Site Search Engine

THE BREAD OF GOD

John chapter 6, v. 22 to 40

The Lord Jesus had sent the multitudes away the evening before (Mark 6:45; Mat 14:22), but evidently some did not go very far, still lingering in excitement on the eastern side of the lake next morning, and they noted that:

• there had been no other boat there except the one entered by the disciples.
• the Lord had not entered with them.
• the disciples had gone away alone.
• other little boats had come from near the place where they had eaten bread after the Lord had given thanks. This is the second time the title Lord is given to Jesus in this gospel (chapter 4: 1). The common name Jesus was His name in the flesh (chapter 1: 14, Matthew 1:2 1), and is nearly always respectfully preceded or followed by Lord and Christ in the Epistles.
• the Lord Jesus, however, was not there.

They still did not understand how He had crossed over, but they acted on the basis of the plain fact, got into those little boats, crossed over to Capernaum, and looked for Him there. They had a double motive, apart from curiosity as to how he had got there (verse 22): they had clearly not given up the impulse of the evening before to make Jesus king (verse 15) and they had hopes of still another good meal (verse 26).

They found Him after a search, probably in the synagogue (verse 59) of Capernaum, perhaps that very synagogue built by a centurion (Luke 7:5). Respectfully calling Him Rabbi, they asked when He had got there, showing their surprise.

The Lord, as He often did, instead of giving them a direct reply to this question, went further and showed them that He knew what was on their minds, and the reason why they had come after Him. They had seen the signs He had wrought (verse 2), but they were more concerned with hungry stomachs than with hungry souls. It was a sharp and deserved rebuke.

He then used food (loaves and fishes) as a metaphor for spiritual sustenance which the Son of Man (Himself) would give them, depending on their attitude towards the Son of man (verse 51). Contrary to material food, which perishes (they were already hungry again), His spiritual sustenance endures to eternal life: therefore they should strive for the second kind.

His authority is the seal of God upon Him; He did not specify when, but as a man it would have been at the time of His baptism, when the Father spoke confirming His identity and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him (Luke 3:22).

Perceiving the spiritual significance of His words, in spite of their supercilious attitude they may have been vaguely sincere in their next question, which can better be put this way: what are we to do (as a habit), that we may go on, working the works of God? They were thinking of various deeds of the Pharisaic type and rules which they thought God wanted of them.

The Lord immediately gave them a straight answer, setting them right: the work of God is to believe (keep on believing) in Him whom He Sent (see 1 Thessalonians 1:3). It is the work of God and not the works of man which gives man eternal life.

As if the sign of the day before had been without value, they asked for a sign that they might come to see, and believe in Him. It was hard to have patience with this superficial and almost sneering mob (Jesus had already implied that they did not understand his signs - verse 26).

By asking what work will you do? and mentioning the manna given to their fathers, they made a challenge, not only belittling the miracle they had witnessed on the day before, but also setting up a standard: the rabbis quoted Psalm 72:16 to prove that the Messiah, when he came, would outdo Moses with manna from heaven. Their plea is that Moses gave them bread from heaven. Could Jesus outstrip that deed of Moses?

First, the Lord bluntly denied that Moses was the giver of the bread from heaven (the manna). Moses was not superior to Christ on this score. The giver was my Father - not our Father, repeating the claim which caused so much anger in Jerusalem (chapter 5:17). He was still giving sustenance, for the daily bread is of God (Matthew 6:11), but far more importantly, He was now giving them the true bread from heaven, of which the manna was merely a type. It is interesting to note that the phrase comes/have come/came down .from heaven is used seven times in this discourse (verses 33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58).

Whereas the manna was limited to physical nourishment at a point in time in the desert to the Israelites, the bread of God is a person who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. This was a most astounding statement to the crowd and they obviously did not understand it. Now calling Him Lord (our Sir) instead of Rabbi (verse 25), though how much they meant by it is not clear, they asked Him to give them a perpetual supply of this bread, like the woman at the well asked for water (chapter 4:15).

The Lord answered them by stating His origin, His mission, and the will of the Father:

• He is the one who came down from Heaven, the bread of life. This was startling in the extreme to the crowd. In the other gospels (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19) the Lord uses bread as the symbol of his body in the Lord's Supper, but here He offers himself in place of the loaves and fishes which they had come to seek (chapter 6:24, 26). He is the bread of life in two senses: it has life in itself, the living bread (chapter 6:51), and it gives life to others like the water of life, the tree of life.

• He came down from Heaven to do the will of the Father (chapter 4:34; 5:30), and this was that He should give life to the world, so that whoever comes to Him shall not become hungry, and after believing Him - the continuous relation of trust after coming - shall never thirst at any time. This crowd had seen but failed to believe; however He welcomes all those the Father sends, or gives, to Him (chapter 10:29; 17:2, 6, 9, 12, 24; 18:9). The term predestination applies only to the saved and means just what He said here: when a person accepts Christ, he is justified; and just as surely as he is justified, he is going to be glorified. When the Lord starts out with one hundred sheep, He is going to come through with one hundred sheep without losing one. Everyone who believes and receives Christ has everlasting life and will be raised up again at the last day. The Father gives men to Christ, but men have to come. And the ones that come are the ones whom the Father gives to Him.

• The will of the Father is that Christ should not lose anything of what He is given, but raise all on the last day, or the day of judgement (chapter 11:24; 12:48). Christ is the Agent of the general resurrection (chapter 5:28, 1 Corinthians 15:22), but here only the resurrection of the righteous is mentioned. The Father's will is that everyone who sees the Son, with the eye of faith (chapter 12:45) and believes in Him may acquire and keep on having eternal life (chapter 3:15, 36) so Christ promises to raise him up on the last day. In short, everyone who believes and receives Christ has everlasting life and will he raised up again at the last day.

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone

23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks

24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

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

26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

27 "Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

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

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

30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?

31 "Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "

32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

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

34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

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

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

37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

39 "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

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