Spiritual Food, The Bread of Life

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels: 

(John 6:26) Jesus answered them and said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."

At the end of the last post, the people whom Jesus had miraculously fed the evening before, sailed across the sea to search for Jesus.  They asked when He had arrived because they had not seen Him leave in the only boat they had seen.  Jesus did not answer their question directly but pointed out their motive in searching for Him.  He told them they did not seek Him because of the miraculous things He had done proving He came from God.  It would have been proper and acceptable to Jesus if they followed Him because they believed He was the Messiah as they had suggested in verse 14.  However, He knew they followed Him only because of what they received from the miracles.

(27) "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give to you, for God the Father has sealed Him."

Jesus told them not to put all their effort into seeking food that would perish, but rather put more effort into the food that would last and lead to everlasting life.  That's not to say that one shouldn't work for food, but that shouldn't be all for which they labor.  More effort should be given to seeking Christ's bread of life and then God would supply their needs (Philippians 4:19).  Jesus was the one to give them that bread of life because God the Father had put His authentic seal of approval on Him.

(28) Then they said to Him, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?"

The people asked how they should labor or work for the food that did not perish but led to everlasting life.  They still believed in works to achieve the blessings of God.

(29) Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

Jesus answered them by saying that the work of God, what He required of them, was to believe in the One He had sent, Jesus Christ.

(30) They said therefore to Him, "What sign do You show then that we may see and believe you? What do You work? (31) Our fathers ate manna in the desert as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

The people wanted to see a sign that He would provide them that bread He spoke of.  They still imagined literal bread as what their forefathers had eaten in the wilderness when God provided manna from heaven for them to eat.

(32) Then Jesus said to them, "Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

Jesus told them that the manna which they presumed Moses had given their forefathers in the wilderness was not the true bread from heaven that He spoke about.  That bread of life from God was He Himself who came down from heaven to give them everlasting life.

(34) Then they said to Him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread."

The people seemed to earnestly desire that Jesus give them that bread of life always, but they probably still imagined it to be literal bread.  The Jews expected that when their King Messiah came, He would give them all manner of delicacies.

(35) And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

Jesus told them that He was that bread of life.  The one who came to Him, not in a physical way as they had come to Him now, but in a spiritual sense, receiving His doctrine into their hearts, and believing in Him, would never hunger or thirst, but would be perfectly satisfied.

(36) "But I said to you that you also have seen Me and do not believe."

Jesus alluded to what He had said before to them (verse 26), that they did not come seeking Him for who He truly was, but only for what He could give them.  They had seen that Bread of Life they had been discussing and yet they did not really believe in Him as such.

(37) "All who the Father gives Me will come to Me, and he who comes to Me I will in no way cast out."

Jesus said that everyone God the Father calls and everyone who may seek God, the Father gives to Jesus because it is only through Jesus that they may be saved.  All who seek God are sinners and all have fallen short, no matter how "good" they purport to be (Romans 3:23 and Romans 3:12).  God draws them to Jesus, whom by His great sacrifice, covers and atones for their sins that they may be in God's presence.  Jesus added He would never turn away anyone who came to Him.

(38) "For I came down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) And this is the Father's will who has sent Me, that of all whom He has given Me I should lose no one, but should raise them up again at the last day."

Jesus's purpose for being born into the world was to do Father God's will.  God's will was to make it possible for his failed sinful creation to be cleansed and renewed and able to spend eternity with Him.  All who were called by God or would come seeking God would be directed through Christ Jesus and it was God's will that none of them should be lost.  They would be saved through Jesus and raised up again in the last day.

(40) "And this is the will of Him who sent Me that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Not only was it God's will that Jesus lose no one who God directed to Him, but equally He desired that all who came to Christ and believed in Him would have everlasting life.  God and Jesus are one.  Jesus is God.  People seeking God must go through Jesus to get to Him.  People seeking Jesus will find their way to God.

(41) The Jews then murmured at Him because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." (42) And they said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jews among the people grumbled about Jesus because He had called Himself the bread of life from heaven.  They discussed the fact that they had known He was the son of Joseph, and they had known His parents, so how could it be that He said He came down from heaven?  That actually could be a sincere question as they thought they knew how He was born into the world and did not see or hear of Him coming down from heaven.

(43) Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. (44) No man can come to Me except the Father who has sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus, hearing them or knowing their thoughts, told them not to murmur among themselves, and He continued speaking.  He told them no one could come to Him unless the Father first drew Him.  Yes, they all came to Him physically to hear Him speak, but they had to be drawn by the Spirit of God to understand the spiritual nature of what it meant to really come to Jesus.  Only by the drawing of the Spirit of God could they begin to understand what seemed otherwise humanly impossible.

(45) "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone therefore who has heard and has learned of the Father comes to Me."

Jesus quoted Isaiah 54:13 that said that all Jerusalem's children should be taught of or by the Lord.  The Lord God draws the hearts of men to want to know and seek Him and He uses His word, the Bible, and ministers and religious teachers to teach them.  Everyone who has been drawn by God and has learned from Him will always come to Jesus.

(46) "Not that any man has seen the Father, except He who is of God; He has seen the Father."

Jesus did not mean that they should be taught by God personally as no man has seen God the Father except He Himself who was of God.  

(47) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. (48) I am that bread of life."

Jesus told them that most assuredly anyone who believed in Him had everlasting life because He was that bread of life.

(49) "Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. (50) This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die."

Referring to what the Jews had said in verse 31 when they spoke of manna as being bread from heaven, Jesus told them that all who ate that bread were now dead.  Although it did sustain them for a while, it did not save them from eternal death.  The bread that came down from heaven, referring to Himself, men may partake of and they would not die, but have eternal life.

(51) "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eats of this bread he shall live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world."

Jesus clarified that He was the living bread that had come down from heaven.  If any man would partake of Him, that is believe in Him, he would live forever.  The bread that He would give was His flesh, or His body, that He would sacrifice for the life of the world.

(52) The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

The Jews began to argue among themselves about how Jesus could possibly give them His flesh to eat, as they thought He meant it physically.  Although Jesus would indeed give His physical body up as a sacrifice, people would not physically eat of His body even then.  He spoke of spiritually partaking of His flesh and accepting Him into their hearts.

(53) Then Jesus said to them, "Verily, verily, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."

Jesus told them that assuredly they must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood in order to have life.  Of course, He meant this spiritually.  As a man must have food and drink for physical life, He must continually be fed by Jesus Christ for eternal life.  Without Jesus, there is no eternal life.

(54) "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus affirmed that whoever ate of His flesh and drank of His blood, that is partaking of those things and believing in Him, would have eternal life, and He would raise him up in the last day.

(55) "For My flesh is food indeed and My blood is drink indeed. (56) He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me and I in him."

Jesus said that His flesh and His blood were indeed food and drink, nourishment for the soul.  Whoever ate His flesh and drank His blood dwelled in Him and He would likewise dwell in him.  One who dwelt in Christ was one who was truly intimately connected to Him, and Christ would dwell in his heart.

(57) "As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats Me will live by Me."

Jesus explained that the living Father God in heaven had sent Him and He lived because of His connection to God the Father.  Jesus the Son of man received His life from the Father.  In like manner, those who partook of Jesus would receive life from Him.

(58) "This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna and are dead, he who eats of this bread shall live forever."

Once again, Jesus reiterated that the bread that came down from heaven, meaning Himself, was not like the manna their forefathers ate and were now dead, but if anyone partook of His bread of life, they would live forever.

(59) These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Jesus said all these things in the synagogue in Capernaum where He was teaching when He came to that side of the sea.

(60) Many therefore of His disciples when they had heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"

Many of Jesus's disciples and followers said that what Jesus had said was rough.  Speaking of eating His flesh and blood seemed rather violent.  That is the proper meaning of the word transcribed as "hard" here.  "Skleros" means "hard, tough, fierce," even "violent, offensive," rather than hard as difficult.  They wondered who could understand such a doctrine.

(61) When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said to them, "Does this offend you?"

Jesus perceived that His disciples were grumbling about how rough His language had been and He asked them if it offended them.

(62) "And if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?"

Jesus added what more would they think and be offended by if they saw His body that they were to eat and drink of ascend into heaven where He had been before.  He was pointing out to them that He could not be speaking of them literally eating and drinking His body, as His body would ascend back into heaven.

(63) "It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak to you are spirit and are life."

Jesus explained that He was talking about the Spirit which gives life.  Literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood would be of no profit whatsoever.  What He had spoken to them was meant to be understood as spiritually partaking of Him and having spiritual everlasting life as their physical bodies would still die; however, He did say He would raise up those bodies in the end.

(64) "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray Him.

Jesus told them that He knew some of His so-called disciples did not really believe in Him, for He knew from the beginning which ones did not believe and He knew Judas, one of His closest disciples, would ultimately betray Him.

(65) And He said, "Therefore I said to you, that no man can come to Me, except it has been granted to him by My Father."

I believe Jesus referred to what He had said in verse 43 to explain those who did not truly believe.  Many disciples had come to Him physically, but as God had not drawn them by His Spirit, they could not spiritually understand and believe in Jesus.  That is not to say that God only chooses a select few to draw to Himself.  It's God's will that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), but as God is omniscient, all-knowing of things present and future, He knows who will receive Jesus when His Spirit draws them and who will not.  One might wonder why then did Jesus call Judas when He knew that He was not a true believer and would betray Him.  Perhaps Judas had been a true believer, and then turned from Christ.  I believe that is what is meant by blaspheming the Holy Spirit, the one unforgivable sin--knowing the Holy Spirit of God and then throwing Him out.  Regardless, Judas was called because God knew his heart, that he would betray Jesus, and that was needed for His purpose.

(66) From then many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.

Indeed, many of Jesus's disciples stopped following Him as it was obvious that God had not drawn them to know the spiritual truth about Jesus.  These may have been physically drawn to Jesus because of an expectation of some temporal benefit or maybe just because of public excitement, but when the benefit was not obtained and the excitement wore off, and when Jesus's spiritual truths became hard and offensive, they fell away.

(67) Then said Jesus to the twelve, "Will you also go away?"

Then Jesus asked His chosen twelve apostles if they would also go away.

(68) Then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Simon Peter answered Jesus that there was no other place to go; after all, it was Jesus who had the words of eternal life.  Although they would still have difficulty sometimes understanding spiritual things, God was obviously drawing them to Jesus and His life-giving truths.

(69) "And we believe and are sure that You are that Christ, the Son of the living God."

Peter added that they believed and were certain that He was the Christ, their anticipated Messiah, the Son of the living God.

(70) Jesus answered them, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil." (71) He spoke of Judas Iscariot of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus rhetorically asked if He had chosen them, the twelve, as if to say that He through the Father was drawing them to know His spiritual truths and He knew that they would accept Him.  However, He warned them that He knew one of them was a devil.  John added his explanation that Jesus spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, who would eventually betray Him, although he was one of the twelve Jesus had chosen.  Once again, it makes one wonder, was Judas never what he professed to be, but Jesus chose him anyway for His purposes?  And if so, did Judas recognize that Jesus was talking about him, and could he have heeded Jesus's warnings about him?  Or was he an honest believer in the beginning and then turned away and rejected Jesus?  Only God knows the heart of man.

Jesus Feeds 5000 and Then Walks on Water

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 6:1) After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee which is the Sea of Tiberius.

In the last chapter, Jesus had healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, and then vindicated Himself against the Jews who questioned His authority to allow the healed man to take up his mat on the Sabbath.  Gleaned from the other Gospel writers and commentators that I study, it seems it was quite a while after those things had happened that Jesus now went across the Sea of Galilee which is also called the Sea of Tiberius.

(2) And a great multitude followed Him because they saw His miracles which He did on those who were diseased.

A large crowd of people who had witnessed His miracles of healing followed Jesus.

(3) And Jesus went up in a mountain and there He sat with His disciples. (4) And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

Jesus went up into a mountain and sat there with His disciples.  It seems the Passover was nearing again so it had been over ten months since the incident at the pool of Bethesda.

(5) When Jesus then lifted up and saw a great company coming to Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?"

When Jesus looked up and saw the multitude of people coming toward Him, He asked Philip where they should buy bread to feed all the people.  It may have been that Philip was in charge of providing such victuals, or perhaps he was of this area and might best know where they could buy bread.

(6) And this He did to prove him for He Himself knew what He would do.

Actually, we see Jesus's reason for asking Philip was to test his faith.  After all, Philip had been with Jesus from the beginning and had seen Him turn water into wine.  Would he not realize that Jesus could just as easily provide bread for all these people?  Jesus already knew what He planned to do.

(7) Philip answered Him, "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little."

It seems Philip failed the test.  He answered in a secular manner attempting to show how impractical it was for them to pay two hundred pennyworth for bread, which may have been all they had, to only give each person a little bit.

(8) One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, (9) "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"

Andrew, hearing Jesus's question to Philip, told Jesus that there was a boy there who had five loaves of barley bread and two small fish, but then added that that was way too inadequate to feed so many people.

(10) And Jesus said, "Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number, about five thousand.

Jesus instructed the disciples to have the people sit down on the plenteous green grass that was at the foot of the mountain.  The people did as they were told and the men numbered about five thousand.  The account in Matthew added that that didn't include women and children who were among the ones asked to sit down.

(11) And Jesus took the loaves and when He had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sat down, and likewise of the fish as much as they wanted.

Jesus took the loaves of bread and gave thanks and blessed them and then distributed them to the disciples who in turn, passed bread out to the people.  He did the same with the two fish, and the people were able to get as much food as they wanted.

(12) When they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing is lost."

When all the people had eaten their fill, Jesus told His disciples to gather up all the leftover scraps so that no food was wasted.

(13) Therefore they gathered together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above to them who had eaten.

The disciples gathered the leftovers and filled twelve baskets with them, what started as one basket with five loaves and two small fish.  And of course, that was what was left after all the people had eaten their fill.

(14) Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, "This is truly that Prophet who should come into the world."

When the people realized what a miracle Jesus had done in feeding them, they remarked that He was surely the great Prophet who was to come into the world of whom Moses had spoken, their long-awaited Messiah.

(15) When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone.

Jesus began to perceive that the people might try to take Him to make Him their King, so He slipped away back up into a mountain by Himself.

(16) And when evening was come, His disciples went down to the sea,

While Jesus stayed for a little rest and solitude and probably prayer, His disciples went down to the sea.  According to the accounts in Matthew and Mark, Jesus directed them to go ahead before Him to the other side of the sea.

(17) And entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark and Jesus had not come to them.

The disciples boarded a boat and sailed across the sea toward Capernaum.  It had become dark and Jesus had not yet caught up to them.

(18) And the sea arose because of a great wind that blew.

While they were in the middle of the sea in the dark a storm arose with a great wind and caused the sea to swell up and lift up great waves.

(19) So when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the ship, and they were afraid.

The disciples had rowed about three and a half miles when they saw Jesus walking on the water of the sea.  He was coming toward them and they were afraid.  The account in Matthew said they thought it was a spirit they saw.

(20) But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." (21) Then they willingly received Him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land where they went.

Jesus called out to the disciples that it was He and they should not be afraid.  It was at this point, the account in Matthew tells us that Jesus called Peter to Him and Peter walked on water toward Jesus until he became afraid and sank.  It was after that when Jesus got into the boat.  John added something none of the other gospel accounts mentioned.  Once Jesus was onboard, the ship immediately was onshore at their destination.  The account in Mark said only that as Jesus got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Perhaps John did not mean that the boat was miraculously and instantaneously on the land at their destination but that it very quickly arrived, but John did seem to suggest an extraordinary sudden arrival.

(22) The day following, when the people who stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except that one in which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not gone with His disciples into the boat, but His disciples had gone away alone, 

The next day the people whom Jesus had fed back on the other side of the sea saw that there were no boats there other than the one they had seen His disciples leave in, and they knew Jesus had not gone with them.  Therefore, they would assume Jesus was still on that side of the sea.

(23) (However, there came other boats from Tiberius near to the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks)

John made a parenthetical statement that although there were no other boats at first, there then came other boats from Tiberius to the place where they had eaten the food Jesus had provided for them the evening before.

(24) When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

When the people saw that Jesus was not still on their side of the sea and neither were His disciples, they got into the boats that were arriving from Tiberius and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

(25) And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

The people indeed found Jesus on the other side of the sea at Capernaum and asked Him when He had come there as they knew He had not gone with His disciples in the only boat they had seen.  His answer will be in the next post.  Although this makes for a rather short post, this chapter is very long and this seems the best stopping place for now, as the rest of the chapter is of Jesus's words to the people.