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.

John 6:1-21: The fourth and fifth signs – Jesus feeding 5000 and walking on water

Analysis

This passage relates to the fourth and fifth signs of Jesus that John focuses on in his gospel.

It is rather sad to read (in retrospect) that the reason the crowds were following Jesus was because of the signs and wonders that he did. From Mark 1:38 we know that Jesus came to preach the gospel and only showed the signs and wonders to back up his words and because of his compassion for the people. Sadly, the crowds are seeing it the other way around.

By both these signs Jesus tests the faith of his disciples and subsequently Jesus demonstrates to his disciples that they must renew their thinking of Him and think outside of their cultural box in order for them to perceive and receive the Messiah sent from God. Not the political messiah that the Jewish teachers taught.

It is clear from the feeding of the 5000 that the crowd still holds to the earthly messiah concept. This idea is reinforced by their reason for following him; his signs and wonders. One commentator (B. Coffman) says that the crowd saw that Jesus could feed them without resources (miraculously) and they thought that, as such, Jesus would be able to sustain an army against the Romans and drive them out! The crowd’s thinking was earthly, selfish and short sighted. No doubt that this false indoctrination stems directly from the incorrect teachings and misinterpreted scriptures taught by the Pharisees.

Jesus knew their hearts and subsequently withdrew in solitude to the mountain. Jesus was not an earthly king but an even greater heavenly king! It must have been frustrating for Jesus to explain the kingdom of heaven to the people and all they see is their selfish want for an earthly king.

Mark 6:45-56 and Matt 14:22-36 expands on Jesus walking on the water and also includes Peter walking on the water to Jesus. John the apostle focuses in his gospel on the sign that Jesus is master of the elements and of natural forces (e.g. gravity, compressible Newtonian fluids, etc.) and does not place emphasis here on the disciples.

Response

We have to ask ourselves this question daily: why am I following Jesus? Is it just for what He can do for me or is it because he is the awesome God worthy of worship ? A very prevalent teaching in the public sphere (TV and radio) is the teaching that Jesus wants to liberate me with earthly things to satisfy my selfish wants. No!

We serve a God who gives us exactly what we need when we need it. We worship God not to get stuff from Him but because He is worthy and the Holy God. We are in His service the same way Jesus stood in God’s service and perfectly executed the will of the Father. God did not execute Jesus’ will.

When we look to the world and all its suffering and all its poverty, it is easy to see Jesus as a tool to alleviate us from all of this. But that is not the Kingdom of God. God gives us anyway what we need when we seek His kingdom and glory first in our lives.