29.03.09 John 6:41-59 (NASB)
Audio Sermon File: John 6:41-59
Going Deeper: Study Guide
Christian Cannibalism or Spiritual Food?
Today we are going to look at something that the Jews thought was crazy and grotesque. We are going to continue in the Gospel of John and we arrive at John 6:41-59. In the previous section from verses 22-40 Jesus was addressing the crowds that sought after Him, just after the feeding of the 5000. It is in this interaction with the crowds that Jesus clearly reveals in this Gospel, that He is the Bread of Life (v.35). Jesus is the Bread of Life and those who submit their life to Him will be spiritually satisfied, and shall be raised to eternal life. This theme that Jesus is the Bread of Life continues in our passage today through one injunction and two challenges.
The injunction is - DON’T GRUMBLE BUT LEARN (v.41-47); The two challenges are - ARE YOU READY TO EAT MY FLESH ? (v.48-52) and ARE YOU READY TO DRINK MY BLOOD ? (v.53-59).
John 6:41-59 reveals to us: 41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." 42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, `I have come down out of heaven'?" 43 Jesus answered and said to 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 shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who 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 which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." 52 Then the Jews [began] to argue with one another, 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 yourselves. 54 "He who eats 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 "He who eats 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 he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." 59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
As we move into our passage today, we are going right down to our last verse -verse 59 which lets us know where everything takes place. All the events and dialogue that are occurring is in the midst of a synagogue meeting. In this meeting Jesus gives the injunction (now starting in v.41)….
1. DON’T GRUMBLE BUT LEARN ABOUT THE BREAD OF LIFE (v.41-47)
v.41 In today’s passage Jesus is interacting with the Jews - which is a general reference to those who opposed Jesus’ ministry - which most likely from the context of the passage are the locals of Capernaum. These people were engaged in prolonged murmuring, like the droning of a swarm of bees. It was much like the complaining of the Israelites in the wilderness in the OT. Their debate and discussion focused on what Jesus had claimed in the verses that preceded today’s passage - summed up in these words - I am the bread that came down from heaven. Now you may be wondering - Why was this statement so controversial to these Jews? There was a stir because Jesus’ words spoke of His Divine origin - therefore it implied His Deity - which was offensive to the religious Jew who rejected the full revelation of God - revealing Himself as the God-Man Jesus Christ. The statement was controversial because the response of those who opposed Jesus was rooted in a hard-heartedness - an unbelief.
v.42 To the Jews this was seemingly unfathomable that this son of a carpenter - declared for Himself that He was Diety. They knew of Jesus and some of them probably even had known Him from birth. After all Jesus was born of human parents - Jesus was the son of Joseph - and these people knew His father and mother. They knew His roots….His family background - they were looked upon as blue collar small town folks…probably much like how some Vancouverites would look at small town folks. Some of these people had heard of the supernatural circumstances associated with Jesus’ birth. Yet in spite of all of this - Jesus’ claim to Divine origin was mind-blowing and their unregenerate minds could not grasp the truth and reality of Jesus’ declaration.
Even today people still are questioning the claims of Jesus’ Diety. It seems that this question which arose nearly 2000 years ago, still rages on. We can see the debate about who Jesus is even to this day - right now - with the release of The DiVinci Code - and movies with Hollywood versions of Jesus which are often way off base. The grumbling in our passage, can be likened to the debates between those who support the movie and those who reject it. Those who reject the movie are complaining - maybe they should sit down and learn about the true Jesus of the Scripture.
v.43 In the midst of the ongoing grumbling and a swelling tide of protest - Jesus interjects. Jesus commands the Jews - Do not grumble - they were getting nowhere with their complaining, so they were to stop it - it was unproductive for belief.
v.44 This is what Jesus says to the Jews in the synagogue - and these comments are really directed at the Jews hearts that were hardened - unbelieving hearts - - Jesus says No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. Those Jesus addresses were not drawn by God…… Look down at your Bibles to verse 44, there is a word Jesus uses - the word ‘draws’ - the word ‘draws’ pictures a fishing net being dragged - that there is a lot of resistance - and because of that resistance it is near impossible to bring in.
Romans 8:7-8 - the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so], 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
This verse from Romans is exactly what is taking place here in the Jews hearts. Their minds are by nature are so hardened to Jesus that it results in the natural outcome - rejection and unbelief. Yet there is the parallel reality which Jesus teaches - that belief comes only through God’s initiation, which leads to salvation and eternal life. Scripture is clear that God elects and draws people to Himself. When God does that, a person comes to a place in his or her life that responds to God in a personal love for Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
v.45 Jesus continues to expand on what He is stating by referring to the prophets of the OT. The prophets foretold of the coming of the Messiah. The Jews had the Scriptures - and they poured over them with a fine tooth comb. Today 2009, we are clearly in a day and age where God has taught and revealed the truth about His Son - Jesus. The question is - what are you going to do with that truth?
As God draws someone to Christ then they must have heard and learned from what God is teaching through the Word. Those who listen, consider, and obey the truth that God reveals about Jesus will be saved from their sins. The drawing process that God initiates therefore bears fruit as God intends, and the person will listen and learn and embrace Jesus as Lord and Saviour. It fully is a work of God and not of man, who by nature is dead to God (Eph. 2:1-10).
v.46 There is the popular saying ‘Seeing is Believing’ - we have all heard this haven’t we….but Jesus refutes this kind of mis-notion by underscoring it with the reality which He states - Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. So Jesus is explicitly saying that only He has seen God the Father. The Word, Jesus, is God (cf. Jn.1:1) - God the Son - and because of this - of course He has seen God the Father. By making this statement Jesus gives an answer to the question in the minds of the Jews, that they were grumbling about - that is Jesus’ claim of Divine origin. Jesus makes it quite clear to those who would listen and learn - that Jesus is God veiled in human flesh (Jn. 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth).
v.47 In verse 47 we have those familiar words again - Truly, truly, I say to you - something important is to be stated. This time it is something which is critical for each one of us to know if we want to verify if we will be in heaven after we die - to have everlasting life. The critical point made is belief. Not belief in God - allow me to qualify that - there are so many people today who would say they believe in God - but true belief in God cannot be divorced from belief in Jesus as the Son of God. In other words, what this is telling us is that the only way to quote - unquote - ‘see’ God is through Jesus Christ. John 1:18 was clear about this - No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained [ Him ]. Here is perhaps an easier way to understand the implications of Jesus' statements:
If you want to ‘see’ God then you must believe in Jesus.
If you want to please God you must please Jesus.
If you want to follow God then you must follow Jesus.
If you want to submit yourself to God you must submit
yourself to Jesus.
You get the point? Without Jesus there is no relationship with God. Jesus Himself declared that - I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (Jn. 14:6). A personal saving faith in God always calls for an individual response to Jesus. The most fundamental facts about Jesus that we are to believe in, is that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and on the 3rd day rose from the dead to have victory over sin.
There is a lot of grumbling about Jesus today. People have all kinds of excuses to write off Jesus. Yet it is quite clear and simple that we are called not to complain, but to listen and learn about Jesus from the Bible. The people Jesus addresses wrote Him off, and they are now just about to get really get offended. Jesus continues to teach patiently despite their failure to listen and learn - and He asks this question…poses this challenge….
2. ARE YOU READY TO EAT MY FLESH ? (v.48-52)
v.48 Once again Jesus makes the assertion that He is the bread of life. Jesus - God in human flesh - offers to all of us, a personal relationship with Him. We all realize that many people walk around with a spiritual emptiness. The remedy for unbelievers to fill that void is with people, money, sex, work, spiritual counterfeits, hobbies, sports, whatever it is - let me suggest to you that this emptiness cannot be filled with anything else other than with the bread of life - Jesus Christ. You need to have Jesus Christ in your life to be spiritually full. That is the very thing that the Jews were missing - they filled their lives with religion, rules, and regulations - but what they lacked was a believing relationship with Jesus. He knows where we stand with Him. He knew where the Jews stood too and He reveals this illustration….
v.49 The Jews fathers who were in the wilderness had manna. It was a physical substance from heaven to physically sustain them, yet it only kept them alive for a while - and then came death. Yes they ate the manna and their stomachs were full but in the end it did nothing for their spiritual hunger. In the end they died.
v.50 But in Jesus, is the sustaining bread - the sustaining source of life - sent by God - by which men might be saved - a bread which one may eat of it and not die. What does Jesus mean when He uses the word eat? When we eat food it must be chewed and then digested. The food that we eat is absorbed into our body for our nourishment and it gives us energy. Jesus’ very purpose in coming is to serve as the bread which comes down out of heaven - He is for our spiritual benefit. If a person truly considers Jesus’ claim and is drawn by the Father to repent of sin and believe, then that person will saved from his sins and not die. That person has eaten the spiritual food that Jesus offers, digested it and it reaps spiritual nourishment - which is salvation from sin. Acts 4:12 clearly states the exclusivity of God's means of salvation - Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
v.51 Jesus now changes the terms a little from, bread of life to living bread. These two references still are used to mean that this bread, that Jesus is referring to, is what gives a person life - that is to say that this person who eats this bread will live forever. Jesus the bread of life is alive and only He can give life.
At this point of the text, this is were things start to get very confusing. To the Jews what has been stated by Jesus, becomes very disturbing. The Jews can’t make any sense out of what Jesus is saying (and they can’t because they are not born again - Jn. 3:3 - and so they do not have the teacher of truth the Holy Spirit to reveal spiritual truth - 1 Cor. 2:14). So what Jesus does is connect the bread as being His flesh. Jesus says in verse 51 - the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. This statement speaks about the extent of Jesus’ voluntary death on the cross, to make it possible for people to have a restored relationship with God by taking away our sin. This too was unimaginable to the Jews because they could not believe that the Messiah that they waited for would be killed.
v.52 Jesus’ statement gets an immediate response from the Jews. It all began with the Jews grumbling about what Jesus’ claim of Divine origin. Now they propel themselves into deeper turmoil and confusion and argue with one another. The Jews picked up and made the connection that Jesus was saying that He was the bread of life - or living bread. But the notion of eating Jesus’ flesh was down right grotesque, and they engage themselves in a bitter war of words.
So can you picture in your mind what is happening - things are getting heated up and there is an uproar. Don’t forget this is right in the synagogue - people are pointing their fingers at each other and Jesus, and accusations ring loud. The Jews unyielding emotions flared up into contempt - as if Jesus was going to turn them into cannibals. The Jews sharply debated this grossly offensive suggestion - How can this man give us [His] flesh to eat? The issue here was not even close to suggestions of cannibalism (and the Jews probably realized this)….but Jesus was using a metaphor to speak of something spiritually greater and more significant.
Maybe this illustration will help you understand the concept: If you like eating liver - and I place right in front of you a piece of raw liver, and I tell you that it is really good for you and that you should eat it raw - it will just slither down your throat - what are you going to do? Would you believe me? No, your going to be grossed out. Whether you eat that raw liver is a matter of belief. If you believe me your going to eat it. But since you know better, and don’t believe me your going to reject it.
Now if you like eating beef - and I place a nicely grilled piece of prime rib in front of you - still hot and sizzling - and I tell you that this is one of the best cuts of beef - what are you going to do? In your mind you know its edible, and you take it - this time believing and trusting that it is going to nourish you and satisfy your hunger.
So the concept of eating of Jesus’ flesh is the concept of belief. Belief in what? Belief that Jesus calls us - in other words to partake in belief that the Bread of life came to die - His body sacrificed for our sins on a cross - and we are to appropriate this in our life.
Though we may know this - sometimes a challenge like ARE YOU READY TO EAT MY FLESH is just too offensive. Do you find yourself in a place where you would rather have an abstract Jesus? A Jesus who doesn’t quite challenge you as much about sin. A Jesus that confronts, by getting up close and personal, when you are caught in your lies, surfing the net, about what you read, what you wear, how you are at work, what you say? Do we say or think - Jesus I wish you were not here at this moment? In those times may we know that the Bread of Life offers our sin stained and - dead souls (of those who are not born again cf. Jn. 3:1ff) spiritual nourishment and life, and rich satisfaction, because of His death which grants us true life - repent, believe, and receive.
Jesus is not finished with us yet nor is He with the Jews…and He offers up this challenge….
ARE YOU READY TO DRINK MY BLOOD ? (v.53-59)
v.53 Here is Jesus’ reply…which once again leads off with the words - Truly, truly, I say to you. Jesus doesn’t want anyone to miss the importance of His discourse on the Bread of Life - so on top of repeating His statement of eating the flesh of the Son of Man, Jesus adds that a person must drink His blood - and if a person didn’t do that they would have no life.
The Mosaic Law prohibited the Jews from drinking blood or even eat meat in which the blood had not been drained out (Lev. 17:10-14, Deut. 12:16). If the Jews did do what they thought Jesus was suggesting, then they would be engaging in a gross sin. Jesus’ call to drink His blood, to the Jew was really - really disturbing - because they did not understand the metaphor, and took it literally and lost sight of the true spiritual significance. So you might be asking what is going on here? Maybe you are just as confused as the Jews were. At a first reading this passage is somewhat hard to understand. This is why? Throughout Jesus’ ministry He used metaphors and parables to elicit a response from those the Father drew to Himself. Jesus did not always purpose to make everything He said simple to grasp. But those the Father drew to Himself for His salvation, Jesus knew they would make further inquiry. Those who would not listen and learn from the Father would be turned off or even offended by these kinds of statements - it would be a stumbling block.
Jesus is using a metaphor - a very difficult one at that. The Jewish people often used the actions of eating and drinking to be representative of the process of the mind in accepting, understanding, and applying a lesson. We could probably liken it to our common use of the word digest - meaning the same thing…..for example after participating in a heavy seminar…we might say - yeah…I’m going to have to digest that.
What Jesus means when He says eat the flesh of the Son of Man, is that one must understand, accept, and believe in the fullness of Jesus’ person and character and work upon the cross. When Jesus continues and says that one must drink His blood, it means that that person must continue in understanding, accepting, and believing in the ministry and purpose of His life.
v.54 This truth is repeated in verse 54 but this time in the positive. If this is still confusing - look back at the words eats and drinks…..now go back to verse 40, which states - For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. In verse 40 we have the parallel concept in the words beholds and believes. So the concept of ‘eats and drinks in Christ’ is the same as ‘beholds and believes in Christ.’
If you are to have eternal life - you must understand that you are a sinner deserving God’s eternal wrath and there is nothing that you can do to save yourself. You must personally believe in Jesus, whom God has sent to save you from your sins and its penalty. You must believe in the true nature, character, and life of Jesus - and receive Him as the only Saviour from the penalty of your sins, put your complete trust in Him, and make Him the Lord over your life. You must accept His death and resurrection on behalf of bringing life to you as a sinner. These facts are life saving facts and they must be real in your life - appropriated and assimilated (digested). The person who is drawn by God will do so and Jesus will raise him up at the last day.
v.55 You may have heard of something which Catholics teach and believe - which is called Transubstantiation or some also refer to it as the Doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ. The Catholic view of the Lord’s Table is referred to as a sacrament, we would use the proper term - ordinance - because we see Communion as a symbolic act of obedience that Jesus calls us to observe. Catholics base their belief in Transubstantiation by going to verse 55. Catholic doctrine teaches that during Communion the elements of bread and wine during the mass actually and miraculously become the physical flesh and blood of Jesus. That is why some people in the course of history, have called Christians cannibals - CHRISTIAN CANNIBALISM.
Today we are going to observe the Lord’s Supper, and without getting into the details - our passage is not referring to this observance. There are compelling reasons why I say this - but I’ll just give you the main reason why - this passage is not about the Lord’s Table because it is instituted by Jesus in the Upper Room about a year after this.
It is best to understand this verse in context of what is being presented by Jesus, which is the spiritual significance of His Person. That spiritual significance is that - only in Jesus can we find the true SPIRITUAL FOOD that will convert and nourish our sin weary soul - to eat and drink from His fountain of eternal life.
v.56 Whoever eats this real food and drinks this real drink of real SPIRITUAL FOOD he abides in Christ - there is going to be a real relationship.
v.57 This relationship that Jesus offers to you is going to be like the one that exists between the Father who sent Jesus from heaven. The person who is drawn by the Father through Christ will experience a close and intimate fellowship with Christ - just like the fellowship between God the Father and God the Son.
v.58 As this discourse comes to an end, Jesus comes back to what He referred to earlier in v.49 - that of the manna that the Israelites ate during Moses’ time in the wilderness wanderings - that physical bread did not prevent physical death - just like we all will experience one day. Yet in contrast Jesus offers us this reality - he who eats this bread - the true bread of life which is Christ - will live forever. Eternal life comes from eating, drinking, and digesting the spiritual realities of believing in Jesus. We are not talking about CHRISTIAN CANNIBALISM, but true SPIRITUAL FOOD.
Are you willing to drink of His blood - to make the Bread of Life’s sacrifice real in your life? Accepting Jesus’ life poured out means that you humbly acknowledge that you are a sinner before a Holy God, you yield to God’s work of reconciliation and forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ, and have faith that you are freed by His incredible gift of eternal life, and you are therefore able to live in His grace today - forgiven of all your sin.
We live in a pretty crazy world, but as Christians we can know that we will live forever - we have eternal life - and that puts a real stability into our lives. Because of the Father’s love for us we can enjoy Him through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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