Food for us today in the western world is so varied, so vast. There are just so many choices. Yet friends that wasn’t always the way, and it definitely wasn’t how someone lived 2000 years ago. You only have to remember that there were no fridges or freezers and suddenly the choices for food were limited. So for someone in Jesus day the staples were much more important and would have been the basis for everything else. Food is needed to live and while we know that today, we have such an abundance and we really aren’t that close to actual food production. It is estimated in Australia today that around 2.1% of our National employment is by people who work directly in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sector. 2,000 years ago in the middle east this would have been over 80%. All of this is to try and put ourselves in the mindset of the people back then. Food was a big deal, you had to pretty much grow it yourself, or if you were able to get the raw ingredients then you had to make it. And friends, the main staple in the middle east was bread. Bread was what sustained life. No bread, no life. And it is with that understanding that we come to today’s passage.
- Chapter 6 of John so far
Up until this point in John 6 we have seen Jesus show who he was by miraculously feeding the 5000+. We have also seen Jesus show His own disciples incredible miracles of walking on the water, calming the storm and the boat straight away being at the shore. (v16-21). Jesus had truly shown that he was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus then began to teach those who came to him when they found him on the other side of the lake. They called him rabbi and he said that they were wanting a free lunch again. Remember this was a big deal for the crowds. They didn’t have to make their own lunch or try and buy it. They were given it. That’s why they were looking for him. To give them what they wanted.
- Two types of food
So Jesus teaches them that there are two types of food. Food that spoils and food that endures to eternal life that only he can give. Then they ask how to do the work God requires and Jesus says by believing the one he has sent.
- Misunderstanding the spiritual truth
Instead of accepting that life giving spiritual truth they wanted Jesus to keep providing them with food. (v30-31). That wanted Manna, they wanted bread from heaven. It is reminiscent of the woman at the well who wanted Jesus to give her the neverending water so she doesn’t have to go to the well each day. They had both missed the spiritual truth
- Jesus is the bread of life
And this is where Jesus explains to them that God does give true bread from heaven. Not manna which only lasted for the day, but in fact himself who God sends to give life to the world. That whoever comes to him, that is whoever believes in him will have eternal life and be raised by Jesus on that final day when he returns. Jesus is the eternal bread of heaven.
- They Grumbled
Jesus has just told the crowd exactly who he is and invited them to believe in him. To believe in the one sent from heaven through whom eternal life is available by faith. Jesus has been crystal clear.
And what is the response from the crowd to this wonderful news. They grumble about him. They complain about Jesus, they whine, they bellyache, they mutter, they complain. Have a look at v 41 & 42
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They 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’?”
They may have witnessed the miracle, but that hasn’t helped bring them to God. No Jesus’s words now cause them to grumble. And here is what they are grumbling about. He can’t have come from heaven as he claims, for we know his mother and father. He is Joseph’s son. They are not looking to God for guidance, but judging from their own reasoning, even though they had only yesterday seen the miracle that showed exactly who Jesus was. But now on the basis of knowing Jesus’ family they were rejecting him.
John’s readers (including us) have the answer to this in Chapter 1. John makes clear the truth that Jesus has always been, that He is God and then in verse 14 of Chapter one, that Jesus was sent by God the Father into the world and became man.
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus though, knowing what they are thinking tells them to stop complaining, to stop grumbling and then continues teaching.
Firstly, he says that they can’t trust in him without God drawing them in. (Show verses 43-44)
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
So what does that mean?
- Only God can lead us to Faith in His Son
No one can come to Jesus, no one can believe in Jesus unless the Father leads them, or directs them towards Jesus. Only God can change our heart and mind to draw us to His Son. Jesus has those whom the Father gives him, that was what we saw in verses 38-40 of John 6 from last week. In a nutshell they are grumbling because their hearts are hard. They in fact do not know Jesus’s Father. They do not know God. For if they did, they would believe him, they would accept his words. And this is exactly what Jesus now goes on to unpack.
45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
- Being taught by God means coming to Jesus
Being taught by God means coming to Jesus. Listening to God will lead you to Jesus. This parallels the words of Jesus in John 6:29 when Jesus is asked what the work God requires is, and his answer is “to believe in the one he has sent.” So Jesus is saying this is the teaching that God gives to everyone, as stated in Isaiah 54:13
13
All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and great will be their peace.
- Jesus is the life giving heavenly bread
Jesus continues to speak about bread, as this is what the people are preoccupied with. Yet Jesus now answers their question in full from verses 30 & 31 where they were wanting bread from heaven. They wanted another Moses, not a Messiah. But have a listen to what Jesus says:
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Now if they had listened to and understood the teaching of God in the scriptures then at this stage they would have worshipped Jesus, and asked him more. But friends they hadn’t been taught by God, they hadn’t understood the scriptures so they moved from grumbling to arguing. In fact the NIV says they argued sharply and I think they have done this to try and capture some of the anger at Jesus’ words.
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
This verse shows that they had no understanding of who Jesus was. They were spiritually blind. For Jesus words while seemingly jarring are an incredible metaphor that show the spiritual reality of Jesus being the eternal life giving bread from heaven.
- Eating is believing
Jesus then pushes further into the metaphor. He is saying that living forever, having eternal life can only come by eating, which we know is a dramatic metaphor that means believing, trusting, having faith in him. He has made clear eternal life comes from believing. We see this in v29 to believe in the one he has sent, v40 everyone who looks to the Son and believes shall have eternal life, v47 Very truly I tell you the one who believes has eternal life.
Have a look at verse 53.
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Jesus again uses very truly. Jesus is placing Amen at the beginning of the sentence. He is saying that what he is about to say is important. It is true. Don’t miss this. In today’s verses this only happens twice. The first time Jesus says the one who believes has eternal life, and the second time unless you eat his flesh and drink his blood. Friends, this is no coincidence.
Look at verses 54-55
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
- Spiritually we indeed feed on Jesus through faith
When Jesus says that his flesh is real food and my blood is real drink in verse 55. That is the truth. We put our faith in Jesus’ flesh and blood, for that is what he sacrificed on the cross. Jesus died so that we might have life. Spiritually we indeed feed on him through faith, and without this spiritual food that is Jesus we are spiritually dead.
Have a look at verse 56-59
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just 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. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
- Jesus is the staple food of eternal life
What Jesus was saying is that I am the staple of eternal life. Just as bread was the staple for them to live each day. Jesus is the only food that can sustain them to eternal life. And you eat this food by faith. It is a spiritual reality. His flesh and his blood are what gives life through faith. And friends, not just them, but us and all of humanity. Jesus was asking those listening, and indeed us here today to lift our eyes above the things of this world. The food that spoils, the things that perish, and look to Him
- Two responses to Jesus from his own disciples
Jesus had taught and shown that he was the life giving bread from heaven and all that needed to be done was to believe in him. Yet, we see that for many they couldn’t accept these truths.
- Many Disciples left Jesus
We saw that the general crowd was finding it very hard to stomach (pun intended) Jesus’ teaching. And now John narrows in on Jesus’s disciples. These are not the people who had just come out to hear Jesus in the last few days and been fed and now left because they didn’t like his words. No, these were those who had been with Jesus for a greater amount of time, months, or even possibly longer. They had heard him preach, watched his miracles, and travelled with Jesus. Yet when Jesus shared who he was and what they needed to do to have eternal life, many of his disciples left. Think about that for a moment. They had possibly left family, jobs, who knows what to follow Jesus and now they said no, this is too much. Jesus is not who I thought he was. Jesus is not who I wanted him to be. The crowd had grumbled and now his own disciples were grumbling.
look at what Jesus said in verses 60-63
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
Jesus knew that not all believed in him. We saw earlier that in fact no one can believe in Jesus without the Father drawing them to His Son. And that reality comes to bite now. The words of Jesus speak of the spiritual realities. As Jesus says the words that he has spoken are full of the Spirit and life. Only the Holy Spirit can give life through faith in Jesus.
Being in the vicinity of Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. Knowing the Bible doesn’t make you a Christian. Coming to church on a Sunday doesn’t make you a Christian and eternal life is only found in believing in Christ. And that can only happen when God the Father enables it. Have a look at verse 64-66.
64 Yet 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. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
So, many of those who had been with Jesus left. And John now narrows in from the wider group of Jesus’ disciples to the 12. To the 12 that he had chosen. And asks them the question:
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Now before we go to Peter’s wonderful answer. The gravity of the heartbreaking situation for me is captured in these 9 words. Back in John 3:16 we have that astonishing Gospel truth.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Yet we have just seen many of the crowd and many of Jesus’ disciples reject Jesus. Reject God’s love and walk away. So where are you today? Friends, there is only one question in life that ultimately matters. Do you believe in Jesus?
- Complete trust in Jesus
Well the question that Jesus asks the twelve disciples is answered by Peter in verses 68-69 and it shows that they trust in Jesus completely.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
They understood Jesus’ teaching and trusted him completely.
Amen. Let’s pray
