V. 41
Remember, they had been comparing Jesus to Moses, whom they revered.
God had used Moses to bring bread from heaven, and they were happy to receive Jesus on that same level.
When Jesus spoke Himself as the Bread of Life that was too much for them.
V. 42
Familiarity breeds contempt.
They knew enough about Jesus to think that they knew everything about Him.
Jesus had an earthly mother, but no earthly Father.
His mother experienced conception via the power of God’s Spirit.
They thought they knew His origins. They were 50% right, but 100% wrong.
Vs. 43, 44
They murmured due to wrong expectations and lack of spiritual understanding.
Jesus stated that no one could even come to him for eternal life unless they were drawn by the Father
Jesus is specifically referring to verse 35.
No human can come to Jesus unless God the Father first draws a person to Jesus.
Jesus cannot be understood and accepted for who he is without divine enabling and revealing.
V. 45
Jesus claimed that if His listeners had truly been taught by God, and had received spiritual understanding from God, then they would be willing to receive Him as the Bread of Life.
The Jews of that day believed that they were connected to God by virtue of their bloodline, yet here they were rejecting the Son of God because they didn’t like the way he presented Himself.
V. 46
Jesus claimed to have had immediate and personal access to God the Father.
Vs. 47, 48
As physical bread sustains physical life, Jesus is the spiritual Bread that grants and imparts eternal life.
V. 49
The people listening to Jesus held Moses in high esteem, which was appropriate to a degree.
He had led the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
As the nation wandered in the desert, Moses had prayed to God regarding the need for food, and God sent the manna to them to sustain them physically.
The people had compared Jesus to Moses, and resisted Jesus when He claimed to be more than Moses.
Moses had (in a sense) provided physical bread for the people.
Jesus claimed that he Himself was the spiritual bread that brought eternal life.
The people ate the bread that Moses brought, but they died physically.
Jesus said that if people partook of Him, they would have everlasting life.
V. 50
Jesus begins to speak allegorically of Himself.
“Not dying” has to do with spiritual death.
Physical death is the absence of the soul from the body.
Spiritual death is the absence of the soul from God, whether one is living or has died.
V. 51
Jesus again speaks allegorically of Himself.
He is not teaching cannibalism, but of spiritually partaking of Him.
Taking in bread gives life to the body.
Taking in Jesus through faith gives life to the soul.
Jesus no longer speaks of physical bread, but only of Himself.
If anyone eats- Note the open invitation that must be acted upon.
the bread that I shall give is My flesh– Jesus introduces the idea of giving Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. He willingly gave Himself; He was not the victim of an angry mob or political activists.
which I shall give for the life of the world- The death of Jesus was sufficient to provide forgiveness and eternal life for all of humanity.
Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
Vs. 52-56
Abides– to dwell with.
To spiritually feed on Jesus is to share a life with Jesus.
He in us and us in Him.
JFB– As our food becomes incorporated with ourselves, so Christ and those who eat His flesh and drink His blood become spiritually one life, though personally distinct.
V. 57
As the Son was connected to the Father and shared in life, so is the one who feeds upon Jesus connected to Jesus and have life through Him.
V. 58
Jesus is speaking of people having life or not having life, and yet He is speaking to living people.
He spoke in terms that unthinking people would easily walk away from, but they sincere and spiritually minded people would press into.
1. How could they be living and yet not be alive?
2. Jesus obviously didn’t teach cannibalism, so what did He mean?
3. They knew He was sent from God; they had received bread and fish from Him miraculously, but were unwilling to press into the deeper meanings of this discourse.
V. 59
At some point, the conversation had moved indoors.
This was quite a church service.
V. 60
To the less serious followers of Jesus, these words seemed too hard to understand.
They drew the line with Jesus at this point.
They were ok with Jesus as another Moses, but not as the Bread of Life.
They liked receiving easily consumed physical bread.
They did not feel the need for receiving the spiritual bread, which was Jesus.
They didn’t like Jesus telling them that they needed to receive Him.
Vs. 61, 62
Jesus began to reveal more of Himself to them.
If they recoiled at the thought of Him being the Bread of Life, how would they feel if they saw Him physically return to heaven, which is what happened in Acts 1:9?
V.63
Jesus draws a clear distinction here.
There is life according to the flesh, and life according to the spirit.
Life according to the flesh is just existence.
Life according to the Spirit is eternal life and the highest form of that which is considered life.
Bread can only nourish your flesh, but it cannot give life to your spirit.
Jesus spoke to them about Himself; He was and is the source of the highest kind of life, spiritual life.
V. 64
Keep in mind that some in the crowd had seen the miracles.
Their unbelief was not because of a lack of evidence, but rather, an insistence that Jesus fit the mold they created for Him.
They wanted a Jesus that would suit them.
Because Jesus presented Himself as much more than what they wanted, they rejected Him.
Jesus also knew that Judas would betray Him.
V. 65
Jesus reiterates that no one can come to Him unless there is a divine drawing by the Father.
2 Peter 3:9 9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
These people believed that they were in right relationship with God, but Jesus informed them that if they loved God, they would have believed in Him. (See 6:45)
Vs. 66, 67
Jesus loved and loves all humanity, but He did not water down the truth to gain followers.
Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Keep in mind that Jesus asked this question of the Twelve.
He saw the response of the less committed masses, and asked the Twelve if this kind of language would turn them away.
Jesus forced the disciples to examine their own commitments to Him.
Would they leave Him when popular opinion was turning against Him?
Would they be moved away?
Vs. 68, 69
Acts 20:24 24But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
JFB- “We cannot deny that we have been staggered as well as they, and seeing so many go away who, as we thought, might have been retained by teaching a little less hard to take in, our own endurance has been severely tried, nor have we been able to stop short of the question, Shall we follow the rest, and give it up? But when it came to this, our light returned, and our hearts were reassured. For as soon as we thought of going away, there arose upon us that awful question, ‘To whom shall we go?’ To the lifeless formalism and wretched traditions of the elders? to the gods many and lords many of the heathen around us? or to blank unbelief? Nay, Lord, we are shut up. They have none of that ‘eternal life’ to offer us…Therefore will we stay with Thee—we must.”
The disciples had stayed with Jesus through other trials, and had seen the miracles.
Their faith had been tested previously in lesser ways.
Now public opinion was swinging away from Jesus, but they had been through enough with Jesus to know by experience that He had the words of eternal life.
Vs. 70-71
Peter said “we” of the Twelve, but the circle of believers was smaller than Peter realized.
Judas would eventually turn away and betray Jesus, and yet Jesus would allow it to happen.