ACCORDING TO JOHN
CHAPTER 6 VERSES 41-58Therefore 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’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. “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, ‘A
ND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF G
OD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. “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 which 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; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
Then the Jews
began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us
His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”
COMMENTARY 41. Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” Does it surprise you that the Jews were 'grumbling.' What is grumbling? Well, according to Dictionary.com the antonym of grumble is 'compliment' or 'praise.' Whenever there is grumbling, muttering or murmuring, then there is surely no thinking highly of or saying anything good about anyone else. In our family the following phrase is often verbalized. 'If you can't say anything good, then don't say anything at all.' Grumbling, muttering or murmuring is very self focused. And there is no doubt that the Jews, as they were grumbling about Jesus, were very self focused with their thoughts honed in on their religion, lineage, knowledge and prominence. 42. 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’?” Ever been so right about what you know, confident in all matters of physics, accounting, history, botany, trivia, science, relationships, religion, etc. that you missed the transcendent premise? Smart folks can miss the essential to Life facts. The Jews knew Jesus' natural birth facts but they did not know His eternal birth facts. These facts are covered in the first chapter of John's gospel account. John 1:1-4 "In (the) beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was light, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." The Jews did not comprehend it. They knew His mother and father, but they did not know His Father.
43. Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. Cease the grumbling, complaining, barking, grunting, whining, snuffling, snarling, mumbling and muttering among yourselves. Jesus hears you.
44. "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 refreshing to contemplate the role of the Father in one coming to Jesus. It is also refreshing to hear the Son refer to His Father is such a capacity. In His defense to the grumbling Jews, Jesus compliments His Father. 45. "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. This is not a knew thought. The Jews, through the writings of the prophets, knew this. The Father promotes the Son as the Son compliments the Father. The Father draws. 46. "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Be careful, only the Begotten One has seen the Father. The Father will draw but He is still not visible. That is why Jesus is here. Behold the One from the Father. 47. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48. "I am the bread of life. Ἐγὼ εἰμι ὅ ἄρτο
ς τῆς ζωῆς I might add at this point for all the scripture sceptics, that there are no variations between the six main Greek texts: Wescott/Hort, Greek Orthodox, Tischendorf 8th Ed. with Diacritics, Stephanus Textus Receptus (1550 with Accents), Byzantine/Majority Text (2000), and Textus Receptus (1894). Peshitta: ܐܢܐ ܐܢܐ ܠܚܡܐ ܕܚܝ܀. "If your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50. "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51. "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Jesus is asking the Jews to remember the state of their past fathers while God provided manna for them in the desert after delivering them out of Egypt (Exodus 16). This also refers to the bodily crucifixion of Jesus. Notice that he 'will give' not that they 'will take' or they 'will kill.' Jesus was not planning to be a victim. He, even at this point in His journey, was planning to be a sacrifice. Therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus will not fit in the defense of 'capital punishment.' For His crucifixion was not a punishment even if we think so. It was an offering and a sacrifice. He paid for our sin. He had no sin of His own for which to be punished. Therefore, He cannot be punished and we cannot offer a sacrifice for the life of the world for we deserve punishment based on our sin and guilt.
52. Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” They grumble then they argue. Such is the plight of the 'know-it-alls' when they do not understand. Been there (or so I think), done that (most definitely).
53. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54. “ who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. Chew on this for a while. This is a direct foreseeing of His crucifixion which will be observed by Christians with the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper, or the Last Supper, will modeled by Christ in the upper room and then prescribed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Some say that this text lends to the literal 'eating' and 'drinking' of Christ's flesh and blood in the observance of the Lord's Supper with the bread and the wine. Some say that the bread and the wine are symbolic. Regardless, the crucifixion of Jesus, as foretold here, is to be embraced and is essential to eternal life which will culminate in our resurrection.
57. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” AMEN!!!
SUMMARYIn a day in which knowledge is vehemently pursued at all costs, there is only knowledge of Jesus that will attain eternal life. His death, burial and resurrection are essential elements in one's arsenal of that attainment. Do you believe that His death was a gift and not a punishment? Do you believe that He was in the grave for three days and not just passed out from the exertion? Do you believe that He was raised from the death by the power of His Father as an exclamation of His approval of His Son's sacrifice and that Jesus' body was not stolen? For Jesus walked around for over 40 days, appearing and speaking to thousands after being raised from the dead. Do you believe it? If so, then you just ate of the Bread of Life! You will be raised on the Last Day.
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Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” Isn't this beautiful and comforting? The moment after the religious elite put this man out, Jesus hears about him and then finds him. Most Bible translations translate πιστεύεις (2nd Person, Singular, Present Active Indicative of the root πιστεύω) as 'believe.' While the English word 'believe' may span a wide spectra of meaning, the root πιστεύω plummets from the surface of whimsical thoughts to the gut wrenching resolve of confidence that also embraces total reliance. πιστεύω communicates "without 'Him' I am nothing." Liddell, Scott, Jones gives other possible translations that shed light on this nuance: belief, trust, faith, confidence, and rely. Jesus did a miracle in this man's life by enabling him to see for the first time in his life. But, Jesus now gets to a life change question: Do you rely, trust in the Son of Man? Why does Jesus call Himself "Son of Man" (see footnote)? It is commonly accepted that Jesus was communicating His Messiah-ship. This is supported by most Greek versions that Jesus was inquiring of this man concerning his trust in the 'Son of God.' 'Son of God' is consistent with the whole message of John as he communicates that Jesus is God incarnate (in the flesh). Remember, this is the first time this man has laid eyes on Jesus, the One who healed him. Jesus sent him away to wash and only after washing did he receive his sight. Thus the question. He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” Here is our word 'believe' again. The all definable purpose of knowing His identity was to believe in Him. Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” Jesus always reveals Himself to those who seek Him. And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. Our word 'believe' appears here with the man doing as he said. But, his belief takes a profoundly different dimension. He worships Hi
m. This man's belief led him to worship. Does your belief lead you to worship? What is worship? The Greek work translated 'worship' here is προσεκύνησεν (3rd Person, Singular, Aorist Active Indicative) from the root word προσκυνέω which means: go down on one's knees, do obeisance to, worship. Liddell / Scott / Jones also gives other Greek Literature support to the idea of 'give reverence,' 'prostrate oneself,' 'throw a kiss.' And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” This is one of the most comforting statements made by Jesus to those who are humble and have no pretense of prideful knowledge, especially in the realm of religion. For those who are humble, contrite and seeking, He will give them eyes to see. For those who pridefully claim to see, He will judge making blind them that thought they could see. Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Their question reveals their heart and invites His judgment. Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains. Prideful expression of one's condition results in judgment and no life change with the continuance of sin. This was the ultimate state of the man born blind. Sin was not the issue for him. Blindness was the issue. Remember from verse 3, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
