John 6:41–51 FINAL

Sermon Text

John 6:41–51 ESV

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has 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 that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Introduction

Last week we covered verses 22-40.

We saw that the crowds looked for Jesus and they found Him in Capernaum.

Jesus and His disciples had already crossed the sea to the other side. And they did so at around 3:00AM to 6:00AM when the walking on water took place.

They did this at this time most likely to get away from the crowds so that they wouldn’t be followed.

When they found Him they said to Him,

John 6:25 ESV

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

And Jesus responds by exposing their reason for finding Him.

John 6:26 ESV

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

We discovered that the crowds that followed Jesus only had a profession of faith without a possession of faith.

We recited .

James 2:19 ESV

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

They had the right information about God and they professed it but they never had possession of it.

Jesus charged them not to work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Which is the food that He gives to those who have been drawn by the Father.

The food being the bread of life which was Himself.

And belief in Him being the work of God alone according to verse 29.

John 6:29 ESV

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Jesus finally gives them the answer to their problem which was that they were seeking bread that perishes in verse 35.

John 6:35 ESV

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We concluded that those who come to Christ do so only by the Father’s drawing.

This is clear in what Jesus said to the crowds and in our text today this is continued in what Jesus says, not only to the crowds that sought Jesus, but also to the Jews.

Which we again will see that those apart from understanding and faith show disapproval and discontentment in what Jesus says about Himself.

Outline

1. The Grumbling (v.41-42)

2. The Response (v.43-47)

3. The Admission (v.48-51)

First, The Grumbling (v.41-42)

Verse 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

In verse 41, we see the Jews as being there for the first time in this chapter.

One of the things that we need to know about Jesus being in Capernaum is that He was saying these things in the Synagogue there.

We see this in verse 59,

John 6:59 ESV

59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

So chapter 6 all takes place in this synagogue in Capernaum.

We often bring to mind this chapter and forget that He was saying these things in a synagogue.

A Synagogue was an assembly or a congregation of Jews that met for the purpose of worship and study.

They met in a building that they would use where the Scriptures were opened and a Rabbi (a teacher) would teach.

So here we have the crowds that looked for Him, who saw and ate of the bread and fish that He miraculously multiplied in Tiberias, and we have the Jews who were there in the synagogue.

And we see that they were grumbling.

In the next part of the verse we see why they grumbled.

They grumbled because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

To grumble meant to to express one’s discontent. To complain about what someone said or did.

Both the ESV and the NASB use the term grumble.

In the NRSV, KJV and the NLT we see complain, murmuring and murmuring in disagreement.

They complained, disagreed and murmured over what Jesus said about Himself.

Prior to our passage, Jesus said,

​ ESV33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:33 ESV

33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then in verse 34 and 35,

John 6:34–35 ESV

34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

This is why they grumbled.

Jesus said,

the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

They grumbled, complained, murmured and disagreed with Jesus saying these things.

Question: So what does this reveal to us about them?

I believe verse 42 answers this for us.

Read Verse 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

At the core of their grumbling was the lack of understanding and belief in what Jesus had already said about Himself.

Let’s look at what Jesus said previously.

​ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

​ ESV27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

​ Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

​ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

​ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus consistently spoke of the Father as His Father and as Himself the Son.

But what they could only see was Jesus as the Son of Joseph. Which was a refusal to believe in what Jesus had spoken earlier.

Remember what it meant when Jesus called God His Father.

John 5:18 ESV

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

This was not only offensive but it was blasphemous to them.

They grumbled, complained, murmured and disagreed with Jesus saying these things because in doing so He was making Himself equal with God.

This is very much the case today.

There are people who grumble, complain, murmur and disagree with what the Scriptures say about Jesus.

Examples:

There are people who disagree with the sovereignty of God in salvation

There are people who disagree with the inability of man in salvation

There are people who disagree with the work of salvation only being a work of God that independent of human will

There are people who disagree with election

There are people who disagree with how Christ centric we must be

In my experience I have seen people look like the people here. Grumbling and complaining with what is clear in Scripture.

Our response should be the same as Jesus when dealing with people discontented with what the Scriptures say about Him which we can find in verses 43-47.

2. The Response (v.43-47)

Read Verse 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.

Read Verse 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Do not grumble among yourselves.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because this is the truth!

John 6:44 ESV

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

No one can come to Christ unless the Father who sent Him draws him

No one can come!

Question: Why?

Well, even as believers we do not have by ourselves the ability to do good!

And I will raise him up on the last day.

Romans 7:18 ESV

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Good does not come from us. Every good gift comes from God. We need God.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13 ESV

13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Question: If we who have come to saving faith still need God to do good, how much more those apart from saving faith?

No one has the ability to come to Christ without the Father drawing them.

Jesus makes this very clear in verse 44.

echoes this where He also said,

John 6:65 ESV

65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

So coming to Christ is given by God the Father and it is not found by man.

Romans 3:9–12 ESV

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Coming to Christ is a gift that is given only by the grace of God!

A good example of this is how Christ raised Lazarus from the dead.

Let’s read .

John 11:38–44 ESV

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Question: How was Lazarus raised from the dead?

Answer: It was by Jesus saying with a loud cry, “Lazarus, come out.”

It is no different from us apart from belief in Jesus Christ.

We are completely unable to raise ourselves from being dead in our sins!

We can only be raised from being dead in our sins by the work of God. Which happens when He pulls us in and takes us to Christ.

In fact, it is the work of God that we hear and learn of Christ. Which speaks of understanding what Jesus is saying here in our text.

Read Verse 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me

Jesus paraphrased where it spoke of how all will be taught by God.

Isaiah 54:13

Here we see that hearing and learning from the Father is how one comes to Christ.

where it spoke of how all will be taught by God.

where it spoke of how all will be taught by God.

Question: What does it mean to hear and learn from the Father?

The book of Isaiah was written between 739 and 681 B.C.

Isaiah was a prophet called by God to speak to the Kingdom of Judah

Purpose of Writing: The Prophet Isaiah was primarily called to prophesy to the Kingdom of Judah. Judah was going through times of revival and times of rebellion. Judah was threatened with destruction by Assyria and Egypt, but was spared because of God’s mercy. Isaiah proclaimed a message of repentance from sin and hopeful expectation of God’s deliverance in the future.

Judah showed to be double minded

They would have times of of faithfulness to God and also and times of rebellion

Assyria and Egypt had threatened to destroy them

And because of God’s mercy, God sent Isaiah to prophesy a message of repentance which came with a hope and expectation of God’s deliverance in the future.

Jesus in essence was speaking about this deliverance when quoting the prophet Isaiah.

Hearing and learning had to do with what was promised.

Which was the future deliverance of God’s people. Namely, that the Messiah would come.

And Jesus specifically talks about a belief in Him that would give someone eternal life.

So the hearing and learning has to do with believing what has been spoken here on our text and what was spoken of by the prophets about the Messiah promised.

Which is captured, I believe in verses 39 and 40 where it speaks of the will of the Father.

This is the will of Father who sent Jesus, that He should lose nothing of all that he has given His Son (which is everyone who looks to the Son and believes) but He will raise them up on the last day and they will have eternal life!

It is God’s will and God teaching us that allows us to come to Christ. Which shows that salvation is a complete work of God.

Hearing and learning saves no one. But hearing and learning from the Father will bring one to Jesus Christ because Jesus is the message they will hear and learn of and the Father is the One who brings one to that understanding.

Jesus goes on to again speak of His pre-existence in verse 46.

Read Verse 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Jesus would again speak of this in .

John 8:58 ESV

58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Question: Why is this important?

Answer: Because it proves that He was sent by the Father.

And it is important because a rejection of this proves one’s own condemnation.

God the Father sending His Son proves that the Son has seen the Father because He existed prior to coming in the flesh.

This refutes any other belief that denies it. But belief in this truth proves what verse 47 says.

Read Verse 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

Jesus would go on again to speak of Himself as the bread of life in verses 48-51.

3. The Admission (v.48-51)

Read Verse 48 I am the bread of life.

In verse 31, we saw how the crowds responded to Jesus when speaking food that does not perish.

He now compares the food they wanted to the food they needed.

Read Verse 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

This is what bread leaves you with apart from the living bread.

The bread given in the wilderness was given to feed God’s people but it only fed their natural hunger.

It met a temporal longing that has really no eternal significance.

However in verse 50,

Read Verse 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

Question: How does a believer in Christ not die?

Verse 51 answers this.

Read Verse 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Question: How is the bread that He gave, which is His flesh, able to give life ?

Answer: Jesus is speaking about the sacrifice that He would give at the cross.

John 3:14–15 ESV

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus was speaking about His body being offered as a sacrifice for sins. And His blood for the remission of sins.

​ ESV14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Belief in this which is granted by the Father, saves and communion represents this.

Jesus was speaking about His body being offered as a sacrifice for sins. And His blood for the remission of sins.Belief in this which is granted by the Father, saves.Communion represents this.

And communion does not mean what some have said.

Some believe that the elements actually turn into the flesh and blood of Christ.

But Jesus explains in

John 6:63 ESV

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Meaning that the terms Jesus is using are spiritual.

​ ESV63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

When speaking of bread He is speaking of His flesh. Which is given at the cross. It has already been given.

And life comes from that sacrifice to everyone who believes which is what this gospel is all about.

John 20:31 ESV

31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.