JOHN  CHAPTER SIX

Verse 1
1. After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberius).

John uses the expression “after these things” (6 times) and “after this
(3 times) to indicate chronological progression in his narrative. It does not mean that the event mentioned follows immediately upon the
previous event, but simply that it does in fact, occur AFTER that event.

In fact, the events of chapter 6 are about one year after the discourse in Jerusalem that is recorded in John 5:19-47. The parallel accounts to the events recorded in John 6:1-25 are found at Mat. 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; and Luke 9:10-17. The year is 29 AD.

Tiberias is one of the four names for this body of water. It was the common name used by the people of the area at this time because of the City of Tiberias that was located just west of the sea. The city of Tiberias was built by Herod Antipas in about 22 AD in honor of the emperor Tiberius Caesar, and the Sea soon came to be known by the same name.

The public ministry of Jesus lasted about 3 1/2 years, and encompasses four Passover feasts.
Luke 13:6-9 which was given in 29 AD SUGGESTS this. It is not mentioned here for any kind of proof, but simply for consideration.
And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard;
and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

"And he said to the vineyard-keeper, `Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this
fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'

"And he answered and said to him, `Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in
fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.' "
A. “For three years” refers to the first 3 years of Christ’s ministry.
B. “For this year too” refers to the 4th year of His ministry. This would cover the next 1/2 year.
C. “Next year” refers to the time period after Christ’s resurrection and prior to 70 AD.
D.   “cut it down,” refers to discipline on the nation as mentioned at verses 3 and 5, “but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” If the nation fails to respond to Christ as the Savior, then the nation will be disciplined. Thus, if the tree bears no fruit, it (the nation) will be officially rejected by God. And that is what happened in 70 AD.

Normal interpretation for parables is that there is ONE or two major points of focus in the parabolic lesson, and the details are not to be considered as having significance.
The major point of focus here is the rejection and destruction of the nation of Israel through the destruction
of Jerusalem. Because of that, the numbers take on special significance and apply specifically to the
historical reality.

E. This fulfills the TYPE found at Exodus 12:1-6, where the Passover lamb is kept for FOUR days; (taken on the 10th of the month) and on the 14th day, it will be sacrificed.
Day 10 to 11 is year 1; day 11-12 is year 2; day 12-13 is year 3; and day 13-14 is year 4; and then on the 14th day, the lamb is sacrificed between 3 pm and 6 pm (“at twilight).

The events of John chapter 5 occur in the year 28 AD (4069 A.H.)
during a major “pilgrimage” type feast, which is probably
the Passover of that year.

A very large number of reputable Gospel scholars believe this to be the Passover. The historical circumstances and some logical observations support this, although the matter cannot be decisively resolved. The details of this issue should be covered in reference to John 5:1 and not here. However, a good summary of the issue is provided by William Hendriksen in his commentary on John, pages 188-189.

John 4:35 tells us, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest.” The harvest occurred in late April and early May. That means that between John 4:35 and 5:1 we have about 4 months.

John 2:13 through 3:21 covers the events of the Passover of 27 AD.

During both feasts in Jerusalem, Jesus performed many signs, which elicited belief from many of the people watching and listening. Verse 2:23.
“Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding
His signs which He was doing.”

The Passover of John 12:1 occurred in 30 AD (4071 A.H.), “Therefore six days before the Passover,
Jesus came to Bethany . . .”

The Passover of John 6:4 occurred in 29 AD (4070 A.H.), “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand.”

The Passover of John 2:13 is dated by John 2:20, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple.”
That is, it has been 46 years since the temple was started (It was not completed until 64 AD).
It was started by Herod the Great (37-4 BC) in year 15 of his reign, which was 19 BC.
That makes the year of this Passover, 27 AD (19 + 27 = 46).

That means that there are two years of ministry between John 2:13
and John 6:4, and suggests that the “pilgrimage” feast of John 5:1, is likewise, a Passover.

After the Passover of 27 AD, Jesus left Jerusalem, but we are not told where he went.

John 2:22 says that “after these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and He was spending time with them and was baptizing.”
Since Jerusalem is in Judea, this indicates that he left and then returned.

John 4:1 tells us that Jesus left Judea in order to avoid confrontation with the Pharisees at that time. “When therefore the Lord knew that
the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.”

On the way to Galilee, He passed through Samaria (John 4:4-42).

This was in December according to John 4:35. “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest.”
The harvest occurred in late April and early May.

Then He came to Galilee and visited many cities (Luke 4:14);
the three mentioned are Nazareth  (Luke 4:16-30),
and Capernaum (Luke 4:31-43), and Cana (John 4:46-54).

And again, at John 5:1, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for a “pilgrimage” feast. At this feast, there are more miracles performed, which Jesus uses as one of the PROOFS of His Messiahship as stated at verse 36.

”But the witness which I have is greater than that of John;
for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

The message of Jesus, recorded for us at John 5:19-47 states again the proofs that Jesus is the Messiah
and that each individual is personally responsible for his own decision to accept or reject Jesus as the promised Messiah.

John 5:40, “and you are NOT WILLING (ou thelo) to come to me, that you may have life.”

It was directed to the religious Jews who were steeped in Mosaic legalism and were blinded by the letter
of the law so that they could not see the historical reality of the Messianic promise standing before them.

Chronologically, the message of John 5 is about a year distant from the message of chapter 6 and would therefore be unrelated. However, within the context of John’s account, the message is directly relevant
to the truths taught in the Bread of Life discourse.

John 6:1 then occurs about one year after the visit to Jerusalem of John 5:1.
It is the time of the Passover of 29 AD (4070 A.H.) about mid April.

The teachings recorded in John 5 occurred in Jerusalem. John 6:1 has Jesus already at the Sea of Galilee
at Capernaum, and He simply goes to the other side; that is, the N.E. side at Bethsaida Julias.
Sometime between verse 5:47 and 6:1, Jesus left Judea and returned to Galilee.

Jesus is probably near Capernaum at John 6:1.

He goes to Nazareth at Mark 6:1 after healing the daughter of Jairus who was probably in Capernaum.
Then at Mark 6:6, he visits several of the Galilean villages.

He sends out the disciples at this time and when they return He is close to the Sea (Mark 6:30-32) at Capernaum.

He leaves Capernaum and sails due East toward Bethsaida Julias (Luke 9:10).
That’s how it is possible for many of the people to walk and RUN around the
Northern shore of the Sea to where they think He has gone (Mark 6:33).

The occasion for leaving Capernaum at this time was Herod’s attempt to find Jesus shortly after the beheading of John the Baptizer.

Jesus and the disciples were doing many works of healing and casting out of demons.

Luke 9:6, The disciples “were going about from village to village proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.”

Mark 6:12-13, And they went out and proclaimed that they should repent.
And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

Herod heard about what Jesus was doing, and people were suggesting that it was John the Baptizer, who had come back from the dead. But when he learned that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he kept on trying to find and see Him.

Matthew 14:1, A that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus.

Mark 6:14, And King Herod heard, for His name had become well known. And they were saying,
“John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”
Luke 9:7-9, “Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening . . . and he said,
who is this man about whom I hear such things?’ And he kept trying to see Him.”

At this time, the apostles returned to report to Jesus the great success they were having in proclaiming the gospel and healing.
Mark 6:30, And the apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.

Luke 9:10a, And when the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done.

So upon the occasion of the return of the disciples and Herod’s attempt to find Him, He decided to leave Capernaum and go east to a more remote location for some privacy and some rest.

Matt. 14:13a, Now when Jesus heard (about John and Herod’s interest),
He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself;
Luke 9:10b, And taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself toward a city called Bethsaida.
(verse 12, “for here we are in a desolate place.”)
Mark 6:31, And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.”
(For there were many {people} coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)
Mark 6:32   And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
John 6:1, After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias).

Jesus and the disciples did not have a chance to take their own meal because of all the people wanting attention from Him. So (1) it was time to get away and find some private “recovery” time alone with His disciples, and (2) Jesus had plans for a massive miracle on the other side of the sea of Galilee, which would become the launching pad for
the great Bread of Life discourse. The place they landed was near Bethsaida Julias. The city was located at the mouth of the Jordan as it entered the Sea of Galilee in the North.
It was about 4 miles across the sea from Capernaum to Bethsaida. It was about 10 miles by land.

There is controversy about whether there were TWO cities on
the sea of Galilee called Bethsaida; one on the west side near Gennesaret (which is disputed), and the other one on the North East side (which is not disputed).

The 5-point analysis of this by William Hendriksen is convincing. 
N.T.C of John, pages 216-217.

1. According to the Synoptics, before crossing the sea of Galilee Jesus had been laboring in the western
part of the country, in and around Capernaum, Nazareth, etc. Also, as we have seen, the miracle recorded
in the fifth chapter of John took place west of the Jordan (in Jerusalem, at the Pool). For both of these reasons it would seem that the expression “Jesus went to the other side of the sea” could have only one intelligible meaning for those who had read the Gospel-stories up to this point; namely, that he now crossed over to the east 9or north-east) of the sea. And that is exactly where Bethsaida Julias was located, just south-east of the point where the Jordan River, coming from the north, flows into the sea of Galilee.
2. After the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand the disciples re-crossed the sea. Their boat was now headed toward Capernaum (6:17), but according to Mk. 6:45 it was proceeding toward Bethsaida. Certainly, the explanation which lies ready at hand is that this was another Bethsaida, situated somewhere in the vicinity of Capernaum.
3. The conclusion is also supported by the fact that this Bethsaida (of Mark 6:45) was located in the plan of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53), which stretches north-west from the sea of Galilee.
4. The very fact that when the home-town of Philip (also of Andrew and Peter, 1:44 is mentioned (12:21) it is called Bethsaida of Galilee may point in the direction of a distinction between that Bethsaida and another Bethsaida which was not in Galilee; namely, Bethsaida Julias,
a town which had been recently rebuilt by Philip the tetrarch, and had been named after the beautiful but profligate daughter of Emperor Augustus.
5. The argument which is sometimes advanced against the supposition that there were two Bethsaidas is this: the existence of two towns of
the same name on the same lake must be considered unlikely. But is not this the answer: a. there were many identically named towns and villages in biblical Palestine, and some of them were not far apart; and b. in view of the abundance of fish in the sea of Galilee it would almost seem strange if only one coast-town were named “house of Fish” (i.e., Bethsaida).
 

Verse 2, A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.

The presence of all these people is due in part to the nearness of the Passover. Many would be in transit to Jerusalem and the rumors of Jesus’ miracles and travels would draw many to where he was
presently staying at Capernaum. Then, all who followed Him from Capernaum and all who joined the crowd from the cities along the Northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, would eventually amount to a
very large group of 5000 men, and an additional number of women
and children.

Matt. 14:13b, and when the multitudes heard {of this,} they followed Him on foot from the cities.
Luke 9:11a   But the multitudes were aware of this and followed Him;
Mark 6:33   And {the people} saw them going, and many recognized {them,}  and they ran there together on foot from all the cities,
and got there ahead of them.

There was a large group of people in the Capernaum area who then decided to follow Jesus on land to Bethsaida. Several very fast runners were able to “out distance” the ship that Jesus was in, and as they ran toward Bethsaida, they told everyone on the way where they were going (“from the cities, Mat. 14:13b).

As a result when Jesus arrived, there was already a large crowd of people waiting for him, and many more were still arriving. When He sees them, He responds as usual, in love and mercy, and begins to teach them and to heal the sick.

Mark 6:34   And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
Matt. 14:14   And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Luke 9:11b, and welcoming them, He {began} speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.

The purpose of the miracles that Jesus performed was not to remove
or lessen human suffering.

Human suffering is usually the occasion for the miracle because that is what gets peoples attention.
The primary purpose is to draw attention to the word of God, and in the case of Jesus, to showcase Him as the promised Messiah-Savior so that people will listen to Him. As at John 2:11, He “manifested His glory,
and His disciples believed in Him.”

The proper response to the miracles is to LISTEN to Jesus and then respond positive to His words.
For the unbelievers it is the message of saving-faith in Him for forgiveness of sins, which John states to be the primary reason for recording these events at verse 21:31. “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that
believing you may have life in His name.”

In the case of the disciples and all who have already expressed
saving-faith in Jesus, they are designed to elicit living-faith so that they can live the abundant life of peace, joy and inner stability while here on earth, and of course have greater conviction to proclaim Him as the promised Savior.

And then, after the miracle of feeding this multitude, they continue to follow him, finding him once again in Capernaum (vs. 24-25). But as Jesus testified, they don’t really understand the significance of the SIGNS, but are only interested in the filling of their stomachs,

“You seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

Yes, they recognized that His works were miraculous and spectacular but did not place spiritual value on His deeds even though the very nature of those deeds established Him as the one sent from God as
“the Son of Man” – the Messiah.
 
 Jesus spent some time with the crowd of people, which was growing larger and larger by the minute, teaching them and healing the sick. Eventually, he eased Himself away from them and with The Twelve,
made His way up the mountain to be alone with them.
 
Verse 3, Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His 12 disciples.

Jesus’ intent was to spend some private time with His disciples on the mountain.

Within the multitude, there are also many LEARNERS who are interested in more then just the miracles (John 6:60-61, 66), but these few moments were just for Jesus and the 12. Then, out from among those other disciples, there are many who are still unable to focus on the spiritual reality of a Messianic sacrifice for sins that will solve man’s spiritual problem. Thus, after this “bread of life discourse” many of them will depart and no longer follow Jesus.

Verse 4, Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

The Passover Feast was a teaching aid concerning the provision of the spiritual solution to man’s need for a savior. Jesus was the fulfillment
of that teaching aid. This is 29 AD. At the next Passover, in 30 AD,
Jesus will be in Jerusalem to LITERALLY fulfill the feast by being sacrificed for the sins of the world. However, at this time, Jesus has distanced Himself from the religious crowd that is occupied with ritual
and physical issues rather than spiritual truth. Their observation of the feast is ritual without reality.
Jesus gives us another lesson by separating Himself from the religious crowd and staying away from Jerusalem. It is more important and more beneficial to identify with the REALITY than to participate
in the ritual.

Verse 5a, Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him:
When late evening had arrived, the crowd of people began to move up the mountain toward where Jesus and His disciples were relaxing.

Now, Jesus knew that the multitude was approaching and He was going to use the occasion to provide  some additional FAITH FACTORS for the 12 disciples and for any who are positive among the multitude.

A FAITH FACTOR is a principle or promise or miracle that elicits practical faith from those who receive the information.

This miracle has two parts to it.

(A)   The TEST - to Philip and the other disciples (immediately) and all the disciples (later).

(B)   Evidence to the multitude that He is the Messiah, even though they did not understand the SPIRITUAL significance of that evidence; the miracles. Verses 14-15

 The disciples notice the crowd approaching and knew that it was long past “dinner” time, and everyone would be very hungry.

NASB Harmony:

John 6:4   Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
Matt. 14:15   And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, “The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
Mark 6:35   And when it was already quite late, His disciples came up to Him and {began} saying, “The place is desolate and it is already quite late;
Mark 6:36   send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

Luke 9:12   And the day began to decline, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.”

When the multitudes draw near and it is late, the disciples react in their typical “hopeless” and “helpless” mentality. “Send them away,” they suggest (Mat. 14:15), but Jesus tells them no, and instead tells them
to feed them. He then focuses on Philip as the disciple nearest to Him at this moment.

John 6:5b, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?"
This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.

He specifically asks Philip the question that is designed to allow him to USE FAITH. The word for test is peiradzō. It means to CHALLENGE someone to as to their value system; whether they will follow the right standards or not. That’s why it is often translated as, “tempt.” It depends on the context whether the intent is to elicit a good response (application of spiritual or moral truth) or a bad response (human viewpoint or sin).

Here, Jesus wants Philip to respond with application of the knowledge he has acquired concerning the character and power of Jesus.

We see the same thing with God testing Abraham at Hebrews 11:17.

See Topic:  TESTING

In a temptation sense, we see Satan tempting Jesus at Matthew 4:1.
Sometimes it has the idea of TRAPPING someone as when the Pharisees test Him at Matthew 16:1 and Mark 8:11.

Also Satan is continually tempting believers to fail in their trust of God and application of divine viewpoint, as at 1 Corinthians 7:5 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5.

God’s activity as indicated by this word is NEVER to seek the failure of the believer as James tells us at verse 1:13. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” God’s desire is always to bring out what is GOOD in the believer as here with Philip.

Verse 7-9, Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,
"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?"

When Philip is challenged by the Lord’s instruction to him, he should have responded with application of the truth he has learned.

The answer should be, “Lord, we don’t have enough to feed so many. Only You can provide what we need.” But alas, his human perceptions are too strong for FAITH to break through. He still has not learned
to have total trust in the character and plan of God as revealed at this time in the person and work of Jesus.

The dialog as taken from the four Gospels is as follows:
Jesus said, “They do not need to go away; you give them {something} to eat!”
And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them {something} to eat?”
Jesus said, “Philip, Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?”
Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!”
Andrew said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”
And they said to Him, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish,
unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”
And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

NASB HARMONY
Matt. 14:16   But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them {something} to eat!”
Mark 6:37   But He answered and said to them, “You give them {something} to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them {something} to eat?”
John 6:5   Jesus therefore lifting up His eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” John 6:6 And this He was saying
to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
John 6:7   Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
Mark 6:38   And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five and two fish.”

John 6:8   One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
John 6:9   “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”

Matt. 14:17   And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

Luke 9:13   But He said to them, “You give them {something} to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”
Matt. 14:18   And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

John 6:10-13
The description of the miracle as taken from the four Gospels is as follows.

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place.
So the men sat down, in number about five thousand, aside from women and children.
And they reclined in companies of hundreds and of fifties.
And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and having given thanks, He broke {them,} and kept giving {them} to the disciples to set before the multitude as much as they wanted. And they all ate and were satisfied.
And when they were filled, He said to His disciples,
“Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.”
And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.

NASB HARMONY

Mark 6:39   And He commanded them all to recline by groups on the green grass.
John 6:10   Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place.
So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Mark 6:40, And they reclined in companies of hundreds and of fifties.
Luke 9:14, (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them recline {to eat} in groups of about fifty each.”
Luke 9:15   And they did so and had them all recline.
Matt. 14:19   And ordering the multitudes to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed {the food,} and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples {gave} to the multitudes,
Mark 6:41   And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed {the food} and broke the loaves and He kept giving {them} to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.
Luke 9:16   And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke {them,} and kept giving {them} to the disciples to set before the multitude. reclined in
companies of hundreds and of fifties.

John 6:11   Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
Mark 6:42   And they all ate and were satisfied.
John 6:12   And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.”
John 6:13   And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.
Matt. 14:20   and they all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.
Luke 9:17   And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets {full.}
Mark 6:43   And they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.
Mark 6:44   And there were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
Matt. 14:21   And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children.

There is more to this miracle than just the feeding of the 5000 plus people. There is the miracle of the REMNANT; what was remaining. And the disciples will have a good remainder of the power and
authority of Jesus. They did not bring any baskets up the hill. There is no reason for the disciples or the multitude to BRING empty baskets up the hill. But now they have TWELVE baskets to fill with food,
and to be taken down the hill by the disciples.

John 6:14   When therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 6:15   Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

It is clear that the people understand what had just happened. They know that Jesus had mass-produced the huge meal, but they don’t associate it with Spiritual value, but only with their own personal needs and wants.

There was among this crowd a large political group of Jewish nationalists who were seriously
intent on overthrowing the Roman empire. And even though they did not recognize the spiritual value of Christ’s miracles, they determined that HERE was someone who could be used to overthrow the yoke of Roman rule in Palestine. They were not interested in forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but only in removing the Roman Empire from the land and establishing an independent Jewish state.

They know from the Old Testament (Deut. 18:15) that “the prophet who is to come into the world” will overthrow the enemies of Israel and set up His own reign. But they fail to understand that “that prophet”
will emphasize only SPIRITUAL VALUE at His first coming. He will not bring about POLITICAL change until His second coming and the establishment of his thousand year earthly reign.
They want political deliverance without spiritual deliverance. They want the prophet that Moses predicted would come into the world, but they cannot have that prophet; that deliverance unless they first accept Jesus as the Savior from sin.

With this mind set then, they are able to influence the rest of the crowd to follow their agenda.
They are contemplating and planning to force Him to take on the present political system.
But of course, this is not the plan of God for the Messiah at this time so -

Verse 15, So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king.

Once again Jesus uses His superior perceptive ability to “know what was in man,” (John 2:24-25), to know exactly what these people wanted to do. So before the nationalists can gather their support, Jesus simply takes Himself out of the picture; He does three things to defuse the situation.   Mark 6:45-46.

 (1) He tells the disciples to leave and go over to Bethsaida by boat.
“And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of {Him}to the other side to Bethsaida” (He told them to leave, but they just went down to the shore, and did not leave on the boat
until evening.)

(2) He dismisses the crowd, telling them to leave.
“while He Himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell,”

(3) He leaves and goes up into the mountain all alone.
“He departed to the mountain to pray.”

John 6:15b, He “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

This was common practice for Jesus. He often went off to be alone for prayer.
From the standpoint of His humanity, he needed to constantly focus on the spiritual truth that was in His soul and the reality of His impending sacrifice on the cross. And of course, in this situation, it neutralized any advantage that the nationalists might have had to influence the crowd.

NASB HARMONY

Matt. 14:22   And immediately He made the disciples get into the boat, and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
Mark 6:45   And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of {Him} to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away.
John 6:17   and after getting into a boat, they {started to} cross the sea to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

Matt. 14:23   And after He had sent the multitudes away,
He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
Mark 6:46   And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray.

John 6:16, Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea.

The disciples wait until evening to cross the sea to Capernaum and it had already become dark.
And this is the occasion for the next miracle, which will be a private one for the benefit of the disciples only.

Verses 16-18 The storm at sea

John 6:16-18, Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

Mark 6:47, And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He {was} alone on the land.
Matt. 14:24, But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
John 6:18, And the sea {began} to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

John 6:19a, When therefore they had rowed about three or four miles (25 or 30 stadia),

The Greek word stadion means the stadium, and also refers to a distance measurement. It meant, “once around the track” at the stadium. The track at the stadium was about 600 feet. Thirty stadia would be eighteen thousand feet or about 3.4 miles. So when the storm hit they were 3.4 miles out into the sea.

There is no mention of this being a crisis situation for the disciples.
They were very familiar with storms on the Sea of Galilee and knew how to maneuver through them.
Thus, as recorded at Mark 6:48, we simply see them “straining at the oars,” but not troubled or afraid.

The crisis is when they THINK they see a ghost coming at them.

Mark 6:48, And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
Matt. 14:25, And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
John 6:19b, they beheld Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.
Matt. 14:26, And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were frightened, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
Mark 6:49a, But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were frightened.

Now, HERE is the crisis. The imagination of believers who cannot or do not trust in the character and plan of God, is the fertile field for all kinds of worry and doubt and fear.

They have just witnessed a very awesome miracle. In fact, EACH disciple has brought into the boat, a personal memento which SHOULD remind them of that miracle and of the authority and power of Jesus; they each brought a basket of “left-over” food. Jesus would not have just fed them and instructed them to cross the sea if He did not have a plan for them; if He did not have everything under control.

But no. It is always so much easier to doubt than to trust; to fear instead of to be calm and courageous under the umbrella of God’s character and plan.

However, after Jesus identifies Himself and reassures them, they are able to relax once again.

Matt. 14:27, But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Mark 6:49b-50, But immediately He spoke with them and said to them,
“Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”

John 6:20, But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

The exhortation to “take courage; do not be afraid” should NOT need to be given.

And for us as well, we ALREADY have the promises of God concerning any and every crisis situation that we might encounter in this life. He surrounds us with a PERIPHERY OF GRACE so that we do not need to fear.    Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; 2 Timothy 1:7; Psalm 56:3.

Now, before Jesus actually joins them in the boat, we have the wonderful incident of Peter getting out of the boat to walk toward Jesus on the water. It is recorded only by Matthew.

Matthew 14:28-31

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Although Peter BEGINS with a very strong expression of faith, when he starts to look around a the PHYSICAL reality of the storm, he takes his eyes off the SPIRITUAL reality of Christ’s authority and power.
The result is, as usual, failure to keep on believing.
If we don’t keep the reality of Christ’s character and work ever before our mental eyes, we will just keep living in doubt and worry and fear.

Yes, Jesus reached out and rescued Peter from the stormy sea, and the truth of what I stated above was re-enforced once again. But the point of it all is – we don’t HAVE TO FAIL in order to experience the wonderful provisions of God’s character and plan.

And yet, how often do we find ourselves on Peter’s side of “O you of little faith, WHY did you doubt?”

John 6:21a   They were willing therefore to receive Him into the boat;
Matt. 14:32   And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped.
Mark 6:51-52  And He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped;
and they were greatly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the {incident of} the loaves,
but their heart was hardened.

John 6:21b, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

As Mark relates, the disciples had not learned anything from the feeding miracle or ANY of the miracles because their heart was hardened.
This is a very strong comment concerning the mind-set of the disciples.
It usually indicates great negativity and REFUSAL to even listen– not JUST inability or incidental failure.

However, we know that the disciples were not really in that kind of serious condition.

They were not like the scribes and Pharisees who were in spiritual rebellion and refused to acknowledge even the POSSIBILITY that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.

There is certainly nothing wrong with continually being AWED at the authority and power of Jesus Christ.
But the Greek word at Mark 6:51, is existāmi, and indicates a more fearful expression than just awe.
It means, “to be (stand) outside of one’s senses.”

It can refer to the idea of being “insane,” as in “out of one’s mind” such as at Mark 3:21.
But usually in the Bible it refers to great “shocking” amazement at something miraculous.

That is why Mark adds the additional negative comment to indicate that the disciples had not yet fully comprehended the GREATNESS of Jesus Christ.

At this juncture, they should NOT have been amazed like this.
They should by now, be fully accustomed to Christ’s authority and power.

But as it was, the disciples were simply very slow in understanding the true nature of that authority and power – even though it had been demonstrated time and time again. For that matter, they were
previously in a storm situation when Jesus miraculously caused the winds to cease. Mat. 8:23-27.

They should not be surprised, let alone ASTONISHED, that he could repeat His control over nature, for they had commented at that
previous time, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the
sea obey Him.”

Instead of the astonishment recorded by Mark, there should have
simply been the WORSHIP that is recorded by Matthew at verse 14:33, And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying,
“You are certainly God’s Son!”

But their memories were weak, and our memories are weak. And our application of the many spiritual truths found in the bible is often so
very slow. We should not ACCEPT this common condition, but we
should not be surprised at it either. As we consider how much the disciples heard and learned, and yet were still so slow in applying
those truths to their life, we can only expect to be challenged even
more greatly to make similar application to our own lives.

In spite of the MANY and POWERFUL demonstrations of His Messianic authority, the disciples were still far too often occupied with their own human viewpoint outlook on life. They were narrow-minded, proud
and selfish. And except for John, they did not really UNDERSTAND
until after the resurrection.

But it is possible to have very strong faith and application of spiritual truth even without the benefit of actually SEEING and HEARING
the Lord, for as Jesus told Thomas at John 20:29,

“Because you have seen Me, have you believed? How happy are they who do not see and yet believe.”

However, at least for the moment, they recognize that He is indeed the very Son of God and deserving of divine worship. Matthew 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-55

And when they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.
And when they had come out of the boat, immediately the men of that place recognized Him, and ran about the whole country and sent into all the surrounding district, and they began to carry about on their pallets and brought to Him all who were sick; to the place they heard He was. And they began to entreat Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

As soon as He arrived He was recognized and the people swarmed to Him from all over the area; all looking for the physical healing that they believed He could perform. Most of them were looking for the
alleviation of physical ailments. Very few of them were interested
in what those miracles pointed to and what the content of His message was.

And of course, everywhere He went, the same thing occurred, as Mark summarizes.

Mark 6:56, And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and entreating Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

But at the present time, as He finished with the swarm of people wanting healing from Him, He slowly began to travel North heading toward Capernaum, which was not quite six miles away.

It was the next day, then, after the feeding of the 5,000, that the crowd on the eastern side of the Sea could not find Jesus and really had no choice but to return to the other side. Not knowing exactly where
Jesus and the disciples went, they headed toward Capernaum, which was probably the most logical choice. And of course, that’s where they found Him.

There is no further mention of any political agenda from these people, so either they stayed behind and “gave up” on trying to enlist the help of Jesus, or they are here for the same reason as everyone else;
alleviation of their physical ailments - food and healing.

John 6:22-24 The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there,
nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

John 6:25, When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You get here?"

They found Him in the synagogue at Capernaum (verse 59) where He was probably teaching.It is speculation, but it appears that several from among the crowd were so surprised to see Jesus, that they just interrupted and yelled out, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

THE BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE
Verses 26-71

John 6:26, Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

The expression, “truly, truly,” is a Hebrew phrase that was brought into the Aramaic and into the Greek as amān, amān (in truth, in truth). Jesus uses it four times in this discourse to emphasize the solemn spiritual truth of what He is saying. This is not designed to express simply, “I am telling you the truth.” If He had wanted to say that, He would have used a form of alāthāia as at John 4:18, “You have said truthfully,” or at John 16:7, “but I tell you the truth.”

But this is expressing the fact that what I am about to say is an absolute principle of divine truth. Matthew, Mark and Luke record only one repetition of “truly” and do so 51 times.

John records it ALWAYS as a doubled expression and does so 25 times.

So Jesus is going to state a principle of absolute divine truth concerning their motives, which He has perceived within them because “He knew all men,” and “what was in man,” (verses 2:24-25).

He knows that they are interested only in alleviating their physical discomforts and not in the plan of God or of God’s Messiah, Whom He has sent.

At this point it appears that there are now TWO different groups of people present.
We have the multitude of the general populace that has gathered to Him in Capernaum containing both those who were fed across the sea and those who were not there. And we have a group designated
as “the Jews” at verses 41 and 52. This latter group probably refers to the religious Jews who were frequently to be found in the vicinity of the synagogues of the cities where they lived.

But this is the occasion Jesus had been anticipating. So He re-directs His attention to the newly arrived crowd and exposes their false motives for seeking Him, and begins His great Bread of Life discourse.

I say, “false” because their motives do not reflect spiritual value. They are concerned only with the physical. We see then, THREE reasons for the multitudes to follow Jesus at this point in His ministry.

      (1) They want more healing from their various physical maladies (verse 2).

(2) They want Him to solve the political crisis with Rome (verse 15).

(3)   They think that in Him they have a source for physical food.

The signs (miracles) should demonstrate to them that Jesus is the promised Savior from sin. But instead, they can only see with human viewpoint and do not understand the words of His salvation message.

The teaching now will revolve around the issue of BREAD and the activity of EATING the bread.
Eating is the perfect picture of FAITH. Faith is non-meritorious and EATING is non-meritorious.
Everyone is given the ability to eat and to believe; there is no merit in either action.

And the BREAD is the person and work of Jesus Christ to provide forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Thus, everyone who EATS that bread will have both (verse 54).
That is, everyone who believes will have forgiveness of sins and eternal life (verse 47).

Verses 27-29 The issue of FAITH in God’s revealed Messiah and plan of salvation.

1. Do not work for the food which perishes: The verb is ergadzomai as a present middle imperative.
He is giving a command for proper adjustment to God’s character and plan.
And it has nothing to do with the physical details of life; food, shelter; clothing; health.

These things have only temporal value; that is, value that provides comfort for the body and limited comfort for the mind. Ultimately, all these things will perish, for eventually, physical death will remove
all need for such things. If spiritual value (salvation information) has not been pursued so that one’s eternal destiny is secure, then the physical comforts of this life will be totally worthless for the destiny of the unbeliever will be pain and misery in the lake of fire where they will have “no rest” (no comfort) during every moment of their existence (Rev. 14:10-11).

The present tense indicates the REVERSE of what they were doing.
They were “constantly” or “continually” pursuing Jesus in order to find detail of life comfort.

They were continually following Him: Verses 6:1-2
Attempt to coerce Him into accomplishing a political agenda: Verse 6:15
Continued to search for Him even after He had dismissed them: Verse 6:22
They traveled to where they thought He went: Verse 24
Searched and found Him in Capernaum: Verses 25, 59

2. but for the food which endures to eternal life: The verb is the aorist active participle of  menō (to abide or remain). It describes the QUALITY of this food as something that provides spiritual value; specifically, the provision of eternal life, which includes the forgiveness of sins.
They should be searching for the solution to their spiritual need rather than their physical needs.

Physical needs are dealt with after salvation by placing one’s trust in the character and plan of God; applying Divine viewpoint to every area of life. Matthew 6:33

3. which the Son of Man will give to you: According to verses 51-54, the “food” is His “flesh and blood,” which is symbolic for His person and His work. It does not refer to His LITERAL body or blood, but is symbolic of His personal sacrifice in undergoing the physical and spiritual suffering of the cross, where all the sins of the world were placed upon Him and judged by God the Father.

4. for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal: God has witnessed to the veracity and authenticity of Jesus as the promised Savior and Messiah. John 5:19-23;

Verse 23, “in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

And 5:30-47

Verse 32, “There is another who bears witness of Me,
and I know that the testimony which He bears of Me is true.”

Verse 37, “And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me.”

 John  6:28, Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?"

They have just been told to look for something DIFFERENT than what they have been looking for.
They have been told that the PHYSICAL details of life are of only temporal value. There is something different and better that actually “feeds” the soul to the acquisition of eternal life.

There response should be like that of Nicodemus at John 3:9. After being told of the new birth; a spiritual and heavenly (from above) birth, his genuine response was, “How can these things BECOME?” To which Jesus answered, “Whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.”

Or as the Samaritans of John 4:42: After Jesus gave them salvation information, their response was, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know
that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Or even as the Philippian Jailer of Acts 16:30. After listening to the message of the Apostles in word and song, and after seeing their faith and courage when the jail doors were jarred open, the only acceptable response is, “What must I do to be saved.”

The word, “do” does not always imply WORKS, but simply ACTION. Some kind of action is required when a person is confronted with the gospel message. The Philippian jailer asked very simply, what is the “action” that is required in order for me to be saved?

The answer to all of them is the same. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

But no. They are not listening to the truth and are interested only in physical comforts.
Instead of desiring the spiritual solution that Jesus spoke about, they want to perform miracles themselves in order to alleviate their physical needs.

Verse 29, Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

Jesus does not mince any words at this point,
but tells them specifically that the ONLY issue is to believe in Him.

This is the work of God: This is the only thing that God will accept in order to relate to Him on His terms. The only WORK; the only thing TO DO is to believe.

That you believe: The verb is pisteuo as a present active indicative. The present tense is used to state the spiritual principle that faith is the only terms that God will accept.

Faith refers to non-meritorious thinking that expresses total dependence and trust in an object that brings no credit to the individual. Such a one gets no credit, no praise, no honor other than the bestowment of the promised gift from God; the gift of eternal life.

Faith is something that ANYONE can do without drawing attention to self, and making “self” look better than others because of some good deed (giving, joining a church, cleaning up your life; walking down an aisle).

This has been the consistent message throughout His entire ministry.
This is clearly indicated by –

(1) the message to Nicodemus, “so that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.” Jn. 3:15
(2) the response of the Samaritans, “and many believed.” Verse 4:41
(3) The message of Jn 5:38-47, “and you are not willing to come to Me, that you may have life.”

And this is the key to understanding the dramatic symbolism that Jesus will begin to use in order to weed out the false disciples from the true ones. He will build gradually from this "believe in Him whom He has sent," to verse 35; "I am the bread of life; he who COMES to Me . . . and he who BELIEVES in Me;" and ultimately to verse 54, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life."

But they cannot get their minds off the physical things. They still want more miracles.
And now they have thought of a way to get more, and with the miracles, more food and healing.

Verse 30, So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do you perform?

But they have had plenty of signs; plenty of miracles. They don’t need any more.
What they NEED to do is to apply the statement of verse 29 to the miracles they have already seen.

But they are still operating on wrong motives. They only want to alleviate their physical needs. Now they have heard (again) what Jesus requires of them (faith). Perhaps we can imagine what they are thinking: “Hmmmm, He wants us to believe Him; we want more signs (ie, more food); if we tell him we will believe,
IF He gives us more signs, then we can get more food.”

They use an example from history.
Verse 31, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"

They know all about this historical miracle. Many of them know personally of the recent miracle of the bread and fish. But now they want something similar to it. The manna lasted for 40 years.
The recent miracle was one meal. They want a miracle that will provide them with food PERPETUALLY. Now that’s something you can sink your teeth into!

They quote Psalm 78:24 in reference to the divine provisions from God during the wilderness wanderings after the deliverance from Egypt.

Verse 32, Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it (the issue) is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

The contrast is not between Moses and God; nor is it with the idea of “out of heaven.”
Jesus is not disputing the miracle of the manna or of its divine provision through God’s agent, Moses.
The issue is between physical food and spiritual food. It is between manna and “the true bread.”
The absolute divine truth about this is that the TRUE BREAD is the only thing that will REALLY provide for man’s spiritual needs.

God has provided the solution to man’s spiritual crisis; a crisis to which EVERYTHING else pales in comparison.

The issue is “the true bread out of heaven” NOT the physical bread out of heaven, or ANY physical bread or physical provision.

Here, Jesus begins to establish the spiritual truth that He must sacrifice Himself in order to alleviate man’s spiritual hunger forever and ever.

They haven’t seen it yet. They even miss His allusion to His deity when He says, “my” Father.

But actually, He doesn’t give them much time to think about that because He hits straight to the need they have – whether they are thinking physical or spiritual, they will WANT the “bread of God” that He tells them about.

In this verse Christ is called the true bread, in verse 33 He is called the bread from God, and in verse 35 He is called the bread of life.

Verse 33, "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."
Here, the difference between the manna that came “out of heaven” and the true bread which is “out of heaven,” is that the true bread gives LIFE to THE WORLD. This is not talking about any alleviation of physical hunger.
The verb, comes down, is katabaino as a present active participle used to indicate a point-of-time idea.
Jesus HAS COME down out from heaven, but the present tense makes a dramatic statement to emphasize the reality of Christ's heavenly origin.
This is how the hearers would understand the words as is indicated at verse 41, when the Jews quote Him, "I am the bread that CAME down out of heaven."
Here, they use the aorist tense because they understood clearly that this is a PAST ACTION idea.
The intent of the present participle is also confirmed when Jesus clarifies and uses the aorist tense at verses 51 and 58.

Jesus is trying to get their eyes OFF the physical details of life (physical comforts) and focus on the ever greater crisis of spiritual hunger.

Now, in principle, these people should not have any disagreement with these words, and in a sense, it is a SET-UP. For once they recognize this truth and accept it, He will drop the BOMB on them – I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.

Verse 34, Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."

Whether they have CAUGHT the significance of “life to the world” or not, they have done what Jesus wanted them to do; ASK for the bread. Now He can lay it out to them as plainly as possible and expose their unbelief and rejection of both the Father and the Father’s Messiah. The next several truths are given rapidly. In verses 35-40 He presents the gospel of salvation; the truth that the one who believes in Him will acquire eternal life and resurrection.

When He finishes, they will grumble about the fact that He has set Himself up as the promised Savior from God, and they make excuses for their continued rejection.

As Jesus continues, He will get more graphic and more symbolic and yet, more specific, as He explains that the Messiah must sacrifice Himself in order for life to be available to the world.
And this will really expose the negativity of the people. Unbelievers will continue in their rejection, and the false disciples will stumble and separate from Him.

Verse 35, Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

This is very emphatic. Jesus uses the personal pronoun, ego, AND the verb eimi, which carries inherently within it the 1^st person singular meaning. So He says, “I, I am . . .” or “I myself am.”

Now this is the SHOCKER! He redirects everything away from the bread and the manna and focuses directly onto Himself as the divine solution to man’s spiritual needs.
You people have asked for the bread, so He tells them, I am the bread of life.
And He takes them back to what He said at verse 29 focusing on the issue of FAITH; non-meritorious thinking.

Two ideas are mentioned, but they both refer to the same thing.
“Coming” recognizes Jesus as the authority, and “believing” trusts in Him as the one and only source for forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

(1) he who COMES to Me: This is used several times to refer to accepting Jesus as the authority for spiritual solutions. Just a year ago at John 5:40, “and you are unwilling to COME TO ME so that you
may have life.”
At Matthew 11:28, “COME to me all you who struggle to weariness, and are under a burden, and I will give you rest.”
And later in John 6 – verses 37, 44, 45, 65, and 7:37.
One must COME to Jesus; accept Him as the authority FIRST,
and then he will be able to put his faith/trust in Him as the savior.
They are basically two sides to the same coin. The one who comes, WILL in fact, believe.
Coming is ACCEPTANCE and believing is TRUST.
The promise, “shall not hunger,” refers to spiritual hunger in regard to forgiveness of sins and the possession of eternal life.

(2) he who BELIEVES in Me: This is the other side to the “coin.” The one who totally accepts Jesus Christ as the one and only authority for spiritual things, will in fact express total TRUST in Him; faith.
Another parallel for accepting God’s offer of salvation in Christ is found at John 1:12, “receive Him” is the same as “believe in His name.”
The promise, “shall never thirst,” is just completing the symbolic image that Christ is going to present.
In order to truly trust in Christ, one must recognize that it was His sacrifice of Himself on the cross that provided salvation for the entire human race (John 3:16), “so that WHOEVER believes in Him might be saved.”
And John 6:51, “if ANYONE eats of this bread, he shall live forever.”
Later, this is going to be connected with “eating” His flesh and “drinking” His blood (verses 47 and 54); images that speak of His death on the cross for sins and that fulfill the typology found in the Mosaic law
with regard to animal sacrifices.

A. Flesh: refers to His physical body and the extreme physical suffering that Christ endured during the trials and while on the cross.
B. Blood: refers to His SPIRITUAL suffering for sin. This fulfills the animal sacrifice typology of the Old Testament.
C. Advance on this symbolism is taught by Jesus when He institutes the communion service during the Last Super.
Mat. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20.

Verse 36, "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

But now He answers their question of verse 30, “what sign” and “what work” do you do?

1. You have seen me: This is the perfect active indicative of horao, and indicates a completed package of evidence observed over the last several days and even months.
They have seen many miracles and they have heard His teaching; both, time after time, and even recently. Some of them, that very day would have witnessed many healings performed by Jesus since
He disembarked at Geneseret, Mark 6:55-56.
And the FIVE WITNESSES listed at John 5:30-47; Jesus, John, His works, the Father; the OT scriptures (See Luke 16:27-31).
But none of these things have been enough – and still will not be enough.

2. and yet you do not believe: This is the present active indicative of the verb, pisteuō with the negative to indicate the choice not to trust in Jesus as the Savior.
This is the indictment concerning their failure to believe, but the failure is by CHOICE.
This has been seen elsewhere, especially at John 5:40, “and you are not willing.”

Also at Matthew 23:37, “and you were not willing.”
This volitional responsibility will be established as Jesus continues with this discourse.

Verse 37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,
and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

The Father is going to give certain ones to Jesus, and without exception, these will come to Him and believe in Him. It does not say HOW the Father gives them, just that He does.
But we do know that NOT EVERYONE is given to Christ. Not ALL come to Him and not all believe in Him.
Since salvation is dependent on a choice made by each individual, the GIVING of someone to Christ MUST be based on the choice that any particular person makes.
We also know that EVERYONE is taught of God and everyone is drawn to Christ.
In fact, without that DRAWING, no one is able to come to Him and believe in Him.
So anyone who accepts the gospel information about the person and work of Christ will be given to Christ by the Father. And that person will subsequently come to Christ and trust in Him.

Now, to understand more completely what Jesus is teaching here, we need to look at ALL the pertinent statements (verses). Jesus explains this one by verses 44-45 and further by verse 65.

I will summarize this first.
Verses 37-40

1. Everyone whom the Father gives to Jesus, comes to Him.
2. Everyone who comes to Jesus will not be rejected, but be given resurrection life.
3. Everyone who beholds AND believes, will have eternal life, and resurrection life.
    A. BEHOLD: This refers to perception of the information about Christ as the Savior.
    B. BELIEVE: This refers to the positive response to the information that was BEHELD.
         One cannot believe if he does not have the right information, thus, verse 45.
         However, just because someone BEHOLDS, does not mean that he will BELIEVE.
         What it means is that he is now ABLE to trust because he has the information.
4. Coming results in salvation and believing results in salvation. Coming to Christ, then, WILL and DOES lead to believing in Him.

Verses 44-47
1. One cannot come to Jesus unless he has been DRAWN by the Father.
2. It does not say that everyone who is drawn will come. It just says, and means, that no one IS ABLE to come unless he has been drawn.
3. All will be taught of God. That is, everyone will be given the necessary information in order to come if they want to.
Everyone will be DRAWN.
4. John 12:32 says that “all will be drawn.”
Thus, everyone will be given the information they need to make a positive decision toward Christ.
5. Everyone who has HEARD and LEARNED will come to Jesus; that is, they will accept His authority and subsequently, BELIEVE, and NOT be rejected, but will be given eternal life.
    A. HEARD: this refers to perception of the information about Christ as Savior.  It corresponds with “beholds” at verse 40.
(Technically it refers to ANY information that teaches man what God wants of him. Thus it can also refer to God-consciousness information, which is preliminary to salvation information.)

    B. LEARNED: This refers to the RIGHT understanding of the information. To really LEARN, means that you have accepted the information and will therefore COME and BELIEVE.

6. The correlation between coming and believing was made at verse 35. It is made again at verse 47, “He who believes has eternal life.”
This relates back to the previous verses.

7. The DRAWING of God is when He provides the information necessary to recognize the existence of God and/or to accept Jesus (come to Him) and to believe in Him.

Verse 65
1. No one is able to come: This is the acceptance of Christ that directly extends into faith/trust in Him as the Savior. No one HAS ABILITY to come UNLESS something happens.
2. IT: This refers to an “understood” noun idea in the context. The “understood” noun is the ABILITY that comes from the verb.
3. HAS BEEN GIVEN: The ABILITY has to be given. If no ability is given, then the person cannot (is not able) to come to Christ, and therefore CANNOT be saved.
4. ABILITY is given when God provides the information necessary to understand who Christ is and what He did to provide eternal salvation. It is the HEARING of verse 45 and the BEHOLDING of verse 40.
Ability to come and to believe comes from hearing God’s word.
Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes from HEARING, and hearing through the word of God.”
The context of Romans 10 is that if someone does not GET the information, he will not be able to believe the message. You have to hear the message to believe it. You have to KNOW about Christ to trust in Him. But just because someone has been given that ability (hears the gospel) does not mean that that person WILL come and believe.

At John 5:40-47, we learn the same thing.
In verses 5:30-39, Jesus presents the five witnesses to His Messiahship. This is the necessary information that is designed to prompt someone to come and to believe.
Verse 5:38, If a person believes in Christ, that means that they have heard (beheld) and have accepted Him (come to Him). That results in having the word of God abide in you, which will lead to believing in Him. But since these people do not have the word abiding in them, that is, they have NOT accepted it, they DO NOT believe.
The result however is based on personal volition, and in the case of the group of people now present, “you are not willing to come to me that you may have life.”
In verses 5:46-47, Jesus relates this to the INFORMATION that is within the writings of Moses concerning the character and work of the Messiah. But they have rejected that part of Moses, so it is very unlikely that they will accept the teachings of Jesus. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
 
Verse 38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

1. For: this is the explanatory gar, to show the reason Christ is able to and does KEEP them all, and does not cast any of them away.

2. Come down from heaven: This statement is another claim to deity. It was understood that the Messiah was to be God come in the flesh, or “God with us,” Isaiah 7:14.
John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Tim. 3:16; Hebrews 1:3.
3. Not to do my own will: This refers to the potential that the humanity of Jesus; His human soul, would have a different inclination than fulfilling the Father’s plan. There was really only ONE situation where
such a temptation had any validity, and that was in the face of the cross.
It is true that Jesus was tempted in all areas as we are (Heb. 4:15), and of course remained without sin, but the only real crisis that pressured His soul was the crisis of the cross.
Matthew 26:36-44, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”
The seriousness of the suffering that was anticipated was extreme. The human soul of Jesus understood HOW much suffering that would be – both physically and spiritually. His desire at that time was to
DO IT in any other way – if possible. But of course, it was not possible, and ultimately, after wrestling with the temptation, He embraced fully and totally the destiny that was His as the Messiah-Savior.
“But not as I will, but as YOU will.” This was a decision that He had made in His soul previously as at John 10:17-18, “I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me,
but I lay it down from within Myself.” And this was simply an extension of His dedication to the plan of God that was expressed at every previous moment of His life, as is stated here.
4. But the will of Him who sent Me: This is just as Jesus had stated on several other occasions and will continue to state and follow.
John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” And again at John 5:30, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” And again at John 8:29,
“I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
Jesus summarized this at John 17:4, “I glorified You on the earth,
having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”

And then there was His ultimate act of obedience as Paul summarized at Philippians 2:8, “And being found in outward form as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.”
APPLICATION: Every functional believer likes to think that he will be faithful in the face of temptation or crisis. "We" often think that "I" will not fail; I will not deny Christ; I will not give in to the pressure.
But although our INTENT might be so faithful to God, none us really knows what choice we will make when the crisis is actually faced. All we can do is to learn as much of God's word as possible and let His word abide within us so that in the face of any and every crisis situation, we will at least have the information we need to make the right choice. In the example of Christ we see success both in His mental attitude INTENT throughout His life, and His actual SUCCESS in the face of the greatest SOUL crisis that anyone could ever personally face.

Verse 39,"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Now Jesus gets very specific concerning what the will of the Father is.
It is to save and preserve those who have trusted in Him; bring many sons into glory.  Hebrews 2:10, “For it was proper to Him, for whom
are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons into glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings."
The Father’s will is to -
(1) lose NONE of those who are saved: This states simply and completely the doctrine of salvation security.
John 10:28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.”
Hebrews 10:14, “for by one offering He has perfected forever those who have been sanctified.”
See Topic: Salvation Security

(2) to resurrect them at His second coming (the last day): This refers to the resurrection of all believers at the return of Jesus at the event called the rapture, which is described at 1 Thes. 4:14-17,
1 Cor. 15:50-54 and Matthew 24:29-31.
See Topic: Resurrection of the Human Race


Verse 40 explains HOW someone can qualify to NEVER BE LOST and TO BE RAISED UP.
The qualification is to LEARN about God’s salvation provision in Christ, AND to believe in Him.
"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
FIRST QUALIFICATION – One must behold: One must HEAR the message of the gospel.
Romans 10:13-17, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
. . . So then faith comes from hearing and hearing BY the word of Christ.”
This is amplified at verses 44, “no one can come unless he is drawn,”
and at 45, “Everyone who has HEARD . . .”

SECOND QUALIFICATION - One must believe: This is the one and only response that God requires from those who hear the gospel. It is faith PLUS nothing; no works, no baptism, no church membership.  The Philippian jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved,” and the answer came without any amplification, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

But let us be sure to know that it is not a simple acknowledgement of facts that is meant.

This is a total trust in the fact that Jesus is the Savior and that He died for your sins, and it is trust in the fact, that BY believing, one receives forgiveness of sins, eternal life and resurrection.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this (salvation) is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one should boast.”

1. For by Grace: This is describing in principle God’s part of the salvation equation. Grace indicates that it is God's universal provision through the work of Christ on the cross, freely available to and for ALL. God provided salvation because of His own character; His own love and mercy. Romans 5:8, But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His own mercy.”

2. you have been saved: The technical construction here in the Greek is the normal “to be” verb (eimi) plus the perfect passive participle of “saved” (sodzo). It describes the condition as completed in the past and still in place. This is viewing those who are already saved and describing the FACT of their salvation and how it was accomplished.

3. Through faith: This is man's part. Man must "accept" the gift of salvation which God offers. The acceptance of that gift is called, faith. However, let us recognize that this is not simply an academic acceptance of some historical person or occurrence, but an actual trust-dependence on that person and what He did in order to save us from our sins.

4. And that (this): This is the neuter demonstrative pronoun that refers back to the "neuter" idea of "saved," and should be translated as THIS. It does NOT refer to faith as a gift. (See topic - Faith: not a gift from God)
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Not of yourselves: This means that you cannot provide the salvation out from yourself. It is amplified when it says, not of works. Some seem to think that for someone to express faith, it is “of yourselves” or of works; that it is DOING SOMETHING. The answer is quite simple. IT IS DOING something. It is DOING what God told us to do. Acts 16:31.

6. It is the gift of God: Salvation is the gift of God. Rom. 6:23.
It is given without strings attached; it is given without merit attached.
The only thing that is required is to ACCEPT the gift by BELIEVING that the gift is in fact from God and provided by the work of Christ on the cross.

John  6:41, Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven."

As John records this story to us, he makes a point of distinguishing between the multitude and “the Jews.” Whether it is a valid distinction I see here or not is probably open for debate. But the main thing that we
need to observe is that there is now a vocal group that is aggressively antagonistic toward the teachings
of Jesus and adamant in trying to discredit Him.

They don’t focus on the message of FAITH, which Jesus proclaimed. Instead they focus on the deity issue of “came down from heaven.” They are grumbling, that is, verbally protesting to the other people who are gathered there, that this IDEA is quite absurd. They then inform the crowd that “we know” who this man is and we know his parents. How is it that he can now claim that he has come down from heaven .

Verse 42, They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?"

So we have within this crowd, many who are from Nazareth and who are familiar with not only Jesus Himself, but his father and mother as well. This make it difficult to accept His claim to be the Son of God
and the Messiah – that is, unless the hearers UNDERSTAND that the Messiah is in fact to be born of a virgin and become God in the flesh; Immanuel, or GOD WITH US, according to Isaiah 7:14 – which they do not.

They cannot apply Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Magnificent Shepherd, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.”

They mention that His father is JOSEPH, who is the direct descendant of King David, but they ignore the significance of that in connection with Isaiah 9:7, “There will be no end to the increase of government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom.”

And Isaiah 11:1, “and a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse (the father of David), and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.”

They mention the family of Jesus, His father and mother, but they ignore the history of His childhood, which was common knowledge.
They ignore the connection to John the baptizer’s birth, his father’s message, and John the baptizer’s ministry. Luke 1:65-79; John 5:33

They ignore the public knowledge surrounding His birth.
The shepherds: Luke 2:8-20
Simeon: Luke 2:25-35
Anna: Luke 2:36-38
And they ignore Isaiah 53:2 and Micah 5:2.

They are not honestly questioning the possibility of this, but rather are ridiculing His claim. They want to discredit His character and His teaching.
John and probably the other disciples can hear the nature of the grumbling, and of course, Jesus is well aware of both the attitude and the words of these antagonistic people.

Verse 43, Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.

He rebukes them for their grumbling, but does not try to defend Himself against the human viewpoint content of the grumbling. He simply sticks to the issue of volitional responsibility after hearing the truth
of the gospel message.

Verse 44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

1. No one can: This is the verb dunamai as a present middle indicative. It means to be able, and should be translated as, “no one has ability” or “is able” or “can” – as long as the rendering “can” is recognized as indicating actual ABILITY.

2. come: this is an INFINITIVE of the verb, erchomai, and should be translated as “to come.”
Thus, “No one is able to come to Me.” It refers to the act of embracing Christ as the promised Messiah-Savior.

3. Unless: The Greek, ean me, indicates a CONDITION necessary in order for the afore mentioned action to take place. It does not mean that the action WILL take place. It just establishes that a prior condition must occur before anyone CAN come to Christ.

4. The Father draws him: This is the verb, helkō, which means to drag or pull, and speaks of a very intense action applied upon someone. It refers to the communication of spiritual truth that will invite and encourage the hearers to accept. It does not FORCE the hearers to accept, but it simply presents without distraction or compromise the truths necessary to enter into a right relationship with God.

This is based on the character of God:
2Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not sluggish about (fulfilling) His promise, as some consider slow, but is patient toward you, not wanting (boulomai) anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
1 Timothy 2:4, “who desires (thelō) all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

ALL are drawn according to John 12:32, where Christ says, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw ALL men to myself.”
It is obvious that NOT ALL come to Christ; not all believe in Him and not all are saved.
Thus, it is likewise obvious that this “drawing” is not a FORCING of a positive decision.
In other words, the DRAW can be ignored; the message can be rejected.
It is claimed by some that since the verb, helkō, is used for physically dragging something against its will at John 18:10; Acts 16:19; 21:30; and James 2:6, then helkō at John 6:44 likewise refers to the action of God that COMPELS someone to come to Christ. However, John 12:32 refutes this for in that case EVERYONE would be compelled to come to Christ, and that is certainly not what happens.

5. And I will raise him up on the last day: As seen at verse 39,
this is resurrection and is the completion stage of our salvation.
It is called “the redemption of the body” at Romans 8:23 and “the redemption of the possession” at Ephesians 1:14.

Verse 45 explains how this DRAWING from God occurs. Jesus refers to the Old Testament teaching that under the New Covenant for Israel, there will be universal knowledge of God.

He uses this to illustrate the fact that God is faithful to provide His creation with the information they need to enter into a right relation with Him.

1. "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.'

This is a reference to Isaiah 54:13, “and all your sons will be taught of the LORD,” but it is not an exact quote. This is the promise of a PHYSICALLY re-gathered Israel into the land of Palestine and into a
nationwide relationship with God. Jesus applies it to what must precede that re-gathering – the salvation of the soul, and God’s wooing action to invite ALL who WANT to, to come.
Thus, Isaiah continues in chapter 55, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.
Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen that you may live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the grace promises given to David.”

Since God is faithful to provide the information for entrance into a salvation relationship with Himself, He is also faithful to fulfill the promised results when someone accepts the truth of the message.

A key to understanding the Old Testament “kingdom” passages is to realize that ALL kingdom promises are based on and dependent on Messiah’s work on the cross.

The spiritual blessings obtained by Christ’s sacrifice, and directly applied to the NEW spiritual priesthood – the church, are precursors to the blessings of the kingdom.

Many of the IDEAS that have a kingdom setting must FIRST be realized by the church.
That is why so many “kingdom” passages are quoted by Jesus and the apostles.
It is, in fact, the quotation of these passages that give it a “church” application.
Isaiah 54:13 is not the only verse from Isaiah 54 that is referenced in the New Testament.

Verse 1 is quoted by Paul at Galatians 4:27 with direct application to the church. This refers to the spiritual seed that is sown via the gospel proclamation after Christ’s resurrection.

It is interesting that after the PREDICTION that there will be MANY spiritual “children” from others than the Jews (the sons of the desolate one), AND after the prediction that ALL will be taught of the Lord, we find at Isaiah 55:1-5, a UNIVERSAL salvation invitation – “Behold, EVERYONE who thirsts, come to the waters . . . come, buy, eat.” This is almost identical to the universal salvation invitation found at Rev. 22:17, “and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who WANTS TO, take the water of life freely.”

So, at John 6:45, the reference to Isaiah 54:13 is a reference to the communication of gospel information so that the one who HEARS and learns (accepts) the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit THROUGH that gospel message, that one will come to Christ (accept and trust Him) and be saved.

2. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.
We notice that there are TWO factors involved here.
A. First, the person must HEAR the information, and Jesus is talking about the gospel of salvation.
A person cannot accept and believe the gospel until he hears it. This is the DRAWING of God. It is the invitation to the whole world that “whosoever believes in Him may have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
At Isaiah 55:3, it is “incline your ear.”

B. Second, the person must ACCEPT the information. This requires a recognition that the information has value and is true. Such a recognition indicates that the person has truly LEARNED the reality of the gospel, and it is this awareness within the soul that COMPELS the person to come to Christ in faith; trusting in Him as the Savior of the world.

It is not the drawing of God that compels. It is the acceptance of the gospel information as truth that compels the person to make a positive decision, and to trust in Christ.
At Isaiah 55:3, it is “Listen.”

Verse 46 is a parenthetical comment by Jesus concerning the visibility of God.
Jesus often makes such parenthetical and unrelated comments. Another good example is found at John 3:13, where Jesus informs us “And no one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven; even the Son of Man.”
This comment has nothing to do with the gospel information that Jesus was giving to Nicodemus. Likewise, here, this comment has nothing to do with the drawing of God and the belief of man unto salvation. But it does give us some added information about the character of God and the relationship between the Father and the Son.

1."Not that anyone has seen the Father: The Father has never been seen by man. Whenever the Godhead was revealed to a person on earth, it was always the second member of the Godhead; the pre-incarnate Christ. John 1:18, “No man has seen God at anytime.” (Exodus 33:20)
FOR DETAILS see Topic: The Angel of the Lord

2. except the One who is from God: This refers to Jesus the Messiah, who came from God, by taking upon Himself a human body. John 1:14, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

3. He has seen the Father: Prior to the virgin birth, THE WORD, as the second member of the Godhead, was present with God (the Father) and was in fact EQUAL to God the Father.
John 1:1, 18; 10:30; 17:5

At verse 47, Jesus returns to the primary issue of His gospel presentation.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”
The bottom line is that there is an expression from a person that is required in order for that person to be saved from sin and be given eternal life. It is the recognition that Jesus is the promised Messiah-Savior and total trust in Him as the one who paid the penalty for sin so that INDEED, “whoever believes has eternal life.
This is stated as a simple principle of truth.  The popular formula of amen amen (truly, truly) makes a statement of truth that expresses both authority and dogmatism.
1. He who believes: This is a present active participle of pisteuo. It does not mean that whoever KEEPS ON BELIEVING. It is simply stating a factual principle. That is why the participle form is used.
In actuality, it is a ONE TIME decision of faith – acceptance of Christ and trust in Him – that accomplishes the reality of salvation, which is, forgiveness of sins and the possession of eternal life.

2. has eternal life: this is a present active indicative of echo.
Here the present tense carries its natural durative force. The idea is that the person who believes, that is, makes a moment-in-time decision to trust in Christ, will from that moment forward KEEP ON HAVING (that is possessing) eternal life.

John 3:15 The proper attitude toward the savior

1. So that: hina introduces a purpose/result clause to indicate not only the purpose for the Son to go to the cross, but what the result is for those who trust in Him. The clause contains 2 factors.

     A. The condition which must be met - "believe."
     B. The result which accrues when that condition is met -
"may have," which will always occur in the subjunctive mood.

2. whoever: the provision goes out to all men and salvation is thus available to ALL who will accept it on God's terms.

     See Topic: Unlimited Atonement

3. Believes in Him: pisteuo, present active participle.

     A. The present tense is used to indicate a universal "principle" of what is necessary for one to be saved. (Jn. 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24)

     B. Some claim that the present tense is used to indicate the need for a "continuous" expression of faith in order for salvation to become a reality, thus the condition of "faithfulness" instead of a one- time total faith commitment in God's character and plan as that which establishes our salvation.

     C. However the present tense may also be used to indicate either that which is "customary" as in "universally required," or that which occurs in a present "moment of time." Especially as it occurs in the present "participle" which it does in each of the above examples. 
        For in those cases, the participle is used as a "substantive" to indicate the action that is "characteristic" of the subject of the sentence.

     D. A.T. Robertson notes that, "the so called 'present' tense may be used therefore to express an action simply (punctiliar), a process (durative) a state (perfective)."

     E. So it is just as possible to have an aoristic (punctiliar) idea with the present tense as to have a continuous idea.
        We must rely on the entire context of scripture to decide the case.

     F. And to help that decision, we simply need to recognize the many times that the aorist tense itself is used to indicate the "point of time" response of faith that is required in order to assure salvation from that moment onward.

        1. Acts 16:31, "believe" is an aorist active imperative

        2. Romans 10:8-9, "that if you confess - - and believe," are both aorist active subjunctive.

        3. Eph. 1:13, "having believed," is an aorist active participle

     G. The issue is further clarified from a "negative" angle when we observe the Perfect active indicative PLUS the negative at Jn. 3:18.
Here, the issue is not, he is not BELIEVING (present Tense) but clearly the fact that he has not made a "past" faith/dependence commitment to the gospel message.

4. May have everlasting life:

     A. This describes what Jesus meant by the terms "see" and "enter" into the kingdom of God. It is everlasting life.

     B. It also makes the very important connection between being born again and belief. It is "believing" which results in the new birth which in turn provides "spiritual life" ie, everlasting life.

     C. Have: echō, present active subjunctive which completes the clause and indicates the effects when the condition of "faith" is met.

        1. The present tense communicates the "present" and immediate result at the moment of time that the condition of faith is met.

        2. That "present" result can be summarized by the passages we have already mentioned in this study.

             a. John 3:16 -

             1. should not perish: aorist middle subjunctive of apollumi

             2. but HAVE: echō, present active subjunctive.

             3. The "point of time" of a future judgment is offset by the
                     present possession of everlasting life.

             b. John 3:18 - Is not being judged: present passive
                 indicative carries the force of a "futuristic present."

             c. John 3:36 - "he who believes, has (right now, present
               active indicative) everlasting life.

             d. John 5:24 -

                 1. Has everlasting life - present active indicative

                 2. Does NOT come into judgment: ouk erchomai -
                  present middle indicative.

                 3. BUT has passed out of death:
                    perfect active indicative. 
                    A completed result based on the condition of a
                    "point in time" decision to trust in Christ.

At verse 6:54, Jesus makes a very important parallel between that statement and the principle stated at verse 6:47.
          Verse 47                                                              Verse 54
1. He who believes                                    He who eats my flesh and
                                                                 drinks my blood.
2. Has eternal life                                      Has eternal life

Eating the flesh and drinking the blood is a symbol – an illustration – of faith.
But more than providing an illustration, it actually shows us what is the CONTENT of what Christ did for us. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood refers to accepting specifically what Christ did on the cross.

Verses 48-58
Jesus returns to His reference to Himself as THE BREAD OF LIFE.
The symbol refers to both the physical and the spiritual suffering of Christ on the cross. The bread refers to the massive amount of physical abuse that He suffered and the blood refers to the SPIRITUAL side of the sacrifice – the fact that all the sins of the world were placed upon Christ and judged by the Father.

Verse 48, I am the bread of life.
He is the bread which PROVIDES spiritual life.

Verse 49, Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
Jesus compares the physical manna with the need for a spiritual solution.

The manna sustained life, but did not prevent death.
The manna provision in the Old Testament pointed to spiritual value as found in the word of God. Deuteronomy 8:3.
The real benefit from the manna was not the sustenance for maintaining physical life.

The real benefit is seeing the supernatural provision from God that is designed to perpetuate the function
of faith in every area of life. “Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,”
Matthew 4:4.

But the ultimate in God’s provision is the bestowment of spiritual life through the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus, as the bread of life will impart spiritual life and that will result in physical resurrection.

Verse 50

1.This is the bread which comes down out of heaven:
As expressed elsewhere, God the Father is the source.
The verb here is katabainō as a present active participle, as we saw at verse 33. There and here are good examples of where a present participle CLEARLY refers to a punctiliar or point-in-time action.
For clearly, the intent here is to say,
"This is the bread which CAME down out from heaven."
And this is exactly what He says next, at verse 51.

2. so that one may eat of it: Eating is a picture of faith. This is not referring to a literal eating of “the Bread of Life” – of Christ’s body as is erroneously taught by the Roman Church.
The parallelism in the passage is clear.
3. and not die: This is not talking about NEVER dying physically. It is talking about first and foremost receiving eternal life and that will result in living forever after resurrection in a new body exactly like Christ’s resurrection body.

Verse 51
1. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven: This is the dramatic statement of identification that Jesus Himself is the source for spiritual life and eternal resurrection life.
Here He uses the aorist tense of katabainō which confirms the intent in His previous statements, using the present tense, to dramatize and emphasize the reality of His heavenly origin.
He uses this same aorist of the verb at verse 58 as well.

The use of the adjective, LIVING, states that the real issue is a PERSON and not food.
And it is the specific person who has come down out from heaven to give life to the world.

2.  if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever:
The FOREVER concept is amplified from verse 47 and 50. “He has eternal life,” and “he shall not die.”

3. and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh: This refers to the sacrifice of Himself in order to receive the just penalty of divine justice against sin. When FLESH is mentioned it
refers to the presentation of His physical body to be judged. It is not the actual judgment on sin, but it
paves the way for removal of the curse on the body through resurrection life (raised up on the last day).

The judgment on sin is accomplished in the soul, and is represented by the term BLOOD.

This sacrifice is made on behalf of the ENTIRE world. It is “for the life of the world.”

It is provided for ALL, but only those who believe will receive the benefit of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
John 3:16, “so that whoever believes in Him may have everlasting life.”

Jesus is speaking in language that is not explicit. That is, He does not explain what He means by referring to Himself and His flesh as the bread. He knows that most of the people are blinded by their religion and their dependence on the LETTER of the law. Those who truly hunger and thirst after righteousness will see the symbolism. They will understand what Jesus says later, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Verse 63.

The judgment of Christ IN THE FLESH fulfills the VISIBLE factor. This judgment must be physically
SEEN by the witnesses so that the spiritual part can be understood by faith, and so that the FACT of physical resurrection will have the designed effect.

It is the judgment on the body that paves the way for resurrection, which is the VISIBLE proof that the spiritual sacrifice accomplished its intent.
Acts 17:31, "having furnished proof by raising Him from the dead."

This is the significance of the historical record. John 19:31-37; 1 John 5:6-13.
The term, “Christ died” (Romans 5:8, etc.) embraces both aspects of the judgment.

Verse 52

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"
Most of them are simply not listening. They focus on the physical and miss the spiritual. They have rejected the spiritual reality of the Messianic promise as recorded in the Old Testament.  Isaiah 53:5-6, 8, 11

So all they can do is argue about what He has been teaching.

They are in hardness of heart and if they do not look beyond the physical they will miss the spiritual truth
and miss the salvation invitation that is extended to them. This is similar to the reason for His parabolic teaching as Jesus explained at Matthew 13:13-17.
13"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, `YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH
THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' 16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and
did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Verse 53, So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”

Jesus answers with the verbal formula of absolute authority and truth – truly, truly.

Here Jesus adds an additional factor to the symbolism about His sacrifice on the cross.
He continues with the same parabolic symbolism without explanation.

They already picked up on the EATING issue, but now He adds the issue of “drinking His blood.”
Faith for salvation does not involve simply a belief in the PERSON of Christ, that is, WHO He is. But it involves an understanding of WHAT He did. It involves knowledge and acceptance that He sacrificed Himself and died for the sins of the world. Any accurate gospel message must include this information.
To tell someone to just “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” is INADEQUATE and will not result in saving faith. In order to express saving faith, the person must understand that Jesus
is the Son of God and that He died for his sins.

The flesh and blood terminology teaches about His sacrifice for sin. The eating and drinking terminology teaches about the required faith-trust in order to be saved.

1. The flesh: This refers to the PHYSICAL sacrifice; the presentation of His physical body to be publicly and visibly displayed as a propitiation for the sins of the world. Romans 3:25.
The physical sacrifice is seen at Isaiah 53:7-9.
Since the BODY (the flesh) will be killed, it paves the way for physical resurrection.
In actuality, the sacrifice for sins which is a SPIRITUAL event precedes the death of the body. Jesus proclaims AFTER the sins of the world have been judged in Him, “It is finished.” It is then that He dies physically – voluntarily – because the spiritual sacrifice had been accomplished.
The resurrection of Christ is the proof that the sacrifice for sins was both accomplished and accepted (propitiation) by the Father (Acts 17:31). It is also the basis for providing resurrection life to those who believe in Him (John 14:19).

2. The blood: This term refers to the spiritual sacrifice; the judgment of all the sins of the world in the body of Jesus. And His SOUL carried the pain and suffering of spiritual death; separation from the Father. That is why He cried out at that point in time, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
At that point in time He was separated from the Father as all the sins of the world were judged in Christ.
This spiritual sacrifice is seen at Isaiah 53:10-12, He rendered “His soul as a quilt offering.”

 It is not the physical blood of Jesus that paid for sin – it is the spiritual judgment of all the sins that were placed upon His soul by the Father.

The term “the blood of Christ” simply takes us back to the animal sacrifice, which is a representative analogy. The blood of the animal sprinkled on the altar did not pay for sin.
But it pointed to the coming savior who would undergo SPIRITUAL death in order to pay for sin.

It is “the blood of Christ AS of a lamb” (1Peter 1:19) that pays for sin. Jesus was NOT a lamb, but as the SPIRITUAL sacrifice of the Father for the sin of the world, he was LIKE a lamb; the lamb of the Old Testament sacrificial system.
For full details see TOPIC:  THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

3. You have no life in yourselves: This is the first statement of EXCLUSION and RESTRICTION.
There is only ONE WAY to the Father; only one way to find forgiveness of sins and eternal life; only one way of salvation.
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The apostles echo this at Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which it is necessary to be saved.”

Many rebel and chomp at the bit because of  this exclusionary character of Christianity, but it is Jesus himself who taught this and not man.
And either ALL of what Jesus taught is divinely authoritative or NONE of it is.

Verse 54, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Repetition for emphasis.
This connects the new parabolic symbolism with what He already said at verses 39, 40 and 44.
The one whom the Father gives to Christ (v. 39) –
The one who beholds and believes in Christ (v. 40) –
The one who comes to Christ after being drawn (v. 44) –
The one who eats and drinks (v. 54) –

This is the one who will be given eternal life and will be raised up on the last day.
Again, everything revolves around verse 47, “He who believes has eternal life.”

Verse 55, "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.”

This is the second statement of  EXCLUSION and RESTRICTION.
The meaning is clear. By being the TRUE food and TRUE drink,
it excludes all other attempts to reach God other  than Christ.

Verse 56, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

This is a statement of relationship. Prior to this the focus was on the possession of eternal life (the spiritual) and the promise of resurrection life (the physical). Now Jesus introduces something that had never been taught before. The reality of a reciprocal spiritual relationship with the Savior of the world is possible and available to all who will believe.
This is talking about a spiritual union that places the believer in the family of God as per John 1:12-13,
and which is accomplished by the new birth as explained at John 3:3-16.
This salvation relationship is not mentioned anywhere else in John except at John 15:1,
“every branch in Me.” All the other references in John 15-17 deal with the experience of fellowship with Christ and not relationship. The differentiation requires some careful comparison of the passages and an understanding that there is a difference between relationship abiding and fellowship abiding in Christ.
See Commentary:  JOHN 15

Verse 57,

1.As the living Father sent Me: The word LIVING always focuses on the eternity of God the Father.
And the eternal existence of God establishes His sovereignty and His power.
By the very fact that He IS eternal, He is inherently sovereign and omnipotent.
And it is the eternal, sovereign and omnipotent God Most High, Who sent The Son of Man; the promised Messiah-Savior. And Jesus has claimed this title for Himself time and time again.
See Topic: God: The Eternity of God

And Jesus has also claimed that He has been sent personally by The Father to do His will.
John 3:34; 4:34; 5:23-24, 30, 36-38; 6:29, 38-39, 44; 7:16, 18, 28-29, 33; 8:16, 18, 26, 29; 9:4; 10:36; 12:44-45, 49; 14:24; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3, 18; 20:21

The word, AS, is kathos, and is used to indicate the basis for a following action.
In this case, the ACTION that is in view is the bestowal of resurrection life to the one’s who trust in the Messiah. The BASIS for that bestowal is the authority and power of God the Father as the one who
sent the Son, and the One who gave Him life.

2. and I live because of the Father:  It is the power of God that accomplished the virgin birth.
The human life of Jesus was conceived by the act of the Holy Spirit.
And the body of Jesus was “prepared” for His role as the Messiah. Hebrews 10:5
Of course, the Father has control over all of human life and all of us must recognize that we all LIVE because of the Father. But our lives began through the normal process of procreation, designed by God,
and then allowed to function according to the divine laws of science that govern that process. And while nothing happens without the FULL knowledge and permissive will of God, He rarely expresses a personal influence in the process of procreation.
However, in the case of Jesus, God not only personally intervened, but He even bypassed His own established scientific laws, and brought the Messiah into the world through the virgin birth.
Thus, it can be said of Jesus, in a way much different than with us – He lives because of the Father.

And based on that same POWER of God, that brought Jesus into the world, SO ALSO shall the one who believes in Him LIVE because of Jesus.

3. so he who eats Me: The first and only time this exact expression occurs, “eat me.”
And of course, this should establish to the listeners that Jesus is using symbolism to illustrate FAITH – the faith that He has already mentioned several times in this context. Vs. 29, 35, 40, 47.
But although the symbolism is obvious, they refuse to accept Him as the promised Savior.

4. he also will live because of Me. The promise of  eternal life, which includes both spiritual life (forgiveness of sins) and physical life (resurrection).
Verse 33, “The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
It is BECAUSE of Jesus, and His sacrifice for sins on the cross, that life is made available to the human race. In this context, He has not specifically stated that He will be sacrificed, although it is
hinted at verse 51, “the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
That fact will be understood by making the connection to the Old Testament prophecies concerning the sacrifice of the Messiah. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.
But as Jesus has already stated back at verse 5:40,
“you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life.”
John 14:19, “Because I live, you shall live also.”
Romans 5:17, The believer will “reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Verse, 58, "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.
This summary puts the manna and all the physical details in perspective.
1. Manna sustained physical life only temporarily simply by functioning as a food source.
2. It did not give spiritual life or provide resurrection life.
3. Christ provides both.  He who eats this bread will live forever.

Verse 59, These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
Verse 60, The response of the majority of the disciples, not including the twelve.

1. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said: These disciples are not the twelve.
They are from a large group of people who have been following Jesus, and who have been basically more interested, awed and appreciative of His miracles than of His message. It is apparent that they have not really been listening to His message or they would have been receptive to His parabolic teaching at this time. And they have not accepted Him as the promised Messiah-Savior who is to save the world from sin.
They are too focused on the physical. They are occupied with finding physical comfort from food and healing, and they are looking for deliverance from the Roman oppression.
They have not embraced Him as the Messiah-Savior. They have not BELIEVED in Him.
Thus, Jesus describes them as those “who did not believe” (verse 64).

2. "This is a difficult statement: The adjective is sklāros, and it means hard. Literally, this reads, “hard is this word.”
Their problem is that they are trying to see something too literal and physical as at verse 52,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
They simply will not make the connection between “eat” and believe.

3. who can listen to it?" Literally, “who is able to hear it.” They are basically saying that it is too difficult to receive this teaching and are probably thinking something along the line of “we are not cannibals.”

Verse 61

1. But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this: He knows what they are thinking.
He knows their problem; their negativity and their failure to connect the physical with the spiritual which He will explain at verse 63.

2. said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble?
The verb is skandalidzō. It indicates a stumbling of attitude and confidence.  
They have been shaken up by His message and fail to consider the possibility that there might be something more significant to His words than physical flesh and blood.
His rhetorical question is a challenge to them to re-evaluate their reaction.
Basically, “are you really having trouble with this?”

The sacrifice of the Messiah, both body and soul, is taught in the Old Testament, and establishes the credentials of the Messiah.
They have failed to make the connection. They remain in their unbelief.

Verse 62, "What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?

He then adds another rhetorical question.
What if you were to actually see The Son of Man going back up into heaven from where He came?
Would that convince you?
This is a reference to Psalm 110:1.
“Yahweh said to my Lord, Sit down at My right hand until I make
Your enemies the footstool for Your feet.”
He is simply telling them that “I am the Messiah.”
Stop thinking of me as the son of Mary and Joseph.
But it is to no avail. Apparently ALL of these remain unconvinced and unbelieving, and chose to stop walking with Him. After the “many” withdrew at verse 66, Jesus then addresses the twelve, for it seems that they are the only ones left.

Verse 63

1. It is the Spirit who gives life: Literally, The spirit is the life-giver.
The verb is dzōopoieō as a present active participle.
This is the first mention of the word, spirit, in this context. There are two choices as to its meaning; The Holy Spirit or
the “spiritual” truths of God’s word.
A. Jesus is comparing spiritual value with material or physical value.
B. The people were occupied with physical life comforts and the physical details that provide that comfort. Verses 26-27.
C. Jesus clarified that spiritual value goes beyond physical life and physical comforts, and extends into the after-life as living forever with God.
D. The flesh profits nothing: Literally, this is, “the flesh does not benefit nothing.” In Greek, the double negative is intensive and emphatic.

E. In context, the flesh is not the sin nature, but the pursuit of human values and physical comforts that exalt physical life as superior to spiritual life. Verses 2, 15, 26-27, 31, 49, 58.
F. The pursuit of the physical value system provides no spiritual value. Verse 27, it is the food that perishes. It provides no spiritual life and no resurrection life. “Your fathers ate the manna and they died.” Verse 49.
There is no true inner joy when occupied with the physical value system; no purpose, definition, happiness, fulfillment, contentment. John 14:27, “I give you joy, not as the world gives.”
G. The word spirit then, refers to the pursuit of spiritual truth which promotes relationship with God.
H. It is true that the Holy Spirit provides spiritual life when someone trusts in Christ. But He is not in view
in this passage. The issue here is man’s choice of focus and pursuit.
(1) The bread of physical sustenance – physical comforts, but no salvation and no resurrection.
(2) The bread of life – spiritual truth and salvation.

2. the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life: Jesus does not have the Holy Spirit in mind.
He is talking about the NATURE of the content of His message. His words have SPIRITUAL meaning that go far beyond the limited insight of these unbelievers, who
(A) have stumbled over His claim to have come down from heaven. Verse 41.
(B) have stumbled over His reference to eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Verses 56-60.

3. And they are life: The benefit that His words provide is spiritual life; salvation; forgiveness of sins and living forever through resurrection.
This statement correlates with Deuteronomy 8:3, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.”
But the problem is that most of them do not WANT to accept Him as the Savior.

Verse 64, "But there are some of you who do not believe"
1. There are many things that get in the way of someone trusting in Christ as Savior.
A. The blindness of religion.
B. The required death of a Savior.
C. The pull of earthly comforts.
D. Peer and family pressure.
E. In this case, His physical birth; “we know His parents.”

2. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe:
This probably refers to the beginning of this particular encounter with these people.
Jesus could easily tell what people were thinking. He had a perfect understanding and orientation to human nature. I am not claiming that He could actually READ minds, but He could tell by their actions what their attitudes and motives were. Matthew 9:4 and John 2:25.

3. and who it was that would betray Him. Also, Jesus knew from the very beginning who it was who was going to betray Him.

Verse 65
1. And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you: It is because of their failure to HEAR and to LEARN as per verse 45.

2. that no one can come to Me: Same construction as at verse 44. No one has ability to come to Christ.
That is, ability to accept Him as Savior.

3.  unless it has been granted him from the Father:
A. UNLESS: This is a 3^rd class condition (ean mā plus the subjunctive of eimi) to indicate what is necessary before anyone is able to choose for or against Christ.
B. IT: This is the 3^rd person of the verb and refers to ABILITY.
C. Granted: is didomi as a perfect passive participle. Ability is given in the past with the result that an action can now be taken in response to that ability. It does not mean that the person WILL come to Christ as a result of ability being given, but it means that something must be done to act upon the soul of man in order for him to choose for or against Christ.
D. What needs to be done upon the soul of man is INSTRUCTION. The gospel message is revealed to the soul through the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is the accurate communication of gospel truth that draws the person to Christ.
E. However, even though he is drawn, as all are (John 12:32), the conditional aspect of salvation still remains. John 3:16, “so that whoever believes has eternal life.”
John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who is un-persuaded by the Son
shall not see life.”


Verse 66-67, As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"

 As noted earlier, this apparently refers to ALL of them except the twelve.
So Jesus addresses them to see if His words have made the proper impact upon them.
Eleven are still positive to Him and have either understood His parabolic teaching, or have been taught enough already that they understand and accept Him as the Messiah-Savior.
Although some will have doubts later.
A. Thomas:  John 14:5-7
B. Philip: John 14:8-9
The twelfth one of course, has his own materialistic agenda at this time and does not leave.

Verse 68-69, Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."
A. Peter speaks for the group and no one protests.

B. YOU HAVE: this recognizes the PERSON of Christ – Who He is.
C. Words: this recognizes the value of His message.
D. And this is the confession of faith that Peter echoes on behalf of “the twelve,”
which he assumes is a valid representation of how the others feel.
But he obviously is not aware of the presence of an unbeliever – Judas.

“The Holy One of God” indicates the recognition that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Verse 70-71
1. Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve:
This comment by Jesus is designed to teach the disciples humility and caution.
A. Christ chose them to be His disciples based on HIS design and not based on any merit that any one of them had. This is NOT a choosing for salvation, but a choosing for ministry.
He chose ALL 12 for ministry. Judas was chosen too.

2. and yet one of you is a devil?  Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
The word is diabolos. It occurs 37 times.
A. As an adjective: 1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Titus 2:3, each time in the plural.
It means slanderer or accuser.
B. As a noun: The devil or satan.
Twenty-nine times with the definite article – THE devil.
Four times without it, but the context requires it to be understood.

C. That leaves John 6:70, which is singular and without the article.
1. The context does not demand an understood “the.”
2. Even when someone is possessed, he is not called “the devil,” or “a devil.”
 1 John 3:8, “of the devil.”
Acts 10:38, “oppressed by the devil.”
Acts 13:10, “son of the devil.”
John 8:44, “you are of your father, the devil.”

3. So we have two choices for this verse.
A. One of you is a devil.
B. One of you is a slanderer, an accuser, an attacker – therefore an enemy.
4. To say he is a devil reflects his future influence and indwelling by satan.
A. Initial satanic influence:  John 13:2
B. First satanic indwelling: Luke 22:3
C. Second satanic indwelling:  John 13:27
D. But this does not make him either “a” or “the” devil. There are no “devils” (plural).
There is only one devil.
E. To say he is a slanderer reflects his future actions. The word “betray” at verses 64 and 71.
Through betrayal he is an enemy and accuses Christ unjustly. This is slander.

CONCLUSION

The 12 (minus Judas) see the spiritual value. The multitude of Jews and pseudo disciples, do not.

And the whole issue of the manna, whether you were there and ate it, or whether you looked back at the historical event, is the same. It teaches the value of Christ’s words. Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4.
 

Questions and comments are always welcome

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