Jn. 6:22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except the one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone,
Jn. 6:23 However, other boats came from Tiberius, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -
Jn. 6:24 When the people therefore saw Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Yeshua.
Jn. 6:25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
Jn. 6:26 Yeshua answered and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”
This verse really tells us the actual motivation for why they sought to make Him King. Not because of signs authenticating His claims, or even His message, but because they were fed by Him. They understand the physical quite well. They did not comprehend how to appropriate the physical.
Jn. 6:27 “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Jn. 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jn. 6:29 Yeshua answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
They still cannot seem to get past the physical aspect. You cannot work your way into Heaven. The work that saves is the work of faith. The kind of work that saves is simply to believe on Him, and that really is no work at all.
Jn. 6:30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?”
It appears that they seem to accept the fact that He is not going to work another miracle and feed them again, so they want to know what other sign He might perform for them. An evil generation requires a sign. They are so dull that the spiritual side means nothing to them. They really could care less whether He is the Messiah or not. The Kingdom of God or the state of their souls means nothing to them.
Jn. 6:31 “Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat.’”
Sources: Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24
Now they start to get real religious by quoting Scripture. The problem is that they don’t even know how to interpret what they quote. They believe that the “he” in the verse that they just quoted was Moses, not God. Their forefathers received bread miraculously while Moses was leading them, and He did the same thing the other day. So, why doesn’t He do it again? They can’t seem to grasp that the same unbelief that got their forefathers in trouble in the wilderness is the same unbelief they are displaying now. Instead of having faith in God’s providence, their forefathers really only cared abut their physical needs, and that caused them some problems. These people just can’t seem to tie the two together.
Jn. 6:32 Then Yeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from Heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven.”
Yeshua is very quick to correct them as to who was the source of the manna in the wilderness. It came from God, not Moses. These people are convinced that there is a physical source for all their needs God being the source for everything that they need is the farthest thing from their minds. Man should never try to take credit for what God is doing.
Jn. 6:33 “For the bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.”
Here is where Yeshua deliberately lays it on. He identifies Himself, His physical self, as the Bread from Heaven. How can something physical come down from Heaven which is spiritual? How can they eat His body without committing cannibalism which is forbidden to do? How can they drink His blood which is absolutely forbidden in Leviticus 17? These are some of the same things the church will be accused of later on in history.
Source: Lev. 17:12
Jn. 6:34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
Here they are back wanting Yeshua to feed them again.
Jn. 6:35 And Yeshua said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
Jn. 6:36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.”
Yeshua now really lays it on the line. They are going to accept Him for who He is or completely miss the boat altogether. But, they still don’t believe.
Jn. 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Jn. 6:38 “For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
It is the Lord’s will that all will be saved (I Timothy 2:4). But, it is not man’s will that all should be saved. Yeshua’s mercy towards a repentant heart is inexhaustible, but only true believers can understand this.
Source: I Timothy 2:4
Jn. 6:39 “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.”
Jn. 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up the last day.”
Now it is really getting all mixed up. If they eat His flesh and drink His blood, that means that He is dead, yet He will be around physically at the resurrection. He is also standing before them as a physical man, and yet, He claims that He will bring about the resurrection, which only God can do, and He is spirit. By making this claim, Yeshua is claiming to be God. You think these people were confused earlier, you ought to see them now.
Jn. 6:41 The Jews then murmured against Him because He said, “I am the bread which came down from Heaven.”
These people seem to have bitten off more than they can chew. After all, they really only want another free meal. Their unbelief has really gotten them in a tight spot with Yeshua.
Jn. 6:42 And they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from Heaven.’”
Jn. 6:43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.”
Jn. 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jn. 6:45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.”
Source: Isaiah 54:13
They knew this man and His family. They knew when He was born, and even watched Him grow up. Now He says that He came down from Heaven. The Incarnation is one of the mysteries of God that our finite minds cannot really comprehend. It simply must be accepted through faith, and only the spiritually minded can really make faith work for them. These people absolutely had no chance of understanding what Yeshua was talking about.
Jn. 6:46 “Not that everyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”
Jn. 6:47 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”
Jn. 6:48 “I am the Bread of Life.”
Jn. 6:49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead.”
Jn. 6:50 “This is the bread which comes down from Heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.”
Jn. 6:51 “I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
Jn. 6:52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
Here Yeshua sort of puts the icing on the cake. In this verse, He, in a very Hebraic manner, claims to be God. There is only One God, and He is in Heaven. If Yeshua has seen God, then He must have been in Heaven. Since there is only One God, He is that God. Also He claims to be the One who gives eternal life, and only God can do that. This who discourse really raises the hackles of these people. They really can’t understand where He is coming from and it makes them angry. They may even think that Yeshua is playing word games with them. Its all They think that it is His fault, not theirs.
Jn. 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”
Jn. 6:54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jn. 6:55 “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.”
Jn. 6:56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.”
Jn. 6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”
Jn. 6:58 “This is the bread which came down from Heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
The one striking question that seems to come up missing from these people is: How do we eat Your flesh and drink Your blood? We really don’t understand what You are saying. Explain this to us and maybe we can do it. At least we want to try.” They never ask Yeshua to help them over the hump into understanding the spiritual significance of His words. Without a doubt, if they had genuinely come to Him asking Him to help them understand, He would have done it and the outcome of this whole thing would have been extremely different. The Lord will always help those who are genuinely seeking a better understanding of Him.
Jn. 6:59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
Jn. 6:60 Therefore many of His disciples when they heard this said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
Jn. 6:61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?”
Jn. 6:62 “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?”
Jn. 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.”
Jn. 6:64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
Jn. 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
Everyone was having a hard time understanding what He was saying, even His disciples, and Yeshua was very concerned about them. They are true believers and He wants to make sure that they understand. In verse 62, He hints to them that “they ain’t seen nothing yet.” All of His miracles to this point have been to authenticate His teachings. There will be one final sign that they will see that will really shows them who He is.
Jn. 6:66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
Jn. 6:6 7 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
Verse 66 probably reveals the whole purpose of His discourse. Yeshua’s time was getting short. In all His travels across the country He had picked up many other disciples, in addition to the original twelve. People followed Him for a variety of reasons, probably most had nothing at all to do with faith. The reason for this discourse and the way He spoke it was to get rid of some excess baggage. Unfortunately a lot of our churches today teach a concept of greasy grace that says that as long as you come to church every once in a while, and maybe pay your tithes, the Lord will put up with just about anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing in these Gospels to promote that kind of theology. His disciples will be going through a traumatic experience when He is arrested and put on trial. Just as He did when He raised the Ruler’s little girl, He puts the unbelievers out of the way. He doesn’t want them around to pollute the thinking of His disciples. It will be difficult enough for them as it is.
Jn. 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Jn. 6:69 “Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jn. 6:70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
Jn. 6:71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.
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