I AM the Bread of Life
Intro:
The New Testament describes them as tares among the wheat (Matt. 13:25–30); bad fish that are thrown away (13:48); goats condemned to eternal punishment (25:33, 41); those left standing outside when the head of the house shuts the door (Luke 13:25–27); foolish virgins shut out of the wedding feast (Matt. 25:1–12); and useless slaves who bury their master’s talent in the ground (25:24–30). They are apostates who eventually leave the fellowship of believers (1 John 2:19), manifest an evil, unbelieving heart by abandoning the living God (Heb. 3:12), continue to sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth (Heb. 10:26), and fall away from the truth to everlasting destruction (v. 39). Although they may even think they are on their way to heaven, they are actually on the broad path leading to hell (Matt. 7:13–14).
‘This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?’ … As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:60, 66). Such false disciples do not come to Christ to bow before Him as Lord and Savior; rather they come seeking their own personal gain. When their selfish desires do not materialize, they forsake Him altogether.
The Sea of Galilee lies nearly 700 feet below sea level in the Jordan Rift, while the surrounding hills rise abruptly to about 2,000 feet above sea level. The sharp drop of nearly 3,000 feet from the tops of the hills to the surface of the lake creates ideal conditions for the sudden, violent storms for which the Sea of Galilee is notorious (cf. Matt. 8:23–27). The cooler air rushes down the slopes and strikes the surface of the lake with great force, churning the water into whitecaps and creating dangerous conditions for small boats.
One of Hawaii’s most famous landmarks is Diamond Head, an extinct volcano on the island of Oahu. Early Western explorers gave it that name not because of its shape, but because of the shining rocks they saw embedded in its slopes. Observing those rocks from a distance, the excited sailors imagined that they had discovered diamonds. But, to their disappointment, closer examination revealed that the “diamonds” were actually just worthless calcite crystals.
Fed by God. To summarize, the unifying subject of the chapter turns on one idea: What does it mean to be fed by God? We are reminded of material feedings (Jesus with the five thousand, Moses with his multitudes at Passover) but then exhorted that these feedings have nothing to do with the deeper things of life. The Israelites still died in the desert; Jesus’ hillside gathering will still go hungry the next day. The same is true today. The pursuit of bread—spiritual or otherwise—is a universal compulsion of human civilization. It often takes wrong turns. But for those who are most intuitive, who sense the deeper realities of life and possess a more profound vision, they understand that this pursuit must engage religious interests. The human spirit cannot be denied in the quest for life, for meaningful life today.
Twenty-three times in all we find our Lord’s meaningful “I AM” (ego eimi, Gr.) in the Greek text of this gospel (4:26; 6:20, 35, 41, 48, 51; 8:12, 18, 24, 28, 58; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 13:19; 14:6; 15:1, 5; 18:5, 6, 8). In several of these, He joins His “I AM” with seven tremendous metaphors which are expressive of His saving relationship toward the world.
“I AM the Bread of life” (6:35, 41, 48, 51).
“I AM the Light of the world” (8:12).
“I AM the Door of the sheep” (10:7, 9).
“I AM the Good Shepherd” (10:11, 14).
“I AM the Resurrection and the Life” (11:25).
“I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (14:6).
“I AM the true Vine” (15:1, 5).
Throughout the rest of Ecclesiastes, Solomon warned against following the path of human wisdom that proved so empty. The key term in the book is “vanity” (sometimes translated “futility” in the NASB), which appears some three dozen times. The term expresses the futility of life “under the sun” (a phrase used almost as often) apart from God. Solomon’s point was that pursuing earthly goals as ends in themselves (without seeing them as a means to glorify and serve God) leads only to emptiness and hopeless despair (1:2–3, 8–11, 14; 2:12–23; 3:9; 4:2–3; 5:10–11, 16; 6:7, 12; 7:1; 9:2–3; 12:8).
6:1–21 John 6 is the longest chapter in the New Testament. It provides a rich redemptive-historical perspective on Moses and the central saving act of God in Israel’s history—the exodus. John wants us to see Jesus as the greater Moses and the gospel as the greatest exodus of all. Just as Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt into the Land of Promise, so Jesus came to lead the pan-national family of God on the ultimate exodus—a journey out of sin and death into the quintessential Promised Land—the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1–5).
Just as the first exodus involved a crisis at sea and the need for supernatural deliverance (Ex. 13:17–14:29), so Jesus responded to his fear-filled disciples, walking to them on the Sea of Galilee, securing their safe delivery to the other side.
The timing of the feeding of the 5,000 is not coincidental. It occurred just before Passover—the meal that inaugurated Israel’s journey through the wilderness. Indeed, Jesus didn’t come merely to provide elements for the Passover meal but to be the Passover meal himself. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). On him we feed and are nourished.
After speaking of Moses (5:45–47), Jesus goes on to perform a sign that might be expected of a new prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15): providing manna.
6:3–4. If the events of chapter 5 took place at the Feast of Tabernacles (see comment on 5:1) and those of this text occur at Passover, and if this section of John is in chronological order, half a year has elapsed between these chapters.
6:13. The leftovers are considerably more than they started with. It was a Roman custom always to have some food left over after a meal to indicate more than adequate provision. Jesus reveals himself as the ultimate host.
6:25–59 Jesus the Bread of Life. Jesus’ feeding 5,000 (vv. 1–15) and walking on the water (vv. 16–24) introduce his “bread of life” discourse: Jesus claims that he himself is the true manna, the living bread that we must eat to satisfy our souls. See note on vv. 1–15.
The feeding of the 5,000 was a miracle of such magnitude that it is recorded in all four Gospels. A great multitude had been following Jesus for several days, listening to His teaching and beholding His miracles. Jesus had tried to “get away” to rest, but the needs of the crowd pressed on Him (Mark 6:31–34). Because of His compassion, He ministered to the multitude in three different ways.
The purpose of the sign was that He might preach the sermon. Again, it was a ministry of “grace and truth” (John 1:17). In grace, our Lord fed the hungry people; but in truth, He gave them the Word of God. They wanted the food but they did not want the truth; and, in the end, most of them abandoned Jesus and refused to walk with Him. He lost His crowd with one sermon!
This sermon on “the bread of life” is actually a dialogue between Christ and the people, especially the religious leaders (“the Jews”). We see four responses of the crowd to the Lord Jesus in John 6: seeking (vv. 22–40), murmuring (vv. 41–51), striving (vv. 52–59), and departing (vv. 60–71).
Seven times in this sermon, our Lord referred to His “coming down from heaven” (John 6:33, 38, 41–42, 50–51, 58), a statement that declared Him to be God. The Old Testament manna was but a type of the “true bread,” the Lord Jesus Christ.
JOHN 6 CONTINUES the sequence of festivals introduced in chapter 5 (where I outlined the festival sequence in this Gospel). In this case the festival is Passover (6:3), and John expects that we will understand the many stories and themes associated with the feast (whose story can be found in Ex. 1–17).
Jesus’ interpretation of the manna follows rabbinic lines perfectly. First, the true source of the manna was not Moses but God. It is God who sends bread. Furthermore, the manna story goes beyond mere bread; it is a spiritual metaphor for how God feeds us his word. Deuteronomy 8:3 may well have entered Jesus’ debate: “[God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Of course, Jesus is not proposing religious cannibalism. Earthly symbols must be converted into spiritual truths. How, then, are we to understand this life-giving meal? What deeper spiritual truth needs to be uncovered?
Jesus’ answer in 6:53–58 has proven difficult for almost every commentator. When Jesus refers to “eating my flesh and drinking my blood,” he uses imagery that steps far beyond Passover. In fact, it is almost incomprehensible from within a Jewish theological framework. Some writers, such as Brown, follow a long line of patristic and medieval commentators (as well as many modern writers) who think that these words refer to the Eucharist. Carson believes that a secondary reference to the Eucharist is inevitable.
THE FULL FORCE of Jesus’ sermon comes alive if we keep in mind certain details. Jesus is in the Capernaum synagogue (6:59), and it is Passover. At this time the Jewish community has been studying the Scriptures that pertain to the departure from Egypt (through the sea) and the flight into the desert. Following an initial question about how Jesus arrived here (6:25)—and it is not at all unlikely that we should see this as a two-level question, one material (he came by boat) and another spiritual (he came from heaven, 6:33; cf. 7:28)—discussion then turns to the central event, Jesus’ feeding miracle and its meaning.
There is another way we can look at the crowd’s attempt to “take Jesus by force” (6:15). They come to kidnap him, to promote him as a hero, to make him a religious figure in their own image and serve their agenda. When Christians pursue “spiritual bread,” they likewise are tempted to make Jesus serve their religious agenda. When this happens, Jesus is “taken by force” in the church. He is exploited and manipulated, forged into a “poster boy” for this campaign or that venture. In the present story, the agenda is purely political: The people want a king and Jesus will do just fine. If this prophet can overthrow Rome’s domination of Israel, with the crowd’s help Jesus just may be successful.
For the fifth time in this discourse (cf. vv. 33, 35, 48, 50), Jesus claimed to be the living bread that came down out of heaven. He then added the promise that if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Here, as in verses 35 and 40, human responsibility to believe in Christ is in view (God’s sovereignty in salvation is taught in vv. 37, 39, 44, 65).
Finally, eating is personal. No one can eat a meal for another; there is no such thing as eating by proxy. Nor is there salvation by proxy. In Psalm 49:7 the psalmist wrote, “No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him.” Sinners must appropriate the Bread of Life as individuals to receive salvation and live forever (vv. 50, 58; 3:16; 8:51; 11:26; Rom. 8:13).
That’s why he gave the Bread of Life discourse—to rescue us from the emptiness of life.
They had no other interest in Jesus. They wanted Him to serve them. The superficial crowd is always an easy target for the false promise of personal prosperity.
Utterly astonished (cf. Mark 4:41), “those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’ ” (Matt. 14:33). The only appropriate response to Jesus Christ is to fall before Him in worship, as did the wise men at His birth (Matt. 2:11), a Canaanite woman (15:25), a blind man whom Jesus healed (John 9:38), the women who came to the tomb after the resurrection (Matt. 28:9), Thomas (John 20:28), and the rest of the eleven disciples (Matt. 28:17; Luke 24:52). Although they were amazed by Jesus’ miracle, the Twelve responded as all true followers of Jesus Christ do—with adoration and worship.
The Lord’s rebuke, “you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled,” laid bare their selfish, materialistic hearts. So blinded were they by their superficial desire for food and miracles that they missed the true spiritual significance of Jesus’ person and mission. “They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies” (Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 358). Though they had witnessed the miraculous signs Jesus had performed (v. 14), they failed to grasp the spiritual implications of those miracles.
“What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” They filtered Jesus’ words through their own warped minds and thought He was saying they needed to do some works to earn eternal life. What was that work they should do, they wondered. Similarly, the rich young ruler asked Him, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16), and in Luke 10:25 “a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ ” It was a familiar matter for the Jews to pursue eternal life through their religion, so the question was common.
True salvation, of course, is not by works (Titus 3:5). Thus, Jesus answered their question by noting that the only work acceptable to God is to believe in Him whom He has sent. Salvation is by grace alone (Eph. 2:8–9) through faith alone (Rom 3:28) in Christ alone (Acts 4:12), “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Salvation is the gift of God (John 4:10; Rom. 5:15; 6:23; Eph. 2:8). Jesus called faith a work, since
John’s approach in his gospel was to record Jesus’ miracles briefly, matter-of-factly, and without fanfare, explanation, or defense. For example, the apostle describes the astonishing miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in simple, straightforward, unpretentious words: “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” (6:11). John described Jesus’ equally astounding miracle of walking on the water in similarly modest terms: “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” (v. 19).
It is almost as though the apostle hurries through the accounts of Christ’s miracles to get to His words. While His miracles reveal His divine power, it is Christ’s words that correctly define who He is. Jesus is no mere wonder worker; He is the Son of God and the Messiah. His miracles authenticate Him and His message as coming from God. But signs and wonders alone are not enough for salvation
Unbelief, however, is never satisfied, no matter how much evidence is given. Luke 16:31 says that those who reject the truth of God’s Word “will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” At the crucifixion the unbelieving Jewish leaders said mockingly, “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” (Mark 15:32). Yet when Jesus rose from the dead—a far greater miracle than merely coming down from the cross—they still refused to believe in Him. Rather than admit the truth, they desperately attempted to cover up the reality of His resurrection (Matt. 28:11–15; Acts 4:1–3).
Using the phrase amēn, amēn (truly, truly) to underscore the significance of what He was about to say, Jesus rebuked the people for their fourfold misunderstanding of the manna in the wilderness.
First, it was not Moses who gave them the bread out of heaven, but God the Father. In Exodus 16:4 “the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you’ ” (cf. v. 15; Deut. 8:3, 16; Neh. 9:20; Pss. 78:24–25; 105:40). Moses merely relayed God’s instructions about gathering the manna to the Israelites (Ex. 16:15–30).
Second, the manna was not the true bread from heaven. Jesus told them, “My Father now gives you the true bread out of heaven.” The present tense of didōmi (gives) indicates that the true bread was not the manna of the past, but what the Father was currently giving. Further, alēthinos (true) means
The Lord concluded this portion of His sermon by restating the truth that He is the bread of life (cf. v. 35). He then contrasted Himself as the true bread of heaven (cf. v. 33) with the manna (cf. v. 31) that the Hebrew fathers ate … in the wilderness. Although it was miraculously provided by God to sustain the Israelites’ physical life, the manna could not impart eternal life, since the fathers who ate the manna … died (Heb. 3:17; cf. Jude 5). Jesus, however, is the true bread which comes down out of heaven (vv. 33, 35), so that one may eat of it and not die. Eat refers metaphorically to believing savingly in Jesus, which alone rescues sinners from eternal death (cf. 3:16; 11:26). Appropriating Jesus as the Bread of Life is the theme of the next section of this sermon.
All Jesus said was, “Just as you take food and drink within your body and it becomes a part of you, so you must receive Me within your innermost being so that I can give you life.”
Some interpreters tell us that Jesus was speaking about the Lord’s Supper, and that we eat His flesh and drink His blood when we partake of the elements at the table, the bread and the cup. I do not believe that Jesus had the Communion (or eucharist) in mind when He spoke these words.
For one thing, why would He discuss the Lord’s Supper with a group of disagreeable unbelievers? He had not even shared that truth with His own disciples! Why would He cast this precious pearl before the swine?
Second, He made it clear that He was not speaking in literal terms (John 6:63). He was using a human analogy to convey a spiritual truth, just as He did with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.
Third, Jesus made it plain that this eating and drinking were absolutely essential for eternal life. He made no exceptions. If, then, He was speaking about a church ordinance (or sacrament), then everybody who has never shared in that experience is spiritually dead and is going to hell. This would include all the Old Testament saints, the thief on the cross, and a host of people who have trusted Christ in emergency situations (hospitals, accidents, foxholes, etc.). I personally cannot believe that our gracious God has excluded from salvation all who cannot participate in a church ceremony.
This dialogue began with the crowd seeking Christ and then seeking a sign, but listeners soon began to seek the “true bread” that Jesus talked about. However, like the woman of Samaria, they were not ready for salvation (see John 4:15). She wanted the living water so she would not have to keep going to the well. The crowd wanted the bread so they would not have to toil to maintain life. People today still want Jesus Christ only for the benefits He is able to give.
God revealed Himself to Moses by the name I AM (Jehovah) (Ex. 3:14). God is the self-existent One who “is, and … was, and … is to come” (Rev. 1:8). When Jesus used the name I AM, He was definitely claiming to be God.
Although John records Jesus’ miracles to establish His deity, he moves quickly to Jesus’ discourse on the spiritual realities of His person in order to define correctly who Jesus Christ was, i.e., not merely a wonder-worker but the Son of God who came to save mankind from sin (3:16). This discourse took place in the synagogue at Capernaum (v. 59).
6:27. When Jesus said, Do not work for food that spoils, He was not condoning laziness. Rather He was saying that people should expend their efforts for what will last forever. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Physical food is short-lived but spiritual food leads to eternal life. The Son of Man (who has access to heaven [John 3:13]) will give people this spiritual food, which is ultimately Christ Himself (6:53). God the Father Himself authenticated Jesus’ claim that He is true heavenly “food.”
6:26 not because you saw the signs. Though they see the miraculous sign (v. 14), they fail to see what it truly signifies. Not even Jesus’ 12 disciples understand (Mark 6:52). Jesus’ “bread of life” discourse explains how this symbol-laden sign points to him.
6:34. As yet, the crowd did not perceive that Jesus is the genuine Bread which He had been describing. Like the woman at the well (4:15), they asked for this better food. And they wanted it continually (from now on), not like the manna which lasted for 40 years.
“Bread of Life” means bread which provides life. Jesus is man’s necessary “food.” In Western culture, bread is often optional, but it was an essential staple then. Jesus promised, He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty. The “nevers” are emphatic in Greek.
6:24–26. The crowd wants to follow a prophet who will provide free food and political deliverance—another Moses. But they miss the central thrust of Jesus’ mission (cf. 6:15).
Jesus provides a bread that leads to eternal life. But Jesus doesn’t just provide this bread; he is this bread—the Bread of Life. This is the first of several “I am” statements by Jesus throughout John’s Gospel—each of which are reminiscent of the God who revealed his name to Moses as “I AM” (Ex. 3:14).
How can we acquire this life-giving bread? The only “work” that guarantees the possession of this redemptive manna is to believe in Jesus (John 6:29). The gospel sabotages any notion of legalism or performance-based acceptability with God. The only thing we bring to Jesus is our need. All we offer is the admission that we have nothing to offer.
6:30 What sign will You perform. The question demonstrated the obtuseness, the spiritual blindness of the crowd, and their shallow, selfish curiosity. The feeding of 20,000 (v. 10) was a sufficient enough sign to demonstrate Christ’s deity (cf. Luke 16:31).
This passage may well illuminate the meaning of the Lord’s Supper, in relation to Christ’s death. But since the Last Supper occurred one year later than the incidents recorded in this chapter, eating His flesh and drinking His blood should not be thought of as sacramentalism.
32–33 Jesus informed the people that Moses did not give them the real spiritual bread. The Greek word for “true” (alēthinos) means “genuine” or “original.” Jesus did not mean that the manna had no food value; he meant it was not the means of sustaining spiritual life. He claimed to be the genuine and only source of spiritual nourishment. This may be an oblique reference to Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” As physical food is necessary for physical life, so spiritual food is necessary for spiritual life.
26. Jesus’ reply did not answer their question. Instead, he went straight to the heart of the matter, exposing the real reason the crowd had followed him: Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.’ The people had, of course, seen miraculous signs performed by Jesus earlier (2) and more recently the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus was saying they did not understand the significance of those signs. They did not recognize he was the Christ, the Son of God, in whom they should put their trust.
How would Job respond to such calamity? Would he indeed curse God? “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship” (v. 20). His first response was worship! Then he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (v. 21). In the midst of ultimate loss, Job did not sin by blaming God.
Jesus performed the feeding miracle in order to correct the people’s mistaken beliefs. Perceptive Jewish observers should have recognized that the bread Jesus provided for the multitude was reminiscent of the manna God gave his people in the wilderness and that Jesus was claiming the power to supply every need—especially the spiritual. But they did not understand. Their perspective was clouded by a focus on the material. In fact, the crowd even asked for another sign (John 6:30):
“What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
On the day of the miracle of the bread, the people chose rejection: “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven” (vv. 36, 41).
Only twenty-four hours earlier these same people wanted to make Jesus king by force because of the multiplying of the loaves. But as soon as he began to talk about spiritual realities, they said, “Who is this? Is he not the son of Joseph?”
What was the people’s reaction to Christ’s teaching? “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ ” (v. 60). When the people began to understand clearly what our Lord was saying, they began to turn away. The Apostle Paul described the same problem in Philippians 3:18–19.
For, as I often told you and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
What was the people’s reaction to Christ’s teaching? “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ ” (v. 60). When the people began to understand clearly what our Lord was saying, they began to turn away. The Apostle Paul described the same problem in Philippians 3:18–19.
For, as I often told you and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
Mark 6:39 says, “Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.” It probably took some time to get them to do so. But finally they were seated, and then our Lord did something absolutely outrageous—he gave thanks. Can you imagine asking God’s blessing on the food when there was no food? I imagine that some kept their eyes open, thinking, “What in the world is going on here?” Then the unthinkable happened. We read about the miracle in verse 11.
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
As the bread began to spread throughout those thousands, there began to be a murmur, and finally a roar—such a roar, so much excitement that the people wanted to make Jesus king. What an incredible miracle! Verse 12 tells us that the crowd ate until they were all filled. This was not just a snack. There was so much food that the disciples gathered twelve baskets full of leftovers, enough for the next day. God takes care of those who serve him.
Interestingly, the loaves were poor man’s bread, the cheapest of all breads. The Mishnah talks about an offering a woman would bring if she had committed adultery. She was supposed to bring a bread offering, but the Mishnah qualifies it by saying it should be barley, the food of beasts, for the woman’s sin was the sin of a beast. Barley is the bread of the poor.
Why would Christ use this food? He wanted his disciples to see that no matter what they had—even the tiniest or most menial thing—if they really gave it to him, he could use it. Little is much when God is in it. He wanted them to see that truth in a most dramatic demonstration.
We know that is what happened because verse 31 says, “The people of Israel called the bread manna,” which means “What is it?” So for the next forty years, six days a week, every morning the Jews ate “What is it?”
What a statement! “I am the bread of life.” It is no coincidence that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” as prophesied hundreds of years earlier by Micah (5:2). The Word became flesh, and we broke it. There is no coincidence about that either. It was all planned by the Lord, for our redemption.
The people were chasing him because they liked his physical food supply, not because they saw his signs (sēmeia). The KJV erroneously reads “miracles” here (6:26). The people certainly saw the miracle (in fact, their stomachs digested it) but they failed to recognize the sign in the miracle. The meaning of “sign” in this Gospel is that it points beyond the physical, concrete reality to the reality of revelation. It provides insight into who Jesus is.
6:27–29. The dialogue between Jesus and the crowd plays on the term work; Judaism stressed righteous works, but Jesus singles out one work: faith in him (Jewish teachers praised Abraham’s “work” of faith in God, but Jesus’ demand is more specific). They then demand from Jesus a “work,” which now means a sign (v. 30), as it sometimes does in Jewish literature. The “seal” (v. 27) means that God has attested Jesus; cf. comment on 3:33.
This eternal food is the teaching of Jesus. When asked about what works were necessary to appease God, Jesus replied in a decidedly different fashion than they anticipated. Rather than outlining a list of do’s and don’ts, Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (6:29). Salvation is not something that is attained through human effort, but instead it is a freely given gift. The only “work” necessary is to receive the gift of God for eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.
This verse is subject to many misinterpretations, such as thinking that it refers to the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist. Nowhere, however, is it taught in Scripture that the taking of the Lord’s Supper is the single requirement for salvation. The sole requirement for salvation is not partaking of the elements of the Lord’s Supper but faith in Christ (6:35, 40, 47, 51). So what is the flesh and blood of which Christ spoke? Clearly it is the flesh and blood He offered to the world at the moment of His death, an offering made to the world for acceptance, resulting in eternal life for those who accept His death on their behalf as an atonement for their sin.
Some argue that this refers to the Lord’s Supper, but two factors stand against that view: (1) The setting of this passage is during Jesus’ ministry before he instituted the Lord’s Supper. (2) During the first two centuries, whenever Christians clearly speak of the Lord’s Supper, they speak of the “body” and “blood” of the Lord, not (as here) the “flesh” and “blood” of the Lord. On the other hand, by the time John’s Gospel was circulating, the church had existed for several decades, and the Lord’s Supper was celebrated everywhere; therefore, informed Christians who pondered these verses probably could not avoid reflecting on how the elements of the Lord’s Supper point back to the historic death of Jesus, calling us again and again to belief in him.
The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’ The work (sing.) that God requires of humanity is simply stated, ‘to believe in the one he has sent’. The evangelist’s purpose for writing his Gospel was that people should ‘believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’ (20:31). As becomes clear later in the chapter, this is a ‘work’ the crowd was not ready to perform (41–42).
30–31. The crowd’s response is surprising: So they asked him, ‘What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?’ It is surprising, because they followed him in the first place because they had seen the signs he had performed on the sick (2), and more recently they had witnessed his feeding of the five thousand (26). Why, then, ask for a further sign? Perhaps there is a clue in what they said next: Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ They were referring to the wilderness experience of Israel when God sent manna from heaven for the people to eat (Exod. 16:1–31). When the crowd saw Jesus provide food for them miraculously in the wilderness, they identified him as the Prophet like Moses (14), but it seems they were expecting something more spectacular than what they had already witnessed.
34. In response to Jesus’ words about the true bread from heaven, the crowd said, Sir, from now on give us this bread. Literally translated, this verse reads, ‘Sir, always (pantote) give us this bread’, i.e. the crowd were looking for an ongoing provision for their needs, as was the case with the provision of the manna in the wilderness. Just as the Samaritan woman asked for the water that wells up continuously so she would not have to come and draw water any more (4:15), so these people were asking for a continuous supply of bread so that they would not have to provide for themselves any more.
35. The crowd misunderstood the nature of the true bread of which Jesus spoke, so then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’ Jesus explicitly identified himself as ‘the bread of life’. This is the first of seven different ‘I am’ sayings with predicates in the Fourth Gospel (35, 48, 51; 8:12; 10:7, 9; 10:11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5—see Additional note: Egō eimi, p. 139). Because Jesus was ‘the bread of life’ he could promise that those who came to him would never hunger, and, changing the metaphor, those who believed in him would never thirst (cf. 6:53–57). Hunger and thirst are metaphors for the human need to know God, and knowing God is the present experience of eternal life (17:3). Those who come to Jesus, i.e. those who believe in him, are brought into relationship with God and their hunger and thirst to know God are satisfied (see commentary on 4:13–14).
To understand properly what Jesus was saying in highly metaphorical language, readers must remember that he said the same thing in more straightforward terms in 6:40: ‘everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day’. Placing these two verses side by side, it is clear that eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood is a metaphor for believing in him. Continuing the metaphor, Jesus said, For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. When this metaphor is unpacked, it means that Jesus is the source of true satisfaction; belief in him who gave his life for the world is the only way to satisfy human hunger and thirst for God.
6:38 For. Introduces the reason Jesus will perfectly preserve all those whom the Father has given him (v. 37): Jesus came to earth to do the Father’s will, namely, to lose “none” (v. 39), i.e., no individual, the Father has given him.
Moreover, Jesus’ reference here to eating and drinking was not referring to the ordinance of communion for two significant reasons: 1) communion had not been instituted yet, and 2) if Jesus was referring to communion, then the passage would teach that anyone partaking of communion would receive eternal life.
Departing (vv. 60–71). Our Lord’s teaching was not hard to understand but hard to accept once you understood it. The Jewish religious leaders both misunderstood His words and rejected them. They were “offended” by what He taught. (The Greek word is “scandalized.”) They stumbled over the fact that He claimed to come down from heaven. They also stumbled over the idea that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to be saved. But if they stumbled over these two matters, what would they do if they saw Him ascend back into heaven? (John 6:62)
How, then, do we “eat His flesh and drink His blood”? Through the Word. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). “And the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Our Lord said the same thing: “He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life” (John 5:24). The scribes who knew Jeremiah 31:31–34 would have understood the concept of receiving God’s Word into one’s inner being.
Peter was one of several people who declared their belief that Jesus is the Son of God (see John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 9:35; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31). The only mistake he made was to bear witness for the entire group. Peter was sure that all of the Apostles were believers, which shows how convincing Judas was. Even Peter did not know that Judas was an unbeliever!
What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! There are two main ways of construing these words: (1) if they saw him ascend, they might be prepared to accept his hard saying; (2) if they saw him ascend, their difficulties would only increase. The second alternative is most likely the correct one. The ascension of Jesus, the Son of Man, in this Gospel is frequently linked with his being lifted up on the cross (prior to his resurrection and ascension). If the ‘disciples’ who grumbled about Jesus’ hard saying about eating his flesh and drinking his blood should witness his ignominious death upon the cross, they would be scandalized still further. How could one who claimed to come from God end his life in such a way?
The words translated ‘from this time’ (ek toutou) may also be rendered ‘because of this’ (i.e. because of Jesus’ hard saying). Either way, many turned away at this time. These many ‘disciples’ who turned away from Jesus included those who followed him to Capernaum, not because they saw and understood the significance of the signs he performed, but because they had eaten the loaves and were filled (26).
68–69. On behalf of the Twelve Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ If they were to leave Jesus, there was no-one else to whom they could go who had the message of eternal life. He added, We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. In the OT Yahweh is frequently referred as ‘the Holy One’ (Isa. 40:25; 43:15; Hab. 1:12; 3:3) or ‘the Holy One of Israel’ (Ps. 71:22; Isa. 12:6; 30:12, 15; 41:20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 48:17; 49:7 [2×]). Most of these references are found in Isaiah and it may be that the prophet’s vision of the Lord in the temple (Isa. 6:1–4) lies behind his references to God as ‘the Holy One’ and ‘the Holy One of Israel’. If so, these titles reflect the awesome majesty, glory and purity of the Lord.
The climax of the story is unsettling and perverse: The crowd fits Jesus into their religious categories (“This is the prophet!”) and decide that they can control, promote, and fashion something religiously constructive out of this event. They want Jesus for their own ends; they want to pursue a political agenda (revolution? social upheaval? dissent?), and Jesus must flee. In the end the picture is penetratingly clear: They have no clue what they have just witnessed. In their arrogance they wish to exploit it like a marketing company exploits a new household invention.
The Lord was obviously not talking about cannibalism when He spoke of eating His flesh. Rather, He was giving a physical illustration of a spiritual truth. Once again, however, the antagonistic Jews completely missed the significance of Jesus’ statement.
It should be noted that the verbs translated eat and drink are aorists, not present tense verbs. That suggests a one-time appropriation of Christ at salvation, not the continual eating and drinking of His body and blood portrayed by the Roman Catholic Mass (see the discussion of v. 52 above).
Gospel preaching that fails to convey God’s Word accurately, and to command obedience, falls short of the biblical standard. Both John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2) and Jesus (4:17) charged their audiences to act on the truth they were given, exhorting them to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and then demonstrate the fruit of true repentance (3:8).
As a result of John’s confrontive preaching
the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:10–14)
Unable to swallow Jesus’ teaching any longer, these disciples, when they heard His words, said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” It finally dawned on them that following Jesus meant far more than merely hanging around Him, hoping to see and experience the physical benefits of His power. The adjective sklēros (difficult) literally means “rough,” “withered,” or “stiff.” Figuratively, it describes something harsh, unpleasant, or hard to accept (cf. Matt. 25:24; Acts 26:14; Jude 15). Here it and the parallel statement who can listen to it? describe Jesus’ statement not as incomprehensible, but as unacceptable.
False disciples do not follow Christ because of who He is, but because of what they want from Him. They have no problem viewing Him as a baby in the manger at Christmas; a social reformer with a broad message of love and tolerance; the ideal human everyone should emulate; or a source of health, wealth, and worldly happiness. But they are unwilling to embrace the biblical Jesus—the God-man who fearlessly rebuked sinners and warned them of eternal hell, and that salvation from that hell comes only through believing His words (John 5:24). Those who resist or reject Jesus’ teaching fail the test of true discipleship that He Himself laid down in John 8:31: “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’ ” (cf. 15:8). Continued obedience to the words of Jesus Christ always marks true disciples (cf. 1 John 2:3–5).
Stumble translates a form of the verb skandalizō, which can mean either “to take offense” (e.g., Matt. 13:57; 15:12) or “to give up believing” (e.g., 13:21; 24:10). Both meanings are appropriate here; the false disciples took offense at Jesus’ teaching, and that caused them to abandon their superficial faith in Him.
Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.… The seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. (Luke 8:11, 15)
But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21)
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. (James 1:18)
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)
“What they wanted, he would not give; what he offered, they would not receive” (F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983], 164).