Tag: John

The Words of Eternal Life

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John 6:60-63, 65 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Does this offend you? What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quicken; the flesh profit nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 

‘This is an hard saying; who can hear it?’ The Jews found Jesus’ message hard and they found it intolerable and impractical for they could not digest such a doctrine as this. People just want to hear of God’s grace and love and not of their role in the relationship. He must keep on giving and doing and they only want to receive (see 1Cor. 15:19).

Jesus knew by the gift of discernment and knowledge (Isa. 11:2; 1Cor. 12:4-11) that this time it was some disciples that were offended and that they murmured against Him.

He asked them that if the eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood offends them, what if He told them an even harder doctrine? Suppose you saw the Son of Man ascend up to heaven where He was before? This is the 18th New Testament prophecy that was fulfilled with the ascension (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11; Eph. 4:8-10).

‘It is the spirit that quicken; the flesh profit nothing’ – Quickeneth must be understood figuratively of the benefits of His sacrifice. He will give this bread, which symbolizes His body given in death to save the world (1Pet. 2:24; Col. 1:20; 2:14-17). If they could literally eat His flesh and drink His blood, it would not save their souls. The words He spoke unto them were spirit, and are life – He spoke of spiritual and eternal life, not fleshly life (2Cor. 3:6; Heb. 4:12).

Bread of Life

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John 6:47-59 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believe on me has everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which come down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eat my flesh, and drink my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eat my flesh, and drink my blood, dwell in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eat me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eat of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 

‘Believe on me’ – expresses an act and a continued process. It could not be that one act of faith and no more will save the soul (Luke 8:13; 1Tim. 1:19; 4:1; 5:12; Heb. 3:12-14; 10:23-38). The faith that saves is an ever-present active one; it cannot cease and still produce results. Even Believers live by the faith of the Son of God and must always live by faith (Rom.1:17).

The manna of the wilderness (Deut. 8:3) was not the ‘meat which endureth unto everlasting life’ it was only the typology of the MAN that would have come in the flesh (John 1:1,14) which is the sixteenth New Testament prophecy fulfilled in Christ’s first advent. Any man that eats thereof will not die, refers to eternal life, not physical life which all men have (Heb. 9:27; 1Cor. 15:51-58; 1Thess. 4:16-17).

The fourth and last time in this chapter Christ claims to be the bread of life, this bread is His flesh which He gave for the life of the world (John 6:33, 51). Conditions must be met by the world in order to get this life, for example: ‘if any man eat of this bread’ is one of the first conditions one must meet to have everlasting life.  Christ is the life-producing bread, and eating of Christ simply means that man must accept by faith what Christ did for him and live by obedience to Him without sin so the penalty will not have to be paid again. We live when we accept Christ as our substitute and meet the Word’s conditions.

‘Eat my flesh, and drink my blood’ Eating and drinking is used figuratively of partaking of the benefits of the death of Christ. We partake by faith and enjoy the benefits because God gives them on the basis of what Christ did for us (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:24-25; 5:1-11; 10:9-10; Acts 3:16; 4:12; 15:9; 26:18; Gal. 2:16-20; 3:1-26; 1Pet. 1:5-13). Eating is used figuratively of partaking of spiritual food (1Cor. 10:1-3); of other benefits received (Psa. 69:9; Eze. 2:8; 3:1-3; Rev. 10:9); and even of the evil results of sin (Pro. 9:17; Hos. 10:13; Jas. 5:3). No figure of speech was more common to Jews at this time, so there was no excuse for them to misunderstand His words. By comparing John 6:47-48 with 6:53-54 we see that believing on Christ is the same as eating and drinking Him.

Three times Christ here claims to be sent from heaven (6:38, 41, 42) and five times He claims He was sent by the Father (6:38, 39, 40, 44, 57).

Seven times manna and the true bread are spoken of as coming from heaven (6:31, 32, 33, 50, 51, 58).

Six times here men are promised everlasting life if they meet certain conditions (6:40, 47, 50, 51, 54, 58).

Come Unto Me

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John 6:41-46 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, come unto me. Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God, he has seen the Father. 

As a last resort for their unbelief, the Jews always fell back on the excuse of ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from Heaven?’ The same excuse so many uses today to deny that Jesus is God as the second person of the Trinity and not just a mere prophet.

The way the Father draws men to Him is always through the Word which is Jesus as clearly explained in John 1:1, 14 and in John 14:6 it is stated that  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no man can come to the Father, except through Jesus (the Word). No man is able to come to God except by God’s Word through the Holy Spirit and his own conscience, both of which are God-given (John 16:7-11; Rom. 2:12-16).

The Word must be heard for faith to grow (Rom. 10:11-17; 2Cor. 1:17-24) and the Holy Spirit to convict of sin (John 16:7-11). Man’s conscience then condemns or sanctions his own action as right or wrong according to the light received (Rom. 2:12-16; 2Cor. 2:15-17; 1Jn. 1:7). God draws or allures but never drags or uses force.

‘It is written in the prophets’ – the Old Testament was known as the Prophets, (or the Law and the Prophets) because it was the period that the Father spoke to the world through prophets (Heb. 1:1; Lk. 16:16) for there were no Bibles yet, only book scrolls of the Old Testament.  ‘And they shall be all taught of God’ through the prophets that wrote the books of the Old Testament man was told about God.

‘He has seen the Father’ For those – in the days of the apostles – who have seen Jesus (His example) they have also seen the Father (John 14:7).

Believe on Him

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John 6:36-40 But I said unto you, That you also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father give me shall come to me; and him that come to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which see the Son, and believe on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

‘That you also have seen me, and believe not’ Jesus explains to the Jews that God, and not Moses, gave the bread to the Israelites, but the Jews have seen Him multiply bread and do all kinds of signs and they still refuse to believe (trust) in Him. They only followed Jesus from sensual motives (John 6:26-27).

The thirteenth New Testament prophecy is constantly being fulfilled in ‘All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out’ When one ‘comes to’ it means to come in faith, repenting and turning to Christ with a whole heart, giving up sin, and consecrating himself forever to God and His Word and His will (Rom. 10:9-10; 2Cor. 7:10; 1Jn. 1:9; Acts 2:38-39; 3:19).

The fourteenth New Testament prophecy – ‘And this is the Father’s will… that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day….that every one which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day’ – is being fulfilled and will be completely fulfilled in the resurrection (1Thess. 4:16-17; 1Cor. 15:23, 51-58).

The ‘last day’ is used six times of which five times refers to the last day of redemption of the righteous when their bodies will be fully redeemed (John 6:39-40, 44, 54; 11:24), and of the last day when the wicked will be resurrected and judged (John 12:48; Rev. 20:11-15).

I Am the Bread of Life

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John 6:30-35 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 

The Jews questioned Christ and asked Him to give them a sign to prove that He is the Messiah and the Son of God. To them, His multiplying of bread didn’t prove it, because Moses gave Israel bread for 40 years and He did not claim to be the Messiah or the Son of God.

Jesus answers them that Moses did not give them the true bread that feeds the soul and sustains eternal life, but mere temporal bread that feeds the body only (Exo. 16:15; Psa. 78:24). They still understood Him as speaking of temporal food.

John 6:35 is the twelfth New Testament prophecy in John that is being fulfilled. Jesus is described as seven typologies in John: “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35-51); “I am the Light of the World” (John 8:12; 9:5); “I am the Door of the Sheep” (John 10:7-9) “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11-14); “I am the Resurrection and Life” (John 11:25); “I am the Way, Truth, and Life” (John 14:6); “I am the True Vine” (John 15:1-6).

Will never thirst because he can have “rivers of living water” flowing out of his innermost being (John 7:37-39). The abundant fullness of the Holy Spirit will meet every need and solve every problem (Matt. 17:20; 21:22; John 14:12-17, 26; 15:7, 16, 26; 16:7-15; Acts 1:4-8; 8:26).

Work the Works of God

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John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.

‘Work the works of God’ – we are commanded to let men see our good works and glorify God (Matt. 5:16) and to show faith by works (Jas. 1:22-27; 2:9-26). People “zealous of good works” are the only kind that is redeemed (Tit. 2:11-14). A desire to do miracles is not sinful if the motive is right. There can be a right and a wrong motive behind everything and a right and wrong way to do everything. Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14) and Adam (Gen. 3:1-14) had a noble desire to be like God, but the motive behind it and the methods they used were sinful. One should desire this more than his necessary food, but he must go about it the way Christ set the example – by emptying Himself (Php. 2:5-11). Jesus did not rebuke even these selfish people for wanting miraculous power. He gave them the only true answer.

This answer to the question of what to do to work the works of God is the clearest one possible. It gives the sum total of all answers to the question. It has been so lightly passed over and limited in meaning to a mere faith that Jesus is the Son of God and to forgiveness of sins only. How far from the whole truth this is! Faith and forgiveness are a part of what is referred to, but not all. Receiving the power from on high to “work the works of God” is included (Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:49; John 14:12).

Everlasting Life

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John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 

The next day, the crowd from the previous day saw that there was no other boat there, except the one His disciples entered with, and that Jesus did not go with His disciples in the boat, but that His disciples left alone. When they, therefore, saw that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples, they also went to Capernaum by ship, seeking Jesus.

When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him when He came over. Jesus answered them that they seek Him not because they saw miracles, but because He gave them food and they ate; not as being convinced by visible miracles, which should lead godly men to acknowledge Him as Messiah, but as by appetite, which leads sensual men like beasts through the impulse of want and supply.

We get eternal life now and keep it forever if we meet the following conditions: Come to Christ (John 6:37, 44, 45, 65); know God and Christ (John 17:2-3); cause no offense (Matt. 18:8-9); forsake all (Matt. 19:27-29; Mark 10:28-30); overcome sin (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21); live free from sin (Rom. 5:21; 6:16-23; 8:1-13; Tit. 2:11-14); fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on it (1Tim. 6:12, 19); be sober and hope to the end for it (Tit. 1:2; 3:7; 1Pet. 1:5, 9, 13); endure temptations (Jas. 1:12); love everybody (1Jn. 3:14-15); keep yourself in the love of God, looking for eternal life (Jude 1:20-24); be faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10; Heb. 12:14-15); believe and obey the gospel (John 3:15-19, 36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:40, 47, 54; 2Cor. 5:17; Rom. 1:5); be born again, hear Christ, and follow Him (John 3:1-36; 10:27-29).

BUT eternal life does not become an unforfeitable eternal possession until we enter into it (Matt. 7:13; 18:8-9; 19:17; Rom. 6:22); receive it (Rom. 6:23; Jas. 1:12; 1Pet. 1:13; Rev. 2:10); reap it (Gal. 6:7-8); and inherit it in the world to come (Matt. 19:27-29; Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-30), and at the end of this life (Rom. 6:22).

‘Him has God the Father sealed’ – confirmed by giving Him the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:33-34).

Jesus Walks on Water

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John 6:16-21 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

The disciples went over the sea toward Capernaum when it was getting dark, and Jesus was not with them. The sea became choppy and full of waves because of a great wind that was blowing.

When they rowed about 6 kilometres or halfway across, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. They perhaps thought Jesus would follow in a ship, but instead, He walked nearly 6 km on the water to help them in their new danger. He identified Himself to them by saying: ‘It is I; be not afraid.’

‘Immediately the ship was at the land’ – this is one of the greatest miracles of all – a whole ship taken from a storm in the middle of the sea was suddenly at the shore. It was no doubt carried by God’s power like Philip was carried physically through the air (Acts 8:39-40) about 40 kilometres to Azotus.

Twelve Baskets Filled

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John 6:12-15 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 

‘Nothing be lost’ It is always a divine principle to use everything possible and waste nothing. God has always followed the principle of creating everything for a purpose and of using everything according to the created purpose. They filled twelve baskets which was twice as much leftover as when they started and yet 5,000 men were filled and fully satisfied. The twelve baskets refer one for each of the apostles.

‘That prophet’ the one spoken of in the law and prophets, refers to the Messiah (John 1:21, 45).

‘Therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king’ – this notable miracle was sufficient to cause an immediate political rally to make Christ king of the Jews. A man that could do this could defeat the Romans and the whole world, so they tried to take Him by force and make Him a king. Jesus did what every man must learn to do in times of popularity and temptation to be exalted over success – He slipped away from the crowd into some secret place to pray. What a lesson to learn! Would to God many men today who are constantly seeking to exalt themselves as God’s man of the hour would stumble on to this example and have grace to follow it. It is repulsive, to say the least, to hear and see the self-exaltation of such men. Proverbs 16:18 will be fulfilled many times in these days of pride and boastfulness over gifts and abilities, which, if really received, should make men humble and dependent upon God and as nothing before men.

Feeding the Five Thousand

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John 6:1-3,5-6,11  After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 

After Jesus’ second visit to Jerusalem to attend the second feast of the Jews, He went back to Galilee and passed over the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee from which the sea got its name. Great multitudes followed Him because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased.

Jesus went up the mountains where He sat with His disciples and then saw a great company come unto Him: He then asked where they shall buy bread so the multitudes can eat; He already knew what He was going to do.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, solved the problem for a very few, but Jesus solved it for the very many (John 6:9-13). He found a baker boy with his basket of barley loaves. Such boys are seen among crowds even today in the East.

On all such occasions, Jesus gave thanks to God for blessings already provided, putting emphasis on thankfulness rather than asking for food to be blessed. Everyone ate as much as they could eat, not only “take a little,” as expressed by Philip in John 6:7.