for His own personal need, or for the needs of everyone. However, when Jesus rejected Satan’s proposal for Himself, He also rejected it for all of us. Hard as it may be for some to accept in some circumstances, there are other things more important than bread. Mankind has failed to receive and accept this truth. And, in some instances, even the church itself has failed to receive and accept it. Thus it requires our attention.
“There is a caution much required when what many call their Christianity is not easily differentiated from mere humanism, and not a few are preaching social reform instead of the salvation of men’s souls. Dostoevski was of the opinion that humanitarianism is the form of atheism most to be dreaded, the greatest anti-religious force in Europe; so he confidently laid it down.” (Howard)
“Let us beware lest we act as he did in the fable, who stood watch in a lighthouse, and gave to the poor in their cabins about him the oil for the mighty lanterns that serve to illuminate the sea.” (Maeterlinck)
Material or Spiritual
When thinking about how much time some church leaders spend focused on and concerned about economic situations, I can’t help but feel that what vexes Christ the most regarding such is not that material things are so badly distributed, but rather that they are so grossly overvalued. It’s obvious that in our Lord’s standard of measurement material things rank very low indeed. Sometimes, in my mind’s eye, I envision Jesus Christ looking in amazement at a world pressing and jostling like swine around their feeding troughs, paying life away for what to our Savior are, at best, trifles.
This is not to say that fleshly and material needs have no importance, or that Christians are bound and obligated, to the fullest extent of our abilities, to alleviate such needs. But shouldn’t we slow down our mad pursuit of secular and material values? Shouldn’t we concern ourselves more with the ultimate needs of the soul? After all, one is a temporary need; the other eternal.
6:27 ... “Which the Son of man shall give unto you.” Coffman points out that “Christ did not here reveal the shocking truth which He would later stress that He Himself was the true bread from heaven; here He identified Himself only as the giver of it.”
The Bread of life
What is this food that endureth to everlasting life? The food of the soul and mind?
a. It is that which sustains its spiritual life in God.
b. It is that which strengthens and builds up the character,
c. Faith,
d. Love,
e. Hope, and
f. Knowledge of what is good;
g. That which strengthens the soul in holy purposes and work. The soul needs food as much as the body.
6:27 ... “Which the Son of man.” The term is especially appropriate here, because it is only by virtue of His incarnation and Messianic office that Christ gives this enduring food.
6:27 ... “Shall give unto you.” Besser wrote, “It is a meat which is ‘given’ thee; but yet thou must strive after it, if thou wouldest possess it.” We must labor for most of the best gifts of God, seeking earnestly and supremely. He gives us our daily bread; but we must labor for it. He gives us education, wisdom, character; but we must seek and work. Yet they are none the less His gifts.
6:27 ... “For Him hath God the Father sealed.” To seal anything is to attest by some sign or mark that it is genuine, that it comes from the person who sealed it with his endorsement. The seal to the ancients was like our signature. God had borne witness: Jesus came from Him, with His sanction and endorsement as a Teacher and Savior. Jesus had been “sealed”: By direct testimony in the Scriptures; by the same in the voice from heaven at His baptism; and by indirect testimony in His miracles and Messianic work.
“From the most ancient times, documents sealed by kings were considered to carry the utmost in power and authority (Esther 8:8). John’s use of ‘sealed’ therefore appears as an assurance of the absolutely sufficient power of God to provide salvation through Jesus Christ.” (Coffman)
6:28 ... “What shall we do?” The Revised Version, “What must we do?” “What is the work God would have us do so that we might have this bread of life as our reward?” Abbott points out that this is the question of all religious aspiration, and Christ’s answer is the response of Christianity to the soul-hunger of the ages.
“What must we do?”6 is a question encountered several times in the New Testament. On Pentecost, in the jail at Philippi, and on the Damascus road, the question ‘What shall I do?’ was the initial movement of souls toward the Lord. The question has a Scriptural answer, and one should never substitute the sophistry of men for the divine answer. In answer to this question, the Holy Spirit said: Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved . . . Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins . . . Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on His name (Acts 16:31; 2:38; 22:16).
6:29 ... “Jesus answered [their question implied they were teachable – willing and ready to learn] … “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” He turns their attention from the outward to the inward, to the source and spring of all good works. Because: (a) Faith is the principle which produces good works, the tree on which they naturally grow, the fountain from which they naturally flow. (b) No works are really good which do not spring from faith. What are acts of love if no love is in them? What are outward acts of morality if there is no virtuous heart behind them, pervading them? Only one with true faith does the works of God.
What is this faith?
Webster’s 1991 college dictionary says that faith is “confidence or trust in a person or thing. Belief that is not based on proof.” It is the accepting of Jesus Christ as our Teacher and Lord; so that His teachings and truths are the real things of life to us, “the substance of things hoped for.” It is far more than a mere assent to historical facts about Jesus.
How does this faith produce the works of God?
a. Since Christ is the truth, he who accepts Him as Teacher will know the will of God.
b. Since Christ commands only what is right, and all that is right, he who accepts Him as Lord and Master will do what is right, conforming his life to the will of God.
c. He that follows Christ follows a perfect example.
d. Christ imparts the spiritual life and love which are the source of all the truest good works.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 6:30-34
4. THE PROOF
6:30 ... “What sign shewest Thou then that we may see, and believe Thee?” New King James, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?” They understood that in the words “Him Whom He hath sent” Jesus claimed to be the Messiah; but they wanted proof.
Their demand for a sign was characteristic. The Pharisees demanded a “sign from heaven” (Matt. 16:1; 12:38), no doubt meaning some spectacular wonder of their own choosing; but Jesus rejected their vain and carnal demands, resting the final proof of His Godhead upon “the sign of the prophet Jonah,” that is, the death, burial and resurrection from the dead. Regarding another occasion, Mark stated that Jesus “marveled at their unbelief” (Mark 6:6). Jesus probably marveled here, too.
6:30 ... “What dost Thou work?” New King James, “What work will You do?” What do You do that will prove You to be worthy to be the king of the Jews? So far as this desire for proof grew out of a real desire to know whether He were the Messiah, it was right. Christ does not wish us to have a mere blind belief, but always gives us proofs and reasons for the faith He requires of us.
The marvelous wonder of the day before was now lost on this carnal crowd. Instead ofbeing convinced, they demanded sign after sign, even suggesting a moment later that Jesus’ miracle was inferior to Moses’ miracle (actually God’s miracle, not Moses’) of the manna.
The marvel of unbelief
Unbelief is such a wonder that Christ Himself marveled at it.
Unbelief is:
(a) A state in which man consciously accepts for himself the status and destiny of a mere animal. Contrary to the deepest instinct of the soul as well as the prompting of personal ego, an unbeliever rejects the status available to him as a child of God, claiming and ascribing to himself a destiny identical with that of animals.
(b) Contrary to man’s nature. Our very nature is to believe. Evil men know that trait is in men and take full advantage of it, all of the schemes ever devised for defrauding men having as their dominant characteristic a reliance on man’s willingness to believe almost anything. Barnum said it this way: “There’s a sucker born every minute!” What an incredible marvel. What a wonder – that men will not believe in God, but will believe in witchcraft. No wonder Jesus marveled at unbelief.
(c) A denial of man’s highest hopes. The unbeliever forsakes the hope of heaven, forfeiting all cosmic value for himself. Such a spiritual renunciation is soul suicide; and even Christ marveled at such a thing.
(d) A denial of the senses – a closing of the windows of the mind. It is a refusal to see, hear and understand the mountainous evidence calling men to believe in the Lord Jesus. It is like a man staring at the Grand Canyon or the Matterhorn and saying, “I do not believe it!” The Holy Bible, the history of Israel, the great commemorative festivals of Judaism and Christianity, the sweep of the religion of Christ through history and the collateral enlightenment and civilization which invariably attended it, and the lives of faith in all ages – these the unbeliever will not see. The thundering voice of history, the testimony of the calendar, and the witness of all that is highest and best in art, literature, music, architecture, government, and psychology – all are rejected by the unbeliever in the manner of Southey’s owl hooting at the noon sun, and saying, “Where is it? Where is it?”
(e) Reverse logic. In Mark 6:6, where it is stated that Jesus marveled because of their unbelief, the reference is to the citizens of Nazareth who rejected Jesus because He lived in their village. This was their logic: We are unworthy and ignoble; Christ came from one of our families; therefore He is unworthy and ignoble. That is exactly like saying: I hear this great and wonderful music; but since a person like I am is hearing it, it cannot possibly be true. This is the logic supporting unbelief.
Unbelief is truly a marvel. It displays human ignorance, perversity and conceit turned wrong side out, staggering the imagination and it about as easy to understand as the death march of the lemmings. It makes no sense at all that the highest of creatures should consciously reject for himself any higher eternal status than that of an animal. This truly is an unqualified wonder.
6:31 ... “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert [Ex. 16] as it is written” Psalms 78:24. The meaning of this reference to Moses giving the manna to the Israelites in their 40 years’ wandering in the wilderness, is “Moses proved that he was sent from God by giving the people bread from heaven to eat; now what do you do that is greater than this to prove that you are the greater prophet, even the Messiah?” They probably had been thinking over the miracle of the loaves since the day before, when they tried to make Jesus a king because of it. Now it seems they questioned whether He was, after all, as great as they at first thought. Implied is a contrast between the work of Moses and the work of Christ. The manna came down from heaven – the bread was distributed upon the earth. The manna was given day by day as needed for forty years – the bread had been given but once. Abbott points out that the mamma was a sweet and delicate food, while the bread which Christ had distributed was barley bread, the commonest fare of the poorest people.
6:31 ... “He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.” It is always best to be on guard when Satan quotes scripture. Their quotation of Nehemiah 9:15 was misquoted because they made Moses the antecedent of “he” rather than God, an error Jesus corrected. This was actually, on their part, a disparagement of Jesus’ sign the day before. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus claimed to be greater than Moses. However, the carnal crowd, still intent on using Jesus in their schemes against the Romans, contrasted His miracle unfavorably with what they improperly called Moses’ miracle, the manna, of course, having being provided for many years. They were trying to intimidate Christ into feeding everybody for years. And, they would have liked something better than barley loaves. The carnality of these people and the boldness of their daring suggestion constitute a remarkable proof of the fourth sign, because it is clear that they recognized that Jesus Christ had the power to do what they wished Him to do. Their logic was excellent, recognizing the fact that one who has the power to feed five thousand from five loaves and two little fishes also has the power to feed all men indefinitely. How easily Jesus could have fed an army to be used against the Romans. Thus their motivation for what was said here.
Jesus in reply to their question shows that the proof of His mission is stronger than that for Moses to whom they had referred.
6:32 ... “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.” Here He makes a double denial of the fact they had given as authenticating Moses’ mission as a prophet.
a. That Moses did not give the manna; it was given by God; Moses had nothing to do with bestowing it; the Israelites found it in the morning after the dew had dried off the ground (Ex. 16:4, 14).
b. This manna was not the true bread, but merely a type or shadow of the spiritual antitype (Abbott). This manna was bread from heaven but not in this highest sense.
Christ again tried to lift their eyes to God’s “true bread from heaven,” Christ, the Savior. The tragedy was complete in this, that they could not see the true bread before their eyes, being utterly blinded by the barley loaves from yesterday which dominated their thoughts.
In many of God’s wonders, there are primary and secondary manifestations. Thus, there are two miracles in view in sign four. The primary wonder was the barley loaves; the higher marvel was Christ Himself, the true bread of heaven. Jesus never succeeded in lifting the eyes of His audience to that higher level of seeing the true bread of life. All they could ever see were barley loaves, barley loaves, barley loaves. What about you?
6:33 ... “For the bread of God is He.” Westcott points out that Christ does not identify Himself with “the bread” till the next answer; and the request of the Jews which follows shows that nothing more than the notion of heavenly bread was present to them.
6:33 ... “Which cometh down from heaven and giveth life.” Christ here lays down a general principle defining the essential characteristics of God’s spiritual gift. That alone is the true bread which is evermore descending from the heavens, a perpetual bestowment; which bestows life; which is for the world.
The manna did not last over a single day (Ex. 16:19, 20), and finally ceased to fall when the Israelites entered the Holy Land (Josh. 5:12); they that ate it all died (v. 49); and it was given only to a single nation. The type was brief in its duration, limited in its effects, confined to a few recipients. Abbott points out that the antitype is for all mankind, confers everlasting life, and is bestowed evermore.
6:33 ... “Unto the world.” The true bread was not for Israel alone, but for all the world. The true bread was far greater than the manna in these particulars: It gives and sustains spiritual life, a far greater thing than merely sustaining physical life; it is for the entire world, not merely for Israel alone; it creates spiritual life leading to eternal life, which no man could have done.
6:34 ... “Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.” Alford believed that the Jews understood this bread, as the Samaritan woman understood the water; that they both understood it to be some miraculous kind of sustenance bestowing life everlasting. However, Abbott disagreed believing that the people were shallow and superficial; not comprehending the meaning of Christ’s words; that while they didn’t know what they were, they still saw in them the offer of something desirable, so they asked for it. In the minds of some there may have been a dim sense of the value of the inner life, such as is sometimes borne in on sensual and superficial natures by the mere power of the presence of a great soul. And in some no doubt there was a comprehension of His true meaning and a deep spiritual hunger.
This verse is strongly suggestive of the woman’s words at the well (John 4:15). But this was as close as they came to believing. Here there was no following on to know the Lord. Moreover they did not know what they were asking, and there is a strong possibility they were still thinking of supplies for an army.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 6:35-40
5. JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE
6:35 ... “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.” Here before you, you have One who fulfills in Himself all that is characteristic of the true bread from heaven. (a) He came from heaven. (b) He bestows everlasting life. (c) He is for the whole world (v. 33).
“I am the bread of life” is one of the seven great “I am’s” of John. In that age, bread was essential to every meal. It was the staff of life, a fit emblem of Christ, the soul’s food.
The Jews did not believe Him. They considered His claim blasphemy. Since blasphemy was a capital offense punishable by stoning (Leviticus 24:16), they sought to accomplish by mob action what they were not allowed to do under Roman law (John 18:31).
All things considered, it seems appropriate to speak of the “I am” formula as follows: It is Jesus’ boldest declaration about Himself. “I am.” This means: where I am, there is God, there God lives, speaks, calls, asks, acts, decides, loves – Nothing bolder can be said, or imagined.
This profound statement is not primarily a confession. It is much more than that. It is an astounding declaration. It is the language of deity Himself (e.g., Isaiah 41:4). With this in mind, many statements in Jesus’ life become charged with special significance. Note some examples: “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the door of the sheep,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the resurrection,” “I am the way,” “I am the truth,” “I am the true vine,” “I am the life” (John 6:35; 8:12; 10:7, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1). How could one make such statements about himself? Someone has said that Jesus was either a fanatic, a lunatic, or God. Anyone who reads these accounts, believes them, and then insists that Jesus was a fanatic or a lunatic, says more about himself than he does about Jesus.
Jesus the bread of life
a. He brings spiritual life to men. He awakens the spiritual faculties and senses that were dead to the higher, ‘immortal’ interests. A new sphere or region is opened to men, as if one who had been born blind had the sense of sight given to him.
b. This spiritual life is eternal life. He that belongs to Jesus lives forever.
c. He nourishes every faculty of the soul, enlarging and strengthening them all, and thus the soul grows in perception, power and in activity.
d. He especially is food to the character, making it grow more and more like His own.
e. The soul has many hungers, appetites and desires for higher things. That soul is dead which does not hunger. The best and highest and happiest earthly condition is that which is full of desires, aspirations and longings, called hunger in the Beatitudes. Yes, the soul is full of longings and hungerings, but Jesus satisfies them all. Jesus can give satisfaction to every form of the soul’s hunger.
How Jesus is the bread of life
a. By His life, death on the cross and atonement, Jesus has made it possible for us to enter into spiritual and eternal life.
b. He has brought to us the message of eternal life from God, of which we could not be certain without this proof.
c. The Holy Spirit whom He sends imparts and sustains life.
d. He brings the means and motives of eternal life.
e. He strengthens and inspires all the activities by which the bread of life is received, and is enabled to nourish the soul.
First, satisfaction of the soul’s hunger
6:35 ... “He that cometh to Me.” This is equivalent to ‘believing on’ Him in the next clause, and to eating His flesh in v. 54. It is opening the heart to receive Him. It is trusting Him with all the heart. It is going to Him in faith and prayer for comfort, help and teaching, and all that the soul needs.
“The original words, ‘He that is coming,’ are chosen with exquisite delicacy. The figure is not that of one who has achieved a toilsome and lengthened journey (as if the words ran, ‘he that at length has reached Me’), but that of one whose resolve is taken, and who sets out in the right way, whose aim and desire and constant thoughts are towards his Lord. He that ‘is coming’ unto Jesus shall cease to hunger.” (Abbott)
6:35 ... “Shall never hunger.” “Shall never desire spiritual grace and not have it given to him” (Sadler).
6:35 ... “He that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” This is parallel to the previous clause, meaning the same. The living water and the bread of life are two metaphors, both referring to Jesus Christ. “Believeth on me” should not be understood as an affirmation of the popular superstition regarding salvation by “faith only” (see John 12:42).
Second, all who come shall receive
6:36 ... “But I said [in some unrecorded part of the conversation] unto you, That ye also have seen Me.” New King James: “That you have seen Me and yet do not believe.” “Ye have seen Me (not merely heard of Me), and (yet) do not believe.” (Cambridge Bible)
6:36 ... “And believe not.” They had seen Him outwardly. They had seen Him as a teacher. Still they did not accept Him for what He was. And they did not receive and live by His teachings. The seeing was outward and bodily, not of the soul.
In the unfolding of Himself as the bread of life, Jesus pressed the argument for their receiving Him, because He wanted to satisfy their spiritual hunger. Now He brings forward another argument, as He further reveals Himself as the bread of life, in the blessedness of those who come to Him, and receive His bread.
6:37 ... “All that the Father giveth Me.” Here we see the divine side of our salvation, (a) showing that God’s salvation is no failure. While some believe, some are hardened, some hate and oppose, and some are traitors. Is, then, God’s work in vain? No, for ‘all’ that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. (b) Showing that God will do for us His part which is essential to our salvation. No one but Himself can give life. All means are in vain without His gracious influences. And these He gives, and gives freely. “The present tense of ‘giveth’ should be noted. The giving is not of an act in the past, but of a ceaseless love ever in the present.” (Ellicott)
“All that the Father giveth Me” refers to all who shall be saved, none being excluded, so long as they truly come to Christ, that being the thrust of the second clause. Significantly, this verse makes no reference to faith like that in the previous verse; but this does not exclude faith, the verses being supplementary each to the other. Thus, one must believe and come to Jesus in order to be saved.
6:37 ... “Shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” This is the human side of our salvation. We do not know the purposes of God, or the plans of His providence, but we do know that we are free to come to Him. We also know that no sincere person ever went to Him and failed salvation.
“The Greek word used here for ‘come’ emphasizes the idea of ‘reaching’ or ‘arriving.’” (Vincent)
“No wise cast out,” i.e., out of My kingdom, presence, fellowship. All three are certainly included. “Everyone who comes is welcome.” (Hovey)
Coming to Jesus is equivalent to entering His kingdom; an entering that requires one to be born of water and of the spirit (John 3:5). Coming to Jesus therefore means being born again. No subjective experience whatever can be substituted for the new birth. “Coming” is something that a man does, not something that he things, believes, or feels.
We may not be able to completely understand the divine and the human in our salvation, but every person is conscious of the facts: That there is a part over which we have no control, and which God must do for us; that there is a part we must do for ourselves, or we cannot be saved; and that if we do our part, God never fails on His part.
“If there is no free will, there is nothing to save; if there is no free grace, there is nothing wherewith to save” (Bernard). Schaff points out that Christians should pray as if all depended on God, and then work as if all depended on themselves.
6:38 ... “For I come down from heaven, not to do Mine own will,” etc. Here Christ gives a reason why none need fear that they will be cast out, and fail salvation, if they seek it. Why? Because He came down from heaven for this very purpose. Not for His own pleasure, but to carry out the will of God, which will is revealed in the next verse.
Could there be a bolder statement of the virgin birth of Christ than this from the lips of Christ Himself? “I am come down from heaven.” From first to last John stresses the eternal existence of Christ and His prior residence in heaven, the virgin birth being an inescapable corollary. How else could God have entered our earth-life as a man?
6:38 ... “Not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” Jesus’ absolute submission to the Father’s will is stressed throughout the John’s writings. Jesus did not even speak from Himself but delivered the words God commanded Him to speak (John 12:48, 49).
Third, eternal life
6:39 ... And this is the Father’s will … that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing [that not one should fail salvation], but should raise it [that is, the whole, all that is comprehended in the gift – v. 37] up again at the last day.” The day of resurrection. A promise that all those who respond to the offer of salvation; all who die in Christ Jesus shall not perish when they die. They shall live again, and continue to live forevermore. Death cannot destroy eternal life which God gives them through His Son.
“I shall lose nothing,” refers not merely to what happens in this life, but throughout the whole sweep of time to eternity. Not even death shall defeat the purpose of God in the redemption of them that believe and come to Jesus.
“The last day” is repeated four times in this chapter (vs. 39, 40, 44, and 54). “These words show that Christ came to abolish not natural, but spiritual death. Believers will die, but their death will be followed by a glorious resurrection.” (Dummelow)
6:40 ... “And this is the will of Him that sent Me [God’s will, that cannot be broken, is further explained in this verse, lest any should mistake] that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him … everlasting life.” A present possession indeed, a noble quality of life, but enduring forever. These words in v. 40 are a restatement of the great promise of the preceding verse. While no power in the universe can forcibly remove a Christian’s crown, but through the freedom of will, one may defect, therefore, “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11). Calvin wrote, “They are madmen who seek their own salvation, or that of others, in the whirlpool of predestination, not keeping the way of salvation which is exhibited to them.”
6. PRACTICAL THOUGHTS
a. vs. 24-26: There are two ways of seeking Jesus – one seeking His outward gifts, the other seeking Him for what He is.
b. Jesus taught those who came for the lowest motives. We are not responsible for the motives of those who come to our teaching, but we are responsible for what we do to help them.
c. v. 27: The true aim and purpose of life is that which is spiritual and eternal, belonging to the character and soul rather than the body.
d. The soul needs food as much as the body.
e. The food of the soul is that which gives it fresh life, enlarging its being, strengthening its faculties, developing its moral character, satisfying its longings and aspirations.
f. Jesus Christ is the source of this food for soul
g. v. 29: The first duty God requires is to receive from Jesus the new heart, which is the source of all true moral action.
h. vs. 30-33: God does not ask credulity of us, but faith; and He gives us reasons and proofs on which to ground our faith.
i. The greatest proof of Christianity is Christ Himself, His person, His works, His character, His teachings, the effects of His life on the world
j. v. 35: The tests of the bread of life are: it is from God; it is life-giving; it is for the whole world; it satisfies the wants of the soul.
k. vs. 35-40: The blessedness of the bread of life: it satisfies; it continues; it gives safety; it brings eternal life here; it gives eternal life beyond the grave.
l. The way to obtain this blessedness – coming to Jesus, believing Jesus, i.e., accepting and responding to His offer of salvation, eating the bread of life, receiving and keeping it in the heart and life.
m. The object of eating is to gain strength for the duties of life.
Footnotes:
1 Compare Deuteronomy 8:3; 30:20; and Matthew 4:4; 6:11.
2 Note that Jesus teaches them; and some doubtless were led to become His disciples, even though they did not seek Him at first with the highest motives.
3 Note the marks by which we distinguish the true bread of life from all imitations. By these same tests we can understand the infinite value of this divine food.
4 Note the tests (v. 33) of what is the real bread of life.
5 Note the blessed promises to those who go to Jesus for the bread of life – none cast out, the want satisfied, and life eternal.
6 For more information on “what we must do”, see God’s Salvation in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
