John 6:41-59 – “Jesus uses graphic imagery to explain his purpose”
(David Bacon)
John 6:41–59 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 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. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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 you. 54 Whoever feeds on 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 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
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Jesus is continuing to use bread as a metaphor for who is. We are told in verse 59 that the discourse in this passage occurred in the Synagogue. The people there are well versed in Israel’s history and Jesus mentions the bread that God gave to the Israelites while they were wandering around in the desert. This bread was called Manna, which literally means “what is it?” It too was sent down from Heaven for his people to eat. Jesus is similarly from heaven and will be offering up his body as a sacrifice.
But then Jesus gets rather graphic with this metaphor and says that one must eat his body to live forever! Is Jesus instituting a cult of cannibalism?! Certainly not. But this is what it sounds like at face value. If left on its own, this passage would be rather shocking. Thankfully we have the rest of the book to help us understand. Jesus is drawing parallels between himself and the Passover Feast (which was also mentioned at the start of this chapter). This annual event was instituted when the Israelites were saved from the angel of death who came and killed all the first born in Egypt. Only the Israelites, who covered the doorposts with the blood of the Passover Lamb were spared. (They were “passed-over.”)
John doesn’t record any parables in his book the way that the synoptic gospels do. However, Jesus still spoke in ways that were hard for the people to understand without following him further. Those who heard him speak once or twice would be rather confused as the Jews are in this passage. To follow and understand Jesus requires a greater commitment and thirst for the knowledge that he is imparting. In the same way, we must commit ourselves to diving into God’s word on a regular basis, and ask that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to what is written and how we can learn from it.
Weekly Prayer Focus: “Developing the Capital Campaign”
Daily Prayer Request: “Prayer Based Capital Campaign.” Please pray that our attempt to raise money will not be based on our own strength or wisdom, but deeply rooted in prayer.