John 6:41-59 – Jesus, God's means to eternal life

Jesus’ discourse of the bread of life brought the memory of the people to the covenant name of God - the great “I Am” recorded in Exodus 3:14. He was literally saying that He is the “I Am”. He claimed to have come down from heaven which was totally unacceptable to the Jews. For they knew who His earthly parents were. So they grumbled among themselves 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’?” In His response, Jesus told them not to grumble among themselves. He was in essence asking them to stop their doubt and accept Him as the bread of life that came from heaven. He offered them four compelling reasons why He is who they, as well as us, needed.  

Firstly, it is because no one can come to the Father through Jesus unless God has drawn that person to Himself. Here Jesus made reference to the teaching of the prophet. He was most likely referring to Isaiah 54:13 that says, “All your sons will be taught of the Lord….” And those who are taught of the Father will be drawn to Jesus. Secondly, to have a relationship with the Father is to have a relationship with Jesus Himself. Thirdly, only He, Jesus the Son of God, has seen the Father. And lastly, only by partaking of Jesus, the bread of life that came from heaven, can one gain eternal life. Jesus is much better than the manna which God had rained upon the Jews in their wilderness wandering. Why? Those who partook of the manna did not live forever. They all died. Unlike the manna, Jesus is the true bread that comes from heaven, and whoever partakes of Him will never die but will live forever.  

In verse 51, Jesus reveals that He is God incarnate. He said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” Jesus is saying that He is God who came clothed in human flesh. It is in partaking of what He would be going through, His death and resurrection, that one will gain eternal life. The word “flesh” was misunderstood by the Jews. They thought He was going to give His actual flesh for them to eat. They mistook Him for teaching cannibalism. They failed to realize that in talking about the flesh and blood, Jesus was looking forward to Calvary. Jesus was referring to the giving of Himself as the sacrificial atonement. He is the offering made for the world and the only offering that God accepts. His sacrifice results in eternal life for all who would accept His death on their behalf as an atonement for their sin. As we believe that He did it for us, and acknowledge Him as our sacrificial lamb, Who died on our behalf, that we find atonement for our sin and receive life eternal. All these were taught in the synagogue in Capernaum. 

The question of Jesus’ audience then was “What must I do that I might do the works of God?” Perhaps this is the same question we need to be asking. The answer Jesus gave them would also be His answer to us. “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” If we take the words of Jesus seriously, it is to believe and partake of Him. And we do so through His Word and prayer. We will find that as we do that we progressively go through a spiritual metamorphosis. We shall be morphed to be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Oh, what a glorious truth!