Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Jesus Christ
Jesus said the bread He gives is His own flesh, and that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in ourselves. He was not describing cannibalism, and the Supper in the upper room was still to come. He tells us Himself that the eating is coming to Him and the drinking is believing in Him, so that whoever feeds on Him by faith lives in Him and He in him. The bread of life is a Person, and faith is the mouth that receives Him.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/what-does-it-mean-to-eat-his-flesh · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
John 6:26-58
As you read: The loaves, the hard saying, and the One who is Himself the bread.
26Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
27Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
28They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
30They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do?
31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
32Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven.
33For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
34They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
36But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe.
37All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.
38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
39This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
40This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.”
42They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”
43Therefore Jesus answered them, “Don’t murmur among yourselves.
44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
45It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me.
46Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.
47Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.
48I am the bread of life.
49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
51I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.
54He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.
57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me.
58This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Exodus 16:1-21
As you read: Bread rained from the sky each morning, enough for one day at a time.
1They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness;
3and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.
5It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
6Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt;
7and in the morning, then you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”
8Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.”
9Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’”
10As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, Yahweh’s glory appeared in the cloud.
11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”
13In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.
14When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.
15When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.”
16This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.”
17The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.
18When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.
19Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.”
20Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.
21They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.
The crowd crossed the sea looking for Jesus because they had eaten their fill the day before, and He named the real hunger: 'Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.' Then He turned them from the gift to the Giver: 'Don't work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life.' They asked what work God required, and the answer ruled out earning anything at all: 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.'
“Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.”John 6:26
“Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.””John 6:27
“They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?””John 6:28
“Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.””John 6:29
Israel ate bread rained from the sky in the wilderness for forty years, and they still died. Jesus took that memory and turned it: 'Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,' the crowd said, and He answered, 'Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn't Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven.' The manna fed a nation one day at a time; the bread He gives is a Person who came down, and 'the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.'
“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’””John 6:31
“Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven.”John 6:32
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”John 6:35
“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.”John 6:49
“I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.””John 6:51
“The house of Israel called its name Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey.”Exodus 16:31
This is where the crowd balked, and their objection is the very question this study answers: 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Jesus did not soften it. 'Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves,' He said, and then He made the promise three ways: the one who eats and drinks 'has eternal life', 'lives in me, and I in him', and will be raised 'at the last day'. Whatever else this means, it is not a figure of speech for something optional. It is union with Christ, or nothing.
“The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?””John 6:52
“Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.”John 6:53
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”John 6:54
“For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”John 6:55
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him.”John 6:56
Jesus interpreted His own words, and He did it before the crowd ever objected. When He said 'I am the bread of life', He defined the eating in the same breath: 'He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.' Later He said it plainly: 'he who believes in me has eternal life.' So the coming is the eating and the believing is the drinking, and no one does it by their own strength: 'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.' Then, when the saying had scattered His followers, He named why it works at all: 'It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing.' His words are 'spirit, and are life' because the Spirit makes them effective. The eating is real, and it is spiritual.
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”John 6:35
“Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.”John 6:47
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.”John 6:44
“It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.”John 6:63
“This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.””John 6:40
John records what the hard saying cost: 'At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.' Jesus turned to the twelve and asked whether they wanted to leave as well, and Peter's answer is this whole study in one sentence: 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' The bread of life is not a doctrine to master but a Person to stay with, and the ones who stay are the ones who keep feeding on Him by faith.
“At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”John 6:66
“Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?””John 6:67
“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”John 6:68
“We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””John 6:69
The Supper in the upper room came later, and Jesus gave His church a meal He did not give that day in Capernaum. He gave it as the sign of exactly this reality: 'The cup of blessing which we bless, isn't it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn't it a sharing of the body of Christ?' The bread and the cup are given to those who have come to Him and believed, and they proclaim His death until He comes. How Christ is present in them is a question the church has answered differently; what John 6 settles is where the life is.
“The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ?”1 Corinthians 10:16
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”1 Corinthians 11:26
“Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.”John 6:53
“As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me.”John 6:57