John 6:22-40: The Bread of Life--Part 1

John 6:22-40:

The Bread of Life--Part I

By Dr. Hal Harless

Foundation Fellowship of Greenville, TX

September 27, 2009

I. Introduction

A. Please turn to John 6:22.

B. While you are turning....

There was a very cautious man

Who never laughed or played.

He never risked, he never tried,

He never sang or prayed!

And when one day he passed away

His insurance was denied,

For since he never really lived,

They claimed he never died![1]

Today's passage touches on weighty subjects such as God's sovereignty and the deity of Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, we must keep our focus on the main point of this discourse, the Bread of Life, the true source of life--Jesus Christ.

II. Exposition

A. Background

1. We are still in Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-12:36a).

2. Chapter 6 is entirely in the Galilee; with chapter 7, the focus returns to Judea where it will remain until our Lord's death and resurrection.

3. Last week, we had the feeding of the 5,000 and the miracle of Jesus walking on water (John 6:1-21).

4. This week we will look at the fourth dialogue in John's gospel, Jesus' teaching concerning the bread of life.

a. This dialogue, in response to the feeding of the 5,000, took place in the synagogue in Capernaum.

b. The discussion falls naturally into three parts.

1) Jesus and the crowd (John 6:22-40)

2) Jesus and the Jewish authorities (John 6:41-58)

3) Jesus and the disciples (John 6:59-71)

c. Although the section begins with Jesus' popularity at an all time high, by the end of it, many have turned their backs on Him. Wiersbe calls this chapter, "Jesus loses His crowd."

B. Exposition: The fourth discourse: the Bread of Life: the crowd (John 6:22-40)

1. Seeking Jesus (John 6:22-25)

²² The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. ²³ There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. ²⁵ When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You get here?" (John 6:22-25).

a. The crowd noticed that the disciples had left in their boat, and knew that Jesus had not left with them.

b. There was only one other boat and it was still there.

c. They had a mystery on their hands.

d. Other boats arrived at the location of the feeding of the 5,000 looking for Jesus.

e. Upon finding neither Jesus, nor the disciples, they crossed over to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

f. Still confused, when they found Jesus, they asked how He got there.

2. Bread from heaven (John 6:26-34)

a. The bread that perishes, the bread that endures (John 6:26-27)

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ 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, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal" (John 6:26-27).

1) "Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.'"

a) As our Lord frequently does, He addressed the real issue, not the one about which people were talking.

i) How Jesus got there was not of primary importance; the reason that they were seeking Him was important.

ii) Jesus indicated that, even more than the miracle, the crowd sought Him because He satisfied their need.

b) "Truly, truly"

i) Jesus used the double amen to emphasize what He was saying, "I tell you the solemn truth" (NET).

ii) He does this four times in this discourse (John 6:26, 32, 47, 53).

c) Jesus never did offer any explanation as to how or when He crossed the lake; His walking on water was a private sign for the disciples.

2) "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, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

a) Jesus taught that they should not focus their efforts on temporal bread, but on food that gives eternal life.

b) He claims, as the Son of Man, to be able to give such food.

i) "Son of Man" is a Messianic title from Dan 7:13.

ii) "Set His seal"--"On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval" (NIV; see also HCSB, NET).

b. The work of God is to believe (John 6:28-29).

²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so 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 has sent" (John 6:28-29).

1) "Therefore they said to Him, 'What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?'"

a) Because Jesus had mentioned working in verse 27, the crowd asks what they should do to "work the works of God."

i) Grammatically, the crowd means "godly works" or "works God requires" (NIV, see also NET).[2]

ii) This betrays legalistic thinking that there is some meritorious work that can earn eternal life.[3]

(a) Paul wrote about this mindset:

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes" (Rom 10:2-4 NIV).

(b) The truth is, as Paul writes:

(i) "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5).

(ii) "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph 2:8-9).

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

a) Jesus Christ explained that what God wanted them to do was "believe in Him whom He has sent."

i) Jesus Christ is using the phrase "work of God" differently than the crowd ("godly works").

ii) Grammatically, Jesus is using it as equivalent to "a work belonging to God"[4] or "a work produced by God."[5]

(a) Ironside remarked, "'Well,' you say, 'believing is not working at all.' No, but it is evidence of divine work in the soul.... No merely natural man has faith of himself."[6]

(b) Our natural state is darkness, but God gives "the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:9 NJKV).

(d) Since He has enabled all to believe, "God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent" (Acts 17:30).

iii) God gives all the ability to believe, we have the responsibility to believe.

b) Paul wrote, "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom 4:4).

c) God has only one requirement, trust in Jesus Christ.

c. The sign of the manna (John 6:30-31)

³⁰ So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT'" (John 6:30-31).

1) "So they said to Him, 'What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?'"

a) The crowd in a very common reaction demands a sign before they will believe Jesus.

i) Paul wrote, "For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom" (1 Cor 1:22).

ii) Their memories are very short indeed in view of the miracle that Jesus Christ had just performed by feeding the 5,000.

b) We should note that the crowd thought that the order of things was "see, and believe."

i) However, Jesus said that the order is "if you believe, you will see" (John 11:40).

ii) Often Jesus gave no sign to those demanding one, but performed miracles for those who believed.

c) Seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing.

2) "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"

a) The crowd then referred to the miracle of the manna in the wilderness.

i) The crowd quoted, "He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven" (Ps 78:24). Ps 78 records Israel's unbelief and disobedience to God.[7]

ii) The rabbis expected manna from the Messiah:

R. Berekiah said in the name of R. Isaac: As the first redeemer was, so shall the latter Redeemer be.... As the former redeemer caused manna to descend, as it is stated, Behold, I will cause to rain bread from heaven for you (Ex. XVI, 4), so will the latter Redeemer cause manna to descend.[8]

b) The crowd apparently thought that the "He" in the verse referred to Moses.

i) The rabbis taught:

It was due to the merit of Moses that you ate the manna, [a dainty] which the holy patriarchs had never set eyes on; as it is said, And He fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know (Deut. VIII, 3).[9]

ii) Rabbi Jose taught:

Three good patrons arose for Israel, namely, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and for the sake of them three precious gifts were bestowed on Israel--the well, the manna, the clouds of glory: the manna for the sake of Moses, the well for the sake of Miriam, and the clouds of glory for the sake of Aaron.[10]

c) In context, the Supplier of manna is clearly God.

d. The true bread from heaven is from God the Father, not Moses (6:32-34).

³² Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." ³⁴ Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread" (John 6:32-34).

1) "Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.'"

a) Jesus made the point that the manna came from God, not Moses.

b) "Truly, truly"--Jesus emphasized this statement with a double amen, "I tell you the solemn truth" (NET).

c) Moreover, Jesus hints that there is something more than manna, a "true bread out of heaven."

2) "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."--Jesus continued to explain to the crowd that the real bread of God from heaven is able to supply life to the world.

3) "Then they said to Him, 'Lord, always give us this bread.'"

a) The crowd exclaims that they want that bread.

b) The Gk. word translated "always" can be translated "all the time" (NET).

c) The crowd was excited about a perpetual supply of bread.

3. I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35-40).

a. Jesus satisfies hunger and thirst for those who believe (John 6:35-37).

³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will 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 certainly not cast out" (John 6:35-37).

1) "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.'"

a) Jesus Christ then reveals that He is the "bread of life."

i) "The bread of Life"--There is a definite article in front of "Life," literally, "the bread of the life!"

ii) Grammatically "bread of life" means "bread that produces or provides life."[11]

b) Coming to Him prevents hunger, and believing in Him prevents thirst.

i) The Gk. words translated "not" and "never" are double negatives that rule "out even the idea as being a possibility."[12]

ii) Just as hunger and thirst indicate lacking that which is necessary for physical life, so hunger and thirst here are metaphors for lacking that which is necessary for eternal life.

c) This is another of Jesus' famous "I AM" statements (see John 6:20, 35; 8:12; 10:7-9, 11-14; 11:25-26; 14:6; 15:1, 5) that echoes Exod 3:14.

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

a) Jesus rebuked them for their refusal to believe.

b) The crowd had seen Jesus and His miracles and yet refused to believe.

c) Seeing is not always believing.

3) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."

a) Jesus stated that everyone that the Father gives to Him will come to Him.

i) The Gk. word translated "gives" is a present tense verb, but "will come" is future tense.

ii) It is said that "when a church member asked Charles Spurgeon how he reconciled these two [divine sovereignty and human responsibility] he replied, "I never try to reconcile friends."[13]

b) Two issues are important to consider in this connection.

i) The first issue is the identity of those that the Father gives to the Son.

(a) George Bryson comments that "the context makes it evident that the ones given to the Son by the Father are the ones who believe in Christ and therefore come to Him in faith."[14]

(b) Bryson explains:

Logically, faith in Christ is necessary to being given to Christ. Chronologically, faith in Christ is simultaneous to coming to Christ. When a lost person believes in Christ in time, He is given to Christ for time and eternity. Otherwise we have unbelievers given to Christ. It is believers and not unbelievers who come to Christ. It is believers and not unbelievers who are given to Christ. Even if we accept that there is a sense in which the one who believes in time was already given to Christ in eternity, those given must be viewed as believers, before they actually believe, and are given as believers to the one they will eventually believe in. Calvinists go adrift, in part, because they have factored out the all-important faith factor.[15]

(c) Jesus equated "all that He [God the Father] has given Me" (John 6:39) with "everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him" (John 6:40).

(d) Jesus described the sheep that the "Father ... has given ... to Me" (John 10:29) as those who "hear My voice ... and they follow Me" (John 10:27).

(e) When Jesus was praying for the believers, He described "the men whom You gave Me out of the world" as those who "have kept Your word" (John 17:6).

(f) He also equated those who "believed that You sent Me" (John 17:8) with "those whom You have given Me" (John 17:9).

(g) Jesus called the same people that earlier He called those "who believe in Me" (John 17:20) those "whom You have given Me" (John 17:24).

(h) Believers, not unbelievers, are the ones given to Christ.

ii) The second issue is the source of the certainty that they will come.

(a) The two alternatives that have traditionally been presented are Calvinism and Arminianism. On one hand, Calvinism could be called predetermination causing foreknowledge.[16]

(i) The Calvinist believes that God knows the future because He is going to make it happen.

(ii) The Calvinist would say that those the Father gives to the Son will come to Him because they have no choice but to do so.

(iii) This view seems to deny responsible human choices.

(iv) Forced love would seem a contradictory concept.

(v) Indeed, if God's will is the only will that counts in the cosmos, it becomes difficult to avoid charging God with evil.

(b) On the other hand, Arminianism could be called predetermination based on foreknowledge.[17]

(i) In this view, God chooses us because He foresees our faith.

(ii) This would make God the responder and not the initiator.

(iii) Since God's knowledge is perfect, our choices cannot inform Him or add to His knowledge.

(iv) God's plan is based on His action not ours.

(i) Peter said that we are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Pet 1:2 NKJV).

(ii) God did not choose us because of His foreknowledge, nor did He foreknow us because of His choice.

(iii) God being eternal and timeless both His eternal knowledge and His eternal choice are also timeless. We cannot logically or chronologically place one in front of the other.

(iv) Geisler explains:

Whatever God knows, He determines. And whatever He determines, He knows.

More properly, we should speak of God as knowingly determining and determinately knowing from all eternity everything that happens, including all free acts....

God is totally sovereign in the sense of actually determining what occurs, and yet man is completely free and responsible for what he chooses.[19]

(v) Therefore, God has knowingly determined and determinately known from eternity all who will believe. He has given these to Christ and they will inevitably come of their own free choice.

iii) Jesus promises security to the one who comes to Him.

(a) Bryson says that "in coming to Christ in faith, the sinner can be assured that he will neither be rejected (kept out) nor ejected (kicked out) of the kingdom of God."[20]

(i) The Gk. words translated "certainly not" are a double negative and a "marker of reinforced negation," which "is the most decisive way of negativing [sic] someth[ing] in the future."[21]

(ii) Williams translates this, "I will never, no, never reject anyone who comes to me" (NTLP).

(b) Jesus promised:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand (John 10:27-29).

While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled (John 17:12; see also 18:9).

(d) Jesus' sheep are secure; they will never be ejected or rejected.

b. Jesus came down from heaven (John 6:38-40).

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 Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:38-40).

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

a) Jesus continues to make His point that He is the "bread of life" (John 6:35) pointing out that He, like the manna, has come down from heaven.

i) He continues to explain that the reason He will not reject anyone is that He came not to do His own will, but God the Father's will.

ii) Jesus has pointed this out in each of the last two chapters (John 4:34; 5:30).

b) We see Jesus' submission to the Father's will in the Garden of Gethsemane, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matt 26:39).

c) There are three persons in the one essence of God, but They agree totally in purpose.

2) "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day."

a) Jesus explained that the Father's will was that He lose nothing that He was given, but would raise it up at the resurrection.

i) The Gk. words translated "all" and "it" are neuter here and refer to everything that the Father gave Christ, not just the Church.

ii) However, it certainly includes the Church as Jesus elaborated in the next verse.

b) We are totally secure in Jesus Christ's kingdom, and His kingdom is secure.

3) "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

a) Jesus elaborated with a parallel construction indicating that those given to Him were believers and that He would raise each believer at the resurrection.

i) In this verse, the pronouns shift to masculine.

ii) Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies" (John 11:25).

iii) Paul wrote:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

b) Therefore, Jesus is not just bread in that He provides spiritual nourishment and not just manna in that He came down from heaven, but He is the source of eternal life and the resurrection.

c) He is the bread of life; He is all that we need.

II. Applications

A. What this says about Jesus Christ ...

1. God the Father has given believers to Jesus Christ and they will inevitably come of their own free choice.

2. Jesus' sheep are secure; they will never be ejected or rejected.

3. Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual nourishment.

4. Jesus Christ is the source of eternal life.

B. What this says to us ...

1. God gives all the ability to believe, we have the responsibility to believe.

2. Seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing.

3. God has only one requirement, trust in Jesus Christ.

4. He is the bread of life; He is all that we need.