John 13 Bread From Heaven

John 6:1-15
“1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone” (John 6:1-15).
John 6:22-35
“22 The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;
23 (howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:) 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:22-35).
The Old Testament Jesus
John is familiar with his Old Testament. He's also familiar with the life and identity of Jesus. At interesting points throughout his Gospel these two subjects intertwine in such a way both Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures are illuminated.
For example, how did God provide food for the children of Israel in the wilderness? It was that mysterious manna that came down from heaven that sustained God's people. This was their source of life; they needed it and depended upon it.
Think about that for a moment. Something mysterious came from heaven to earth and gave life to God's people. Can you think of anyone who matches that description? John can. When John reads about the manna, he cannot help but see Jesus.
Listen again to these words of Jesus (John 6:32-35).
“32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:22-35).
Notice the difference between bread and true bread. The bread of Moses is merely a shadow on the cave wall; the true bread is what casts the shadow. The bread of Moses sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness; the true bread sustains us for all eternity.
Jesus or Moses?
This whole discussion is predicated on understanding a sign Jesus performed at the time of Passover (John 6:4). It's not enough just to see the miracle. You must ask what that particular miracle or demonstration is pointing towards. What is the spiritual lesson or purpose of the miracle? The physical miracle in this instance is feeding 5,000 men with just five barley loaves and two fish, but what is the sign?
Prior to this, Jesus had been performing signs for the sick, which caused a large crowd to follow Him (John 6:2). Jesus looked out at the crowd and decided to give His disciples a test, asking Philip how they could afford to feed so many (John 6:5-6). It is interesting to see how Philip and the other disciples will respond to the dilemma.
Both Andrew and Philip speak up about the situation: Philip says we don't have enough money, and Andrew says we don't have enough food (John 6:7-9).
While they both failed the test, they also set Jesus up with the perfect opportunity for His next sign. He took a kid's bread and fish, gave thanks, and miraculously distributed them, and distributed them to the whole crowd. Everyone ate, and everyone was filled.
The crowd was so amazed by this sign they came away with an important realization: "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14). This is what the Jews wanted to know about John the Baptist in John 1:21 ("Are you the Prophet?") and they later argue this point again about Jesus in John 7:40 ("This certainly is the Prophet").
But who is this prophet? This is probably a reference back to Deuteronomy 18:15-18 where Moses writes, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you." After the death of Moses, Deuteronomy 34:10-12 says, "Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh ... and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel."
Moses performed signs and God promised another great prophet like Moses would arise. Now, Jesus is performing the signs. Perhaps He is that great prophet. Moses used the signs to destroy the Egyptians. Perhaps Jesus can use His signs to destroy the Romans and become king of Israel. Perhaps He can restore the kingdom to Israel and free them from subjugation to the occupying Romans.
After all, it is Passover! He just proved He can miraculously feed 5,000. Imagine a king whose people will never go hungry. Imagine a king who can feed an entire army with just five loaves of bread. As the crowds were ruminating over these things, "Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone" (John 6:15). Off to a mountain alone? That kind of sounds like something Moses would do.
Jesus or Bread?
The Jesus/Moses typology is glaring in this passage, but there are numerous other motifs at work.
The people want a prophet like Moses and a warrior king to violently overthrow the Egyptians/ Babylonians/ Romans, or whoever is oppressing them.
Jesus rejects this role but takes on another. He takes on the role of God's bread from heaven. Jesus just gave them bread, and for now, they want to follow Him. They missed the sign of the miracle. They missed the message for the meal. Jesus says, "You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26).
They are seeking Jesus because they want a meal, and He's the kingly Moses-type figure who can give them bread. They cry out, quoting Psalm 78:24, "He gave them bread out of heaven to eat" (John 6:31). They say Moses gave the people bread, and so Jesus, the Prophet like Moses, should give them bread. If He does, they will believe (John 6:30-31). In response, Jesus clears up their misreading of Psalm 78 and makes a radical shift in the way we should all read the wilderness narrative.
Jesus explains it was not Moses who gave them bread, but God (John 6:32; Psalm 78:21-24). In the wilderness narrative, Jesus isn't just Moses. He's the God-given bread from heaven. Jesus is the Manna and not just Moses. In order to have life, they need the true, God-given source of life, which comes from heaven. Moses did not give them life; God gave them life by sending something from Heaven. Rather than coming to eat manna, they need to come to believe Jesus. Jesus wants them to come to Him, for, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (John 6:35)
The bread/manna is a symbol and extension of Jesus Himself. This sign illustrates the necessity of believing in Jesus unto eternal life. It is Jesus who sustains and fills you. Rather than manna, Jesus is the way God gives life to the world.
Bread From Heaven (Part 2)
John 6:40-58
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever
The Problem of Jesus' Parents
In the previous lesson we noted a rereading of Psalm 78:24 and the Exodus narrative, specifically regarding the manna which came from Heaven. The manna is not the true source of life that comes from God. Jesus is. The link between the two jumps off the page. John reads about the manna but sees Jesus.
There are, however, some issues with this interpretation. The crowd soon points out one of these issues: "The Jews were grumbling about Him because He said, 'I am the bread that came down out of heaven.' They were saying, '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"?'" (John 6:41-42).
Don't miss that the Jews are grumbling at Jesus about bread. This should remind each of us of the grumbling at Moses (and God) about manna in the books of Exodus and Numbers. The Passover/Exodus story is being retold with Jesus as the central figure, just as the creation story was retold with Jesus as the central figure in John 1. This is a major stylistic feature of John's storytelling.
The setting for this story is Capernaum, Jesus' hometown. The issue they bring up is they know His parents. It's a little easier to convince a group of distant strangers about your divine origins than to people who know your parents. That's gonna be a problem.
Jesus doesn't see the problem this same way, however. Jesus sees the problem as their lack of divine education. They need to be taught. They trust in their own minds rather than what God has taught. Don't look to Joseph and Mary to see if Jesus has come from heaven, look to God.
Jesus warns, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me" (John 6:44-45).
To Jesus, the problem is they aren't reading Scripture correctly. When John reads the Torah, He sees Jesus nearly everywhere.
Jesus says, "For if you believed Moses, you would have believed Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" (John 5:39-47).
Jesus' true identity has been screamed out by God in the writings of Moses. It will all culminate in the cross, where Jesus says, "'And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.' But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die" (John 12:32-33, cf. John 3:14-15).
Jesus' adversaries are ignoring Jesus' signs and God's teaching in Scripture. They are ignoring and skipping right past how He teaches and draws you to Christ. They're reading wrong, getting the wrong information, and missing Jesus. They're unwilling to look at Jesus in a new light – in God's light. They are thinking too much about Mary and Joseph and thinking too little about God.
Temporary vs. Eternal Life
The second problem is manna only gave temporary life.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever ..." (John 6:47-51).
Jesus gives eternal life. Jesus raises you up (John 6:40, 44). In this way, He is dissimilar from the manna in Exodus. Jesus draws a distinction between the "bread out of heaven" and the "true bread out of heaven" in John 6:32. The manna in the wilderness is an excellent picture of Jesus, as it came directly from God to give life to mankind. Yet it's incomplete. All who ate still died. Jesus is not just the "bread" but the "true bread" and the "living bread" (John 6:51).
By adding the word "living," Jesus indicates He will continue being a source of life. He offered the woman at the well, "living water ... the water that I give ... will become ... a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:10, 14). About the bread, He says, "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you" (John 6:27). Jesus offers living water and living bread, both of which lead to eternal life.
Jesus isn't the literal manna in the wilderness. He is an even truer form of that manna. He gives life, not only at the time of consumption but for all eternity.
Consuming Jesus
So how do we consume this bread? One way John indicates this is through coming to Jesus and believing: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (John 6:35).
DO EATING THE FLESH AND DRINKING THE BLOOD OF CHRIST REFER TO THE LORD'S SUPPER (JOHN 6:53-58)?
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.”
Some who recognize that the Lord is speaking figuratively here contend that the references to the Lord's flesh and blood are allusions to the symbolism of the body and blood of Christ in the bread and cup of the Supper, a sort of “preparatory prophecy of the Supper."
They understand Jesus here to be speaking of the Lord's Supper by prophetic forecast or rather they think that John has put into the mouth of Jesus the sacramental conception of the Christian faith by making participation in the bread and wine the means of securing eternal life.
Such an understanding, however, wrests the text from its context and extends it beyond its proper application. To understand the Lord as referring here to the Lord's supper would make Him say, in effect, "Except ye eat the Lord's supper, ye have not life in yourselves.... He that takes the Lord's supper hath eternal life." Merely taking the supper does not bring eternal life.
The general scope of John is stated in these words: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31).
The special scope of John in this sixth chapter is that Christ is the Life of men, being both the Source and the Preserver of it (John 6:35).
He is the Bread of Life, evermore satisfying the hunger of men (v. 48). He is the Water of Life of which, those who drink, never again thirst (John 4:14). Those who eat of this bread and drink of this water of life have the promise of eternal bliss.
Throughout this section emphasis is given to the fact that only in receiving Jesus as the Messiah is salvation possible and this theme is pursued through a variety of figures in which Jesus is represented as food and drink which forevermore satisfy and His flesh and blood that which one appropriates and lives forever.
Thus, the effort to apply these words of our text to the Lord's Supper disregards the context, and makes our Lord discuss matters wholly incomprehensible both to the unbelieving Jews and to the disciples (this was long before the Supper was instituted); and the fact that the verbs of the Greek text (cf. v. 56) indicate a continuous eating and drinking it is apparent that this chapter does not speak of the bread and wine, but of spiritual eating, i.e. of the belief that Christ, both God and man, hath shed His blood for us.
A careful examination of the immediate context of the chapter and the greater context of the book of John makes clear what Jesus has in mind. Since He referred to Himself as "the bread of life" (John 6:35, 48), He speaks of eating the bread – Jesus Himself—as the means of obtaining life.
Both Ezekiel (2:10—3:3) and John (Rev. 10:9—11) ate rolls (books) symbolizing the digestion of the message they were to preach.
John 6 is an advancement over this idea, since we become like Jesus when we feast on his word, digest it and absorb it into every cell of the spiritual self.
Jesus' words confer life, because they are spirit, and the spirit is life (Romans 8:10). Therefore, we eat Jesus in the sense that we assimilate Him through His words.
Again, concerning whether or not there is an allusion here to the Lord's Supper the context is against this conclusion. But, if this conclusion is correct, the question still stands as to how one eats of this flesh and drinks of this blood. The answer is found in the context: The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). Jesus is saying, ...of me you must eat in order to live spiritually, and you will do this by accepting my word.
He next extends the figure of eating Him as eating His flesh and blood. This is simply a graphic way of impressing on the mind the thought which is at the very center of the entire discussion: Faith in Christ is the only means to eternal life.
Notice Jesus began by telling the Jews to believe on Him (John 6:29). He affirms that since He is the bread of life, "he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (6:34-35). To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to have eternal life, yet in this same speech Jesus declared, "He that believeth hath eternal life" (John 6:47; cf. 6:40).
Therefore, to eat His flesh and drink His blood is merely a way of expressing that we must wholly accept Christ and fully believe in Him in order to be saved from the wages of sin and have eternal life.
In John 6:56 Jesus says, "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him," but in John 15:1-10 Jesus equates abiding in Him with letting His Words abide in us and keeping His commandments (cf. 1 John 2:6; 3:24).
In John 6:50 the Lord said if a man eats the bread of life he will not die, but in 8:51 He says, "If a man keeps my word, he shall never see death." Thus, to eat Christ, the bread of life, to eat His flesh and drink His blood, is to believe on Him, to accept the sacrifice of His body and His shed blood as the only means of atonement, and to manifest this belief by keeping His word.
Jesus goes on to say to His disciples, "...the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life" (John 6:63), once more equating the obtaining of the life which comes by eating and drinking His flesh and blood with receiving His Word.
Because Jesus conveyed or made possible eternal life through the sacrifice of His flesh and the shedding of His blood, the idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood becomes a fitting and powerful figure to emphasize that we must accept that sacrifice through obedience to His will (Hebrews 5:9).
The entire discourse of Jesus may be taken as an invitation to these Jews and to all. Do you want to live forever? Come and eat the Bread of Life! God is good. Love you. Samuel

Samuel Matthews

John 13 Bread From Heaven

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