John 6:36-59, Jesus is the Bread of Life (2)

Jesus presented Himself to the crowd as “the bread of life.”  They could have eternal life, but only if they believed in Him.  In v36, Jesus was likely referring to the great feeding the day before.  He had actually given them the sign they asked for, and they had been part of it, and yet they did not believe in Him. 

In v37-40, Jesus adds some important truth.  He’s not worried that some have not believed in Him.  He assures them, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.  The ones the Father gives to Christ are further described in v40 as everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him.  We see that a person cannot believe in Christ apart from God’s work in their lives.  Jesus said this to Nicodemus when He said, “You must be born again.”  The new birth is the work of God.  At the same time, those that the Father gives to the Son must “see” and “believe” in Christ.

We also see something wonderful about the Lord Jesus Himself.  Those that the Father gives to Him, He will not “cast out.”  In addition, He will never lose them but will raise them up in the last day.  They will be resurrected.  They will be part of the resurrection of life (John 5:29).  What a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord.  All this is the will of His Father; He does what the Father desires.

As wonderful as that is, the Jews didn’t like it.  They complained because Jesus made Himself the object of faith.  After all, this is Jesus, son of Joseph.  We know His family.  So how can He be the one who came from heaven?

Again, Jesus says:  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.  Jesus makes this point by quoting the prophet Isaiah, And they shall all be taught by God (v45, from Isaiah 54:13).  In Isaiah, God was telling Israel that even though they are chastised by Him for their sins, He will still have mercy on them and will teach their children so that they can come to Him.  This gives us an idea of what it means when Jesus said that God must “draw” a person to put their faith in Him.  They must hear the gospel.  The result will be, as Jesus said, Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me (v45).

Having said this, Jesus again states the truth which they, and we, must believe: I am the bread of life.  And then He “doubles down” on this by telling the crowd, if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My flesh (v51).  The Jews didn’t like this either.  Again, it was because they were thinking in “fleshly” terms rather than “spiritual.”  Jesus made many “I Am” claims: I am the door of the sheep, the light of the world, the way and so forth.  He never was saying that He was a literal door or a star or a road.  These all tell us about why He alone is the means by which we have eternal life.  So here.  To believe in Christ is akin to eating His flesh and drinking His blood.  It is taking part of His life so that we can have eternal life.  He is, truly, the bread of life!