Chapter BY Chapter

Jesus, The Bread of Life…

…Also The Lord of Space and Time

 

John 6:16-70

 

“When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.  A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.  When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.  But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”  Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”

 

“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.  Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 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.”

 

“When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

 

“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. 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.”

 

“Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

 

“Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

 

“So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

 

“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. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

 

“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.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  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.  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.”

 

“At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?”

 

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.  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.  No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.  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.”

 

“Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

 

“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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 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.  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”  He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”

 

“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

 

“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?  Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 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. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

 

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

 

 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

 

“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

 

“Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”  (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”

 

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Now the distance from Tiberius to Capernaum by boat is 6.33 miles.  It says here that the disciples had rowed out 3 or 4 miles.  That would put them half way there, in the middle of the lake.  This is where the disciples see Jesus walking on the water.  Although this is a miracle, John does not identify this as one of the special “signs” in his gospel. Perhaps, it is because he has already identified Jesus as Lord over matter when he turned water into wine. But the miracle goes even further.  When they took Jesus into the boat, they immediately reached their destination.  The rowboats of that time could go about 3 miles per hour in calm weather.  This means that it should have taken them another hour to reach the shore.  But after Jesus enters the boat, they immediately reached their destination.  This is yet another miracle proving that Jesus is Lord of time and space.  But John does not list it as one of his special “signs.”  The “signs” that John identifies are just examples.  These kinds of things were common place for Jesus.

 

Now, last week, we learned that Jesus withdrew from the crowds.  It seems that walking on water to get away might have done the trick so they would not know where he was.  But NOOOOOOOOO!  The crowd gets into some other boats that arrive and go to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 

 

When the crowd finds Jesus, they are mystified by how he arrived, so they ask him when he got there. 

 

Jesus turns the conversation to the spiritual truth that he wants them to believe by saying, “You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”  Jesus sees that they are “Rice Christians.”  They want Jesus, not because he is the Savior for their sins, but for what he can do for them materially.  So, Jesus tells them what they must do by saying, “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 is telling them that they need to pursue a different kind of food.  By saying they should not pursue food that spoils, but instead food that endures to eternal life, Jesus is trying to direct them to spiritual food.  Jesus directs them to himself and mentions that God has placed his approval on him. 

 

The people become interested because they ask, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

 

Jesus shows this is spiritual food when he says, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

 

Now the people seem to want to believe when they ask, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?”

 

Jesus just performed a sign!  And then he performed another sign!  Jesus just produced enough food for thirty thousand people from five loaves and two fish.  The he walked on the water to cross the Sea of Galilee!

 

The people show that they are not really focused on believing in Jesus when they go onto say, “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”  They are not focused on Jesus, but rather on the bread to eat.  Jesus is saying the answer to eternal life is a spiritual belief in him.  Yet, they are fixated on the idea that they will get some physical bread that will magically make them live forever. 

 

Jesus shows that the bread that he is talking about is NOT the manna given in the desert by saying, “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.   For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

To this they reply, “Always give us this bread.” proving again they are fixated on something material they can get.

 

Following this, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” three times. 

 

Do you think they are going to get it?

 

First, let’s look at the ways that Jesus explains this.

 

1. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

2. You have seen me and still you do not believe.

3. I have come down from heaven to do the will of the Father.

4. Those who believe in me, I will raise up at the last day.

5. It is the Father’s will that everyone that believes in the Son will have eternal life.

6. No one can come to the Son unless the Father draws him and the Son will raise him up on the last day.

7. The prophets said, “They will all be taught by God.”Those that do so come to the Son.

8. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God.Jesus just said he came down from heaven.

9. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert but died.But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone can eat and not die.

10. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.

11. This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.

12. “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.”

13. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

14. “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”

15. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”

16. “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.”

17. “This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

18. “Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!”

19. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”

20. “Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”

 

Now, let’s look at the ways in which people respond to Jesus.

 

1. “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”They are looking only at the material things here.

2. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Still just looking at the material.

3. “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” They are still looking at the material here.Jesus is teaching the spiritual truth that belief in him leads to eternal life, but they are still thinking along the idea of something to eat.

4. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Which disciples were these?Where they only looking to Jesus for a political and material deliverer?

5. 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.”

 

Some people take this passage to mean that during communion ceremonies that the bread and wine literally turn to the body and blood of Jesus.  This is called transubstantiation.  Is that what Jesus meant here?

 

Matthew 26 contains one of the most well-known events in human history and certainly the most famous meal ever eaten, the Last Supper.

 

As the disciples sat together, Jesus said, " ‘Take it and eat it, for this is my body' " (Matthew 26:26). He then gave thanks and offered them the cup and said, " ‘Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many' " (Matthew 26:27-28).

 

Jesus, as He often did, was speaking symbolically. To say He was speaking literally here does not fit with the word pictures He often used. After all, Jesus said He was the Bread of Life. And didn't He say that He was the Door?

 

So, do we insist that Christ is an actual loaf of bread or a door? Of course not. Nor should we insist that the bread and the contents of the cup are actually Christ's body and blood. There is no evidence of a supernatural process that transforms the cup's contents into Jesus' blood and the bread into His flesh.

 

Therefore, as we participate in Communion, we don't want to overly mystify what it represents. We don't want to think of the bread as flesh and the cup as containing blood.

 

On the other hand, we don't want to devalue Communion by thinking it means nothing. Clearly, the Scriptures warn us about taking part in Communion without recognizing its significance (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-30).

 

“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.”

 

The bread and the cup are not holy elements in and of themselves. But they do represent something that is very holy. So it is with great respect and reverence that we come to the Communion table, recognizing it is a symbol of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

 

Furthermore, Jesus repeatedly mentions in this passage that the bread from heaven is him teaching about God. 

 

1)      Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

2)      You have seen me and still you do not believe.

3)      I have come down from heaven to do the will of the Father.

4)      Those who believe in me, I will raise up at the last day.

5)      It is the Father’s will that everyone that believes in the Son will have eternal life.

6)      No one can come to the Son unless the Father draws him and the Son will raise him up on the last day.

7)      The prophets said, “They will all be taught by God.”  Those that do so come to the Son.

8)      No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God.  Jesus just said he came down from heaven.

 

This is the first of the seven “I AM” statements that Jesus makes in the gospel of John.  When Jesus says, “I AM the bread of Life” in this passage, he equates it with the Old Testament prophecy that says, “They will all be taught by God.”  Thus Jesus claims to be God and claims to be teaching the truth of God. 

 

Jesus had recently fed the 5000.  Incredibly some were still asking for a miraculous sign to help them believe He was who He claimed to be. They brought up the manna their forefathers had eaten in the wilderness (Exodus 16:13-18), and that established the context for this statement.   I believe Jesus was saying the manna was meant to be a model of the Messiah. Whoever partakes of Him will never again know spiritual hunger. Like the manna, everyone who seeks Him will find Him (Matt. 7:7-8), but each of us has to find Him for ourselves. No one else can receive Him for us, nor can we receive Him for anyone else. We all get an amount sufficient for our salvation. No one is lacking, none of Him is wasted.

 

As for our thirst, remember how Jesus told the woman at the well that the water He offered would cure her thirst forever. Pointing to Jacob’s well, before which they were standing, He said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)

 

And then on the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)

 

The Psalmist wrote, As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1) In Jesus, our spiritual hunger is satisfied, and our spiritual thirst is quenched. Once we have the Holy Spirit, our search for spiritual fulfillment comes to an end, and we never need any other sustenance. The God-shaped hole in our heart is finally filled.

 

Therefore, we see here that believing in Jesus is not just reading the 4 spiritual laws, saying the prayer and checking it off of a list of things to do. Jesus said, “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.”  We must feed on Jesus continually, we must feed on his life, his teachings and his accomplishment on the cross.  We must go to Jesus to satisfy our spiritual thirst.