JOHN CHAPTER 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OBSERVATION STAGE

The purpose of the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the normative rules of language, context and logic which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of John. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.

Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.

I) [Jn 6:1-6]:

A) THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE FROM CHAPTER FIVE CONTINUES INTO CHAPTER SIX: AFTER A POTENTIALLY DEADLY CONFRONTATION WITH JEWISH AUTHORITIES FOR CLAIMING EQUALITY WITH GOD AND ALLEGEDLY VIOLATING THE SABBATH; JESUS, EVIDENTLY IN CONTROL OF HIS DESTINY, WENT AWAY UNHARMED ACROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE

*** EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 5 ***

..........OR SKIP TO NEXT SECTION

JESUS SAID TO THE JEWS WHO WERE SEEKING TO KILL HIM THAT IF HE BORE WITNESS OF HIMSELF, (ALTHOUGH ACCURATE), IT WOULD NOT BE TRUE IN THE SENSE OF IT BEING VALID TESTIMONY.

HE THEN SAID THAT ANOTHER BORE WITNESS OF HIM WHOSE WITNESS HE HAD KNOWN WAS TRUE: JOHN THE BAPTIST, TO WHOM THE JEWS WERE SENT TO INVESTIGATE.

BUT JESUS SAID HE RECEIVED TESTIMONY FROM NO MAN, FOR ONLY HIS FATHER'S TESTIMONY WILL DO. HE SAID THESE THINGS BECAUSE THERE WAS GREATER TESTIMONY FROM THE FATHER WHICH THE JEWS MIGHT CHOOSE TO BELIEVE AND BE SAVED; FOR JOHN WAS THE BURNING AND SHINING LAMP OF TRUTH; BUT THE JEWS WERE ONLY WILLING FOR A WHILE TO REJOICE IN HIS LIGHT UNTIL THEY FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS NOT THE CHRIST, OR THE PROPHET WHO WAS TO COME. SO THE JEWS REJECTED JESUS' AND JOHN'S TESTIMONY.

HENCE JESUS DECLARED THAT HE HAD GREATER TESTIMONY THAN JOHN'S - THE FATHER'S:

THE WORKS THAT HE DID WHICH THE FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM TO FINISH BORE WITNESS OF WHO HE WAS - THAT THE FATHER HAD SENT HIM;

AND JESUS SAID THAT THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM TESTIFIED OF HIM.

SINCE THE JEWS NEITHER BELIEVED THAT THE WORKS HE PERFORMED WERE GIVEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER TO DO, NOR BELIEVED THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHOM GOD SENT SO THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE; JESUS CONCLUDED THAT THE JEWS HAD NEITHER HEARD THE FATHER'S VOICE NOR SEEN HIS FORM, NOR HAD THEY HIS WORD ABIDING IN THEM IN THE SENSE OF IT OPERATING IN THEIR LIVES.

HE SAID THAT THEY SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES THINKING THAT IT WOULD BRING THEM ETERNAL LIFE - SCRIPTURES WHICH TESTIFIED ABOUT JESUS WHOM THEY WERE UNWILLING TO COME TO SO THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

JESUS SAID THAT HE WAS NOT MOTIVATED TO SEEK GLORY FROM MAN BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT THE CHARACTER OF MAN WAS NOT TRUSTWORTHY. HE DECLARED THAT THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES DID NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD IN THEM. HE RECEIVED GLORY FROM GOD AND HE CAME IN HIS FATHER'S NAME AND YET THEY DID NOT RECEIVE HIM. BUT IF ANOTHER CAME IN HIS OWN NAME, THE JEWS WOULD RECEIVE HIM. HE DECLARED IN A RHETORICAL QUESTION, 'HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE WHEN YOU RECEIVE GLORY FROM ONE ANOTHER AND DO NOT SEEK THE GLORY THAT IS FROM THE ONE AND ONLY GOD?'

IN CONCLUSION, JESUS SAID FOR THEM NOT TO THINK THAT HE WOULD ACCUSE THEM BEFORE THE FATHER, FOR THE ONE WHO ACCUSES THEM IS MOSES, IN WHOM THEY HAVE SET THEIR HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. IF THEY HAD BELIEVED IN MOSES, THEY WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IN JESUS, BECAUSE MOSES WROTE CONCERNING JESUS. AND SINCE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE WRITINGS OF MOSES, HOW WOULD THEY BELIEVE IN JESUS' WORDS? =

1) [Compare Jn 3:31-32]:

2) [Compare Jn 5:19 NKJV]:

3) [Compare Jn 3:1 YLT]:

4) [Compare Jn 2:23-25]:

[]:

*** END OF EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 5 ***

B) A GREAT CROWD WAS FOLLOWING JESUS BECAUSE OF SEEING THE MIRACLES HE WAS PERFORMING ON THE SICK. WHEN JESUS WENT UP TO A MOUNTAINSIDE - NEAR THE TIME OF THE PASSOVER - AND AS HE WAS SITTING WITH THE DISCIPLES, HE LIFTED UP HIS EYES AND HAVING SEEN A GREAT CROWD COMING, ASKED PHILIP "WHERE SHALL WE BUY BREAD FOR THESE PEOPLE TO EAT?" WHICH AUTHOR JOHN INTERJECTS THAT HE (JESUS) ASKED THIS TO TEST PHILIP (AND INDIRECTLY ALL THE DISCIPLES); FOR JESUS HAD KNOWN WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO. THIS IMPLIES THAT JESUS KNEW THAT THE PEOPLE WERE HUNGRY AND WITHOUT FOOD AND INTENDED TO FEED THEM MIRACULOUSLY

1) [Compare Jn 6:2 Greek]:

II) [Jn 6:7-13]:

A) PHILIP'S ANSWER TO JESUS' QUESTION, 'WHERE SHOULD WE BUY LOAVES THAT THESE PEOPLE MAY EAT' IMPLIED THAT THEY WERE FAR SHORT OF THE MONEY NEEDED. ANDREW, BROTHER OF SIMON PETER, INDICATED THAT THERE WAS AN UTTERLY INSUFFICIENT SUPPLY OF FOOD - HE ONLY FOUND ONE LITTLE BOY WHO HAD FIVE BARLEY LOAVES AND TWO SMALL FISH. JESUS HAD THE CROWD OF MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND SIT DOWN; THEN HE HAD THE LOAVES AND FISHES DISTRIBUTED TO THEM IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT RESULTED IN EVERYONE HAVING AS MUCH TO EAT AS THEY WISHED, IMPLYING A MIRACLE. WHEREUPON HE HAD THE LEFTOVER FRAGMENTS OF BREAD GATHERED INTO TWELVE HAND-BASKETS SO THAT NOTHING WOULD BE LOST

III) [Jn 6:14-21]:

A) THE CROWD THAT WAS FOLLOWING JESUS, HAVING SEEN YET ANOTHER OF THE MIRACULOUS SIGNS THAT JESUS DID WHEN HE MIRACULOUSLY FED THEM BY MULTIPLYING 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISH, WERE DECLARING, "THIS IS TRULY THE PROPHET, THE [ONE WHO IS] THE COMING [ONE] [INTO] THE WORLD"

**** EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER ONE RE: THE PROPHET WHO IS TO COME ***

OR SKIP TO NEXT SECTION

THE JEWISH INTERROGATORS PERSISTED WITH JOHN THE BAPTIST. THEY ASKED, "ARE YOU THE PROPHET," THEIR THIRD CHOICE OF WHOM THEY THOUGHT JOHN THE BAPTIST MIGHT BE. THEY WERE REFERRING TO SCRIPTURE TO THE ONE WHOM MOSES FORETOLD WOULD BE A PROPHET LIKE HIMSELF - THE KEY PROPHET OF ISRAEL - WHO WOULD LEAD THEM IN A FINAL EXODUS FROM THEIR ENEMIES AND FROM SIN INTO THE PROMISED ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD

[Compare Dt 18:15-19]:

**** END OF EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER ONE RE: THE PROPHET WHO IS TO COME ***

B) THE CROWD DECLARES JESUS TO BE THE PROPHET TO COME. JESUS HAVING KNOWN THE MOMENT THEY WOULD TRY TO FORCE HIM TO BE KING WITHDREW TO THE MOUNTAIN BY HIMSELF. THAT EVENING THE DISCIPLES DISEMBARKED FOR CAPERNAUM WITHOUT FINDING JESUS. ABOUT 3 OR 3 1/2 MILES OUT, IN ROUGH SEAS, THEY WERE FRIGHTENED BY JESUS APPROACHING THEM, WALKING ON THE SEA. WHEN JESUS SAID, "I AM, BE NOT AFRAID," THEY RECEIVED HIM INTO THE SHIP AND AT THAT INSTANT THEY MIRACULOUSLY WERE AT THEIR DESTINATION NEAR CAPURNAUM - MILES FROM WHERE JESUS ENTERED THE SHIP

IV) [Jn 6:22-29]:

A) ON THE NEXT DAY, THOSE OF THE CROWD WHO STAYED ON THE SEASIDE WHERE JESUS FED THEM, SAW THAT NO VESSEL WAS THERE EXCEPT THE ONE THAT THE DISCIPLES HAD DEPARTED IN, WITHOUT JESUS, THE NIGHT BEFORE; AND KNOWING THAT JESUS WAS NOT IN THE REGION, THEY TOOK VESSELS WHICH HAD ARRIVED FROM TIBERIAS TO CAPERNAUM IN SEARCH OF JESUS

1) [Jn 6:22a YLT]:

2) [Jn 6:22 Greek]:

3) [Jn 6:22b YLT]:

4) [Jn 6:22b Greek]:

5) [Jn 6:22c YLT]:

6) [Jn 6:22c Greek]:

B) JESUS TOLD THOSE THAT FOLLOWED HIM THAT THEY SOUGHT HIM, NOT BECAUSE THEY SAW MIRACULOUS SIGNS, WHICH SHOULD HAVE CONVINCED THEM THAT HE WAS THE SON OF MAN / THE MESSIAH / SAVIOR WHO WAS TO COME INTO THE WORLD TO OFFER ETERNAL LIFE - THE ONE UPON WHOM THE FATHER GAVE HIS SEAL OF APPROVAL; BUT THEY PURSUED HIM BECAUSE THEIR STOMACHS WERE FILLED - A SHALLOW MOTIVE TO SATISFY TEMPORAL NEEDS WHICH FILLING HAS TO BE REPEATED. HENCE THEY NEGLECTED THE ONE TIME FULFILLMENT OF THEIR NEED FOR ETERNAL LIFE. RECALL THEIR INTENTION TO FORCE JESUS TO BE KING TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES OF THE TEMPORAL OPPRESSION OF ROME

C) WHEN JESUS TOLD THE REMAINING CROWD THAT THEY WERE TO WORK NOT FOR FOOD THAT PERISHES, BUT FOR FOOD THAT ENDURES TO ETERNAL LIFE; HE WAS COMPARING THE TEMPORAL NATURE OF EATING PHYSICAL FOOD WHICH ONLY SATISFIES FOR A SHORT WHILE AND WHICH CONSUMPTION HAS TO BE REPEATED, TO THE ONE TIME MOMENT OF "WORKING" FOR THE FOOD THAT, ONCE RECEIVED, ENDURES TO ETERNAL LIFE - RECEPTION OF WHICH DOES NOT NEED TO BE REPEATED

D) JESUS' DECLARATION THAT "THE SON OF MAN WILL GIVE TO YOU FOOD THAT IS THE ENDURING KIND TO LIFE ETERNAL" PORTRAYS THE SPECIFIC AND UNIQUE SON OF MAN - THE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL HUMANITY. JESUS REFERRED TO "THE SON OF MAN" IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT POINTED TO HIMSELF. BY THIS HE CORROBORATED HIS MISSION TO MAKE PROVISION FOR ETERNAL LIFE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD AS A FREE GIFT. HIS DECLARATION IMPLIED THAT HE HAD THE AUTHORITY AND POWER TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH IN TURN IMPLIED THAT HE HIMSELF WAS ETERNAL, INDICATING DIETY. FINALLY, JESUS PROCLAIMED THAT HE, THE SON OF MAN, HAD THE SEAL - THE ABSOLUTE APPROVAL OF GOD THE FATHER - FOR ALL THAT HE WAS AND DID

E) AFTER JESUS TOLD THE REMAINING CROWD TO WORK NOT FOR TEMPORAL THINGS BUT FOR ETERNAL LIFE WHICH HE, THE SON OF MAN, WILL "GIVE THEM;" THE CROWD ASKED JESUS, "WHAT SHALL WE DO, THAT WE MAY WORK THE WORKS OF GOD?" THEIR FOCUS WAS ON A LIST OF THINGS THEY HAD TO DO TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE - THEY MISSED WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT GIVING THEM ETERNAL LIFE AS A FREE GIFT

F) JESUS TOLD THE REMAINING CROWD THAT THE WORK OF GOD TO RECEIVE THE FOOD WHICH ENDURES TO ETERNAL LIFE IS TO BELIEVE IN THE ONE WHOM GOD HAS SENT - A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF MAN, ALONE TO GIVE ONE ETERNAL LIFE AS A FREE GIFT. SINCE THE VERB TO BELIEVE - A MENTAL ASSENT TO THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS CONVEYED - IS NOT A PROACTIVE ACTION HENCE IT IS NOT MERITORIOUS; AND SINCE A WORK IS SOMETHING ONE DOES DO PROACTIVELY TO MERIT A RESULT; THEN THE ACT OF BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST TO PROVIDE ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH CANNOT BE MERITORIOUS, CANNOT BE A LITERAL WORK. SO JN 6:27-29 NEITHER PORTRAYS BELIEVING AS MERITORIOUS NOR PARTICIPATORY TOWARD THE RECEPTION OF ETERNAL LIFE. THE SECOND "WORK" IN JN 6:27-29 IS A FIGURE OF SPEECH - A CATACHRESIS, I.E., THAT WHICH CONTRASTS SOMETHING RADICALLY OPPOSITE TO ITS LITERAL MEANING AS A PLAY ON WORDS. IT PICTURES THE CONTRAST OF THE LITERAL WORK ONE MUST DO TO RECEIVE PHYSICAL FOOD - FOOD WHICH SPOILS AND WHICH WORK HAS TO BE REPEATED OVER AND OVER TO SUSTAIN PHYSICAL LIFE WITH THE SECOND "WORK" FOR THE FOOD THAT ENDURES TO ETERNAL LIFE VIA A MOMENT OF BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST WHICH NEEDS NO REPETITION AND IS NO WORK AT ALL FOR THE BELIEVER. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS GOD THROUGH HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, WHO HAS DONE ALL THE WORK.

G) JN 6:27 CONVEYED TWO KINDS OF FOOD WHICH BY DEFINITION WERE RECEIVED INTERNALLY BY AN INDIVIDUAL. THE SECOND KIND OF FOOD WAS STIPULATED TO BE GIVEN AS A FREE GIFT BY THE SON OF MAN IN A MOMENT OF TIME WHICH JESUS STIPULATED FIGURATIVELY AS "WORK." HE ALSO SAID THAT, UNLIKE PHYSICAL FOOD, THE SECOND KIND OF FOOD DID NOT PERISH, HENCE RECEPTION OF IT NEVER HAD TO BE REPEATED; YET IT ENDURED WITHIN ONE TO ETERNAL LIFE. THE SECOND KIND OF FOOD WAS NOT A PHYSICAL FOOD WHICH HAD TO BE REPEATEDLY CONSUMED. IT WAS AN ETERNAL, SPIRITUAL FOOD. IN JN 6:29, JESUS SAID THAT THE "WORK" BY WHICH ONE INTERNALLY RECEIVED THE FOOD THAT ENDURED TO ETERNAL LIFE WAS DEFINED AS A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN THE SON OF MAN ALONE - THE ONE GOD HAS SENT - JESUS HIMSELF. THE FOOD WHICH ENDURED TO ETERNAL LIFE WHEN RECEIVED WITHIN ONE WAS THE PERMANENT SPIRITUAL INDWELLING OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF MAN, WHO ENDURED IN ONE FOREVER UNTO ETERNAL LIFE AS A ONCE FOR ALL TIME RECEPTION AT THE MOMENT ONE BELIEVED IN HIM. DOING OTHER THINGS AND FURTHER MOMENTS OF BELIEVING WERE NOT STIPULATED, NEVERTHELESS ETERNAL LIFE WAS FOREVER RECEIVED

H) THE PHRASE RENDERED, "THAT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE" IN JN 6:29 NKJV STIPULATES THE SOLE CONDITION REQUIRED OF MAN TO SECURE ETERNAL LIFE: A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE. THIS RULES OUT CONTINUOUS FAITH, WATER BAPTISM, CONFESSION, FAITHFUL WORKS - ANY SUBSEQUENT ACTION. ONCE ONE EXPRESSES A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE, ETERNAL LIFE IS INSTANTLY RECEIVED FOREVER BECAUSE IT ITESLF IS ETERNALLY CONTINUOUS AND UNINTERRUPTIBLE BY DEFINITION AND NATURE. THERE IS NEITHER TIME AFTER THAT MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE, NOR REQUIREMENT BY GOD TO DO ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE ETERNAL LIFE IS RECEIVED AND ROEVER SECURED BY GOD

I) CONTINUAL FAITH OR FAITHFULNESS, ALTHOUGH COMMENDABLE, IS NOT IN VIEW AS A REQUIREMENT TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE AS SOME MAINTAIN THE PRESENT TENSE "BELIEVE" IN JN 6:29 MUST CONVEY. NEW TESTAMENT GREEK REQUIRES SPECIAL CONTEXT AND / OR ADDITIONAL QUALIFYING WORDS TO MAKE PRESENT TENSE PORTRAY AN ENDURING OR CONTINUOUS ACTION. NONE ARE PRESENT HERE. FURTHERMORE A CONTINUOUS STATE OF BELIEVING / FAITHFULNESS IS NOT POSSIBLE WITH FLAWED MAN AND JN 6:27 RULES IT OUT. FINALLY, ETERNAL LIFE COULD NOT BE OFFERED ON THE BASIS OF CONTINUAL FAITH OR FAITHFULNESS BECAUSE IF ONE COULD LOSE ETERNAL LIFE DUE TO A LAPSE OF FAITH OR AN ACT OF UNFAITHFULNESS, THEN IT COULD NOT BE ETERNAL. ON THE OTHER HAND, WHAT IS ENDURING IS THE FOOD WHICH PROVIDES ETERNAL LIFE WHICH ONE RECEIVES FROM GOD AT THE MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE - THE PERMANENT SPIRITUAL INDWELLING OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF.

J) NO OTHER PASSAGE NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN ORDER TO PROVIDE MORE REQUIREMENTS OR CORRECTIONS OF WHAT JOHN 6:29 STIPULATES AS A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE UNTO ETERNAL LIFE FOREVER.

K) SAVING FAITH DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY DEMONSTRATION OF THAT FAITH IN ONES LIFE IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE TRUE AND EFFECTIVE IN THE RECEPTION OF ETERNAL LIFE. ASSURANCE OF HAVING ETERNAL LIFE COMES FROM RECALLING IN WHOM ONE BELIEVED IN TO RECEIVE IT: JESUS CHRIST

V) [Jn 6:30-36]:

A) AFTER OBSERVING JESUS' MIRACULOUS SIGNS, HEARING HIS TESTIMONY, AND CONCLUDING THAT HE WAS THE PROPHET TO COME, THE CROWD STILL WANTED PROOF IN ORDER TO BELIEVE IN HIM. THEY BARGAINED WITH HIM TO PRODUCE A GREATER MIRACLE THAN THE MANNA IN THE DESERT IN ORDER TO BELIEVE IN HIM UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. JESUS INDICATED THAT THE MANNA BREAD WAS GIVEN BY GOD THROUGH MOSES WHICH WAS PERISHABLE AND ONLY SUSTAINED THE PHYSICAL LIVES OF THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES; BUT SO MUCH THE MORE, JESUS WAS THE TRUE BREAD OF GOD FROM HEAVEN WHO HAD COME DOWN TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL WHO BELIEVED - A FAR GREATER MIRACLE WHOM THEY HAD SEEN BUT IN WHOM THEY DID NOT BELIEVE.

B) NO MAN HAD AS YET BEEN IN HEAVEN WHEN JESUS REFERRED TO HIMSELF AS THE TRUE BREAD OF GOD FROM HEAVEN - THE BREAD OF ETERNAL LIFE. THIS IS A REFERENCE TO HIS ETERNAL AND HEAVENLY EXISTENCE AS THE SON OF GOD - AS DIETY. THIS IS CORROBORATED BY HIS CALLING GOD HIS FATHER, IMPLYING AN INTIMATE AND ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS THE SON OF GOD

******* EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER 3 ********

AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS, NO ONE HAD ASCENDED TO HEAVEN BUT THE SON OF MAN, JESUS HIMSELF, WHO CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, WHO YET WAS IN HEAVEN - A REFERENCE TO HIS ETERNAL OMNIPRESENCE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH - AN ATTRIBUTE OF GOD ALONE

[Compare Jn 1:48-51]:

***** END OF EXCERPT FROM JOHN CHAPTER 3 *****

VI) [Jn 6:37-40]:

A) GOD THE FATHER GAVE TO HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, AS A GIFT ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO WILL EVER CHOOSE TO COME TO JESUS IN THE SENSE OF BELIEVING IN HIM FOR ETERNAL LIFE. AND ALL WHO COME BY FAITH TO HIM, HE WILL NEVER CAST OUT IN THE SENSE OF NEVER DENYING THEM ETERNAL LIFE

B) JESUS ONCE MORE DECLARED TO THE JEWS THAT HE HAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN NOT TO DO HIS OWN WILL BUT TO DO THE WILL OF HIS FATHER WHO SENT HIM: TO SEE TO IT THAT ALL THAT THE FATHER HAD GIVEN TO HIM - ALL WHO WILL "SEE" HIM IN THE SENSE OF BEING PRESENTED WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT HIM - WHO CHOOSE TO EXPRESS A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE UNTO ETERNAL LIFE, HE WILL NOT LOSE BUT RAISE THEM ALL UPON THE LAST DAY TO EVERLASTING LIFE

VII) [Jn 6:41-51]:

A) THE JEWS WERE GRUMBLING BECAUSE JESUS DECLARED, 'I AM THE BREAD THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN' - THE BREAD OF ETERNAL LIFE. THEY REJECTED HIS CLAIM OF BEING THE SUPERNATURAL SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE FROM HEAVEN. THEY SAID, "IS NOT THIS JESUS, THE SON OF JOSEPH WHOSE FATHER AND MOTHER WE KNOW? HOW DOES HE NOW SAY, 'I HAVE COME DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN?' " DESPITE THE FACT THAT HIS CLAIM WAS CORROBORATED BY HIS MIRACLES WHICH WERE ACKNOWLEDGED BY THEM; THEY LIMITED THEIR FAITH TO WHAT WOULD BEST SUIT THEIR OWN INTERESTS

B) THE JEWS WERE GRUMBLING IN DISBELIEF ABOUT JESUS CLAIMING TO BE THE BREAD OF ETERNAL LIFE FROM HEAVEN - THEY REMARKED THAT THEY KNEW HIS HUMAN FATHER AND MOTHER. THEY LIMITED THEIR FAITH TO WHAT WOULD BEST SERVE THEIR OWN INTERESTS. JESUS TOLD THE JEWS NOT TO GRUMBLE AMONG THEMSELVES ABOUT HIM, FOR NO ONE WAS ABLE TO COME BY FAITH TO HIM IF THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM DID NOT DRAW HIM. HE TOLD THEM THAT, ON THE LAST DAY, THOSE WHO DID BELIEVE, HE WILL RAISE UP TO EVERLASTING LIFE. ALTHOUGH BELIEVING IS VOLITIONAL AND ANYONE MAY CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN HIM, ONLY THOSE WHO ARE DRAWN BY THE FATHER WILL CHOOSE TO COME TO JESUS BY FAITH TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE

C) THE ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER IS BASED SOLELY UPON THE PROMISE AND CAPACITY OF GOD AND HIS SON TO RAISE ALL BELIEVERS UP AT THE LAST DAY

D) SINCE THE INHERENT NATURE OF BELIEVING IS FREE WILL, GOD'S DRAWING OF AN INDIVIDUAL DOES NOT FORCE MAN AGAINST HIS WILL TO BELIEVE. SINCE MAN'S CHOOSING TO BELIEVE IS IN VIEW WHICH BY DEFINITION IS VOLITIONAL, THEN MAN'S CAPACITY TO COME TO JESUS BY FAITH IS IMPLIED. YET THIS CANNOT OCCUR BECAUSE MAN CANNOT BELIEVE BECAUSE HIS WILL IS EVIDENTLY IRRATIONALLY SET AGAINST IT UNLESS THE FATHER DRAWS HIM TO BELIEVE

E) AN INDIVIDUAL'S CHOICE TO BE TAUGHT BY THE LORD - TO CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO AND TO LEARN FROM THE FATHER - IS A FUNCTION OF GOD'S DRAWING OF HIM, WHICH DRAWING INEVITABLY RESULTS IN THE INDIVIDUAL CHOOSING TO COME TO A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE TO BECOME AN ETERNAL CHILD OF GOD IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD UNTO ETERNAL LIFE, IN THE PATTERN OF THE CHILDREN OF ANCIENT ISRAEL WHO WILL ENTER THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD

1) [Isa 54:13]:

F) THE FATHER DRAWS CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHEREUPON THEY CHOOSE TO BE TAUGHT BY HIM, TO LISTEN AND LEARN FROM HIM; WHEREUPON IT IS EXCLUSIVELY THESE WHO CHOOSE TO COME TO A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT ANYONE HAS SEEN THE FATHER EXCEPT HE WHO IS FROM GOD - MEANING HIMSELF. THIS IMPLIES DIETY AND AN ETERNAL FACE TO FACE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER AS THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD

G) FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN CHAPTER SIX, JESUS INDICATED THAT A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE IMMEDIATELY RESULTED IN ETERNAL LIFE FOREVER. WHEREUPON, JESUS REITERATED, 'I AM THE BREAD OF [ETERNAL] LIFE.' HE THEN COMPARED THE LITERAL / PHYSICAL MANNA-BREAD WHICH ONLY SUSTAINED THE TEMPORAL LIVES OF THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES WITH REPEATED INGESTION - HENCE THEY ALL DIED AS ALL MEN DIE - TO THE FIGURATIVE / SPIRITUAL BREAD OF ETERNAL LIFE THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN - HIMSELF - WHO ONLY NEEDED TO BE RECEIVED ONE TIME BY A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE. NOTE THAT A LITERAL PHYSICAL EATING OF THE FLESH OF JESUS CHRIST IS NOT IN VIEW

1) [Compare Jn 6:36]:

a) Jesus Indicated That The Manna Bread Was Given By God Through Moses Which Was Perishable And Only Sustained The Physical Lives Of The Ancient Israelites; But So Much The More, Jesus Was The True Bread Of God From Heaven Who Had Come Down To Give Eternal Life To All Life To All Who Believed - A Far Greater Miracle Whom They Had Seen But In Whom They Did Not Believe

H) MOST OF THE CROWD REFUSED TO BELIEVE IN WHAT JESUS SAID DESPITE HIS SCRIPTURAL TESTIMONY, MIRACLES AND FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY. WHEN HE SAID "IF ANYONE EATS OF THIS BREAD, HE WILL LIVE FOREVER AND THE BREAD THAT I SHALL GIVE IS MY FLESH, WHICH I SHALL GIVE FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD," THEY MAINTAINED THAT JESUS' MESSAGE WAS LITERAL - IMPLYING CANNABALISM. BUT THE RULES OF LANGUAGE, CONTEXT AND LOGIC DO NOT PERMIT THIS, THEY RESTRICT HIS MESSAGE TO BEING FIGURATIVE FOR A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE

VIII) [Jn 6:52-59]:

A) THE JEWS REFUSED TO ACCEPT JESUS' TESTIMONY. THEY DEMONSTRATED THEIR UNWILLINGNESS TO BELIEVE IN HIM AS MANKIND'S EXLUSIVE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE BY DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRETING HIM. THEY ARGUED THAT HE WAS IMPLYING THAT ONE WOULD HAVE TO PHYSICALLY EAT HIS FLESH AND DRINK HIS BLOOD. THEIR SELF-IMPOSED IRRATIONAL BLINDNESS BLOCKED OUT JESUS' IMPLICATION OF A FUTURE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD WHICH HE HAD REPEATEDLY STIPULATED WAS TO BE RECEIVED BY A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE UNTO ETERNAL LIFE

B) THE MEANING OF JN 6:53-56 HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED BY JN 6:35, 40 AND 51

1) [Compare Jn 6:53-56 with Jn 6:35, 40, 51]:

2) [Jn 6:53-56 compared with Jn 6:35, 40, 51]:

C) JESUS SAID THAT WHOEVER ATE HIS FLESH AND DRANK HIS BLOOD, IN THE FIGURATIVE SENSE OF A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE, HAD ETERNAL LIFE AND ABIDED IN JESUS AND JESUS IN HIM IN A MUTUAL, PERSONAL, INTIMATE, ETERNAL FELLOWSHIP - BECOMING ONE WITH ANOTHER - HENCE JESUS SAID HE WOULD RAISE HIM UP ON THE LAST DAY. SO JESUS AFFIRMED THAT HIS FLESH TRULY WAS FOOD AND HIS BLOOD TRULY WAS DRINK, SUCH THAT IF AN INDIVIDUAL DID NOT EAT HIS FLESH OR DRINK HIS BLOOD IN THE FIGURATIVE SENSE, THEN HE DID NOT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. JESUS SPOKE THESE THINGS TEACHING IN A SYNAGOGUE IN CAPERNAUM

D) ALTHOUGH JESUS WAS AWARE OF WHAT THE JEWS WERE ARGUING ABOUT AMONGST THEMSELVES, HE DID NOT BACK OFF - CONTRARY TO THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT PRESS SUCH AN ARGUMENT. JESUS PERSISTED EMPHATICALLY WITH "[TRULY, TRULY], I SAY TO YOU, IF [YOU DO] NOT EAT THE FLESH OF THE SON OF MAN, AND [YOU DO] NOT DRINK HIS BLOOD, [YOU] HAVE NO LIFE IN YOURSELVES; WHOEVER EATS MY FLESH AND DRINKS MY BLOOD HAS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY." SO THE GIVING AND CONSUMING OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD IN THE SENSE OF A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE ETERNAL LIFE IN A FUTURE ATONING SACRIFICE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD IS IN VIEW, NOT CANNIBALISM

IX) [Jn 6:60-66]:

A) KNOWING WITHIN HIMSELF (SUPERNATURALLY) THAT MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WERE GRUMBLING ABOUT HIM AND WOULD NEVER CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN HIM, JESUS PERSISTED EVEN WITH THOSE WHO WERE NOT CHOSEN - AFFIRMING THE DOCTRINE OF UNLIMITED ATONEMENT. HE ADDRESSED THEIR BEING ESPECIALLY OFFENDED WHEN HE SPOKE OF HIMSELF AS THE SON OF MAN COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN - THAT ONE WHO ATE HIS FLESH AND DRANK HIS BLOOD, (IN THE FIGURATIVE SENSE OF BELIEVING IN HIM), WOULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HE LAMENTED THEIR WILLFUL REFUSAL TO BELIEVE IN HIM AS MANKIND'S EXCLUSIVE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE BY SAYING HOW MUCH THE MORE THEY WOULD REJECT HIM WERE THEY TO SEE HIM, THE SON OF MAN, ASCEND TO HEAVEN FROM WHENCE HE CAME - EVIDENTLY FORETELLING OF HIS FUTURE ASCENSION. HE EXPLAINED TO THEM THAT IT WAS THE SPIRIT - NOT ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE PHYSICAL REALM - WHO GAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HENCE HE TOLD THEM THAT HIS WORDS WERE SPIRIT, I.E., FIGURATIVE FOR THE SPIRITUAL REALM AND IN THAT SENSE HIS WORDS GAVE ETERNAL LIFE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED THEM. JESUS FURTHER REVEALED TO THEM THAT HE HAD KNOWN WITHIN HIMSELF FROM THE BEGINNING, (SUPERNATURALLY) WHO WOULD NOT CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN HIM AND WHO IT WAS WHO WOULD BETRAY HIM, (REFERRING TO JUDAS ISCARIOT). JESUS CONCLUDED THAT NO ONE WAS ABLE TO BELIEVE IN HIM IF IT WERE NOT GIVEN HIM TO DO SO FROM HIS FATHER. FROM THIS TIME ON ALL OF HIS DISCIPLES WHO REFUSED TO BELIEVE IN HIM UNTO ETERNAL LIFE - WHICH LEFT ONLY THE TWELVE WHO BELIEVED IN HIM - FOLLOWED HIM NO MORE

1) [Jn 6:63 YLT]:

*** EXCERPT FROM JN 6:44 ABOVE ***

SINCE THE INHERENT NATURE OF BELIEVING IS FREE WILL, GOD'S DRAWING OF AN INDIVIDUAL DOES NOT FORCE MAN AGAINST HIS WILL TO BELIEVE. SINCE MAN'S CHOOSING TO BELIEVE IS IN VIEW WHICH BY DEFINITION IS VOLITIONAL, THEN MAN'S CAPACITY TO COME TO JESUS BY FAITH IS IMPLIED. YET THIS CANNOT OCCUR BECAUSE MAN CANNOT BELIEVE BECAUSE HIS WILL IS EVIDENTLY IRRATIONALLY SET AGAINST IT UNLESS THE FATHER DRAWS HIM TO BELIEVE

*** END OF EXCERPT FROM JN 6:44 ***

X) Jn 6:67-71]:

A) WHEN ALL OF HIS DISCIPLES BUT THE TWELVE WENT AWAY, JESUS ASKED THE TWELVE IF THEY WISHED TO GO TOO. SIMON PETER ANSWERED, REFLECTING THAT HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT BY GOD, "LORD TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE AND WE HAVE BELIEVED, AND WE HAVE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." JESUS ANSWERED, "DID I NOT CHOOSE YOU, THE TWELVE, AND ONE OF YOU IS A DEVIL?" AUTHOR JOHN EXPLAINED THAT JESUS WAS SPEAKING OF JUDAS SON OF SIMON ISCARIOT WHO WOULD SOON BETRAY JESUs

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 7