Approaching Easter... thoughts...

Galatians 5:11
"Then is the offense of the cross preached."

The offense of the cross has never ceased. To suppose that it would - is absurdity. The religion of Jesus is the most peaceful, mild, benevolent, and yet history has shown it to be the most attacked and hated. The sinners are offended by the cross. The times of the early church were well-acquainted with the cross. The worst of sinners were put upon crosses and were made to die the most humiliating deaths upon crosses. To be told that the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Messiah, was put in such a humiliating place for our sins was repugnant to those of that day. It offended them.

Mankind has never liked to admit that he has sinned.
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Mankind deserves death, but they are unwilling to admit it.
Romans 6:23
"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life."

Mankind is too proud, and wants to cover sin, and wants to call their sins to be mistakes. The cross humbles mankind. To defend against the humbling effect of the cross, mankind takes offense, and is angered by the cross. They consider it to be foolishness.
I Corinthians 1:18-24
"preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish."

People of the early church period wanted to think they could save themselves. People today think likewise. Government cannot save your soul. The United Nations cannot save your soul. No charity can save your soul. Turning over good leaves cannot save your soul.

Sinners of the early church period protested the religion of the cross, and wanted to proclaim that they could be "all right" if they did their best. Any who believe otherwise, are persecuted. Believers are called "old fashioned", "fanatics". Believers in the cross are criticized, called 'weak minded'.
I John 3:13
"Marvel not if the world hate you."

Many in Christianity today have also been offended by the cross. Many have done away with songs and sermons on the blood, and on the cross. They reject doctrines on Christ's death and sacrifice for us. They do not want the cross, for they do not want to admit there is a real hell, or sin that could send them there. So many churches preach a bloodless, cross-less gospel. They substitute "social change", "riot", and "marches".

Those in the early church soon began to wear small crosses on a chain or ring about the neck. They loved the cross, they valued what it meant. They wanted to wear such a symbol. Yet, the Lord wants to have us to do so much more than wear just a symbol. The Lord has to us to "take up a cross, and follow Him."

Though the world hated the symbol, though the whole idea of a Savior, a Messiah Who would die such a horrible death was repugnant to mankind, still the saints of the early church proudly wore a small cross around their neck. It meant reproach in greater measure, for it identified them to the world as a believer in the Jesus Who died upon an old wooden cross as a horrible criminal would.

In the Psalm quoted by Jesus while He hung upon the cross, we see how He was feeling at that time.
Psalms 22:6
"But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of people."

We all must bear a cross for our Lord. This will involve suffering, agony, pain, sorrow, etc.
Psalms 31:11,13
"I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance; they that did see me without fled from me. ...For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life."

Because of the cross, because of the life we must live for the Lord, and because of the message we must proclaim to this world, we find a cross that is difficult to bear. Our friends will reproach us, our friends will even lie against us, misunderstand what others tell them about us, will believe every lie told about us. They will take counsel against us, plot against us.
Psalms 41:5
"Mine enemies speak evil against me, When shall he die, and his name perish?"

Despite all of the aforementioned, this cross that we are to bear, following our Lord to some personal calvary, is not as heavy as some would pretend.
Matthew 11:30
"My yoke is easy (good), and My burden is light..."

Jesus said that the Pharisees "bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders." (Matthew 23:4). Yet, our Lord asks us to bear a "styrofoam cross". Some of today's congregations are like the Pharisees, and want a religion that is heavy with burdens. Many congregations want Christianity to be hard and troublesome. The early church battled the same tendency. They wanted to make the burden carried by those in the church to be heavier than planned by the Lord.

Acts 15:10
"Why tempt ye God to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

Some in the early church wanted to make the burdens carried to be heavy. Jesus came to bear our burdens, and told us to do what He did. Therefore, we should be trying to lighten the burdens of others, not adding to the burdens. Some add rules, regulations, laws, and heavy weights to the faith. These are not the ‘cross’ we are to be carrying, and if we add all those to the ‘cross’ we are bearing far heavier a cross than Jesus ever intended.

Matthew 11:28
"Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden."

We are told to "learn of" Jesus. The Lord Jesus is called "Rabbi" (teacher) 80 times in Scriptures. He is a great Teacher. Jesus can teach us much. He tried to teach us how to carry a cross, but to carry a styrofoam cross.

Jesus said:
John 14:1
"Let not your heart be troubled!"

The cross should not make us be troubled. The same burdens carried by some saints are carried lightly, as others carry those burdens as though they are so very heavy.

Notice how willingly Paul carried his cross.
I Corinthians 4:12-13
"And labour, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the offscouring of all things unto this day."

The prophets of the Old Testament were mistreated, lied about, abused, and even slain for their message and choice of God's ways over the way their friends wanted them to go.
James 5:6,10
"Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. ...Take my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience."

The reason some can carry the cross so lightly is the same as that of a miser carrying a bag of heavy gold coins. He seems to bear the load lightly, for he values the heavy weight. A person who is lifting shovel after shovel of dirt and rocks as he digs up a treasure, does such with joy and anxiousness. The weight did not make him avoid the heavy work. It is the idea of the value of weight that makes the difference.

Paul said: "I glory in mine infirmities.". He had learned the value of the burdens that he carried. As hard as it is to realize, we need to comprehend that the Lord's "yoke is good". There is good in the burden of the cross that we bear.
II Corinthians 4:8
"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed."

Moses had to choose to bear the cross of shame and reproach for God. He had to choose that life over a life of riches, ruling Egypt, and power. It could have been a difficult decision, but Moses made the right decision.
Hebrews 11:25-26
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of reward."

The Lord wants us to bear a cross.
Luke 9:23-26
"And He said to them all: If any man will come after Me, let Him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whomsoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it."

After we have borne a burden, and the Lord has delivered us through it, we can usually see the good that came from it. But the Lord wants us to realize as we are still bearing the burden, that it is good. Faith can move mountains, and faith can make our cross, our yoke, and our burdens be lightly borne.

One key to the realization of such is to learn to submit willingly to the cross. Some will struggle against it, and fight to not carry it. But if we willingly submit to the cross that we bear, we will find that it is only a styrofoam cross. It may look heavy, and burdensome, but our faith upholds the heaviest burden lightly.

The happy ending may be years away, the suffering may still be counted good, because we know, in faith, that God will make all things "work together for good." Faith will still work in the dark, and when we can in the natural see no way for things to work out.

II Timothy 1:12
"For the which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

The world tells us that "It will be all right soon!" when things are really tough. Yet, a Christian can say "It is all right now! We can say, by faith, that we "take pleasure in our infirmities."

Everyone has some kind of burdens, but only the Christian has "good" burdens.
Romans 8:28
"All things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose."


I Peter 3:14
"But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye; and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled."

I Peter 4:14
"If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified."

Meekness is an unnoticed virtue. It is so quiet that we do not find others praising us for it. Christ bore His burdens so lightly, and happily, that the disciples kept thinking that they were going to Jerusalem to install Him as King and Messiah, but He was on His way to the crucifixion.

Today, while many are on their way to victories, you would think they were on their way to a crucifixion. They fear and dread, complain and scorn the littlest trials. They do not bear the burden lightly, but murmur against God and the burdens.

Some people want others to notice every burden they carry. They want to talk of every trial, every financial crisis, every persecution. They have a "Pity-Me! Complex".

Meekness is not an unnoticed virtue by God. If we willingly accept the cross, bear it with pride for our Lord, and do not struggle, complain, or sit in exasperation at the crosses we bear, the Lord is well pleased.

II Timothy 1:8
"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner; but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God."


Jesus rose from the grave, and showed victory over even death. If He can do that, we can be assured of our own resurrection if we abide in Him. Therefore, what threat, what abuse, what persecution, and what intimidation can hurt us??? We will be ultimate victors through Jesus, and need not fear. We can smile for the Lord will deliver us.

The wounds of the cross are precious wounds, and the healing is not just assured, it is the scars and wounds themselves. When Jesus returned from paradise, in a new immortal body, He still kept the wounds, in His hands and side, they were there to show to Thomas, to demonstrate to any doubters. He did not get a new body that was void of any evidence of the ‘cross’ that He endured. We may be surprised that the wounds of the cross down here, will be our glory on our new bodies.

THE GIST OF THE SERMON



Jesus illustrated this sermon He preached in this passage before He preached it. He wanted this lesson understood, and unfortunately, many, despite the illustration, despite Jesus’ best efforts did not then, and do not now, have ‘ears’ capable of hearing and understanding this message.

What Jesus wanted to show this multitude, and all of us who read this sermon, is that He is the Source of our spiritual life, and this dying world is not to be our focus. Jesus is our "Bread of Life", and we, as saints, think we have fully comprehended such truth. Yet, there is more to this than we have realized. Let us take a close look at Jesus' teaching concerning this.

The word "bread" is from the Greek, "artos", and this is derived from the Greek root word - "aro" = "to fit together." Bread is made of flour and water, and is fit together to make a staple of life, a common food to most every culture. Jesus is our Bread of Life, and He desires to fit together with us, and unite with us to form a body of believers that will likewise share life to the world.

The bread of the Bible times was a small loaf, oblong or round. It was about as thick as a thumb. It was not to be cut, but to be broken, for this has for many ages been the custom of the Bible lands.

In the Greek, the word "azumos" means unleavened bread, and much of the bread of Bible lands and times was this bread made without yeast, so that it would last longer, and be useful even days after it had been baked.

Jesus preached a sermon on "bread" several weeks before the crucifixion that many people. It was a "turning of the tide" of popular belief. The people had long been expecting a Messiah to come as king, overthrow the Romans, and give prosperity and blessing to Israel. As they listened to Jesus and saw His miracles, they hoped and yearned for Him to announce that this was His purpose. This sermon of Jesus on the "bread" extinguished the fire of enthusiasm for this aspiration. These people of that area were often zealot, anxious to overthrow the Romans. Those who were not zealots shared, at least, the desire to be free from Roman rule, even if they were unwilling to physically go to battle to achieve that goal.

Jesus preached this sermon the day after feeding thousands of people by breaking the few loaves of bread, and the few fish. That following day, only a few came back to Him. Where were the others? Why had they neglected to follow Jesus. They had heard His teaching, seen the miracle of bread, and yet went home with no real change to their lives. Why had they not wanted to continue this relationship offered by the Lord?



To break bread with one in that land, even now in our day, is a commitment, a pledge of trust, and a sign of acceptance. Jesus knew that, and so did the ones eating the bread that Jesus had broken before them. They should have realized that this commitment to trust in Jesus, to accept Him, and to commit to Him had been made when they partook of the bread on that day.

Yet, the next day, already, many were gone home, forgetful of the Lord, unheeding of His message. A few who did seek out Jesus that next day, were doing so for the wrong reason, for they did not exhibit a trust, commitment, or acceptance of this Lord. They wanted to have power to do miracles, were willing to make Jesus king, if He would do such miracles to set up a rule free from Roman domination.

Remember, that after Jesus had broken bread, there were twelve baskets of bread gathered up as left over. If a few loaves could be food for thousands, how many could the twelve baskets have fed? Yet, Jesus was not desirous of feeding their bodies, but He wanted to feed their spirits, and to allow them to find new spiritual life in Him.

The night after the sharing of the bread with thousands, and the night before the sermon on the bread of life, Jesus had sent His disciples away in a boat. The people had seen the disciples depart without Jesus, and had not seen the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. But the next day, they knew Jesus had intended to go to Capernaum, so they hired a ship to Capernaum, and thought they would get to the city before Jesus Who they thought had walked.

When they came into the synagogue and found Jesus speaking there, they were surprised that He had already arrived. They did not know how He had arrived so quickly. But they did not have the relationship with the Lord that would have allowed Him to show them the miracles that had brought Him there. They even with their words betrayed their shallow faith, for they called Him "Rabbi", not "Lord", and not "Christ" (Messiah). Their first words were: "Rabbi, when camest Thou hither?" (John 6:25-29)

Then Jesus taught them the sermon on the Bread of Life, there in the synagogue of Capernaum. This was the city in which Jesus had raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, had done many other miracles, and had in fact made His headquarters for most of His ministry years.

These ones had come for the "sign" that Jesus, to Whom they had committed a trust and pledge the day before, would prove to them that He was the Messiah. Their commitment was not yet fully given, though the eating of the broken bread was to have signified that it was given. Jesus saw within them, and knew that they were not committed and pledged to Him. He was hurt, offended by the lack of trust in His words. Jesus could see that they were looking for a Messiah who would be much different than He was, at that time.

The Lord knew that their motive was not proper in eating the bread. They were now coming to Jesus to ask Him to show evidence that He was the Messiah by giving them manna. If they could see such a sign (for the Jews believed that when the Messiah came, the manna would be restored), they would believe, and commit to Him. Jesus was a bit troubled by their attitudes. He apprehended their affront of eating bread, and yet not recognizing the traditional commitment that it meant.


Verse 41-42
The Jews then murmured at Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
Whose father and mother we know? how is it then that He saith, I came down from heaven?


This verse might indicate that Joseph was still alive, though he would have been likely in his sixties, or seventies at this time. Yet, it also shows that spiritually, they were looking for some excuse for their unbelief. The carnal mind does not want to believe, and seeks to excuse all doubt, worry, fear, and self seeking.



The ‘murmuring’ was a natural response to words that convict, words that correct, words that arouse any guilt.

The devil was a murmurer, and he told complaining, challenging words to Eve, ‘ye shall not surely die’. God’s words had said otherwise, but the devil murmured against what God had said. Mankind is likewise often murmuring against what God’s Word says, challenging its truth. Jesus had spoken truth here, and they found excuse to question. He had fed them loaves and fishes miraculously, He had healed bodies, raised the dead, etc. in this town. Now, they challenge His truths because of their murmuring spirits.

Eve murmured when confronted by her failure. She wanted to feel guiltless for believing the devil’s murmuring lies. It was the ‘serpent’s fault’ she tried to use as an excuse.

　

Many saints prefer the false words of some that tell them God will not judge sin, or that all are going to heaven anyhow, to the truth of God’s Word. The ten virgins, in the parable of Jesus, all slumbered and slept. The tendency to listen to lullaby doctrines is so great. We need to beware.

Murmuring still does harm, and murmuring is far too common amidst congregations. It is time we call murmuring the sin it is.

Murmuring here about Jesus, seeing His miracles, hearing His words, and unable to challenge them with any Scripture, they resort to murmuring, degrading, and doubt. Sins like that should make people tremble.

People take their foot immediately off the gas, when they see a traffic cop. People lock the doors to prevent burglary. People buy insurance. People own a handgun. All, due to concern, fear. Yet, many do not fear the Lord, nor fear sinning blatantly before Him. The Bible often teaches of God’s great anger. God is said to have anger that was ‘kindled’, 18 times in the Bible. God’s anger is said to have ‘waxed hot’ in Exodus 32:22, Deuteronomy 9:19, 29:24, and in Judges 2:14, 20, 3:8, 10:7. God’s anger can be ‘fierce’. For 32 times in the Bible we are told that (see Numbers 25:4, 32:14, Deuteronomy 13:17). God’s anger can be ‘provoked’, and is described as such 40 times in the Bible (Deut. 4:25, 9:18). It is unwise to tempt God.


Verse 43-44
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus knows that this ‘murmuring’ will offend the Holy Spirit that is the One Who does the Father’s work of drawing men to the Lord.


Verse 45
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me.

　
‘And they shall be all taught of God’ shows that we are all ‘taught’ by God in one way or another. The Word of God, provided by many ‘secretaries’ of the Lord, as they wrote God’s message into what we call the Bible. Many preachers today keep preaching that message from God, and all those teachings, which source is God, should draw us to Jesus.

Isaiah 54:13 (KJV)
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

II Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

The Bible is God’s attempt to reach mankind. God seeks to inform mankind of His plan, His mercy, His goodness. That makes the Bible to be the rule of faith and rule of conduct. That makes the Bible to be the final authority, for it is from the Divine Mind. It also makes the Bible to be the hope of mankind in their search for God and salvation. It makes the Bible to be the test and standard by which to judge all other writings and things.

Verse 46
Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father.

The word ‘seen’ is the Greek word: horao (G3708), meaning ‘to comprehend fully or understand with the mind; to see truth fully.’ If we have ‘seen’ the Father, then we have would know Him fully. No one has known God fully, except for Jesus. No man has seen, or fully known God.

Our English word ‘seen’ means to see with the eyes and also see with the mind. That it means here, in the sermon of the bread of life, to comprehend fully or understand is clear from the fact that many men have seen God with the eyes (Gen. 18:2,33; 32:24-30; Ex. 24:10; 33:11; Josh. 5:13; Isa. 6; Ezek. 1:26-28; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6; Acts 7:56-59; Rev. 4:2-5; 5:1-7).

The verse should be understood to be telling us: "No man has ever comprehended God at any time in all His fulness, except for Jesus, and He hath declared or attempted to reveal God unto us."

John 14:9-11 (KJV)
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake.

Rejecters of God will reject Jesus. Rejecters of Jesus, will reject God. They are identical in nature, in feelings, in thought. To know the Father, we must get to know the Son, for we have seen Him. We have His life in us, if we partake of Him, as the ‘Bread of life’. What we need to know God is to partake of Jesus, Who has offered Himself as our ‘Bread of life’.

John 15:24 (KJV)
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.

1 John 3:6 (KJV)
6 Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.

Verse 47-48
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.

The ones who "believeth on Me" says the Lord, shows a continued action of believing. It could not be that one act of accepting Him is sufficient, but when we do that act of accepting Him, we will naturally want to continue believing on Him. The faith that saves is ever active; it will not cease to produce results. Believers live by the faith in Jesus, and continue to partake of Him, making Him to become part of them, by spiritually digesting Him into our own being.


Believers have "everlasting life". This everlasting life is a promise to those who have partaken of the Bread of life, by believing on Jesus.


Verse 49
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

The manna of the wilderness is a miracle of God. Yet, it had no possibility to give ‘eternal life’ to its eaters. It was a type, a symbol of God’s provision for us, and Jesus is the fulfillment of that type. Jesus, not only gives sustenance of the body, but gives eternal life to the souls of those who partake of Him, our Bread of life. The manna of the wilderness was not the "meat which endureth unto everlasting life"

John 6:27 (KJV)
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed.

Verse 50-51
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread Which came down from heaven:
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, Which I will give for the life of the world.



SEE PART 2

If we partake of Jesus, we shall ‘not die’. Any person that eats the Bread of life will not die. This refers to eternal life, not physical life which all men have.

Hebrews 9:27-28 (KJV)
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

We are promised to ‘die’ physically, but we are promised that if we eat the Bread of life, and assume Him into our being, our spirits will live forever. To these who do, He will appear a second time, and give us then, a new body that will also be eternal.

I am the living bread

This is the fourth and last time in this sermon that Jesus claims to be the Bread of life (Jn. 6:35,41,48,51). This bread is His flesh which He gave for us on the cross. Jesus is the life-producing, the eternal, never perishing Bread of Life (Jn. 6:48,51). As Jesus proclaimed: ‘if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever’. Eating of Jesus means that man must accept by faith what Christ did for him and live obediently for Him.


Verse 52
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?

We live joyfully when we accept Christ as our Savior and meet His conditions. When we do not accept Jesus, we find many other feelings are engendered. We strive, we fight with others, we see no good in anyone, not even in Jesus. Resistance to Jesus leads to strife with Him, and with others. These zealots had a goal of finding a king, defeating Rome, and living in prosperity and power. Jesus was resisting their efforts to get Him to join them. They wanted His miracle power, they wanted Him to give them miracle power. He did not, but gives them deep truth, that they should have understood. They could not. Strife resulted.

There was only one hope to avoid strife in this world, - REPENT. Jeremiah prophesied truth, he spoke a message of repentance from wickedness to serve a holy God. They put him in prison, he kept preaching. They put him in a deep hole that was used as a toilet for the other prisoners. There, waist deep in human sewage, Jeremiah kept preaching. Jeremiah put his prophecies into written form, by having Baruch copy what he preached in that toilet. Jeremiah commanded Baruch to read the scroll of parchment, with God’s message to them in the temple on a fast day. Jeremiah could not go to the temple. God kept speaking through Jeremiah.


They did not want to hear what Jesus said about Him being the ‘Bread of life’ and the only way to please God, was to partake of Him. They resisted and resisted that message, they wanted to hear a message of their design. So, they ‘strove’, had strife with each other.

We need to learn to listen to sermons and messages from God with RAKES, and not PITCHFORKS. Far too many "saints" have trained themselves to listen to sermons, and think "That's for so and so." Instead we need to listen, and search for the part, or whole, that is for ourselves. A RAKE is much more spiritual than a PITCHFORK.

People love to hear a message that promises their carnal desires will come. There are many who will preach such messages for them.

Micah 2:11
"If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people."


Verse 53-57
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.

　

Whosoever "eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood" will benefit greatly in the spirit, and will see great things happen even in this world. We partake by faith in Jesus, and enjoy the blessings because God gives them on the basis of what Christ did for us.



Eating the Bread of life speaks figuratively of partaking of spiritual food, partaking in a fellowship with Jesus.

The ‘figure of speech’ of ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ being symbolic of taking spiritual food was common in that time, so there was no excuse for them to misunderstand. Believing on Jesus Christ is the same as eating and drinking Him.



Many times in this sermon, Jesus claims that God ‘sent Me’. He was sent from heaven (John 6:33, 38,39, 40, 41,42, 44, 57).


John 6:33-35
"For the bread of God is He Who cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst."

What the Lord offers us is eternal satisfaction in Him, eternal nourishment from Him. We can always have this spiritual food through accepting Him. We need never to hunger and thirst again. Let us wisely accept this kind of blessing.

John 6:47-51
"He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread that cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread Who came down from, if any man eateth this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

John 6:56
"He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in Him."

If we accept Jesus, and partake of Him daily, we will have a relationship with Him, become part of His body. We need this relationship, it is vital. Jesus offered it to a bunch of meatheads in that day, and in our own day there are also many who hear such sermons on the bread of life, and walk away unchanged, unmoved, and not wanting to partake of the Bread of Life, and take Him into their being!


The early church taught and practiced a "breaking of bread" when they met. They did this to remind themselves and newcomers that we need to daily eat of Jesus, feed upon Him and His Word. Too many have swallowed the lies of many church congregations.


I Corinthians 5:7
"Purge out therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sanctified for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

Christ, our Passover, is the unleavened (without sin) Bread of life, that should be our portion. Purge out the old sinful doctrines of today's religion, and get back to the simple truths taught by Christ and the early church. A relationship with Him is vital, necessary, and the only way.

Jesus taught this to these people in the Capernaum synagogue, and many left to follow Him no more. They did not want to give up their carnal hopes, their mistaken doctrines, their meathead mentality.

Isaiah 55:2 a
"Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness."

Why do many persist in following false dogmas, carnal desires for prestige, power and money? Why do we spend our money and efforts to achieve what we could so easily have from Jesus? There is a "fatness" that will come to those who learn to partake of Jesus, the bread of life. Let's get "obese" in Him!

I Corinthians 10:17
"For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread."

This bread as a loaf represents the church, and contains many grains as the church has many members. Yet, it contains only wheat; no sand, no cinders, no sticks, no stones are in it. God's true church contains only true saints. We need to realize that we are part of the body of Christ, by partaking of the Bread of Life.

The early church recognized this and frequently shared bread. They broke bread and remembered the sermon of Jesus. They reminded themselves of the sermon that made many walk away from Jesus, for this same sermon showed how to have the relationship with the Lord. If we want to have the power of the early church, we should learn to remember the sermon they remembered. They refused to forget this sermon. Many have since forgotten it. Have we?

Acts 2:42

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

Acts 20:7
"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them... until midnight."

They shared a loaf of bread, and reminded themselves of the commitment they had made with the Bread of Life. They shared the loaf, and reminded themselves of the fact that the word "bread" is from the Greek, "artos", and this is derived from the Greek root word - "aro" = "to fit together." Since bread is made of flour and water, and is "fit together" to make a staple of life, a common food to most every culture. Now Jesus is our Bread of Life, and He desires to "fit together" with us. He will unite with us to form a body of believers that will likewise share life to the world.

Frequently, we should partake of the Bread of Life, as a reminder of the broken Bread of Life that Jesus is to us. The world and even the church congregations of today do not understand, and cannot understand. The meathead mentality is enmity toward God and His ways. It is time the church returns to the truths taught and practiced by the early church.

Verse 58
This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

　
Jesus ‘came down from heaven’. Seven times manna and the true bread, i.e. Jesus, are spoken of as coming down from heaven (John 6: 31, 32, 33, 50, 51, 58). He came for a reason from the glories of heaven. He came to be able to give us eternal life. We can ‘live for ever’ because we have found this Bread of life. Jesus promised in this sermon, six times, that we can have ‘everlasting life’ if we partake of this Bread of life (John 6:40, 47, 50, 51, 54, 58). This verse is but one of the six times. Jesus wanted to offer them ‘eternal life’ in the kingdom of heaven, but they sought only carnal things, victory in warfare, not victory over sin.

see part 3

Verse 59-60
These things said He in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Who can digest such a sermon? It is intolerable and impractical to the natural man. It is spiritually discerned, and Jesus saved it for the last six months of His ministry time here on earth. He knew many would find it too hard. There are still sermons from God’s Word that are too hard, too intolerable for the carnal person to accept. We must take the message to heart, look and examine our own hearts, and then determine to follow Jesus, and partake of His spiritual food for us daily.



Therefore, since Jesus had fed thousands with the broken bread the day before, they thought, perhaps He would now keep supplying them food, start the manna to fall daily again, and life would become much easier. Today, we still find many with the "meathead" mentality, longing for ease, wealth, carnal prosperity, and temporal blessings.

When Jesus saw that they wanted Him to give them manna as Moses had supposedly given to Israel, He explained to them that Moses had not supplied manna, but God had supplied the manna. Therefore, Jesus explained, He would not give them manna, but that He was the true manna that God would give, and the manna in the days of Moses was only a type of Him.

These people had seen the true "Manna" of God, had heard His messages, had seen Him do many miracles, and now they were longing for physical bread. He reminded them that the manna in the days of Moses was not "bread of life" for those who ate it had all died. But if they would partake of Him, the true manna, they would life forever.

The "meathead" mentality caused them to want and desire physical food, and not the spiritual food they could have had. They could have sought Jesus, had a relationship with Him, and served the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but they only wanted carnal prosperity.

These Jewish people had also expected a Messiah who would raise the righteous dead, and the disciples had seen Jesus raise the young man at Nain from the dead, and resurrect Jairus' daughter in Capernaum. Jesus said to them, that He would "not lose anything out of this, but raise it up in the last day." (John 6:40).

Jesus explained to these people that they would need to "eat" of Him. They took it literally, with their meathead mentality they thought Jesus meant it physically. Like Nicodemus, when Jesus told him he had to be "born again" and he had to ask Jesus if he had to re-enter the womb to be again born. The meathead, carnal, fleshly thoughts have hindered the reception of the message.

The message of Jesus was that if they would eat the bread of life, they would have eternal life. To eat of Him, the broken bread of life, means to commit to Him fully, wholeheartedly, and without reservation. Jesus promised that to accept Him, believe on Him, and commit to Him would have eternal life. Breaking of His body on cross, meant not only martyrdom for our sins, but also a fellowship eternally with Him.

Verse 61-63

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it,’ He said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.


Jesus knew in himself that even His disciples murmured at it. Knowing that this murmuring was indicative of them having taken ‘offense’ at His words, He said: "Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?"

Jesus knew by the gift of knowledge what their thoughts were. He still knows our thoughts, our feelings. Some who have read this sermon have thought similarly, and walked away from reading or hearing this sermon. They refused to practice what the Lord had said was mandatory. They have murmured at those who preach this sermon the way Jesus preached it. They find fault with the preacher, the teacher, and strive about words, and murmur amidst themselves. Jesus hears, and knows. He is still preaching this message through the Word, and still expecting hearers, readers, to obey it.

That time, it was some disciples that were offended and murmured. As Jesus said to them, He still says to our hearts: Doth this offend you? If eating My flesh and drinking My blood offends you, what if I tell you a harder doctrine? Suppose you saw the Son of Man ascend up to heaven where He was before?

There are harder doctrines. There are truths after this one that we also need to know. If we avoid this one, how do we get deeper into the truth of the Lord? Jesus had more to tell them about the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension, and the return. If they missed this one, how can they listen and accept the deeper truths?

It is the spirit that quickeneth is a passage that must be understood figuratively of the benefits of His sacrifice. Jesus is saying ‘I will give this bread, which symbolizes My body given in death to save the world.’

From that event, our spirit is to be quickened. When we daily partake of Him as the Bread of life, we are quickened in spirit, and can understand more and more truth from Him. We become more and more like Him.

He tells us that ‘the flesh profiteth nothing’ in the eating of the Bread of life. Literal eating does not save a person, but spiritual eating does. Literal bread does not save the soul, communion does not save anyone, but the spiritual lesson that it teaches does save us. Jesus wanted them, and now wants us to realize that "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." This means the life Jesus spoke of is spiritual and eternal life, not fleshly life.



Verse 64-65
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father.

　
Jesus knew from the beginning of His ministry, that some would not believe on Him, and He also knew which disciple it would be that would betray Him. He did not lack awareness of rejection, of the hurt of being betrayed, falsely accused, devalued in the eyes of those to whom He preached.



These zealots, misguided, and blinded by carnal ambition, stumbled over the bread of life sermon of Jesus. It was at this time that many walked away from Jesus, and never followed Him no more.

　

John 6:66-71 (KJV)
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve.


"Many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him" is a startling statement. The phrase "no more" is interesting, for there were only a small number of weeks till the crucifixion, and they had little time to change their mind. This passage likely therefore indicates that even after the resurrection, these ones did not ever again come back to follow the Lord. They made their eternal decision based on a "meathead" misunderstanding of what Jesus was saying, based on a desire for physical prosperity to the neglect of spiritual prosperity. How awful, how stupid, and how eternal was their decision!!!

He asked the disciples if they would also go away, for He knew that one of the twelve that remained had started (probably at that very sermon) to plot to betray Him. (John 6:71) The apostasy of Judas hatched at this sermon.


The other eleven that were left said, as we should: "Thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68-69). They recognized that they were following Him because His words were truth, His message was the Messiah's message, and the miracles were not the proof.

Others there were more concerned with the miracles, with hoping Jesus would be a political Messiah and overthrow the evil rule of the Romans. Jesus was concerned though with the ‘evil’ in the hearts of these hearers. He wanted to save them to a spiritual life, one partaking of His righteousness, not just demanding His miracle power.

Today, many come to Jesus, i.e. the Bread of Life, for the carnal prosperity, for the physical blessings, and out of covetous desires for gain and blessing. We go to work our secular jobs because of pay day, but we are not to serve the Lord for the same motive.

The Bread of Life does nourish us, and this nourishment is vital to the Christian life!

Proverb 4:20-22
"My Son, attend to My Words, incline thine ear to My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart-- for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh."

The Bread of life sermon had much impact on John, one of the two with the nickname ‘sons of thunder’. John was a fiery, judgmental, harsh, and easily led toward harshness, not love. John saw and heard these words of Jesus to these ‘zealots’ of the nation. He realized the world would be conquered with love (agape love), and righteous witness. John realized that if he fed upon the ‘words’ that flowed from the mouth of Jesus, he could have all the spiritual life he would need. John realized that he could choose to feed upon the ‘words’ of Jesus. Nourishment and eternal life is found in the Words of our Lord.