John 6:30-51 The Bread of Life

Verses 30-31

What do You do for a sign - Prove to us that you are God’s representative. Their unwillingness to believe the sign Jesus had given a day earlier shows their hardness of heart.

Our fathers ate the manna – Jewish tradition held that the Messiah would renew the miracle of the manna.

Verses 32-34

Not Moses…but My Father – Jesus wanted them to look past Moses to the true source of blessing; the Father.

The true bread out of heaven – Not physical bread that only satisfies for a moment but Christ Himself who satisfies
eternally!

And gives life to the world – The sign of the manna, through the mediator Moses, was for Israel. Jesus, the true bread of life, offers Himself to the whole world.

Come down from heaven – Seven times Jesus mentions this: vv. 33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58.

Give us this bread – Like the woman at the well, they misunderstood what Jesus was offering. They were thinking only of physical bread.

Verses 35-40 Jesus Identifies the Bread

I am the bread of life – First of the seven ‘I Am’ claims.

Comes to me – This phrase occurs eight times in John and is a synonym for faith. 5:40, 6:35, 6:37, 6:44, 6:45, 6:65, 7:37 If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

Shall not hunger…shall never thirst.

The “nevers” (Ού μή) are emphatic in the Greek text! Shall never hunger – 35 Shall never thirst - 35 Shall never be cast out - 37

Ού μή in John (14 times):

4:14 – Shall never thirst 8:12 – Shall not walk in darkness 8:51 – Shall never see death 10:28 – Shall never perish 11:26 – Shall never die

All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me – This is probably a reference to a very select group. There were Old Testament believers, who knew the Father, that were now learning about the Son. Jesus’ point is that if they know the Father then they will all come to know Him. This is not a proof text for divine election but simply a statement that all who come to Christ do so because of the work of the Father in their heart.

The will of the Father –

Security: Christ will lose no one – Christ will raise up all who believe –

Eternal life:
Everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life -

Verses 41-51 The Jews Murmur

Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph… They could not grasp Jesus’ claim that He was God in the flesh.

No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him… How does the Father draw? The Word of God – verse 45 The Son of God – John 12:32

This is not a statement that only certain people can believe and others cannot.

The Spirit of God – John 14:7-11

Draw - έλκο elko (8 times in N.T.)

To draw 2. To drag 3. To draw by inward power

“To compel by irresistible superiority” R.C. Sproul, Chosen By God

What the article really states is:

“The word is used of mother love…We find a beneficent ‘drawing’ of God in Jer. 38:3… The LXX is thinking, not so much of drawing out in deliverance…but of drawing to oneself in love. This usage is distinctively developed by Jn.”

Verse 47 is the perfect balance and one of the clearest statements of how we receive eternal life!

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has eternal life.

I am the bread of life – Physical bread, manna is temporary. The Living Bread is eternal! The Jews had to eat manna every day, but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life.

For the life of the world – Manna was for Israel, the Living Bread is for all who will believe.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. John 12:32