John 6:22-71: A heavenly Kingdom

Analysis

This passage directly relates to the previous sign of feeding 5000 as the crowd now wants more of Jesus! It is not recorded in the gospels but I am sure Jesus almost fainted when they asked him for a sign. Really ?! Feeding 5000 from a single lunch box is not enough and you want more !?

Jesus says in v27 that we must “…work…for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him.” Three things are highlighted here:

• We must work (ἐργάζομαι – to toil, be engaged in or with, labour for, minister about). And Jesus tells them that the work of God is to believe in Jesus. Such a simple but amazingly profound statement! But what is the reward for the labour ?

• Food that lasts for eternal life. We must be actively engaged in perusing the food that gives eternal life. But what is the food of life and where do you get it ? Jesus makes is clear in v35 that HE is the bread of life. The food the people ate the previous day has digested by now and they are surely hungry again but if they believe in Him, they will never be hungry or thirsty again. Where does the eternal food come from ?
• From “the One who sent Me” in v38. Jesus is sent from God to do the will of God and God placed his sign of approval (σφραγίζω) on Jesus. Just like God provided manna from heaven through Moses, in the same way God provides bread eternal for the people through His son Jesus.

This plain teaching upset the Jewish leaders. They did not like the fact that He called God father (which was not culturally acceptable) or that he claimed he was sent from heaven. They see him equal as a man, born of flesh from Mary and sent by God as a prophet. The fact that He is God and the Son of God does not compute in their minds and the reason for this is simple; they do not believe.

Patiently Jesus teaches them by means of drawing parallel between Moses and the bread provided by God and the bread Jesus came to give. He does this so that they must believe in Him as the Son of God who is here among them to take away the sin of the world and give them eternal life. He even goes as far at to quote Isaiah 54:13 to show to them in their own language who he is. Unfortunately for them, they did not believe so that they will be able to understand.

Jesus also ends his teaching in a culturally offensive way in v54 where he tells them to drink of His blood and eat of His flesh. However, Jesus makes it clear that it is not some cannibalistic ritual or practise of flesh eating that gives life but the spirit. In fact, in v63 Jesus explains this quite clearly when he says “The Spirit is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Not only does this teaching upset the Jewish leaders but also many of Jesus’ disciples who find this teaching very difficult. In fact, they find it so difficult that they give up trying to understand it (v60 “Who can accept it?”). Jesus gives the reason for this difficulty in v64: unbelief.

Response

The whole theme of this passage is belief in Jesus as the one whom God sent so that we can have eternal life for those who believe in Him. Many people today struggle to understand the doctrine of the trinity or of pre-election. Some find the Epistles too hard to understand but that is not what Jesus requires. He wants belief first before understanding will follow. Many people try to understand first so that they can be convinced to believe.

To do the work of God is to believe in the one He sent – Jesus Christ our Lord. If you believe that Jesus has come to vanquish your enemies (e.g. the Romans) or give us many things (e.g. feed us bread 24/7), you are going to struggle with His message and turn away from Him because the basic fact is that belief in Him as the Son of God and the saviour of the world is missing from your point of view.