I AM the Bread of Life (Part 2) - John 6:35-41

I AM the Bread of Life (Part 2)

John 6:35-41 

Introduction: John 6 is the longest chapter in this Gospel, and by now you might think it is getting longer each week! This paragraph confronts us with some deep theology, and it is certainly something that has divided many believers over the years. When I first came to faith in Christ, I quickly realized that sincere believers have strong opinions about God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. Those doctrines converge in this passage. I could simply skim over it, and hope there weren’t too many questions at the door or on Thursday night! No. We need to let the Bible speak for itself. We need to ask what is God saying to us and not try to make His Word say what we wish it said. His Word is truth.

       We will take our time working through this chapter, but at the same time, we need to recognize that the mind of God is not something we will ever be able to understand exhaustively. He is God, we are His Creatures. God is real, and He has spoken. Let’s pray for ears to hear the truth. Let’s hear His voice as we study this over the coming weeks. We’ll start where we left off last week at verse 35, where Jesus speaks specifically and directly to His person and work when He says, “I am the Bread of Life…” (see also v.43).

The Big Idea: In Christ alone is Eternal Life, secure in the grip of His grace, and only in Him will the deepest longing of our soul be satisfied. We’ll look at that guided by three questions, 1) Who is Jesus? (35); 2) Who will believe in Him? (36-38); And, 3) Why did He come? (38-40).

I.  Who is Jesus? He said, “I AM the Bread of Life,” and so He is the One who can satisfy your deepest need (v.35). 

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 

       We ended last week with this verse, the first time in John in which Jesus uses “I AM” with an expressed predicate. As he spoke to the Samaritan woman, as he revealed himself to his disciples in the stormy lake,  I AM is a lot more than a simple way of saying something about himself—it’s a reference to the God of the Covenant, the great I AM who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. It is clearly, in this Gospel, a claim of deity: I AM the Lord, I AM God the Son, present and working in your midst. We’ve seen two absolute uses of the phrase previously, this is the first of several statements made by Jesus in which he reveals something about his person, about who he is and what he came to do. We’ll see six more such statements in John… 1) I AM the Bread of Life - 6:35,48, 51; 2) I AM the Light of the World – 8:12; 9:5;  3) I AM the Door of the Sheep – 10:7,9; 4) I AM the Good Shepherd – 10:11,14; 5) I AM the Resurrection and the Life – 11:25; 6) I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life – 14:6; 7) I AM the True Vine – 15:1

Each of these statements need to be studied in context, as Jesus reveals more about Himself to His disciples. We also need to consider these in conjunction with the absolute I AM statements, such as the two we have seen already, with the woman at the well in John 4:25-26, and then with the disciples on the lake in 6:20.  Particularly illuminating are the multiple references in John 8 (8:24, 28, 58) culminating in the statement, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (8:58). After that incredible statement the leaders took up stones to throw at Him. The last I AM statement in the Fourth Gospel in John 18:5,6,8, in the Garden, when the soldiers and officers of the leaders came to arrest Him. When in response to their query Jesus said, “I AM,” they fell back on the ground. He was in control, carrying out the work He had come to do. The background is Exodus 3:14, after Moses asked God about His name at the burning bush,

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."  And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

      In John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.” He is not speaking in the third person, whatever He means by this statement, it clearly refers to Him.  It seems likely that Jesus is intentionally evoking Isaiah 55:2-3,    

^“Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.  ³ Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant…”

       For those who have ears to hear, in John 6:35 Jesus is saying, “I AM God, and as God I can satisfy your deepest hunger, I alone can give you life, life with meaning, eternal life, abundant life, shalom.” Notice what Jesus says in the second part of v.35,

“…whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…”

What are the prerequisites to receiving the satisfaction and blessings to which He is referring? Coming to Him and believing in Him. The figurative language that Jesus uses further down in this discourse is going to bring confusion and even offense to many of His hearers, especially when he talks about eating His flesh and drinking His blood! Without a context, and from a crassly literal perspective, that sounds like cannibalism. We’re not there yet, but this verse explains what He means: coming to Him, and believing in Him. Here He says that whoever comes and believes will be satisfied, eternally, in Him. The Big idea in this passage is that *in Christ alone is Eternal Life, forever secure in the grip of His grace, and only in Him will the deepest longing of our soul be satisfied.

II. Who will believe in Him? Those given to Him by the Father (36-37).  

³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

        Despite the signs, most of these eyewitnesses did not believe (v.36). Jesus confronts them with that fact. His signs, for the most part, have been public demonstrations of power that should have left no question in their minds as to who he is; only God could do the things He was doing. The evidence was clear and compelling and left them without excuse. Even so, as we’ll see in this gospel as it unfolds, most did not respond to the evidence. After the resurrection, on Pentecost, in Act 2 Peter preaches to his countrymen in Jerusalem, saying that Jesus was,

 “….a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know…”

The word translated “attested” has the sense, “publicly placarded, set forth in a clear and visible way” – still they “nailed him to a cross.” They saw the works of power, but failed understand the significance of the signs. They had “seen” but did not discern the meaning of the signs, they did not “believe.” That word pair might sound familiar as it just occurred in 6:30. In response to Jesus call on the people to believe they respond,

"Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”

       The question comes up from time to time, if Jesus really was the Messiah, God incarnate predicted in the Scriptures, why was he not recognized by most of His people?  Paul will later say “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Cor 2:14). Speaking of the hearts of fallen humans, The Lord said through Jeremiah, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). The depths of human depravity, spiritually deaf, blind, and dead! Here Jesus says, “you have seen me and yet you do not believe…” The Hope of the Ages, God incarnate, came unto His own, and His own people did not receive Him! By the way, “seeing and believing” comes up again post-resurrection. Thomas is absent when Jesus first appears after the resurrection to the other disciples. When they tell him what happened, what they had seen, he flatly refuses to believe, unless he sees for himself (John 20:25). When Jesus appears to the group eight days later, Thomas is present, and is approached by Jesus…

…Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."  ²⁸ Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"  ²⁹ Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (Jn 20:26b-28).

Remember the Samaritans? They saw no signs, they heard and believed. The crowds in John 6 saw the miracle of the loaves and fishes, but they are asking for more, they didn’t see what the sign revealed about Jesus.  The good news in v.37 is the some will believe in Him, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” The language is clear, “All that the Father gives will come…” Many in the crowd did not believe, they did not see the truth about Jesus. But there was a remnant, like the disciples, who were given to Jesus by the Father, and they would come. And those who come would be kept by Jesus, “…whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Secure forever in the grip of His grace!  A little later in this gospel Jesus will come back to this question, in the Good Shepherd discourse in John 10:26-30, where He says,

²⁶ …you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.  ²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  ³⁰ I and the Father are one.

There again we see a people who come to Jesus on His terms, given to Him by the Father, and they have eternal life, secure in His hand. That is the Big Idea,*in Christ alone is Eternal Life, forever secure in the grip of His grace, and only in Him will the deepest longing of our soul be satisfied.

III. Why did He come? To do the Father’s will, saving a people for Himself (38-40).

³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

       First of all v.38, and the unambiguous statement of Jesus concerning His preexistence, and the unity of will between Him and the Father (that unity of purpose was set forth in depth in John 5). There is no figurative language in 6:38, simply the statement of what He did and why. First, He says “I came down from heaven…” For the reader of the Gospel this is no surprise. The Prologue began with the Word in face-to-face fellowship with God, and then in v.14 we are told “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” Here, in 6:38, He simply says, “I came down from heaven.” We are right to celebrate the incarnation and the birth of Jesus. As Paul said to the Philippians,

⁶ …who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  ⁷ but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form,  ⁸ he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross… (Phil 2:6-8).

It is hard to imagine what it took for the Son of God to humble himself in such a way, by taking on a human nature, and to do so in order to die for sinful humans. But He did it… and so revealed His love for us (Rom 5:8; I John 4:9).

       Our hope, because of His gracious plan, is a future resurrection (39). “Hope” for the believer is a confident expectation about the future. A couple of weeks ago, in John 6:15 ff. we saw Jesus go to them on the stormy sea and were reminded that we are not alone in the crises of life. He is with us always, and He will bring us through the storms of life. Here in 6:39 Jesus says that none that have been given to Him by the Father will be lost. Those who have been given to Jesus by the Father hear His voice, they believe in Him, and they shall never perish. This isn’t an abstract theological concept, it is a promise of God. There couldn’t be a clearer statement of eternal security for believers in Jesus!

       As though to emphasize that truth He says in v.39b-40 that He will “…raise him up at the last day…”  This is our sure hope—yes, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord—when a believer dies their spirit goes into the conscious presence of God. But those who die in Christ will not forever be a disembodied spirit. Read 1 Cor 15 where Paul clearly affirms that as surely as Christ was raised, so will those who are His. Everyone who believes in Jesus shares in the hope of the resurrection (v.40). 

       Jesus has been affirming the sovereignty of God in salvation. Those given by the Father to the Son will believe. That is the doctrine of election. But notice that the perspective here in v.40 goes from that of God to us — it is the Father’s will that everyone who looks to Jesus and believes will share in that future resurrection.  That sounds to me like human responsibility. God chooses us? Yes. We choose God? Yes, by His grace alone. Our mission is to share the Gospel, and call people to believe. God has chosen to use us as He builds the church. Remember that a lot of people who had rejected Jesus, including Paul by the way, later came to repentance and faith. In fact, as Peter preaches on Pentecost consider what he said in Acts 2:22-23…

²² "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know -  ²³ this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

He holds the people responsible for rejecting Jesus, and even by the hands of the Romans, crucifying Him. At the end of that sermon many were convicted of their sin and came to repentance and faith. Three thousand were saved (2:41)! Here in John, we’ll see the rejection of Jesus in the next couple of verses, even some who were following Him leave. Could it be that some of these people, after the Cross and Resurrection, had their hearts opened, and turned to Jesus in faith? Here, many struggle with His teaching, and some even find it offensive. As the Jews in the wilderness grumbled against Moses (and the Lord!) so this crowd grumbles against Jesus. Knowing how divisive doctrine can be, I avoid labels. But I am committed to not compromising the Word of God. I dare not. Let’s not try to explain it away, let’s receive it from Him, and rejoice in the mercy and grace He has shown us. In a letter John wrote, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I Jn 4:10).

What is God saying to me in this passage? In Christ alone is Eternal Life, forever secure in the grip of His grace, and only in Him will the deepest longing of our soul be satisfied.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

1) Do you sometimes think, “If only I could see the miracles they saw, then I would believe!” Really? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice…” Will you take Him at His Word?

2)Are these verses difficult to understand? I don’t think so, though they may seem difficult to receive. We are not talking about a theological system devised by men, this is God’s Word. Will you receive it? Do you believe in Jesus? If so, it is only because of God’s amazing grace. Did you walk in today, not being sure what you believe, but you hear his voice in the Word? Trust him, call on Him, take Him at His Word, and find life!

3) As we go out this week, all of us, let’s look for an opportunity to point those around us to the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

  Soli Deo Gloria. AMEN.