John 6:25-59
Jesus the Bread of Life
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 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. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Jesus had just fed five thousand people and then walked on water...Who would not be listening to what He would say now???...
Jesus had crossed the lake of Galilee and His followers ask Him, when did you get here???...Jesus does not answer their question and tells them the reason they are looking for Him, is because He provided them bread, they ate, and were full...The people are still thinking in terms of earth and He is trying to teach them the way of the Spirit and faith...God has give Him, a seal of approval...God has given His son much power...We should believe in Him...We should think about that, instead of the bread we just ate...
Daily faith is so important, yet so hard...Jesus tells us to believe in God and the One He has sent...Jesus wants us to exercise our faith everyday, and follow God...The bread we eat everyday gets us through the day...If we want eternal life, we must follow Him (to get to eternal life)...He is the bread of eternal life...We cannot have eternal life without Him...Like the manna that God sent Moses from heaven for the people, God sent Jesus to us from heaven to give us eternal life...Manna was food for our bodies, Jesus is food for our souls...
In these verses, He also tells us that "All that the Father gives Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away"...Imagine that, if we come to Him, regardless of what we do or say, He will never drive us away...Jesus is the true disciple...He will follow God's will and not His (will)...God has sent Him to teach the gospel to others...So, if we look to the Son of God and believe in Him, He will come on the last day, when God judges all people, and raise us up and give us eternal life...
Jesus makes it clear that seeing Him is not enough...We must believe in Him and the One who sent Him...We are not going to have faith and be in the Spirit, just by seeing Him...It is the believing (in Him) that is important...
Some of the men grumble about and do not understand and tell Him, He is the Son of Joseph, whose mother and father they know...How could You come down from heaven???...Jesus tells them no one can come to Me unless the Father's grace allows them (draws them) to come...God's grace is what enables us to believe in the One He sent...God is in control...
This teaching of Jesus about drinking His blood and eating His flesh is hard to understand...In trying to understand, eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood, mean believing in Him...What we eat and what we drink, sustains us in this life...If we want eternal life belief in Him will be what gets us there and sustains us...