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JOHN CHAPTER 6
OBSERVATION STAGE
Let's take a look at this chapter in its entirety first to see what we can observe from it alone within the context of the book of John, and then we will double back and provide elaboration and corroboration.
The observation stage is to teach an individual to focus on the text at hand which, by and large, has all the information necessary to understand what it is saying without going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
(v. 1 NIV) "Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias)
(v. 2 NIV) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
(v. 3 NIV) Then Jesus went up on a mountain side and sat down with his disciples.
(v. 4 NIV) The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
(v. 5 NIV) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?'
(v. 6 NIV) He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do."
OBSERVATIONS vv. 1-6
(vv. 1-2 NIV)
(v. 1 NIV) "Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias)
(v. 2 NIV) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick."
Jesus, after some unspecified amount of time from an unspecified location, was reported as having crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is the Sea of Tiberias), where a great crowd of people followed because of the miracles He had performed on the sick.
Notice that that the crowd observed and understood that Jesus performed miracles of healing the sick. And the text concurs.
The previous verses and other passages from John and other books may shed some light on where our Lord was and how long ago before he crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and how these accounts are related. This we can do later, after first observance of the text of the entire chapter is completed - so that we are not swayed by information from elsewhere until we can get a handle on the passage at hand. Notice that author John provides a motivation for the crowd's following Jesus.
(v. 3 NIV) "Then Jesus went up on a mountain side and sat down with his disciples."
"anElthen de ..eis .....to ..oros .........iEsous"
"went up ..and into ..the mountain Jesus" =
Notice that the Greek text indicates that Jesus went up and into the mountain. We can thus observe from this that He did not go to the top, but to a side of the mountain. Certainly He did not dig into the side of the mountain to go under the earth. Hence the best rendering is mountainside in English. We can observe that He positioned Himself, the transportation mode not being stipulated, on the side of the mountain - a good place for addressing a large crowd.
So Jesus went up and into a mountain indicating that he went onto a mountain side with His disciples - as opposed to a mountain top. Verse 23 indicates that a boat landing on the sea shore was in close proximity to the mountain side.
(v. 4 NIV) The Jewish Passover Feast was close to beginning.
We can investigate what the significance of the Passover is to this account later as we take a look at parallel passages and the previous chapter 5.
(vv. 5-6 NIV)
(v. 5 NIV) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?'
(v. 6 NIV) He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do."
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?' (He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.)
The Lord's question to Philip was evidently a test, in part to teach the disciples to be concerned for the temporal needs of people as well as the spiritual and eternal. Since the logical frame of reference of telling someone to provide food for a number of people is that the people have no provision of their own for the moment; then the logical framework of the Lord's question, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" was that the crowd who followed Jesus was hungry and did not possess significant if any food to satisify that hunger - more likely the latter since people had a habit of following Him around for days - even staying overnight - without any opportunity to get provision for food, as they did in this case, (cf. v. 22). Furthermore, in verse 26, Jesus rebukes the crowd for constantly expecting Him to provide food for them - evidently it was a pattern with them to follow Him around without their own provision of food, expecting Him to feed them. Finally, later in the passage, the feeding of the crowd is paralleled with the Lord's complete provision of eternal life through a moment of faith alone in Himself alone - to the exclusion of any other provision but that moment of faith. Hence the feeding must be also be complete in order for both to be parallel with one another.
So by virtue of the context of His question, the Lord was seeking to feed everyone in the crowd. He took it upon Himself and His disciples, the task of making provision of food for everyone in the crowd. The provision of food for the crowd is portrayed as a miraculous feeding of everyone in the crowd with no indication or implication that anyone provided their own food as some maintain.
We can expect more details of our Lord's plans for the crowd as the passage unfolds in view of what we have investigated so far. And we can observe that the passage implies that our Lord presumed that the crowd was seeking Him and would be hungry and without sufficient provisions to satisfy that hunger. We also see that the author John is inputting his own personal comments on the motivation of our Lord. The reason for His question to Philip was to test him for some reason - testing his faith in our Lord’s leadership and capacity to resolve the problem and at the same time training him and the other disciples for their future lives as His disciples.
(v. 7 NIV) "Philip answered him, 'Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'
(v. 8 NIV) Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,
(v. 9 NIV) 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?'
(v. 10 NIV) Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.' There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
(v. 11 NKJV) And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
(v. 12 NIV) When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.'
(v. 13 NIV) So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten."
OBSERVATIONS vv. 7-13:
(vv. 7-9 NIV)
(v. 7 NIV) "Philip answered him, 'Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'
(v. 8 NIV) Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,
(v. 9 NIV) 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?' "
So Philip answers Jesus' test question that not even eight months wages would be enough to provide bread so that each one in the crowd could have even one bite of bread. Notice that with the phrase, " 'Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite," Philip's mindset was that each one in the crowd needed food. Furthermore, the hungry crowd was quite large and huge quantities of food would be required in order to feed them all. Philip conveyed to the Lord the absurdity of the disciples' trying to purchase enough food to feed the huge crowd. The emphatic phrase "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite." implies that the disciples had an amount of money that was wholly insignificant to eight months' wages much less sufficient funds to feed the huge crowd of people.
Then another of our Lord's disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother made the observation, (v. 9), 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many,' which was worded by Andrew as a complete answer to the Lord's request to feed everyone in the crowd. From this we must conclude that Andrew's observation implied that the boy's food was all that the crowd had. No where else in the passage is it stipulated or implied that someone had food at that time as some maintain.
So the point is made by two disciples that everyone in the crowd needed food and their capacity to to do that fell short by an impossible margin. So far the disciples had not evidenced looking to Jesus' capacity to provide a supernatural solution to the problem of feeding everyone in the crowd despite His miracles of the past alluded to in verse 6:2. On the other hand, it is not illogical to search for a natural solution first before resorting to the supernatural and hence build a case for our Lord's miraculous intervention.
(v. 10 NIV) "Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.' There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them."
Having heard this, Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.' As we saw earlier, (v. 6), Jesus already had a plan in mind to solve the crowds need to have something to eat. In this verse, Jesus begins to put His plan into action.
Author John then provides his observation that 'there was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.' The verse then states that the men sat down, which means they obeyed the instructions given to them by the disciples.
It is evident that Jesus intended for the people to be served a meal while they were seated as opposed to having them come to a central place to get the food - evidently a lesson for the disciples to be servants and a practical means to avoid such a large crowd rushing forward to grab the food.
It is interesting to note that men are reported as having sat down. Women and children are not mentioned in this observation - but this does not exclude them - especially considering the little boy mentioned in verse 9 who was part of the crowd.
(v. 11 NIV) "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."
(v. 11 NKJV) And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
Notice that there were thousands who were seated and they all received as much bread and fish as they wanted. The context indicates that all of this food came from the original supply of the boy's five small barley loaves and two small fish. Jesus demonstrated His capacity and readiness to meet the needs of a large crowd supernaturally relative to hunger.
Manuscript evidence points to the disciples not being mentioned in verse 11, but the context and Mark 6:41 point to their participation in the distribution of the loaves and fish.
(vv. 12-13 NIV)
(v. 12 NIV) "When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.'
(v. 13 NIV) So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten."
When the thousands had all had enough to eat, Jesus told His disciples to gather the left overs, and 'Let nothing be wasted'. The phrase "Let nothing be wasted" implies that Jesus had some further use in mind for the left over food. Whereupon the disciples gathered twelve baskets of bread pieces left over from those who had eaten which it is directly stated came from the original five barley loaves and from those who had eaten.
Notice that a miracle is implied here as thousands were fed from 5 small barley loaves with twelve baskets of pieces left over from those who had eaten. So no other source of the food can be interpreted except those original 5 loaves and 2 small fish.
(v. 14 NIV) "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.'
(v. 15 NIV) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
(v. 16 NIV) When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,
(v. 17 NIV) 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.
(v. 18 NIV) A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
(v. 19 NIV) When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.
(v. 20 NIV) But he said to them, 'It is I; don't be afraid.'
(v. 21 NIV) Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading."
OBSERVATIONS vv. 14-21:
(v. 14 NIV) "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' "
Once more the people saw a miraculous sign that Jesus did and they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet Who is to come into the world.'
Notice that this is confirmation that our Lord indeed did miraculously feed the crowd on the mountain side, for if nothing miraculous occurred then there would be no reason to remark that Jesus was the expected Prophet.
Notice also that the people referred to a Prophet Who they apparently heard of Who is to come into the world and that Prophet was Jesus in their estimation. This subject requires investigation of the Old Testament to determine what is written there about a coming Prophet.
(v. 15 NIV) "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."
Then comes a startling revelation from author John: Jesus knew that the crowd intended to force Him to declare Himself and become King.
This testifies to a supernatural quality which only God can have or provide one with omniscience. Thus the crowd indeed concluded by what Jesus said and did that He was this Prophet that they spoke of and that He had come into the world as Jesus in their time. They viewed this Prophet as One Who would take over a worldly kingdom when He came Who would have to overwhelm the Roman Empire in order to be King under His own authority outside of their approval. And they intended to force Him to become King. The extent and description of this kingdom is not stipulated here but bears further investigation also from other passages in Scripture which speak of a Prophet Who was to come and be sacrificed for sins and then come of His own power to be King without any help from others. Hence the crowd demonstrated a point of view about Jesus as the Prophet, Messiah and King that was largely unbiblical.
So Jesus withdrew Himself from the crowd to a mountain by Himself, taking charge of His own destiny. From this account we may conclude that Jesus was not expecting to be King over an earthly kingdom at this time. We can also conclude that He was either God or enabled by God to be omniscient.
(vv. 16-17 NIV)
(v. 16 NIV) "When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,
(v. 17 NIV) 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."
Then when evening came, presumably the evening of that day, Jesus' disciples went down to the Lake [literally, sea] where they got into a boat and set off across the sea for Capernaum, hence continuing this literal historical narrative in a consecutive time sequence account. At that time it was dark and Jesus had not joined them by the time they had disembarked. The account indicates that there was an expectation that Jesus would join them.
(vv. 18-20 NIV)
(v. 18 NIV) "A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
(v. 19 NIV) When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.
(v. 20 NIV) But he said to them, 'It is I; don't be afraid.' "
A strong wind was blowing that night on the Sea and the waters grew rough. The disciples had departed without Jesus and had rowed out approximately 3 to 3 1/2 miles in the rough seas at night when they saw something on the water approaching them that terrified them. What they saw they did not immediately recognize. It was Jesus walking on the water toward them, for He said, 'It is I, don't be afraid', which verifies that they did not know what it was that made them so frightened.
Notice that the original Greek has "peripatouva epi tes thalasses" = "walking upon the sea", indicating a supernatural event. This is corroborated by the frightened reaction of the disciples, for someone wading in shallow water would hardly be a reason for the frightened reaction. Note that a conclusion that the waters were shallow enabling Jesus to wade to the boat is unwarranted for a number of other reasons. The draft of the boat which contained the disciples requires deeper than wading depth water. Furthermore, there would not be seas remarked in verse 18 as "rough" if the boat was in shallow water. The boat was 3 to 3 1/2 miles out to sea where shallow water would not occur. Even an unlikely sand bar must be ruled out, for Jesus would have to have arrived at the sand bar miles out from shore before the alleged wading was to occur.
(v. 21 NIV) Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading."
Then when Jesus spoke to them, the disciples were willing to take Him into the boat. Immediately after that the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
The word "immediately" appears at the beginning of the phrase in verse 21b for emphasis which indicates a supernatural end to their trip the moment Jesus entered the boat rather than a normal sequence of events.
(v. 22 NIV) "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.
(v. 23 NIV) Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
(v. 24 NIV) 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.
(v. 25 NIV) When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?'
(v. 26 NIV) 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.
(v. 27 NIV) Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.'
(v. 28 NIV) Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?'
(v. 29 NIV) Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' "
(v. 22 NIV) "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." =
Notice a continuation of a literal historical narrative with the phrase, 'the next day.' The crowd, which had stayed on the opposite shore of the Sea from where Jesus was now, (v. 25), realized that only one of the two boats which Jesus & His disciples were using remained there overnight, (cf. vv. 6:16-17).
The context indicates here that what the crowd observed included information they gathered from the previous day. They observed that after Jesus withdrew to a mountain by Himself, (v. 15), He had not entered the boat with His disciples when they left shore; but that they had gone away without Him. They also observed that the second boat which Jesus and His group were using remained on the shore. Hence they wondered how and when Jesus came to be on the opposite shore without any available means of transportation, (v. 25). They did not observe how and when He had left to cross over the sea in a rather rough night on the water. The possibility of a supernatural crossing of the sea by Jesus is implied.
Notice that all of this indicates how closely the crowd followed Jesus' movements to the extent that they observed the movement of the boats and the individuals He traveled with and evidently contemplated where He might go.
2) WHEN THE CROWD DID NOT FIND JESUS OR THE DISCIPLES THEY PURSUED HIM TO CAPERNAUM
(v. 23 NIV) "Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. (v. 24 NIV) 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. (v. 25 NIV) When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?' " =
So when some boats from Tiberias landed near where the people had eaten the bread and not finding Jesus or His disciples there, the crowd got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Him. When they got to the other side of the sea at Capernaum they found Jesus and immediately asked Him, 'Rabbi, when did you get here?'
Notice the word 'Rabbi' which means Teacher of the Scriptures - one with such authority was a highly respected individual in Jewish society.
3) JESUS IMPLIES HE WAS PERFORMING MIRACLES WHICH HAD A PURPOSE THAT WAS NOT SOLELY AND SIMPLY TO FEED THE HUNGRY OR PROVIDE OTHER TEMPORAL BENEFITS SUCH AS IF HE WERE TO BECOME KING AT THIS TIME
(v. 26 NIV) "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.' " =
Jesus implies that He was performing miracles which had a purpose that was not solely and simply to feed the hungry or provide other temporal benefits.
It is evident that many of the crowd that were miraculously fed were persistent in their pursuit of Jesus; but Jesus remarked that it was for all the wrong reasons. He answered their question in an attempt to give them a perspective of what He came for:
"I tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miraculous signs...
[Notice that Jesus says specifically that He was performing miracles]
... but because you ate the loaves and had your fill."
Notice that Jesus is rebuking those in the crowd because their perspective relative to His purpose and miracles was their stomachs = exclusively the temporal, materialistic. Recall earlier in v. 15 that the crowd intended to come and make Him King evidently for temporal benefit, without concern for their entrance into the eternal Kingdom.
4) JESUS IMPLIES THAT HE IS THE AUTHORITY ON AND THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE
(v. 26 NIV) "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truthyou are looking for Me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.' (v. 27 NIV) Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' " =
Notice that Jesus rebukes the crowd for focusing on the temporal instead of the eternal which the latter evidently is what is most relevant to His mission and message. Recall in verse 15 that the crowd 'intended to come and make Him king by force' which indicates their viewpoint was of an immediate earthly kingdom which was to give them a worldly & temporal benefit without consideration for their own problem of falling short of eternal kingdom life. So Jesus compares the temporal nature of eating physical food which satisfies for only a short while and has to be repeated to the eternal result of working for the Food that once received endures to eternal life, this Food not needing to be repeatedly received.
So the context of the purpose of Jesus as confirmed by His performing of miracles continues. He told the crowd - relative to His purpose not to work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life; hence Jesus connects Himself and His purpose - emphatically punctuated by His miracles - with working for food that endures to eternal life. It is implied here that He is the authority on and the source of eternal life.
5) HAVING ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT HE IS THE AUTHORITY ON AND THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE, JESUS STIPULATES THAT THE SON OF MAN WILL GIVE ONE ETERNAL LIFE, EVIDENTLY REFERRING TO HIMSELF
(v. 26 NIV) "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.' (v. 27 NIV) Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' " =
Having already established that He is the authority on and the source of eternal life, Jesus stipulates that the Son of Man will give one eternal life, evidently referring to Himself.
6) THE SON OF MAN CONNOTES A UNIQUE MAN WHO HAS THE SEAL OF APPROVAL OF GOD THE FATHER, GRANTS ETERNAL LIFE, WHO IS JESUS HIMSELF, WHO PERFORMS MIRACLES AND WHO IS GOD
(v. 27 NIV) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' " =
The phrase "Son of" when it is not referring to physical offspring signifies identity or similarity with whatever follows "of;" in this case man or humanity, i.e., He is human. In view of the definite article that precedes "Son of Man" we can conclude that a specific and unique Son of Man is in view, and not just any human being.
The Son of Man is further depicted in v. 6:27 as having the authority and power to give eternal life when one 'works for the Food that endures to eternal life'. Furthermore, Jesus refers to 'the Son of Man' in such a way that it points to Himself and His mission.
Finally, verse 27 stipulates that the Son of Man gives eternal life to individuals and has God's seal of approval. From this we can determine that the Son of Man must be the source of eternal life, i.e., He is eternal, not just another recipient of eternal life. Since only God is eternal and hence the source of eternal life, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man must be God as well as the unique Son of Man. Unique all the more because God the Father has placed His seal of approval on Him. So the term 'the Son of Man' in verse 27 connotes a unique Man Who has the seal of approval of God the Father, grants eternal life, Who is Jesus Himself, Who performs miracles, Who is God.
Notice that Jesus refers to Himself in the third person as One with the unique title of 'The Son of Man'. To refer to oneself in the third person with a unique title is within the normative rules of language, and used frequently. Just as the Presidents of the United States have often referred to themselves in the third person singular as they functioned as "The President" in modern American English, so it is with Jesus referring to Himself in the third Person as functioning as "the Son of Man". The context and later verses clearly indicate that Jesus is the Son of Man Who gives eternal life and only God can do that, so Jesus Christ is God.
7) THE CROWD IS NOW FOCUSED ON AND RECOGNIZES THE POSSIBLE AUTHORITY OF JESUS FROM GOD TO DECLARE WHAT A MAN MUST DO TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE - HOWEVER, THEIR FOCUS STILL REMAINS ON SOME LIST OF THINGS TO DO TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
(v. 14 NIV) "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' (v. 15 NIV) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (v. 26 NIV) 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.' (v. 27 NIV) Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' (v. 28 NIV) "The crowd then asked Jesus 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' " =
So the crowd is now focused on and recognizes the possible authority of Jesus from God to declare what a man must do to have eternal life - especially considering His past miracles. In essence they are recognizing His possible authority from God, potentially even the Prophet they spoke of, the One they intended to force to be King, (vv. 14, 15).
So when Jesus stipulated that a man must 'work... for the Food that endures to eternal life' and when that was satisfied the Son of Man would give one eternal life, the crowd then asked for clarification of what this meant when they asked, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Notice that the crowd still has a mindset that a list of things must be done in order to receive eternal life.
(v. 29 NIV) "Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' "
(v. 27 NIV) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' (v. 29 NIV) Jesus then answered, 'The work of God [to receive the Food which endures to eternal life, (v. 27 NIV)] is this: to believe in the One He has sent' " =
The original Greek of v. 29 with the English below looks like this:
(v. 29) "apekrithE iEsous kai eipen autois .....touto esti to ..ergon
.........""Answered Jesus ..and said ..to them, 'This ..is ...the work
tou .......Theou hina .pisteuEte (*pisteusEte)...eis hon apesteilen
of [the] God ....that .you should believe ...........in .the One Whom sent
ekeinos
that One [or best rendered believe in the One He has sent].'
Notice that the English translation which describes the work one must do to have eternal life, "to believe", is literally in the Greek, "that you should believe". This Greek verb "pisteuEte," rendered 'believe', is in the present tense in the subjunctive mood without qualifiers, (such as 'continuously believing'). *Note that alternate manuscript evidence provides the Greek verb, "pisteusEte" also rendered 'believe' which is in the aorist tense, which conveys a single completed action moment of believing. Since the present tense Greek verb "pisteusEte" within this context also conveys such an action because of the contrast with taking physical food which does not endure as opposed to taking once for all time, i.e., a single completed action in order to receive the Food which itself endures to eternal life - then difference between these two verb forms is insignificant. As a matter of grammar, the present tense "pisteuEte" can be defined as an aoristic present tense because of the context so that there is no difference in meaning at all!
Recall the contrast Jesus makes in verse 27 between continually working for physical food that does not endure and only satisfies ones physical hunger for the moment and has to be taken over & over again as compared to the once for all time Food received as a result of a single moment of believing in Jesus, (as opposed to continual believing), that results in receiving the 'Food' which endures to eternal life, (v. 29). The result is evidently a single moment of spiritual indwelling of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, Who endures in one forever unto eternal life. Just as one works for food which one ingests physically by doing actual physical work, but which does not endure, but instead spoils; so Jesus says, one is instead to 'work' for Food (Himself), which one ingests one time spiritually by a moment of faith in the One God has sent, (Himself), which does not spoil, but Who endures in one unto eternal life from that moment on.
Finally, greek verbs have a mood within which the action of the verb occurs. The subjunctive mood is one of objective possibility, i.e., maybe you will choose to believe, maybe you won't.
(v. 29 NIV) "Jesus then answered, 'The work of God [to receive the Food which endures to eternal life, (v. 27)] is this: to believe in the One He has sent' " =
Once one expresses a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, there is neither time nor a command by God to do anything else to secure eternal life. The present tense verb "that you should believe" in verse 29 is accompanied by no other response by an individual. This signifies that a single present moment of believing is the sole condition required in order to receive the benefit of the Food that endures to eternal life. Since the passage lacks any stipulations other than "to believe" in order to receive the benefit of the Food that endures to eternal life; this rules out continual actions such as a lifestyle of faithful works, constantly taking the Mass or Lord's Supper, continually going to church, etc. Such activities as water baptism, confession, etc. are similarly ruled out for the lack of anything else stipulated in the passage as a requirement.
(v. 27 NIV) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' (v. 28 NIV) Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' (v. 29 NIV) Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' " =
Notice that the Food which endures to eternal life is received internally and spiritually within the individual by a belief in the One God has sent, Jesus Christ, to save one and not via food which must be physically ingested and which spoils and must be eaten over and over again, (v. 27). Thus eternal life is portrayed as a once for all time reception of the Food not by physical ingestion but by simply believing; and it endures unto eternal life. It won't have to be taken over and over again by repeated moments of believing because of its enduring quality once this Food is received the first time!
(v. 27 NIV) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' (v. 28 NIV) Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' (v. 29 NIV) Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' " =
Notice that the phrase 'the work of God is this' in verse 29 refers to the work of God one must do for the Food that endures to eternal life per verse 27. And the sentence that follows 'the work of God is this' in verse 29 stipulates what is necessary to accomplish the reception of the Food which endures to eternal life:
All Jesus asks of anyone in order to receive the Food which endures to eternal life according to this sentence is to believe in the One God the Father has sent into the world, meaning Himself, Who would then endure in one unto one's eternal life because one would be receiving Jesus Himself.
At this point one might have indeed asked what is the Food that endures to eternal life. What is inferred here is that it is Jesus Christ Himself Who is and provides eternal life. For the reception of Food here pictures the Food being incorporated into oneself. Since the eternal food is Jesus Himself then the one who believes incorporates Jesus into oneself . This connotes a figurative and spiritual meaning which later verses in this passage and elsewhere in Scripture will corroborate. So it is Jesus Himself Who is the Food that endures to eternal life within the believer.
(v. 27 NIV) "Do not work for food that spoils, but for the Food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.' (v. 28 NIV) Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' (v. 29 NIV) Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' " =
A present moment of believing = present tense, 2nd person, plural verb 'hina pisteusEte' = 'that you should believe' results in the reception of the Food Jesus Christ Who endures to eternal life. When Jesus is received He endures in one unto eternal life. He is received in the present moment that believing in Him began, i.e., in an instant of time. There is nothing in the context to indicate that it is more than that. Once received, he is ones forever possession by definition, ("endures to eternal life").
Just as one can say that one receives possession of physical life that endures temporally the present tense moment conception occurs, so one can say that one receives possession of the Food that endures to eternal life the moment one meets God's qualification of a single present moment of believing in the One He has sent into the world.
Notice that believing in the 'One God has sent' is the 'work...for the Food that endures unto eternal life'. Therefore it is the 'work' of a moment of believing once for all time which provides the 'Food which endures to eternal life' - which is no work at all.
So an enduring faith is not in view but the 'Food', Jesus Christ, which endures in the believer unto eternal life is:
[Compare Jn 6:27 Greek/English interlinear]:
Reference: http://www.olivetree.com/bible/Frames/GreekNewTestament.htm
"Ergazesthe mE tEn .......brOsin tEn apollumenEn ..alla .tEn
"Do work ...not .for the .food.......the .one perishing but ..for the
....V_PMD2P
brOsin tEn ......menousan eis zOEn aiOnion hEn ....ho huios
Food....the one enduring...to .life.....eternal...which the Son
N_ASF ...RA_ASF V_PAPASF
V_PAPASF = Verb_Pres,Active Voice,Participle,Accusative,Singular,Feminine
tou .......anthrOpou humin dOsei .....touton ...........gar
of [the] man ............to you will give .upon this one for
ho .PatEr ..esphragisen ......ho Theos."
the Father has set His seal .the God."
[Notice the noun:
"the Food" (ASF) = Accusative, Singular, Feminine
matches up with the participle:
"enduring" = (ASF) = Accusative, Singular, Feminine
and not with the verb "work" which is plural:
"work" [= V_PMD2P] = Plural
So the phrase "which endures" [lit. "the one enduring"] is not describing working 'enduringly' as 'enduring' would have to be an adverb and be plural, but it is a participle serving as an adjective modifying the noun, 'the Food', i.e., modifying the result of believing: 'the Food enduring unto eternal life'. So the Food which endures unto eternal life is received by simply believing in the Son of Man to save you.
The identity of the Food which endures to eternal life is inferred here and clearly stipulated in this passage as Jesus Himself, (v. 35).
In view of the verb "to believe" which is in the present tense, one could no more conclude that continual faith is required any more than if water baptism were the work one stipulated that one must do to receive the Food which endures to eternal life which would demand a continuously wet experience throughout ones life.
Recall the contrast Jesus makes in verse 27 between continually working for physical food that does not endure and only satisfies ones physical hunger for the moment and has to be taken over & over again as compared to the once for all time Food received as a result of a single moment of believing in Jesus, (as opposed to continual believing), that endures to eternal life, (v. 29). This includes one single moment of spiritual indwelling of Jesus Christ Who endures in one forever.
According to Scripture, a continuous and perfect state of believing in Christ is not possible with mortal man which would necessitate sinless perfection night and day. For any sin a believer commits reflects a degree of unbelief and no one can claim to be without sin, nor maintain a perfect state of continuous faith:
Can an individual express saving faith in Christ as Savior continuously - without any interruption all his life even during moments when he is asleep - completely in unconscious sleep? This requires a constant acknowledgment of the content of the gospel and a continual mental acceptance of it without any interupting thoughts 27/7.
Suppose while in a deep sleep with your active mind unconscious, you no longer are continuously maintaining faith in Christ as Savior, you die in your sleep and then because of this unconscious lapse, wake up in Hell - after a long life of faithful service to God!!! Is that what God is asking of you - night and day?
Can an individual maintain perfect, uninterrupted saving faith in Christ as Savior throughout his waking day? Consider an accountant who is in deep concentration, keying in figures on a spread sheet making sure of his accuracy. Can he also be maintaining a deep concentration on trusting in Christ as Savior without interruption?
Could you ever lose your salvation during the moment when you are considering what to have for lunch instead of continuing to believe in Christ to save you - as your thoughts are not for the moment on Jesus Christ but on the Tuna Melt sandwich on the menu?
What would you then need to do to get it back? Is it really eternal life if you keep losing it every time your mind wanders to some other subject? Wouldn't it be better to call it 'For the Moment Life' rather than eternal life? And how do you get eternal life back after your momentary lapse?
(v. 29 NIV) "Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' " =
Present tense signifies action in present time for the duration of whatever the context indicates. The Greek present tense by itself does not automatically convey continuous action - nor does the English equivalent. It may or may not be continuous - depending upon the context and/or the presence of qualifying words. Present tense action in the absence of qualifiers demands a singular action in the present moment without requiring that it be continuous throughout the present. No first century Greek reader or hearer was likely to get a meaning such as 'continue to believe' in order to have eternal life without the necessary additional qualifiers to the present tense.
Since the present tense in English is not always continuous and since we have no major or even minor translation of the bible in English that includes an adverb modifier of believes such as continually believes, then we can conclude that the Greek most likely does not demand continual action either.
If I were to say, "In the morning I get on a bus, pay my fare with a bus pass, and get off where I work;" does the phrase 'pay my fare' mean I continually pay the fare until the ride ends, or is it in a moment of present time until the end is achieved, i.e., about 1 second to swipe the pass through the slot on top of the fare box? Same with 'I get on the bus' is not continual nor is 'get off'. Present tense is simply a present moment of action until the context determines when the action ceases. This is true in the koine Greek also.
Furthermore, since eternal life is everlasting by definition, then the first present tense moment of believing which is the 'work' stipulated in verse 29 which provides the 'Food' that endures to eternal life begins the reception of that life which will last forever. It cannot ever be lost because eternal life cannot end once it has begun, otherwise it wouldn't be called eternal, i.e., unending life.
One must consider according to this verse that believing in Jesus, the Son of Man, to give one the Food enduring unto eternal life is all the work that is required because no more than this is stipulated in the verse and the result stipulated in that same verse is eternal life when one begins to believe.
In answer to those who say you cannot isolate one verse to determine what it takes to be saved, like Jn 6:29, i.e., that other verses add more to what is required:
If anything else besides faith is stipulated in other verses as necessary in order to gain eternal life and it never is anywhere in the bible, then this particular verse is in error. No matter what the case, this particular verse, (29), within its own context cannot be changed to include anything more than the moment of faith alone in Christ alone as necessary to gain eternal life forever because that's what the verse says. Jesus, being the Son of God, cannot be wrong in what He said, leaving something out. Although it is true that Scripture is often used to interpret Scripture, going to another passage has to be warranted by the passage in view itself. The elsewhere passage must then match the context of the first. Furthermore, the other passages which people cite which supposedly add more to what it takes to have eternal life have been incorrectly interpreted. There is no contradiction in scripture here and permission to editorialize from improper interpretation elsewhere is denied!
In answer to those who demand that one has to consider certain key passages or even the whole bible in order to determine that a verse like Jn 6:29 says:
If this were true then
1) No one could be saved who lived before the OT was available or the NT because none of these millions of people had available to them the entire bible.
2) No one could master the first single verse he ever read because it would depend upon a complete knowledge of key or even all verses beforehand which cannot be attained until one mastered that first verse - a clear impossibility of circular reasoning.
3) The context of any verse could never be settled until it is changed by the whims of any interpreter into whatever meaning he deems fit.
4) The normative rules of language, context and logic by which the author's words were penned would have to be repeatedly broken in order to accommodate the whims of each bible interpreter. Author John's words could then be modified to suit any interpreter's will.
5) The words of God's Word would no longer say what they mean.
Consider that to believe in Jesus to save one is actually no work at all. Since a work is something one does to merit a result, then the act of believing in someone to provide eternal life is not meritorious, for one is not portrayed as providing the eternal life for oneself. It is Jesus Who is the One doing all the work. Thus the second 'work' in verse 29 is a figure of speech, a play on words. The false interpretation that demands that faith is a work produces the absurdity of equating the mutually exclusive terms faith and works. On the other hand, v. 29 by the normative rules of language is a figure of speech called catachresis. A catachresis occurs when one is using a word to denote something radically different from its normal meaning. It pictures the contrast of the first actual 'work' for physical food that spoils which work has to be repeated over and over with the second 'work' for the Food that endures to eternal life by a completed action moment of believing in Jesus, which needs no repetition and is no work at all for you and me.
Just as a father can answer his eight year old son's question, "Can I drive your car to school today, daddy?" by a play on words using the word "drive" to mean "ride" with his answer, "I'll tell you which car you can drive. You can drive the regular school bus that comes to pick you up every school day."
In the same way our Lord uses the word work in a figurative fashion when He says, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent" which is no work at all.
The New Testament epistles which are for the most part exhortations toward leading a faithful Christian life, are addressed to true believers, not unbelievers, nor false professors, nor to those who could lose their salvation for some reason, if that were possible, (and it is not: at the point of faith one receives possession of eternal life which is eternal by definition, cf. John 6:29). Exhortations in the bible to true believers to lead faithful lives indicate by their existence and context that there is no guarantee that true believers will lead lives faithful to their beliefs. The very existence of these letters in the New Testament indicates that there is no guarantee that true believers who are truly saved and truly secure in their salvation will truly lead faithful lives. Hence not being faithful to any degree is not a true indicator that one is not truly saved. So fruit inspection to determine if one is saved or not is fruitless.
The nature of believing is defined as a moment of mental acceptance of that which is presented to one as true. According to the usage of language, the words faith, trust, receive, know, accept, assent are all synonymous with believe.
Three important aspects of the nature of believing are key to understanding the nature of true saving faith:
a) Truly believing in something can be contradicted by ones behavior. For example, one can believe that exercise is good for ones health but not exercise for any number of reasons, not the least of which is having conflicting priorities, being lazy, or having current health problems. In the same way, the believer may have conflicting priorities, is lazy or has a current spiritual sickness which obstructs his faithfulness.
b) Faithfulness is not part of the makeup of saving faith, nor a reliable indicator that one expressed saving faith. Faithfulness to a mature Christian might be somewhat of an indicator that one is a believer; but an outward sign can often be misconstrued or counterfeited. Furthermore, a lack of faithfulness which all true believers are guilty of every day, (1 Jn 1:8, 10), does not compute that one never expressed a moment of faith alone in Christ alone to be saved forever to eternal life. No where in Scripture is ones faithful behavior in view in order to confirm whether or not one at some time expressed a moment of saving faith. Saving faith is a moment of accepting that Jesus Christ died for ones sins resulting immediately in the reception of eternal life for ever, (Jn 6:29). Absent in every gospel passage is any reference to human behavior.
c) Since only a moment of faith alone in Christ alone provides eternal life forever, then after that moment neither faith nor faithfulness need be expressed.
d) Scripture repeatedly says that salvation is all about Jesus Christ and His faithfulness and not about us and what we do. Even works done for Him and through Him are not what we are to look to for assurance of our salvation. After we have believed in the One God has sent, (Jn 6:29), we are to look to Him alone Who, once received via a moment of faith alone in Christ alone, endures in us unto eternal life without any further response by us, (Jn 6:27-29).
(v. 30) '''So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
(v. 31) Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
(v. 32) Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, 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.
(v. 33) For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
(v. 34) "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this Bread."
(v. 35) 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."
OBSERVATIONS vv. 30-35:
(v. 30) '''So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?"
Jesus answered their question of 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' by stipulating that all one had to do was 'to believe in the One He has sent,' referring to Himself. But the crowd did not accept that He was indeed the One God had sent to save them and asked for yet another miraculous sign to prove Who He said He was - this after He had just miraculously fed the 5,000 the day before. The crowd said, 'What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe? What will You do?'
(v. 31) "Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "
The crowd even demanded a miracle equal to or greater than the miracle of the manna in the desert so that they would believe in Him.
They said, ''' "Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He [Moses] gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "'''
Note the phrase "our forefathers' which points to the crowd being predominately Jewish. So the unbelieving crowd 'special' orders Jesus to produce a miracle greater than when manna from heaven was provided daily to feed millions of ancient Israelites as they wandered in the desert. The one time miraculous feeding of the more than 5,000 the previous day and all the other miracles Jesus had performed before them were not enough for them to believe in Him as the One God has sent. They were looking for something even greater. One might conclude that any miracle from God which authenticated Jesus as the True Bread from heaven should have been sufficient, no matter what the scale. But not this crowd nor most of humanity. Notice by the phrase 'that we may see it and believe' that the crowd understood that Jesus was saying that to have eternal life all one had to do was to believe in Jesus as the One God had sent to save them. They just did not believe in His capacity to provide eternal life for them as the One God had sent, demanding a miracle greater than the manna in the desert.
(v. 32) "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, 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.' "
Jesus' answer indicated that He Himself was far greater than any miracle of the past. He said to them, 'I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the Bread from heaven, but so much the greater is the miracle that My Father gives you which is the True [Eternal] Bread from heaven.'
Since the crowd brought up the miracle of the manna, i.e., bread from heaven to feed the ancient Israelites, Jesus uses the word 'bread' to describe a far greater miraculous sign which had occurred right their in their midst in their time: Himself, God Incarnate. He said, '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 [referring to Himself].
In the phrase which Jesus speaks "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the Bread from heaven," Jesus implies that the crowd falsely maintained that it was Moses who gave them, (= as the crowd is identified with their ancient ancestors), the manna rather than God. Then Jesus speaks the phrase, "but it is My Father Who gives you the True Bread from heaven," wherein He further implies that in the same way that it was really His Father, (implying that Jesus had a close personal relationship with God), Who performed the miracle of the manna to the ancient Israelites, so it was God, His Father, Who provides the true Bread of Eternal Life to all mankind = Jesus Himself. Furthermore, it is implied that just as the miracle of the manna from heaven to feed the ancient Israelite ancestors of the crowd was not by Moses but by God Himself, so the miracle of the bread to feed the crowd was by Jesus, the One Who did it by the power of God, Who was even God Himself.
So Jesus points to a far greater gift from God the Father from heaven than the manna from heaven to feed the ancient Israelites - one that does not merely feed one physically from day to day, but one which provides eternal life once for all time, the True Bread, Jesus Himself. So when Jesus told the crowd in v. 27 to work for the Food that endures to eternal life, the Food He was referring to was Himself, the True Bread as it says in vv. 32-35.
There are some
key passages that corroborate the doctrine that when one believes in the
Son one then immediately has the Son and has eternal life. These will be
examined as soon as we finish this first phase of observing what John
chapter 6 says from beginning to end. 
Jesus here refers to Himself as the True Bread, (specifically stipulated in v. 35), and says that He came from heaven. Recall that no man has yet reached heaven, yet Jesus Christ refers to Himself as having come from heaven. This is a reference to His eternal and heavenly existence as the Son of God - the Second Person of the Trinity. This corroborates the fact that He addresses God as His Father, inferring a close and personal relationship with God as the Son of God His Father.
(v. 33) "For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Then Jesus explains further so there can be no mistaking what He is saying, 'For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world'. In other words, Jesus gives eternal life to those who simply believe in Him, (vv. 27-29) once for all time. There is no need to repeat the work of believing in Jesus over and over to produce this True Manna from Heaven Who endures in the believer to provide you eternal life.
Notice that Jesus states that He is the Bread of God Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. He is claiming here to have the power of life, i.e., the power of God Himself. He claims to come from heaven where only angels and God reside and to be the Provider of eternal life to the world. This statement dwarfs the manna from heaven that fed the Israelites and is another claim of the diety of Jesus Christ.
******* EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER 3 ********
"No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man."
OBSERVATIONS:
Our Lord then gives Nicodemus a heavenly picture with "No one has ever gone into heaven" indicating that no man, even Abraham nor any of the saints of old, has ever gone into heaven.
(They remained in Paradise until our Lord's sacrifice for sins at Calvary after which time He would set the captives in Paradise free and bring them into heaven.)
There is one exception:
"The Son of Man, the One Who came from heaven." Just as all Jesus' previous responses have been relevant to Nicodemus' statement/question "We know you are a Teacher Who has come from God"; so this point has to do with Who He is. Jesus is referring to Himself as the 'Son of Man, the One Who came from heaven', indicating that He is more than an average Man; for no man "has ever gone into heaven, except the Son of Man Himself, the One Who came from heaven." The Son of Man is God and Man come down from heaven to save people from their sins and to reign forever.
(v. 48) "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.
[Notice that Jesus is portrayed here as demonstrating the capacity of godly omniscience]
(v. 49) Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.
[Our Lord is named by Nathaniel as the Son of God implying diety and as the King of Israel]
(v. 50) Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
(v. 51) He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man [referring to Himself."
Our Lord portrays Himself as the Son of Man Who has authority over the angels in heaven, implying diety]
***** END OF EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER 3 *****
(v. 6:33 cont.) "For the Bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
The crowd infers that the manna from heaven is superior to anything Jesus did or is. They were focused on the miracles of Jesus comparing them to the Manna and missed the significance of Jesus' miracles pointing to Himself as the True Bread from heaven that provides eternal life. The Manna was only food for the physical body and was limited to providing temporary sustenance to the physical body. But Jesus' miracles pointed to Himself as the True Bread from heaven that provides eternal life. From the text we see also that the individuals that make up the world’s populace are physically alive but spiritually dead and are in need of eternal life (…gives life to the world…).
(v. 34) " 'Sir,' they said, 'from now on give us this Bread.' "
After all of this, the crowd still does not comprehend, for they tell Jesus 'from now on give us this bread' as if they needed a constant supply of some food to ingest to keep on having eternal life. Modern day religious people think the same way. But Jesus already told them that all one had to do was to believe in the One God had sent to them and that would endure to eternal life, (v. 29). And He stipulated that He was that One Who came down from heaven. Yet they asked Him to give them 'this bread of life from now on' as if it was some kind of food like the manna that was given every day to ancient Israel to sustain their physical lives from day to day and not Jesus Himself. They did not understand that eternal life once received by believing in the One God has sent Who endures forever unto eternal life was all sufficient because the True Bread is Jesus Himself Who is eternal. So it does not require a day by day action. Thus the miracle of Jesus was far superior to the manna which was only good for one day at a time & then the Israelites needed tomorrow's provision all over again.
(v. 35) "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 however persisted in spite of the obtuseness and unbelief of the crowd. He 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.'
"Never" in the Greek = "ou me", is a double negative, signifying an emphatic, "absolutely never". Once one expresses a belief in Jesus one will absolutely never be hungry, nor thirsty. This must refer not to a temporal condition of physical hunger or thirst but to an absolute condition of eternal life, never to be lost, especially considering the double negative.
Notice that the key operative word here again in order to 'never be thirsty' is to believe = to believe in Jesus unto eternal life. Since it has already been established that 'the Bread of life' refers to the One Who provides eternal life, the key subject of this chapter 6, then the phrases 'never go hungry' and 'never be thirsty' are to be taken figuratively to mean to have eternal life - a state in which one indeed will never be hungry or thirsty. Therefore the phrase "He who comes to me will never go hungry" parallels the next phrase "he who believes in Me will never be thirsty" - both meaning he who believes in Jesus, the Bread of Eternal life from heaven, will have eternal life. Jesus uses the words hungry and thirsty to describe the state of the dead world from v. 33 that is in need of life.
Notice then that we are back to faith in Jesus as the One Whom God has sent as what one must do to have eternal life - this faith being previously described, (vv. 27-29), as providing the work enduring to eternal life the moment it is exercised; and this is reaffirmed here in verse 35.
"But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe."
Jesus tells the crowd plainly of their disbelief in Him. He told them of Himself. They have seen Him and all that He is, has said, has done and still they do not believe in Him to provide eternal life for them. He has told them plainly Who He is and what they must do to have eternal life and their understanding is still nil. The context portrays a deliberate refusal to believe for which each individual is held accountable. It is interesting to note that Jesus' claims to diety and godly powers were not questioned by the crowd at this time, although they constituted outright blasphemy if Jesus were not God.
(v. 37) " 'All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.' "
"Comes to Me" is depicted in verse 35 as a figure of speech meaning believing in Jesus resulting in eternal life.
Jesus continues this train of thought on who will believe in Him unto eternal life and who will not by stipulating "all that the Father gives Me will come to Me" implying God's sovereign choosing of certain individuals who will then choose to come to faith in Jesus unto eternal life.
The word "gift" implies provision. God has provided for certain individuals such that they are drawn, (v. 44) and enabled, (v. 65) to choose to come to Jesus, His Son, by faith such that these individuals are stipulated as God's gift to His Son. Thus to make this a true gift, there cannot be anyone outside of this elect group of individuals who come to Jesus by faith on their own without God. Otherwise God's gift to His Son would be meaningless for anyone could come to faith in Jesus without God. How valuable and meaningful would such a gift be then? Would it bring glory to God if others could claim to come to Jesus without God's help and outside of His plan. Therefore all who come to faith in Jesus are part of God's gift to His Son and not one who comes to faith in Jesus outside of God's gift. So God gets all the glory as He should.
The phrase "all that the Father gives Me will come to Me [by faith]" has the entire population of those who believe throughout history in view and these will never be cast out of eternal life as the second half of the verse says. So all throughout history who will believe in Jesus are the gift of the Father to His Son.
So Jesus says "and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out"
= Gk: "ou ...me ..ekbalw exw" =
..........."not .not ..cast .....out"
The words "ou me" are a double negative in the Greek which is best rendered "never will I cast out" and pictures the position a believer has in eternal life in Jesus Himself the Bread of life from which he will never be cast out by Jesus.
One might ask, 'Couldn't a believer cast himself out of eternal life?' Answer: Not unless he has the power of the Son of God Himself! The only One Who has the power of providing eternal life according to this passage is Jesus Himself. Man is not stipulated in this passage as having the capacity to grant or cancel his own eternal life.
So once one comes to Jesus by faith this confirms that he is God's gift to His Son and Jesus will never cast him out. Thus the believer in Jesus can be assured that Jesus will never leave nor forsake him from the moment he trusts in the One God has sent because the believer has been provided with the Food which endures to eternal life. So eternal life in the believer will endure forever; for Jesus, the True Bread is what that believer receives and it is He Who endures in and for the believer unto eternal life and He will never cast the believer out of Himself or Himself out of the believer. No where in this context is there an opening for a believer to lose his salvation even if he were to turn his back on it since it is evident in this verse that once one comes to Jesus it is Jesus Who is in control of the individual's eternal destiny, not the individual.
Notice that Jesus is claiming to have the authority and power of God over every individual's eternal destiny. He indicates here that He can cast an individual out of the realm of eternal life or keep Him secure. Therefore He must be God, the Son of God.
(v. 38) " 'For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him Who sent Me.
(v. 39) And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.' "
(v. 38) " 'For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him Who sent Me.
Jesus then explains again to the crowd what heretofore has been unfathomable to them and which they so far have not addressed: He states that He has "come down from heaven" not to do His will but the will of "Him Who sent Me." He is claiming to have come from heaven on a special mission of God's. Recall that only angels and God Himself resided in heaven at this time. Jesus indicates He has come not to do His will but the will of "Him Who sent Me." Jesus pictures a face to face personal relationship with God as His Father. Recall that only One Who is God can come from heaven and have such a personal relationship with the Father, i.e., Jesus further emphasizes that He is God the Son.
No man can truly claim to not do his own will but only the will of the Father Who sent Him down from heaven unless that man is the GodMan Jesus Christ Himself.
(v. 39) "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day."
Jesus indicates that it is God's will that Jesus Himself on the last day raise up from the dead unto eternal life all those whom God has given to Jesus to have eternal life. Thus all those whom God has given to the Son, which are all those who believe, will choose to believe and receive the Food that endures to eternal life. None will be lost because Jesus said "I shall lose none of all that He has given Me."
So verse 39 has in view all those who choose to believe in Jesus being God's gift to His Son of whom none will be lost. For all believers are portrayed as being God's gift to His Son, (v. 37). And it says that those who are given to the Son by the Father will be "raised up at the last day", so evidently all believers are eternally secure.
Could there be others who come to the Son through faith that are not going to be raised up on the last day perhaps because they are not part of God's sure gift to His Son and have lost their salvation? Answer: not by what this passage is saying. And the very next verse indicates that all those who believe will have eternal life and be raised at the last day.
One could hardly make a case here for some to believe and receive the Food that endures to eternal life but are not part of the eternally secure gift that God has given to the Son and thus this 'other' group could lose their salvation and not be raised up on the last day. So all believers are in view and none will be lost and all will be raised up at the last day by Jesus, the Food that endures to eternal life. For all not some who believe are given to the Son by the Father. No one will come to Jesus unless they are chosen by the Father to give to the Son for all must be drawn by the Father in the first place, (v. 44).
Furthermore, if there are believers who come to Jesus on their own without God's help and thus outside of God's gift to His Son, then God's gift to His Son wouldn't be much of a gift at all: Here is this scenario:
We have over here this group that God has given to His Son that come to faith in Jesus and God presents this group to His Son as an example of His glory. And here we have over there another group that have come to faith on their own which present themselves to Jesus in their own glory, not having to give God the credit for their decision to believe, nor glorify God for His sovereign gift to His Son. Obviously, this scenario is unbiblical.
Finally, since verse 37 says, "whoever comes to [=believes in] Me I will never cast out", i.e., whoever believes in Jesus will not be excluded from eternal life; and since those who come to [= believe in] Jesus are God's gift to His Son and Jesus will lose none of them, (v. 39), then salvation once received is eternally secure. In no way can this context be shown to support the idea that there are some who will come to Jesus outside of God's gift to His Son and might lose their salvation.
(v. 40) "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 him up at the last day.' "
Jesus completes this series of astounding statements about God the Father, Himself and eternal life with a summary account beginning with the conjunction "For":
"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 Him up at the last day."
This is a concluding statement as it begins with the conjunction "For" signifying a conclusion of what is in view in the previous verses. The previous verses include a view of a group of individuals that the Father has given to the Son that come to faith in Jesus. Then this concluding verse begins: "For My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him" which of necessity has God's gift of all those who believe in His Son in view. Since this concluding verse has "everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him" in view then this confirms that everyone who comes to the Son is part of God's gift to the Son.
There is nothing complicated going on here in verse 40. This is a simple statement: everyone who believes in the Son is God's gift to the Son and shall have eternal life. Everyone who believes = "Pas ho... pisteuOn" = lit, "everyone [who is] the believing one" = a nominative participle, i.e., a noun. So all it takes is a single present moment of believing to become the believing one with nothing else stipulated resulting in the present tense possession of eternal life forever because it is eternal. Plus, there is a future tense promise of being raised up from the dead at the last day for all who believe!!
Notice that everyone who becomes "the believing one" will be raised up at the last day which corroborates the fact that the Father's will that all who "look to the Son and believe" is God's gift to His Son and will assuredly have eternal life never to lose it.
"everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life" =
Repetition of the theme, faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life as a gift, is made here in chapter 6 for the ninth time. Absence of any declaration of actual ingestion of physical food or water or any action on the part of man other than believing resounds in the silent aftermath of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life which our Lord once more reiterates.
(v. 41) "At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’
(v. 42) 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’?"
(v. 41) "At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' "
At this point the Jews began to grumble as a result of continual disbelief in what Jesus was saying. One might even wonder if our Lord had provided the most awesome miracle ever, that they still would have rejected Who He was.
Author John provides the main reason why the Jews grumbled: "Because He said, 'I am the Bread that came down from Heaven.' " The Jews continually rejected Jesus' claim to be "the Bread from Heaven"; a claim to a supernatural existence, i.e., the Prophet they had earlier declared He was, (v. 14); a claim that was continually supported by the miracles Jesus performed which were even admitted to by those very Jews who now grumbled in disbelief.
(v. 42) 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'?"
The Jews were continually focused on the temporal and finite and ignored the spiritual, supernatural and infinite. So they denied Jesus' claims to be the True Bread from heaven, in spite of all the evidence. Surely God could come down from heaven in any way He chose even as a Man. The Jews ignored the evidence of the miracles and their own testimony that He was their Prophet.
It is evident by their selective memory that they were not willing to accept the clear evidence that Jesus is the True Bread Who came down from heaven.
(v. 37) "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
(v. 38) For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
(v. 39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
(v. 40) 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 him up at the last day.
(v. 41) At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’
(v. 42) 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’?
(v. 43) ‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered.
(v. 44) ‘No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day."
(vv. 41-44)
(v. 41) "At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’
(v. 42) 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’?
(v. 43) 'Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered.
(v. 44) No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.' "
Notice that Jesus specifically addressed those who were "grumbling", evidencing their unbelief, (vv. 41-43). Verse 42 especially corroborates their state of unbelief: "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’?" The implication here is that Jesus is acknowledging their lack of coming to Him by faith as due to the Father not drawing them. From v. 44 we can conclude that the Father draws some and not others. And only those who are drawn by the Father will come to faith in Jesus Christ. Since believing is volitional by definition then only those drawn choose of their own volition to come to Jesus by faith in Him as the true Bread from heaven to receive eternal life.
(v. 44) "No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day....
(v. 37) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away...
(v. 39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
(v. 40) 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 him up at the last day."
In the light of verses 37-44 it can be concluded that all who come to faith in Jesus were previously drawn by the Father, (v. 44); and thus all who come to faith were, previous to that faith, given by the Father to the Son, (v. 37); and Jesus "shall lose none of all that He [the Father] has given [Him], but raise them [all] at the last day", (v. 39). Finally, it is the "Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him [which is all who will ever believe] shall have eternal life, and I [Jesus] will raise him[= all] up at the last day", (v. 40).
(v. 41) "At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ (v. 42) 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’? (v. 43) 'Stop grumbling among yourselves,' Jesus answered. (v. 44) No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.' " =
The Jews who grumbled at Jesus in vv. 41-43 evidenced that they were unbelievers, especially in v. 42. Jesus then indicates in v. 44a the reason why they were not believers: "No one can come to me, [i.e., become a believer in Him unto eternal life], unless the Father Who sent Me draws Him." This is followed by the phrase, (44b), "and I will raise him up [who is drawn by the Father] at the last day" affirming the point that all who are drawn by the Father become believers and will be raised up on the last day. Because not all will be believe in Jesus and be raised up at the last day as evidenced by vv. 37-44, some are not going to be drawn by the Father.
"No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day." (v. 44) =
This verse indicates that once one comes to faith in Christ, our Lord states that He will raise him up at the last day.
Again, we have reinforced in v. 44 that when one comes to Jesus by faith he is eternally secure because Jesus "will raise him up at the last day".
5) SINCE THE INHERENT NATURE OF BELIEVING IS FREE WILL, GOD'S DRAWING DOES NOT FORCE MAN TO BELIEVE
"No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day." (v. 44) =
Although "no one can come to Me [= saving faith in Jesus Christ] unless the Father.... draws him," the individual must still choose of his own volition to come by definition of the word believe.
To come to Christ in this context is to believe in Him to provide eternal life for you. To believe is defined as to accept, regard, receive as true that Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life Who will provide eternal life in a moments faith in Him to do that. Hence the word believe requires that the individual have complete freedom to exercise his will to believe in what he will. Therefore God's drawing stipulated in v. 44 cannot overpower an individual's exercising of what he believes.
[Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament]:
'''The basic meaning is "to draw," "tug," or, in the case of persons, "compel." It may be used for "to draw" to a place by magic, for demons being "drawn" to animal life, or for the inner influencing of the will (Plato). The Semitic world has the concept of an irresistible drawing to God (cf. 1 Sam. 10:5; 19:19ff.; Jer. 29:26; Hos. 9:7). In the OT helkein denotes a powerful impulse, as in Cant. 1:4, which is obscure but expresses the force of love. There is no thought here of force or magic. The term figuratively expresses the supernatural power of the love of God or Christ [p. 227].'''
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, says helkuo is used figuratively "of the pull on man's inner life....draw, attract J 6:44" [Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker, p. 251].
The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, states that helkuo is used metaphorically "to draw mentally and morally, John 6:44; 12:32" [William Mounce, p. 180].
The Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament has, "met., to draw, i.e. to attract, Joh. xii. 32. Cf. Joh. vi. 44" [W.J. Hickie, p. 13].
The Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament by Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller says, "figuratively, of a strong pull in the mental or moral life draw, attract (JN 6.44)" [p. 144].
Calvinist Spiros Zodhiates, in his Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, says, "Helkuo is used of Jesus on the cross drawing by His love, not force (Jn. 6:44; 12:32)" [New Testament Lexical Aids, p. 1831]
Finally, the context of forceful drawing elsewhere in Scripture, (Jas 2:6; Jn 21:6) cannot be imposed upon Jn 6:44 to change its context and make God force an individual to believe in Jesus Christ for the action of believing by definition must always be volitional.
"No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" =
The nature of faith is volitional by definition, i.e., by the will of man. Coming to faith in Christ then is implied as within the capacity of man depending upon his will. Yet for man to exercise his will and believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation, the Father must draw one to exercise one's will unto saving faith within one's capacity to believe. Evidently what is in view is that man has the capacity to believe in Jesus Christ unto eternal life but he will not exercise that capacity until after the Father draws him. Details of the Father's drawing are not provided except that only those that are drawn will believe and be saved, such drawing not to violate man's free will to believe.
(v. 45) ''' "It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.
(v. 46) No one has seen the Father except the One Who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
(v. 47) I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
(v. 48) I am the Bread of life.
(v. 49) Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
(v. 50) But here is the Bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die." '''
(v. 45)
Jesus continues on the subject of God's sovereignty in the process of an individual's coming to faith in Jesus. From Old Testament teaching Jesus quotes a passage located in the teachings of the Prophets that indicates that it all starts with being taught by God and whoever listens to the Father's teaching and learns from Him thereby comes to Jesus in faith.
So we have the fact that no one comes to faith in the Son without the Father drawing him, (v. 44); added to the fact that one has to be taught by God such that one listens and learns and then comes to believe in Jesus unto eternal life, (v. 45); which is all part of God's sovereign plan that all those God has given to the Son will come in faith to the Son, (v. 37); which are all those who believe in the Son, (v. 40) and of which Jesus will lose none but raise up all at the last day, (v. 39).
(vv. 46-47)
(v. 46) "No one has seen the Father except the One Who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
(v. 47) I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life."
Jesus then goes immediately back to Who He is on the basis of His relationship with the Father and if one believes in Who He is they have eternal life, repeating His message of vv. 35-40:
Jesus begins with a statement that no one has seen the Father except the One Who is from God, [Himself, vv. 35-40] indicating a face to face relationship with the Father by which Jesus is claiming to be God Himself, the Son of God. To this He adds 'He who believes [in Me] has everlasting life.'
Notice for the eighth time Jesus stipulates that by simply believing in Him one will have eternal life. The grammar pictures one who in a present tense moment of believing in Jesus becomes a believer, (ho pisteuon' = lit., the believing one), which moment produces a present tense possession of eternal life which once begun is forever by definition. Eight statements of faith alone in Christ alone and one has eternal life and will endure unto eternal life. Can this be any clearer?
(vv. 48-50)
(v. 48) "I am the Bread of life.
(v. 49) Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
(v. 50) But here is the Bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die."
So once more Jesus says, 'I am the Bread of [eternal] life.' This is a figurative statement since the context does not support Jesus referring to Himself as a literal loaf of bread. Thus Jesus compares the literal, physical manna-bread in the desert which must be physically ingested repeatedly to sustain the literal, physical bodies of the forefathers and then they literally, physically die to the figurative or spiritual Bread 'that comes down from heaven', which one may eat one time [figuratively, i.e., believe in Jesus to receive Him spiritually] and not spiritually die but have eternal life. So on the one hand we have the repeated eating of physical bread which sustains physical life but only moment to moment until they physically die; and on the other hand we have the figurative and spritual Bread Who comes down from heaven, which a man may eat in a figurative and spiritual sense by a moment of faith and not die spiritually but have eternal life.
Thus there is nothing in this section of John chapter 6 that demands that there be a literal, physical eating of the flesh of Jesus . A figurative and spiritual meaning is portrayed in verse 50 which parallels the other eight statements of what one must do to have eternal life: believe in Jesus, the Bread of life that came down from heaven.
(v. 51) I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." '''
Jesus continues to confront the unbelieving crowd, pushing them to believe in Him or totally reject Him. His message to those in the crowd who refuse to take Him figuratively and spiritually becomes too graphic for them to be accepted literally. This pushes them to total rejection of Him such that they will no longer be His disciple or follow Him around. He reiterates that He is "the Living Bread that came down from heaven." And then He becomes very graphic when He says, "If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. This Bread is My flesh, which I will give for the Life of the world." There are many who insist that this phraseolgy of eating of Jesus' flesh is to be taken literally in some manner - even today. However, normative rules of context and language direct one to take this figuratively and spiritually. For the context has already been developed with Jesus as the True Bread from heaven as a figurative and spiritual Bread and not a literal loaf of bread. Furthermore, the reception of this Bread is established in previous verses by faith and not by actual physical ingestion, (vv. 32-35; 49-50).
Note also that a literal interpretation of physically eating the actual bodily flesh of Jesus violates God's commandment against cannibalism.
Finally, Jesus says, "This Bread is My flesh, which I will give for the [eternal] life of the world" which depicts a future event in which He will actually give of His physical body such that eternal life will be available for the world - a future event. So by virtue of a moment of faith in Jesus as a result of His future sacrifice of His physical body for the world, one receives eternal life.
Since there is no actual bread indicated in this passage that is supernaturally transformed into the flesh of Jesus and offered to the crowd to physically ingest as in the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass;
and since cannibalism is forbidden;
and since Jesus at the time of this passage had not yet given of His physical body for the world at the time of John chapter 6;
then the concept of a literal, physical ingestion of the flesh of Jesus in any format or form which was given for the world is not in view in this passage.
The context must therefore remain figurative and spiritual and not literal and physical.
(v. 52) "Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us His flesh to eat?'
(v. 53) "Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
(v. 54) Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
OBSERVATION VV. 52-54:
(v. 52) "Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, 'How can this man give us His flesh to eat?' "
The Jews repeatedly rejected the obvious meaning of what Jesus said. Instead, they decided in their willful unbelief to take what He said literally in spite of the context. Unbelief here leads to a self-imposed blindness to the obvious message of what Jesus was saying. Jesus explained over and over how the Living Bread could be 'eaten' figuratively by faith alone in Him alone and then one would have eternal life. In this last section He added that His flesh would be given for the life of the world, pointing - at that time - to a yet future sacrifice of His physical body, i.e., His physical life. So when Jesus said before this, "If anyone eats of this Bread [i.e., His flesh] he will live forever," He was referring figuratively to believing in Him which would then result in the spiritual reception of eternal life, i.e., Jesus Himself, made possible by the future sacrifice of His physical body for the life of the world.
But the Jews concluded instead that what He was saying was that one would have to literally and physically eat Jesus' flesh right then and there which was to be given for the life of the world, missing completely the future tense. This was not only cannibalism but live cannibalism. Their reasoning was completely out of context and virtually insane = the twin brother of willful unbelief.
(vv. 53-54)
(v. 53) "Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
(v. 54) Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
This is parallel to verses 40 and 51:
(v. 40) "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 him up at the last day."
(v. 51) "I am the living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. This Bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
Notice that a moment of believing causes one to have eternal life and being raised up at the last day which is parallel to 'eating and drinking Jesus' flesh and blood'. The latter is obviously figurative of the former.
Jesus has already been portrayed in this passage as being aware of what the crowd was thinking, (v. 15), so one might infer that He was supernaturally aware of what they were arguing about if He did not overhear what they were saying. Notice then that He does not back off. Objectors to Christians being dogmatic, confrontational and divisive should take notice that Jesus does not back off in the light of the Jews' negative reaction. Instead He presses on even more emphatically with, "I tell you the truth, 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 Him up at the last day."
This is mostly a repetition of what Jesus had said before. It remains figurative and spiritual in the absence of words to the contrary. There is one addition, the phrase "drinks My blood", which must also be taken figuratively and spiritually since believing in Jesus is the sole requirement stipulated throughout this passage to receive eternal life.
The giving of Jesus' flesh and blood for the world is portrayed in this passage at the time of its occurrence as being directly related to providing eternal life for the world which points to a literal, future sacrificial event in which His body of flesh will evidently perish and His blood will be shed.
(v. 55) For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
(v. 56) Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
(v. 57) 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.
(v. 58) This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
OBSERVATIONS VV. 55-58:
This is more repetition amounting to confrontation of the unbelieving crowd - a summary of what Jesus has said a number of times before. Its effect was to push those who have refused to accept what Jesus has said into total rejection of Him - even most of His disciples.
"Real food" and "real drink" are figures of speech with a spiritual meaning which refer to that which leads to eternal life as previously stipulated, (vv. 32-35; 48-51). The phrases "whoever eats My flesh","drinks My blood", "feeds on Me" and "feeds on this Bread" are all likewise figurative and spiritual and signify a simple moment of believing in Jesus, (vv. 29, 35-36;, 40, 47), with the result of receiving eternal life, i.e., one will "live forever", (v. 58). The reference to the flesh and blood of Jesus refers to His future bodily sacrifice for the eternal life of the world which includes the shedding of His blood.
(v. 59) "He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum."
OBSERVATIONS V. 59:
Apparently, the dialogue between Jesus and the crowd changed locations to the synagogue in Capernaum. It is interesting to note that although the crowd of Jews continually rejected what He had to say, they still followed Him around and continued to listen to Him, albeit, now at the grumbling stage as He becomes more confrontational. Other passages will be investigated to corroborate how our Lord demands that one accept Who He is or pushes them to total rejection of Him. There is no middle ground with the Lord Jesus Christ.
(v. 60) "On hearing it, many of His disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?' "
OBSERVATION V. 60:
Notice that many of His disciples rejected what He was saying. They took what He said out of context and then rejected what they misconstrued Him to say. They ignored that He had said that eternal life was simply by believing in Him. Note that a disciple is one who follows another but only a true disciple of Jesus is one who both believes in Him unto eternal life and follows His teachings.
So the disciples who left Him took Jesus literally, completely missing what He was saying and found themselves convinced that Jesus was commanding them to literally take a bite out of His actual body even while He was alive in front of them - before the cross.
To believers this is so obviously figurative, but to unbelievers like many of Jesus' disciples, they deliberately concluded that Jesus was telling them to be cannibals and even drink His blood. Willful unbelief often leads to insane ideas, in spite of repetition and clear explanation. Even today there are millions who espouse the belief that they are physically ingesting the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ.
(v. 61) "Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you?
(v. 62) What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before!
(v. 63) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.' "
OBSERVATIONS VV. 61-63:
(vv. 61, 63)
(v. 61) "Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, 'Does this offend you?
(v. 63) The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.' "
Jesus then focuses on His disciples, discerning that they too were grumbling, even offended. Notice that He confronted their unbelief as well when He said to them, 'Does this offend you.' His question does not infer that He meant what He said literally, that people must be cannibals and eat His flesh. Note that verse 63 stipulates that His words were spiritual, i.e., figurative and not literal:
"The Spirit gives life. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."
So Jesus reaffirms that He was speaking figuratively intending a spiritual, figurative meaning as the context pictures throughout this discourse. Notice that Jesus adds that it is the Spirit which gives life and it is in the spiritual realm which His words have in view throughout this discourse. Nothing in the physical realm gives eternal life, neither man, nor physical bread, nor physical eating, nor literal drinking, but God alone through faith in His Son alone.
Notice also that Jesus proclaimed the Father and then Himself earlier in this passage each as the One Who provides eternal life, (vv. 27, 32, 35, 40, 44, 48-51, 54); and now He proclaims that it is the Spirit Who gives [eternal] life. All statements can only be true if the Father and the Son and the Spirit are One. And they are: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit: the Triune God, One with three Personalities. This will be corroborated by other passages.
(v. 62) "[Jesus said] 'What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before!' "
Jesus then asks the disciples, 'What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before, i.e., heaven. Jesus is saying, 'If you dont believe in Me know and are offended by My saying I have come down from heaven standing here before you as a man, the Son of Man; how much the more will you disbelieve and be offended when you see Me, that same Son of Man, ascend back into heaven where I was before?' Jesus foretells of His future ascension to heaven after His resurrection.
" '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."
OBSERVATIONS V. 64:
Jesus concludes what He has said in vv. 62-63 with v. 64:
"Yet there are some of you who do not believe" is addressed to all of His disciples, (v. 60), whom depart from Him in disbelief except for the Twelve.
Notice that the only operative word for man throughout this passage is "believe". In spite of the fact that Jesus knew from the beginning which of the disciples would not believe and in spite knowing of their continued disbelief, He persisted in telling them Who He was and how to have eternal life.
"He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him.' "
OBSERVATIONS V. 65:
Jesus persisted in telling Who He was and how to have eternal life with the understanding that many, even many of His own disciples, would never believe, (v. 64). He thereupon said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him." Evidently, this was said more than once considering the past tense in the phrase, "This is why I told you."
Consider that our Lord knew who would believe and who would not. And He knew that no one can come to Him in faith unless the Father draws him, (v. 44); instructs him, (v. 45); and enables him, (v. 65); yet He persisted even with those who were not drawn, instructed or enabled by the Father. The conclusion is that although one will not come to faith in Jesus, God's purpose is to make the information available for all to choose or to not choose. In either case it is apparent that God's sovereignty prevails without fail.
(v. 66) "From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.
(v. 67) 'You do not want to leave me too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve.' "
OBSERVATIONS VV. 66-67:
The result of persistently and unwaiveringly proclaiming the truth without softening the message or the rhetoric results in many who depart from following Jesus, even many of His disciples. This is applicable today when believers, especially pastors and teachers, persistently and uncompromisingly proclaim the doctrines of the faith which causes people to depart in unbelief and join congregations which tickle their ears with what they want to hear.
Jesus asks the Twelve, "You do not want to leave Me too, do you?".
It is evident that Jesus knows the answer to His question considering verses 15 and 61 in this passage which points to His godly omniscience. So we can infer that Jesus was seeking for the disciples to openly testify of their faith in Him, demonstrating God's glory and sovereignty in the lives of the Twelve.
(v. 68) "Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
(v. 69) We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.'
(v. 70) Then Jesus replied, 'Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!'
(v. 71) (He meant Judas, the son of Somon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him.)"
So the Twelve affirm their faith in Who Jesus is. And Jesus' answer is, 'Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!"
Thus Jesus chooses those who will choose to believe in Him and become faithful disciples - except for one which He chose to not believe but rather to choose to be 'a devil', i.e., possessed by the devil.
It is interesting to note that first comes the sovereignty of God in what He chooses to do and then comes man's free will choices which inevitably fullfil what God has chosen for that man to freely choose.
So when an individual of his own free will comes to Jesus by faith, it is as a result of God's choice for him to do just that, (v. 70), God's drawing that individual to Him, (v. 44), God's instruction of that individual, (v. 46), and God's enablement of that individual to believe, (v. 65).
Consider the total incapacity of one to come to faith in Jesus without God's choosing him, drawing him, instructing him and enabling him. Without God's intervention, man is helplessly lost and condemned to the Lake of Fire.
