John 6 - I am that bread of life
When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, he reveals a great truth in his rebuke of the tempter as He proclaims, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He clearly proclaims that a person cannot “live” - have life; possess life; to partake of life - by eating bread alone. He then sets forth a second condition that must also be met, which is obedience unto God. Both conditions must be achieved for a person to “live“, or as defined above, to possess or partake of life. These are two distinctly different conditions which must be accomplished.
In John 6, Jesus teaches with another parable and uses bread symbolically. Within this parable Jesus makes the following statement, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” I am sure at first glance you probably see little, if any, similarity in this statement and the passage above. But when we carefully examine the meaning of this statement using other passages from this same parable, it becomes more evident.
In verses 32 & 33, Jesus uses the analogy of bread to represent Himself by stating the following, “…my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven… For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven…” He even makes this truth very clear in verse 35 as He continues with, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger…” And again in verse 48, “I am that bread of life.”
As Jesus teaches using this parable, He further distinguishes that the bread specifically refers to His flesh or His body. This first occurs in verse 51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh…”
From these passages we learn that:
- Jesus is the bread. Verses 33, 35, 41, 48, 51
- The bread that is given is the body of Christ. Verse 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57
- “He that cometh… shall never hunger“. Verse 35
- Any man that eats this bread (or flesh) will “live for ever” or “not die“. Verses 50, 51, 58
But how does a person consume Christ’s flesh? This is the same question that was asked by His audience and eventually caused them to disburse. But the answer to this question is revealed by Jesus within this parable. In verse 32, Jesus says that the Father gives us the true bread, and in verse 35 that the person “that cometh… shall never hunger“, indicating that the person that “cometh” is a consumer of the bread.
A previous study of John 6:44 reveals that the word “cometh” simply refers to a person being removed from one place and transported to another. This would be true when it involves God as stated in verse 32. Therefore, as determined in the study of John 6:44, a person consumes the bread when the Father translates the person from the dominion of darkness into the dominion of Christ, also commonly known as regeneration or the second birth.
The Doctrines of Grace are confirmed by this truth. They teach that when a person is born again he will “live for ever“, just as Jesus has taught in these passages. All the regenerate of God will be in heaven, having been saved by Christ’s death and the grace of God. They teach that the elect are saved by grace and not by works of righteousness.
So now we have the answer to the question at hand, “How does a person consume Christ’s flesh?” The answer, “A person consumes the bread at regeneration, or when he is born again.”
To this point I have not covered the second condition spoken of by Jesus in this chapter of John, with good reason. I wanted to establish the meaning of the bread and its role in this parable, without having to deal with two different analogies at the same time. Before I turn to this second analogy used by Jesus, I would like to cover a particular passage within this parable that He included.
In verse 55, Jesus stated, “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” An in-depth study of this passage reveals little as to the meaning that it holds. In fact the meaning is so simple, that if you look too hard, you will miss it’s meaning all together. Jesus is simply stating that His flesh and His blood are distinctly different. Yes, both food and water are consumed; both are required for the body to survive, but yet they are very different. Food differs from water, just as a hamburger differs from a cola. One is eaten and the other is drunk. One is solid matter and the other is liquid matter. And lastly, they each sustain the body in different ways. They are consumed differently and serve different purposes. I found the following interesting facts:
A person can live without food for quite some time, usually for many weeks. The body will use its fat and protein stores (muscles) to help it survive. If a person has a lot of fat stores (is very heavy), they will live longer than a person who has very little fat (very thin), so how long a person can survive depends a lot of the person. Of course, if you go without food for a few weeks, you will be very weak since you have been using your own muscles for energy.
Water is a different story. A person will die within 3-4 days without water. The size of the person really doesn’t make much difference.
The consumption of the bread is for a particular purpose, the consumption of the blood another. The consumption of the bread is accomplished by one means; the consumption of the blood is accomplished by another means.
Having determined that the consumption of the bread is accomplished at regeneration, let us now turn our focus to the passages in which Jesus speaks of both eating and drinking.
In verse 35, Jesus states, “he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst“, meaning that the person who is translated into His dominion from darkness will never hunger; secondly the person that “believes” on Him shall never thirst. By this, Jesus teaches that a person’s faith is synonymous to the act of drinking. There are no such distinctions made of faith to eating. The evidence cannot be denied that drinking His blood is the same as “believing” or having faith. This is commonly known as conversion.
As we look further at these two conditions set forth by Jesus, such as, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you“, we find that in order for a person to actually possess life, the person must not only be born again, but must also believe.
Paul and others also make parallel statements in their epistles, which are often errantly thought to say something completely different.Â
- “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live“
- “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death.”
- “Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
- “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? …if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments“
- “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life“
- “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him“
- “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life“
- “that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life“
- “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live“
- “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life“
- “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord“
- “For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], but life from the dead?”
- “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life“
These are but a few of the many passages which parallel the teachings of Jesus from John 6.
If you are familiar with the Doctrines of Grace, you are well aware that they teach this same truth. First and foremost, a person must be born again to live forever. Secondly the person must believe to live. But where you may stumble is in the fact that a person does not have life, or has no life within, except he believes. I agree that this is a difficult concept to grasp. But as we continue I believe you will begin to accept the facts set forth in scripture.
Jesus says, “…he that believeth on me hath everlasting life“. The word “hath” indicates possession, such as to hold in the hand. Only those who believe possess everlasting life. How is this possible? Ephesians 1 teaches that the child of God is first adopted and given an inheritance. More specifically, it teaches that the adopted child has “obtained” this inheritance meaning it has been bequeathed. This conveys ownership without possession. It simply means that the person has been allotted a portion of the Fathers estate. The person, having been adopted as a child, has been added to the legal declaration of how God wishes his estate to be handled. The person will take possession when he departs this world, whether by physical death or on the last day. Then further into the chapter we find that when the person first trusts and then believes, he receives the Holy Spirit, which is the “earnest” - a small amount given in advance - of his own inheritance “until the redemption of the purchased possession“. The person takes possession of the earnest, which is derived from the inheritance the person has already been allotted. This earnest is only for the time he remains here in this world. Once the “redemption of the purchased possession” has taken place, the earnest is no longer necessary, because the person then takes possession of the fullness of the original inheritance.
According to Jesus’ own words, a person needs only to eat the bread to live forever. Believing - drinking the blood - is not required for a person to live forever. This supports the long held beliefs of some that regeneration, or our rebirth, which is our deliverance from the dominion of darkness and translation into the dominion of Christ, must occur first and foremost. Then secondly, when and if the person drinks the blood, which is to believe, he partakes of the Holy Spirit, taking hold of the earnest of the inheritance which is eternal life and eternal salvation.
At this point it is very important to note that Jesus says a man need only eat of the bread to live for ever, and that a man must both, eat of the bread and drink His blood, to possess life. He NEVER states that a man can drink - believe -without having eaten - been born again. A man must be born again to “see“ - have the power or faculty of the mind to perceive -, then and only then, can he believe and receive the earnest, being born of the Spirit.
According to most theology preached today, believing brings about regeneration and must first be accomplished before a person can live forever. In this study we have discovered that Jesus does not support these false teachings. He explicitly distinguishes that it is His flesh - the Bread of Life - that has obtained life ever lasting for the children of God. The bread which He gave was His own flesh, His own body. This means that the children of God will live for ever as a result of His death, and not their faith.
Also from this study we have seen how Jesus further proves that drinking His blood is the same as believing. He teaches that His blood - The New Testament - provides life now, in this present world, through faith. This life that we take possession of, by our faith, is the earnest of the inheritance, which we have already obtained as a result of Christ’s death. With the earnest being derived from the inheritance of eternal life and eternal salvation, the earnest which we take possession of is therefore of the same substance - eternal life and eternal salvation.
“For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life“
Note: You must allow popups for this to work.Thank you for taking the time to read this study. I hope you found this study to be a blessing, and that it has in some way increased your knowledge of our Lord and Savior. If you have questions, or would like to leave a comment, please do not hesitate to do so.
You may also email questions to barry@baptistcommentary.com
Grace to you,
Barry Laminack
Topical References: Conversion, Dead In Christ, Free Grace, Holy Spirit/Ghost, Inheritance, Inheritance (Earnest), John, Matthew, New Testament, Regeneration, Scripture Comment, Spiritual Life & Death |
