JOHN
CHAPTER 6

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ²and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. ³Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
⁵When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" ⁶He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
⁷Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages^[1] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
⁸Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, ⁹"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
¹⁰Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
¹²When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." ¹³So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
¹⁴After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." ¹⁵Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Water

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,^[2] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." ²¹Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
²²The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. ²³Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle, apart from the resurrection, recorded in all four Gospels. In our tour of the tabernacle, we’re looking at the table of the Bread of the Presence (Exodus 25:23-30). This table, especially in light of the name that God had given to it, would immediately call to mind the invitation to enjoy fellowship with God, in the manner of a great and joyous feast, thanks to the sacrifice provided. It was bread for feasting in blessed fellowship with Him. Although believers have spiritual life, we still need this bread for the sustenance of spiritual life, just as we need physical bread to sustain our physical life. And just as Jesus has fulfilled the previous elements of the tabernacle imagery, He also fulfills this symbol of the table of the Bread of the Presence. He is the Bread of Life.

1. V1-4 – A new context. John sets a new context for us as we move into chapter 6. Jesus crosses the sea (to Bethsaida) to escape Herod after the death of John the Baptist and to rest and spend some quiet time with His disciples before the Passover Feast – as the other three gospels declare. And we can say that this is rightly Jesus’ desire in His humanity. But God’s will was to display His glory here and now, and so a great crowd of people – probably between 8,000 and 20,000 people – tracked Jesus down. They wanted to see more of His miraculous deeds. The other gospels also explain that Jesus, no doubt exhausted in every sense of the word, submitted to God’s will and had compassion on them; He taught and healed among the crowd for most of the day. Notice that they were eager for Jesus. They came to a distant place and left their concerns for other things at home to hear and see Jesus. We are ashamedly not that way; the slightest inconveniences often keep us from coming to Jesus. We must strive to reach the point where nothing of this world’s concerns could possibly keep us from meeting with the Lord. But to their shame, the crowd was only there for the miracles; they weren’t looking for physical or spiritual food, but Jesus was about to give them both. For us, we can grasp that Jesus often (but not always) meets our needs before we realize we have them when we are seeking first His Kingdom, when we leave this world behind and draw near to Him. Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

2. V5-9 – How to feed the multitude? According to the other accounts of this event, it was getting late, and the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd home. How does that fit with John’s record of Jesus’ actions in v5? What other similarities and differences do you notice between this account and the other three gospel accounts? See Matthew 14:13-36; Mark 6:30-56; Luke 9:10-17.

   We also read here that Jesus asked Philip where to get bread for the people, while in the other accounts, Jesus tells the entire group of disciples to feed them. But we gather from the fact that Andrew responded to the question that Jesus had indeed spoken, though directly to Philip to test him, to the group as a whole. Philip’s test was essentially a question of Jesus’ ability. Is Jesus big enough for this problem? Philip didn’t pass the test. He thought it would be impossible; eight months pay wouldn’t cover the tab! But as we know, nothing is impossible with Jesus. Just as Jesus tested Philip, He can test us as well.

   Following Philip’s depressing response, Andrew spoke up. He had found a boy with five barley loaves and a couple fish. A barley loaf was poor man’s bread. And the fish were blue gill types. Andrew offers a bittersweet sentiment – “Here’s a kid with a little food! But it won’t even get a handful of people a bite…” These are guys who saw Jesus’ miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. They should have known that Jesus could provide. There is no problem that Jesus cannot overcome. And we ought to live as if we believe that (Coram Deo). Liberals love to point at this miracle and say that Jesus teaches the crowd how to share their lunch. But that’s not at all what this is about. It’s about Jesus, who “already had in mind what He was going to do” (v6). We see here that Jesus knows the future not by foresight but by foreordination. In other words, He didn’t just look down the corridor of time and see what would transpire; rather, He determined to bring the future into the present by His sovereign will and for His good pleasure (Ephesians 1:11).

3. V10-13 – The feeding of the 5000. First notice that Jesus puts up with the disciples pessimism by issuing a command: “Have the people sit down.” The disciples, likely without any clue of what Jesus had in mind with this command, simply obey. And the crowd seems to obey the disciples without question. The lesson for us is that obedience when we lack understanding is of utmost importance in our walk with God. That’s oftentimes what faith entails. 2 Corinthians 5:7 “We live by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” God never disappoints.

   Matthew and Mark purposefully remind us here of the similarities of this image with Psalm 23 and the Lord as our Shepherd. John’s emphasis is not found here, but we can point out that he might be alluding to that image when he says that there was plenty of grass in that place. It reminds me of John 3:23, that John was baptizing in a certain place, “because there was plenty of water there.” It seems that the mention of “plenty” is noteworthy, if only in passing.

   Perhaps a more noteworthy element here in John’s account is the prayer of thanksgiving prior to eating. Calvin takes this sentiment very seriously, saying, “They who swallow [food] without thinking of God, are guilty of sacrilege, and of profaning the gifts of God. And this instruction is the more worthy of attention, because we daily see a great part of the world feeding themselves like brute beasts. When Christ determined that the bread given to the disciples should grow among their hands, we are taught by it that God blesses our labor when we are serviceable to each other.” What do you think?

   In this event, we see the compassion of Jesus and the lengths to which He is willing to go to take care of us. We learn that such a small thing as a meal was important to Jesus. The audience would have by no means starved to death on their way home from hearing Jesus teach (they hadn’t even complained like the Israelites in the wilderness during the Exodus), but His desire to provide for them out of kindness and love is remarkable. He is the dispenser of God’s blessings – grace upon grace as we saw from John 1:16.

   Jesus could have just brought bread and fish into existence. But instead, just as He did at Cana of Galilee when they had filled the water pots with water, so here, He takes a little boy’s lunch and multiplies it to feed the multitude. Why? Why didn’t He just create it out of nothing? When you’re trying to teach your children something, you can do it one of two ways. You can snatch it from the child and say, “Give me that and let me show you how to do it.” And you do it and hand it back. Or you can take their little hands and gently do it so that it appears they are doing it themselves. Perhaps there’s something of that here. Jesus is saying, “Whatever you’ve got, it may be small, but let Me take it and use it in a way that will astound you.” Do you see the principle here? We might ask, “What can I do for Jesus? What can I do for the kingdom? I’ve got so very little.” But in the hands of Jesus Christ, that “little” can become something enormously significant. God can use it to multiply His Kingdom, because He does it again and again. That’s why He blesses the food; because it helped these disciples to see that the first thing we need to do, with what little we’ve got, is to give acknowledgement that it all comes from Him.

   And finally, notice that Jesus tells the disciples to gather the leftovers. And there are twelve baskets left, a symbol of the 12 tribes and 12 disciples – as Matthew and Mark would have us see. Jesus says, “Let nothing be wasted.” The lesson for us is that when God gives us an increase, we must be wise with it. Wasting the overflow of God’s gifts is a terrible thing. We are to be stewards of God’s provision, and we will one day give an account for our use of His abundant blessings. In addition to giving a first fruits tithe, we should faithfully use God’s surplus in our lives for good purposes – approved by God to benefit the Kingdom of God.

4. V14-15 – The people see Jesus’ goodness and want to make Him king, but Jesus withdraws. The reaction to this miracle seems at first glance to be commendable – the people immediately recognize Jesus as both the Prophet Moses spoke about (as He was) and the King whom God promised to raise up in the line of David (as He was as well). However, even in this positive recognition, they display their false understanding: They intend to make Him king by force, and in so doing, reveal both a complete ignorance of His role as a substitutionary sacrifice, which He is demonstrating in this miracle, and their carnal natures, which are drawn to Him simply for the physical benefits He provides. Though they acknowledge His goodness, they refuse to look to the greater spiritual benefits signified by the physical goods. Thus they try to force Him into taking on the role of King. They have an earthly kingdom planned for Him, which is utterly inconsistent with His Person. We may learn that it is a dangerous thing to – apart from Scripture – make our own opinion and presume it is united with God’s will. Calvin says, “There is nothing which the foolish subtlety of our understanding does not corrupt. And what avails the pretense of zeal, when by our disorderly worship we offer a greater insult to God than if [one was] expressly and deliberately to make an attack on His glory?”

   Consider that 5000 men wanted to make Jesus their King against His will! They wanted to take Him by force and seat Him on a throne that was not theirs to give. And the evidence that their plans were nothing but folly is that Jesus withdraws. He sneaks away from the crowd, and He gets away from the disciples as well. He needed to be alone with the Father for prayer. Do you think there may have been some temptation here? Wouldn’t the Man Jesus have liked an earthly kingdom to avoid the terror of crucifixion that He knew otherwise lay ahead? But retreating to the Father in quietness, Jesus maintains His course, shunning worldly gain, to – for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2) – endure the cross.

   Furthermore, as Jesus’ discourse (to be studied next time) will reveal, the crowd still saw Jesus as a mere man, the son of two human parents, and not the God of creation, as He claimed to be. In fact, as we’ll see, none can come to Christ as He truly is unless the Father who sent Him draws them.

5. V16-21 – Jesus walks on the water. The Church from the very beginning has understood this story to teach that in the midst of trouble, Jesus may draw near and grant His blessing. At this stage in the history of redemption, it is difficult to distinguish the disciples from the Church. There wasn’t much more to the Church than the disciples. So we might say that the Church is in trouble. They are in the midst of a storm – and this, only because they are doing what Jesus told them to do! Consider Moses after his first visit to pharaoh (Exodus 5). John doesn’t tell us this, but both Matthew and Mark relate to us that Jesus was the One who had made them get into a boat to cross the sea to go to the region of Capernaum from Bethsaida (Not straight across, but across a portion of the sea). John’s emphasis in this chapter is the miraculous provision of bread and Jesus’ following teaching, but this miracle of walking on the water also possesses some theological significance closely connected to the imagery of the table of the Bread of Presence. Just as the former miracle demonstrated the provision for life, which Christ would accomplish, and even looked ahead to the Sabbath feast in the presence of God, this miracle seems to emphasize the fact of God’s presence and guidance in the midst of our Christian lives.

   The disciples were rowing laboriously, and unable to make any significant progress due to the storm – certainly the case in our spiritual journey, in which, the greatest efforts of our own strength and will avail us nothing. Regarding the storm, it wasn’t unusual in the Sea of Galilee. It is well below sea level, and the sudden temperature changes that accompany the evening – John informs us that it got dark – cause winds that frequently brought storms on the water. Many of the disciples, at least four, were experienced fishermen, and had made their living on the water; they had seen this before, but you have to wonder if they were concerned for their lives. We don’t read that they were worried or tired or anything at this point, but they had been rowing for at least six hours and were only halfway across. They had to be tired.

   And then, in the midst of their struggle, God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, having been watching them from the shore according to Mark’s gospel, miraculously arrives to strengthen them, and indeed to perform the work for them – just as He does today. But prior to His speaking to them, they were terrified. Mark explains that Jesus intended to pass by them (as in God the Father passing by Moses, thereby revealing His glory). Jesus had been refreshed from His time of solitary prayer; but they saw Him and thought He was a ghost. Perhaps He was aglow – spiritual refreshment can do that to a person. So they were terrified, but then Jesus spoke. “It is I.” In the Greek, it’s “I AM” (eimi ego). And His voice combined with these words has great power – either to overwhelm or to comfort. The unbelieving men in John 18:6 were overwhelmed. “When Jesus said, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” These men, His sheep, were comforted. Christ’s presence is alone enough to give us confidence and peace. That’s what this chapter is about, and this miracle shows us that, though nobody understand the full truth after the feeding of the 5000, Jesus made Himself known by walking on the water.

   And also, just as He miraculously brought them at once, with no more expenditure of labor, to their destination, so when Jesus comes to aid us, He not only guides us to His eternal kingdom, but He does all the necessary work to bring us there. And so, this miracle, when coupled with the former, displays every element of life-giving and life-sustaining grace that the table of the Bread of Presence signified as fully accomplished in Christ.

   So perhaps the lesson for us here is this: Don’t be surprised if you make a commitment to follow the Lord with all your heart and find yourself in difficulty. Don’t be surprised when you say, “I want to follow you Lord more closely than ever before,” and in the wake of a prayer like that, you find yourself in trouble, in a place of difficulty or struggle, under pressures and trials that you’ve never faced before. Instead, remember that God always has a purpose in trials. Philippians 1:6,29 Mark gives us in his account of the story at least one of the possible reasons for this trial – the disciples’ hearts were hardened. Thus, this trial was to encourage faith and to draw out the lesson that had not been fully drawn out in the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. What this miracle story is telling us – just as it told the disciples – is that this Jesus, whom we worship and with whom we are united by faith, is a Jesus who is prepared to walk into the storm to rescue His sheep. You can actually be brought to the point where the trial that you are now experiencing can be something that you’ll regard as one of the greatest privileges that you’ve been given, as perhaps these men did.

6. V22-24 – The crowd hunts for Jesus. Put quite simply, the crowd panics when they realize that their source of physical nourishment has disappeared. They put two-and-two together, that there was only one boat and Jesus hadn’t boarded it and their blockade of the shoreline over night prohibited Him from passing unnoticed. He must have miraculously crossed the water! Another sign of physical super-humanity! They’ve got to find Jesus, and some boats arrived there at Bethsaida from Tiberias on the way to Capernaum, and so they decide to go. It sounds as if they have this noble search for the Messiah going on, but as we’ll see next time, when they track down Jesus, He’ll explain that their search was based solely on the physical bread that He provided. (Notice that John reminds us again here that Jesus prayed before eating (v23)!) Jesus calls His followers to seek true bread, living bread, indeed Jesus Himself as the Bread of Life. And this clearly fits with what John has been doing in this Gospel account. He’s displaying true saving faith in light of false faith – faith in the physical signs alone – and mere intellectual assent.

Jesus the Bread of Life

²⁵When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
²⁶Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
²⁸Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
²⁹Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
³⁰So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'^[3] "
³²Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
³⁴"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
⁴¹At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." ⁴²They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
⁴³"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. ⁴⁴"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'^[4] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. ⁴⁶No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
⁵²Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
⁵³Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." ⁵⁹He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

⁶⁰On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ⁶²What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit^[5] and they are life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
⁶⁶From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
⁶⁷"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
⁷⁰Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" ⁷¹(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

1. V25-29 – After Jesus fed them, this crowd of people spent the night on the sea waiting for more miracles and provision. They were looking for Him the next day and found Him “on the other side of the lake.” Rather than 180 degrees from where they were, this phrase means across the bay of the sea between Bethsaida and Capernaum – explaining their mode of transportation from v24. (From Tiberias, it made sense to stop at Bethsaida on the way to Capernaum.) They found Him in the synagogue in Capernaum (v59). Jesus, rather than answer their question regarding His arrival time, begins v26 with a harkening – “I tell you the truth.” He’s saying, “Listen!” He immediately brings to light the root of their problem, saying that their following Him involved a merely natural desire for material benefits – namely physical nourishment to aid them in their temporal life. They had failed to see the reality to which the sign-miracles pointed about who Jesus is.

   Then in v27, He exhorts them not to seek first the bread that spoils; instead, they are to labor for the food that truly matters – spiritual nourishment that leads to eternal life, which He gives just as miraculously as the physical bread they had enjoyed the day before. Jesus could have simply commanded the crowd to seek incorruptible food; but He told them what not to seek as well – food that spoils – because He knew that we are grossly prone to earthly or worldly things in our sinful nature. Jesus presents His address in a metaphor and gives the name “food” to everything that belongs to newness of life. The gospel feeds our souls; all that nourishes and promotes faith, the life of the soul, is compared to food. Also of interest here, Jesus commands us to work for that which the Son of Man will give. Calvin says, “There is undoubtedly some appearance of contradiction in these words; but we may easily reconcile these two statements, that the spiritual food of the soul is the free gift of Christ, and that we must strive with all the affections of our heart to become partakers of so great a blessing.” Notice also in v27 the Father has placed His seal of approval on the Son of Man. The question for us might be this: Are we passionately and primarily seeking things that really matter? Are we seeking first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)? These people were not, and Jesus told them so.

   Finally in v28, we can look at the crowd’s next question from two perspectives. Favorably for them, perhaps they genuinely want to know how they can partake in this food that leads to eternal life; they are trying to follow Christ’s leading. But negatively, it may appear that they are asking how they can earn this bread, what they can do to work for it; thus they have no grasp of God’s grace. They should have learned both from the previous day’s miracle and from Jesus’ explanation that “the Son of Man will give” it that Christ gives bread freely, not in payment for any work! Either way, Jesus answers straightforwardly in v29 by declaring that faith in Christ is all one needs to gain a right relationship with God the Father. But for now, we can say that there is nothing one can DO to gain eternal life; it is DONE. Faith is not a meritorious work, though believing is something we do. Why we do it, why we believe, how we come to faith, will be addressed shortly. In the meantime, consider faith to be the channel through which we receive the gracious gift of God.

2. V30-34 – After Jesus explains what should have been known already, that eternal life is given to believers in Christ, the crowd is arrogant enough to ask of Him a sign (Matthew 12:39). We see that as soon as Jesus does not grant their every request, He is no longer their king. The sign they demand to prove that He truly does have the ability to give life is on the basis – they claim – that Moses, who, sent to the people by God, provided bread in the wilderness for 2 million people for 40 years. It is very revealing to consider that the Jews knew the Messiah would be known by His miracles of greater proportion that those of Moses, but they overlooked them when they occurred. They reveal their desire for a Messiah who fills their bellies, yet they do it cleverly, recalling Jesus’ mention of bread that leads to eternal life and referring to manna, the heavenly bread (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24-25; 1 Corinthians 10:3). We might tend to struggle with discerning their true state here; on one hand it appears that they are genuinely trying to follow along and apply Jesus’ words – even to the point of recognizing His words from the Scriptures. But on the other hand, they can appear to be trying to provoke Him out of sinful truth suppression, denying the clear reality to which His metaphorical statements point.

   It is staggering that this demand takes place on the day after this same crowd had tried to make Him king by force, the day after Jesus had miraculously provided bread in a more powerful way than Moses. It seems as if they are just proving Jesus’ point that they are seeking a way to get more physical bread, and do not have any care for the meaning of the miraculous sign. The reality is that, as we saw with Nicodemus, they are spiritually dead. They cannot discern spiritual things until God makes them alive (1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13). Jesus therefore rebukes their ongoing hardness with the observation that it was not Moses who gave bread, but God. God Himself sent it down from heaven. Furthermore, the manna was bread from heaven as in physical nourishment from the sky; but the true “bread of heaven,” which Jesus rephrases as the “bread of God” is not manna. The same God who gave manna is the One who sends the true (everlasting) Bread down from heaven, and this Bread is the One who descended from heaven to give eternal life to the world. He is near (Deuteronomy 30:12; Romans 10:6-8).

   Whether or not they get what Jesus is saying is made clear from their response in v34 by asking for this bread from now on. They’re still seeking physical bread – and Calvin says, “There is no doubt that they speak ironically, to accuse Christ of vain boasting, when He said that He was able to give the bread of life.” Picture them saying, “Well Jesus, if You’re so privileged and powerful, then You ought to be giving us this bread from now on. After all, You’re boasting of being capable. Let’s see it!” And for us, we need to be on guard. We must strive to seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to us. Every decision must be made by first asking, “How will this or that affect my relationship with God?” And if the answer is not positive, that’s a clue that I’m not seeking first His Kingdom. When the things of my world come crashing down, I must not be devastated. My peace should remain, because my joy is not circumstance-based (Philippians 4:11-12). God never changes.

3. V35-40 – Jesus responds to the Jews’ arrogant and/or blindly materialistic interpretation of His teaching with unmistakable clarity, saying, “I am the Bread of Life.” (This is the first of seven “I am” sayings – John 6:35,48; 8:12; 9:5; 10:7,9,11,14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1,5.) The bread they claim to want in v34 is standing before them. Jesus directs them to Himself, explaining clearly that whoever comes to Him in genuine saving faith will never go hungry or be thirsty. Bread alleviates hunger, but it does not quench thirst, so in adding the part about thirst, Jesus is making the audience see that He’s not talking about literal bread, but rather nourishment in general – in fact, He is speaking of Himself, as we have seen, as the fountain of all life, both in the sense of creating and sustaining it. Think of John’s prologue.

   Of course, by coming to Jesus and receiving Him as He is – as we will later see, by “eating His flesh and drinking His blood” – Jesus just means believing on Him. “He who comes to Me” is synonymous with “He who believes in Me,” “He who receives Me,” or “He who accepts Me.” This refers to genuine saving faith. Jesus is instructing the audience how to take the food He offers – through faith. A person must have faith in order to believe in Christ, that is, in who He is, and what He has done on the cross (or for these people, in what He would do for them – they are looking forward to the cross through Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 glasses, while we are looking back through Romans-type or Gospel glasses), in order to partake of the eternal life that Jesus gives.

   In v36, Jesus rebukes the Jews for willingly rejecting this gift of God in Him. They have more than enough evidence. When Jesus speaks of them as having seen Him, He doesn’t mean physically viewing His body with their eyes; He means they have born witness to His Person as the Christ. They have seen the truth, yet they are suppressing the truth by their wickedness and unable to receive Him (Romans 1:18-19; 1 Corinthians 2:6-8,12-14). At this point, it seems as if Jesus’ message, His offer of eternal life, is in vain – clearly it is falling on deaf ears. However, it is not a problem because Jesus does not rest His hope of bringing a people from death into life on the basis of their ability to believe. His hope rests in something more fundamental, that the Father has promised to give a certain people to the Son, and that He will unfailingly bring this people to true faith in Him by His Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” This is what Jesus begins to reveal in v37.

   V37 is one of my favorites. Look at it closely. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away (or I will certainly not cast out).” It’s beautiful. There is a giving on the part of the Father, there is a coming on the part of men and women, there is a receiving on the part of Jesus Christ. We come to Christ, as the Father gives us to Him, and He receives us. There’s nothing about us accepting Him, as if we are in control. Shorten it to read like this: All the Father gives will come. (Faith is not dependent on the will of man – John 1:12-13; Romans 9:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; etc.) And all who come will be received. (This second half of the verse is for the comfort of the elect – we do indeed come freely and will certainly be taken in.) Shorten it even more: All the Father gives will be received. This issue of our coming to Christ is in the hands of the Father and the Son – by their Spirit. If the Father has given you to the Son, you will voluntarily come to the Son; and if the Father has given you to the Son, the Son will never drive you away. He will receive you. The doctrine of election here is unmistakable and here for our comfort. But make sure you are among the elect (2 Peter 1:10) and continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because you know that God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).

   Furthermore, taken in the context of Jesus’ explanation, He’s categorizing this group of Jews as reprobate (not elect), as goats and not sheep, as outsiders and not insiders, and it’s offensive to them, as we’ll see in v41. But Christ has come only to do the Father’s will. It is in this sense that the gospel is more than a mere offer of salvation; it’s a certainty worked out in the covenant of redemption prior to creation. And since it is the Father’s will that an exact number of definite, chosen persons believe on the Son, and that of those, none should perish, but the Son should give them all eternal life, it is therefore absolutely certain that this people whom the Father has chosen to give the Son will believe and indeed be eternally saved (Ephesians 1:3-14). Lastly, notice that when Jesus says, “Whoever looks to the Son and believes in Him,” He’s deliberately bringing up seeing and believing, because He had early said that the Jews saw and did not believe. Faith knows Christ. To believe in Christ, we must know who He is and what He has done.

4. V41-51 – At this point, the unbelieving Jews grumble or murmur, becoming increasingly offended at Jesus’ teachings. First, they cannot accept Jesus, who has made Himself God’s equal and claimed Himself the Christ by calling Himself the bread that came down from heaven, because they think they know His two human parents, Joseph and Mary. They see nothing heavenly or divine in Jesus; they see Him now as a mere man making ludicrous claims. But the fact that He was fully man, which the Jews maligned, is a great picture of His love for us. Second, it seems that they are offended because Jesus’ teachings speak too lowly of themselves; Jesus has certainly accused them of ignorance and unbelief and has clearly explained that they are unable to understand and believe God’s Word apart from His drawing or granting. They are irritated at Jesus’ attack on their maturity and too proud to recognize His teaching as truth.

   Jesus interrupts in v43-44 with, “Stop grumbling.” But if they are offended already, they will become more so, because Jesus will speak all the more clearly to the Jews inability to believe. V44 is also one of my favorites. Look at it closely. “No one is able to come to Jesus (remember, by “coming” He means “believing,”) unless the Father who sent Jesus draws him, and Jesus will raise the drawn one up on the last day.” Since Jesus had just said that all whom the Father gives Him will come, it now becomes clear that all of humanity can be spoken of under one of these two categories: those whom the Father eternally chose will all believe in Jesus, without a single exception; and those whom the Father has not chosen to give to Him, who are not able to believe – not even a single one. Christ declares that the doctrine of the Gospel, though it is preached to all without exception, cannot be embraced by all, but that a new understanding and a new perception are required; and, therefore, faith does not depend on the will of men, but on God who gives it. We ought not wonder that many refuse to embrace the Gospel, because no man will ever of himself be able to come to Christ. God must first approach him by His Spirit; and hence it follows that all are not drawn, but that God bestows this grace on those whom He has elected. The drawing is not violent, so as to compel men by external force or be “against their will;” rather the Holy Spirit changes man’s nature – making the elect alive and both willing and able, whereas before they were dead in trespasses and sin and both unwilling and unable. It is a false assertion that none are drawn but those who are willing to be drawn, as if man made himself obedient to God by his own efforts. The willingness with which men follow God is what they have been granted from God, who has formed their hearts to obey Him (Ezekiel 36:24-32). Finally, the word “draw” is elsewhere translated as “drag,” and it should make us think of drawing water from a well. Some suggest that draw means “to woo,” but that’s not good grammar. Nobody woos water from a well, and God doesn’t woo us to His Son. He draws us like water from a well. And we come.

   Although this offensive teaching may have seemed strange and unprecedented to the Jews, Jesus makes clear beginning in v45 by quoting from Isaiah 54:13 (see also Jeremiah 31:31-34) that it is not a new idea – the Scriptures taught that “they all” – everyone who is made a true partaker of the New Covenant – “will be taught by God.” This “teaching” is the inward illumination of the heart, the quickening by the Holy Spirit – regeneration. Jesus is speaking to both believers and unbelievers. He’s saying to the crowd, “The greatest thing that you need is to be humbled. The greatest thing that you need is to be brought down in the estimation of yourselves and your own ability. Because you have to understand this: There is absolutely nothing that you can do to save yourselves, apart from the sovereign grace of almighty God. You cannot by your own unaided strength come to Me, and you can’t even enjoy the bread that endures to eternal life apart from the drawing of My Father.” The Jews of Jesus’ time could eat the physical bread He provided, just as the Jews of Moses’ time ate the manna. But even as those eventually died, so all who ate merely of Christ’s physical bread would likewise die.

   When Jesus effectively says, “Unless the Father sovereignly draws you, like water from a well, you are dead in sins,” He is deliberately crushing their pride. They’re grumbling, because salvation is absolutely all of grace or it is nothing at all. There is within each one of us a gravitational pull toward self-justification. And Jesus is saying to these spectators of His miracles, “Unless My Father draws you, you can have nothing with Me.” He’s humbling them. This is hard teaching. Jesus isn’t wooing anyone with this teaching. He’s driving those who aren’t His away, and He’s drawing those who belong to Him closer to Him.

   Through v45, Jesus has magnified God’s glory; and now in v46, He turns the audience to Himself. He alone, having seen the Father, reveals Him; He alone serves as Mediator between mankind and God the Father; He alone deserves the glory that we must give to the Father. And v47 reveals that if one learns anything true about the Father, he will know to look to Christ – “He who believes has everlasting life.” V48 repeats, “I am the bread of life” from v35. And v49-50 repeat the teaching about the manna from heaven from v32. Repetition is a good method of teaching. Finally, v51 is still more repetition – the only thing worth knowing is that Christ is the bread of life for the soul. Jesus is the bread of life, the living bread, the life-giving and life-sustaining bread. And He tells us here that He gives Himself, His flesh, His body, for the life of all who believe in Him.

5. V52-59 – At each point in the conversation, the Jews become more offended at Jesus’ difficult teachings. Here, utterly appalled at His teaching that men should eat His flesh and drink His blood, they argue and debate amongst themselves. It was unthinkable to them that He could give life to the world through His flesh; and they did not understand the symbolism of “eating” His flesh. Have you ever devoured a book? It was so good that you couldn’t put it down. That’s what Jesus is saying. “You’ve got to want Me bad enough to eat Me; I’ve got to be your hunger and thirst, your passion. Don’t grumble about My teachings; don’t argue about My words. Want Me – not My miracles, just Me. Unless you are filled with Me – My Spirit as in the New Testament (Romans 8:4-12) – you have no life in you. If you deem My body inedible, if you can’t stomach Me, there is no hope of life for you.” There’s a deep and mystical, intensely intimate union. That’s what Jesus says.

   The concept – seemingly easy to grasp – is that if one should eat physical bread, his life would be sustained, and thus applying this to true life, which involves eternal, joyful fellowship with God, the Jews could have understood Jesus to be speaking of the sacrifice of His body and His shedding of His blood to grant eternal life – and a Jew could make this connection with an understanding of the Old Testament. Anyone who believed in Christ’s becoming a perfect blood sacrifice in his own place, and for his own sins, would pass into eternal life. The feeding of the 5000 with physical bread signified the spiritual reality to which Jesus was now speaking. Just as the Son has the eternal life in Himself, through his inter-Trinitarian relationship with the Father, so anyone who ate Christ’s flesh would be given this same eternal life, through his relationship with the God-man, who can be united both to the Father and to mankind, by means of His divine and human nature, which exist in His one Person. Consider views of communion.

   Catholicism takes this passage to support their view of the Eucharist (communion), or the Lord’s Supper, that of transubstantiation, where the bread and wine are said to actually become the body and blood of Jesus. Luther disagreed with this interpretation, and to this day, Lutherans hold to consubstantiation, where the Spirit and power of Christ is within the elements of communion; but they are not to be taken as the literal flesh and blood of Jesus – that would amount to cannibalism, said the Reformers. Other Protestants, however, hold neither of these views and claim rather that the elements are merely symbolic to help us recall the sacrifice of Christ as that which saves us. And still others liken communion to something in between Luther’s view and the symbolic-only view. For me, communion has power.

   But notice what Calvin says commenting on this passage, and specifically Jesus’ repetitive use of the phrase, “And I will raise him up on the last day”: “It ought to be observed, that Christ so frequently connects the resurrection with eternal life, because our salvation will be hidden till that day. [We must hope for] the last resurrection. From these words, it plainly appears that the whole of this passage is improperly explained, as applied to the Lord’s Supper. For if it were true that all who present themselves at the holy table of the Lord are made partakers of His flesh and blood, all will, in like manner, obtain life; but we know that there are many who partake of it to their condemnation (1 Corinthians 11:26-29). And indeed it would have been foolish and unreasonable to discourse about the Lord’s Supper, before He had instituted it. It is certain, then, that he now speaks of the perpetual and ordinary manner of eating the flesh of Christ, which is done by faith only. And yet, at the same time, there is nothing said here that is not figuratively represented, and actually bestowed on believers, in the Lord’s Supper; and Christ even intended that the holy Supper should be, as it were, a seal and confirmation of this sermon. This is also the reason why the Evangelist John makes no mention of the Lord’s Supper.” So this passage often drums up that to which it doesn’t even speak. Rather it points to the unity of Christ and the Father, and the unity of Christ to the believer. Jesus is saying that His work is sufficient and efficient to accomplish the salvation of all united to Him by faith.

   And notice v58. Jesus returns to the comparison between the manna and His flesh, with which He had begun this discourse; for it was necessary that He should close the sermon in this manner: “There is no reason why you should prefer Moses to Me, because he fed your fathers in the wilderness; since I supply you with far more excellent food, for I bring heavenly life with Me.” And finally in v59, John almost says it in passing that Jesus was teaching these things in the synagogue. Why? John wants us to understand that it is possible to be in a place of worship, in a place where the Scriptures are opened up on a daily basis, and yet to not understand anything at all about Jesus. People may be very religious, found often in church, where the Gospel is preached – even taking regular communion, thinking they are feasting on Jesus’ body and blood; yet many are still unconverted and have no idea what it means to feed on Christ for eternal life. My father-in-law visited Southeast several years ago now, and we were working out in the gym. We were jogging on the track and a lady in front of us was wearing a Biblical T-shirt, and he asked her the two questions that are useful for determining one’s understanding of Christianity. She failed the test, and he explained the Gospel to her. She was astonished that she could know she had eternal life, and she had been faithfully participating in service and worship at Southeast for 12 years.

6. V60-66 – Now, the multitude – here called His disciples (John 2:23-25), having professed to follow Him – illustrate Christ’s difficult teaching that it is impossible for anyone to believe unless the Father grants him faith. By disbelieving His statements and departing His presence offended (v66), they confirm the truth of His statements. In fact, they unwittingly confess as much, asking the rhetorical question, “Who can accept it?” Other translations render the question, “Who is able to hear it?” The answer, which Jesus has repeatedly given and will again give in v65 is, “No one – unless the Father draws Him, enables Him, grants faith to him, bestows faith on him.”

   It’s interesting that the disciples secretly say that Jesus’ teaching is hard, when, in fact, it is their hearts that are hard. They still prefer to internally blame Jesus for their condition, rather than submit to His authority. The reality is that Jesus’ word is hard, like a fire or a hammer (Jeremiah 23:29), and thus, only the elect, only the good soil, receives it gladly and bears fruit accordingly. And their question is condemning. “Who can accept it?” Or “who is able to hear it?” They are saying to one another, “This man cannot be trusted. He is unacceptable. His words must not be heard.” And that, of course, is nothing more than rejecting Christ. But there’s more. Jesus, though not privy to the conversation, is plainly aware of their grumbling. His question, “Does this offend you?” might at first sound like a dagger pressing into an open wound. “Hah! This is nothing compared to what’s going to happen!” But I think it’s gentler: “You need not be offended at this teaching, for I will authenticate My words to you by My resurrection from the dead.” Jesus responds to their unbelief that He is the eternal Son of God, who descended from heaven, by predicting that He would ascend to heaven, and thus prove that He first descended from there. But as we know from Luke 16:31, even the resurrection will not do what the Spirit must do to regenerate a man and make him willing and able to believe. Also their secrecy reveals that they don’t want Jesus to correct them. We must turn to Jesus, not away from Him, when we are confused, lack understanding and desire to know more. But we must be willing to submit to what is said. And these grumblers were not willing, as shown by their secrecy.

   The first half of v63 has been mutilated been over-analyzing and re-wording over the years. It seems pretty straightforward when we just read it in context. Some say that by saying, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing,” Jesus is merely emphasizing His teaching that the temporal physical signs He provided were not the important thing; rather, it was the spiritual truths they signified that had eternal, life-giving value. It may have been that, but I can’t help but recall Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus from John 3:6. This is practically a repetition. Only the Spirit can grant new life through regeneration, and new life is both willing and able to believe these sayings. With this view of v63, we can clearly see the reason for Jesus to repeat His unpopular observation from v44 in v65, “No one can [is able to] come unto Me unless the Father has enabled him [unless it is granted or given him from the Father].” Jesus repeatedly explains to this large gathering what He had already repeatedly taught Nicodemus One-on-one. The Spirit must work effectively in a man for faith to result. Some say that God does indeed grant everyone enabling grace; but this cannot be. Calvin concludes, “If this grace were bestowed on all without exception, it would have been unseasonable and inappropriate to have mentioned it in this passage; for we must understand that it was Christ’s design to show that not many believe the Gospel; faith proceeds only from the revelation of the Spirit.”

   In v63b, Jesus says that the words He has spoken are spirit and life. This word “spirit” is different than the first. The first “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, and this “spirit” simply means “spiritual,” again referring us to the truth of 1 Corinthians 2:14. The flesh counts for nothing; natural man cannot discern spiritual words. It takes the Holy Spirit to quicken us to grasp spiritual words, and the grasping thereof results in faith. And faith leads to everlasting life. Thus salvation is all of grace – by grace, through faith in Jesus. When Jesus says, “There are some of you who do not believe,” He’s rebuking their stubborn and proud depravity. As we saw in Romans, no one can blame God for not regenerating them by His Spirit. We are responsible to believe in Jesus. And furthermore, He knew from the beginning which of the “disciples” were hypocrites. It’s no surprise to Jesus when what is about to happen in v66 takes place. 2 Timothy 2:19 “The Lord knows those who are His.” He doesn’t know about people, foreseeing who will choose to believe in Him; rather, He intimately knows His chosen ones and brings them to Himself.

   Finally, the grand result of this discourse, this sermon, for the multitude, is that many of His “disciples” turned back and followed Him no more. They could not accept the hard teaching of the Savior. How true is that for many people we know? Some have said that it would have been better had they never had this conversation, which occasioned the apostasy of so many. But it was necessary that what had been foretold concerning Christ (Isaiah 8:14 – a trap and a stumbling block to the Jews) should be perceived in His message. Calvin concludes: “The Son of God undoubtedly knew well what was useful, and yet we see that He cannot avoid offending many of His disciples. Whatever then may be the dislike entertained by many persons for pure doctrine, still we are not at liberty to suppress it. Only let the teachers of the Church advance boldly amidst all offenses. And if it happen that many apostatize, let us not be disgusted at the word of God, because it is not relished by the reprobate; for they who are so much shaken by the revolt of some that, when those persons fall away, they are immediately discouraged, are too delicate and tender.”

7. V67-71 – Before John concludes this almost entirely negative example of unbelief, he demonstrates the truth of Christ’s teaching that there exists a body of chosen persons who will indeed come to Jesus. These are represented by the twelve, who do not leave Jesus because of His hard sayings – on the contrary, they confess – through Peter’s mouth – that Jesus’ teachings are the words of life, and that they have believed in Him. The disciples, having been quickened, except for Judas, believe Jesus’ teaching to be wholesome; furthermore, they acknowledge the truth from Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Did they grasp everything Jesus had just taught? Certainly not at this point. But the key is that they believed Him to be the only fountain of life; they trusted Him completely. Union with Him was key. Jesus’ question to the twelve is meant to strengthen and confirm their faith, which was a necessary task after they witnessed the departure of so many. And this example serves us today – we who believe ought to continue with God, even if we lack a single companion. Jesus does not respond to their response with relief or surprise, but simply observed that their belief came because He had chosen them.

   His reply is like this: “You twelve alone remain out of a large company. If your faith has not been shaken by the unbelief of many, prepare for a new contest; for this company, though small, will still lose one more.” Jesus declares that a “devil” is in their midst, an imposter and betrayer; and this lest Judas’ future treachery should seem to invalidate His saying that all whom the Father has chosen, without exception, would be given eternal life. Judas is no exception, therefore, as from the beginning, Jesus knew who he was and what he would do. We do not read that Judas was at all moved by Jesus’ declaration. Calvin says, “Hypocrites are so stupid that they do not feel their sores, and in the presence of men they have such hardened effrontery, that they do not scruple to prefer themselves to the very best of men.”

   We might leave tonight with Peter’s words. “To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.” I think of God speaking to Job. What can Job say but, “I’m sorry”? To whom shall I go? Who do you run to in your sin? How foolish it is to flee from the One who forgives? It’s hard to see past the potential for punishment and condemnation. But, as v37 declares, “All that the Father gives will come to Jesus, and the one who comes, He will never drive away.” He will certainly not them cast out.”

Footnotes

1. 6:7 Greek two hundred denarii
2. 6:19 Greek rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia (about 5 or 6 kilometers)
3. 6:31 Exodus 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Psalm 78:24,25
4. 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
5. 6:63 Or Spirit

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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