John 6:22–59

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 that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—²³ however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. ²⁵ And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them 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. 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.” ²⁸ Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” ³⁰ Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” ³² Then Jesus 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. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” ³⁵ And Jesus 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. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 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. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 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 at the last day.” ⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 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. 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. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 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.” ⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” 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. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 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. 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.” ⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Commentary

Vs. 22-24 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 that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—²³ however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—²⁴ when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

This is now the day after Jesus fed the multitudes and had walked on the water to the disciples before bringing them to land on the western side of the Sea of Galilee where Capernaum was. However, the people that Jesus miraculously fed had remained on the other side of the Sea (and now others had joined them from the region of Tiberias) these then were all gathered together there, for though they saw the disciples leave the previous evening,  they did not see Jesus leave with them, and so they stayed there hoping to see Jesus again. However, when they did not see Jesus, nor His disciples, they all got into boats and also came to the region of Capernaum.

Vs. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

Now when the arrived at Capernaum they found Jesus, and when they found Him, they were confused as to when He arrived there, for they did not see Him depart from the other region, and they could not fathom how He arrived there before them. So, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

Vs. 26-27 ²⁶ Jesus answered them 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. 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.”

Jesus though moves right past their novel question to the heart of the matter, for He knows their hearts, and so He says to them, “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. Now in Jesus statement is an indictment of their seeking Him, for they were not seeking Him because of who He was as the Son of Man which He revealed to them through the miraculous feeding of them all, no they were only seeking Him because He had met some temporal need in their life! That is, He fed them when they were hungry, but after they had eaten, they did not want Him per-say, rather they only wanted Him to provide for them again! Therefore Jesus knowing this about them, and knowing the grave pitfall of pursuing Him only for what He can do for us here and now, now says to them, “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.” ^{Vs. 27}

Jesus then is clearly trying to redirect there focus from pursuing free meals giving through the hands of the Son of Man, which only perish after they are consumed, and thus leave the soul still unsatisfied, to pursuing Him because He can give them the food which endures to everlasting life! Which as He says He will give them (if they believe in Him) because God the Father has set His seal upon Him. That is, God the Father by His Spirit has Verified and Certified and Sanctified the Son of Man as His. Therefore, it is the Son of Man who gives eternal life to whom the Father gives to Him. Thus, people who only pursue Jesus because He can increase their wealth, or fix their health, or resolve their marriage etc. are sadly risking missing Him and eternal life completely! Because they too are only “laboring” for the food that perishes, and not “laboring” for that which endures to everlasting life!

Vs. 28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

The multitudes then when they heard Jesus say that, now ask Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Which is a valid question and yet it only stems from the heart of pride and unbelief, for only those who do not believe think that they can work for or earn their salvation (Eph. 2:8-9).

Vs. 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Jesus now gives the most concise and precise answer on how one works the works of God and gets eternal salvation by saying, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Thus, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the demarcation line between eternal salvation and eternal condemnation! For truly it is the work of God that anyone can and will believe in Him!

Vs. 30-31 ³⁰ Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Sadly, rather then rejoicing when they heard this, or saying something like Lord I believe in You please save me too, they only ask a sign from Jesus, saying to Him “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?” ^{Vs. 30} Thus in them we see the fickleness of mankind who as soon as he is fed quickly forgets who it is who fed him, and how He fed him! And so, they ask from Jesus a sign of God on demand, a work of God on demand, to perform a sign for them so that they might believe, however God does not work, nor show signs according to our demands! For He demands from us our faith in Him then He will show us His mighty Works! Now to qualify their request they also say to Jesus: “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” ^{Vs. 31}

Thus Jesus’ multiplying the seven loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people in their sight was not a sign enough for them that He was the Son of God, for they now quote the Scripture in Psalm 78:24 which recalls how God gave their fathers the manna, i.e. bread from heaven to eat. Now in their recalling this they are basically looking back to Moses and implying that he is greater than the Son of Man because this happened during his tenure.

Vs. 32-33 ³² Then Jesus 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. ³³ For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Jesus then quickly rebukes their confidence in Moses by saying to them that Moses did not give them the bread from heaven, i.e. manna, rather it is Jesus’ Father who now gives the true bread from heaven (vs, 32). For the bread their ancestors ate was a temporary food, it only lasted during the 40 years of the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, and it ceased the day when they entered the promised land. As well their manna never left any of them satisfied, it was only enough to sustain them, but never enough to quell their hunger and desires for more. Therefore, Jesus rightly calls Himself the true bread from heaven given by God in heaven to everyone who believes in Him. “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ^{Vs. 33} Thus only the Lord Jesus Christ gives life to all who eat of Him. 

Vs. 34-35 ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” ³⁵ And Jesus 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.

Having heard this the Jews now ask for this “bread” from Jesus (vs. 34). Yet Jesus it is not taking about temporal bread, He is talking about Himself come down from God in heaven to give life to everyone who believes in Him! Therefore, in one profound statement now Jesus says of Himself, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” ^{Vs. 35} In Jesus’ statement then is the promise and guarantee of not only eternal life, but also eternal satisfaction! For nothing can satisfy our souls thirst and hunger other than to be reunited with God again!

Vs. 36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.”

The Lord Jesus Christ’s makes it now plain and clear that those Jews though actually seeing and hearing Him, (their Messiah in the flesh no less), yet they did not believe in Him, incredible! Thus, they can claim to belong to Moses, or Abraham, or God in heaven Himself all they want, but if they do not believe in His Son Jesus Christ then they do not belong to any of them!

Vs. 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.”

Here Jesus makes it clear that it is His Father in heaven who moves in people’s hearts and minds to bring to Him all that belong to Him. Therefore, Jesus Promises that “…the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” For the Son of Man rejects no one given to Him by the Father.

Vs. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

Here the Lord Jesus confirms that He has not come to do His own Will, but the Father who sent Him. Unlike then those who reject Him, and thus reject Will of God for themselves, which is to believe in Him and have everlasting life for themselves!

Vs. 39-40 ³⁹ This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 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 at the last day.” 

God the Father’s Will for us who believe in His Son is that we should not be lost by Him, but rather that we should be raised up at the last Day, which is a reference to the resurrection of the Dead when the just, that is those who have been justified by Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be given their eternal bodies and taken home to be with God the Father in heaven forever. In these verses then is not only the Promise of God’s Son Jesus Christ assuring us of our eternal salvation, because He Himself has undertaken to fulfill it, but also His Resurrection Promise of raising us up at the last Day! Thus, every believer down through ages has been, and is being eternally secured by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Vs. 41-42 ⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

At this point the Jews having lost the ability to hear, i.e.  understand Jesus’ Words, they now begin to complain about Him. And so, they point to His declaration when He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ^{Vs. 41} Only to criticize Him for it! For being blinded to that beautiful reality, they begin to assess Jesus by His earthy parents, saying of Him, “…Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ^{vs. 42} Now Joseph was not Jesus’ Father, God in heaven is, for Jesus was only born of the Virgin Marry, not begotten by her and her husband Joseph! Thus, in them we see that you are either growing in faith, or growing more hardened in unbelief!

Vs. 43-44 ⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 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.

Jesus knowing that they were complaining about His Words amongst themselves now tells them not to murmur, (for they were not building faith in themselves or anyone else by doing so), And so once again in the face of their unbelief Jesus Christ declares, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” ^{Vs. 44}  There is then in Jesus’ own Words a declaration of the Sovereignty of God!

Vs. 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.

Not only then does God draw people to Himself (by speaking to our hearts), He also teaches us through His Word. For it is His Word that first draws us, and then it is His Word that teaches us about Him. Jesus Christ then as the Living Word of God is not only Savior, but He is our Teacher!

Vs. 46 “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”

Now in teaching us God the Father does not have to appear to us. For He speaks to us through His Word! Therefore, only One has seen the Father, His Son Jesus Christ whom He sent to us!

Vs. 47 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”

While in the midst of speaking some very profound things to us the Lord Jesus Christ once again reaffirms that everyone who believes in Him has everlasting life! For you do not need to understand all the deep mysteries of God to be saved by His Son! All you need to do is repent and believe in Him!

Vs. 48 “I am the bread of life.”

The Lord Jesus Christ now returns to the most appropriate metaphor of His Person, saying, “I am the bread of life.” for He is the Bread of Life, and to eat of Him, to feed on Him and His Words, is to have everlasting life! For there is nothing else that bring us to life other than the Lord Jesus Christ!

Vs. 49 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.”

Now in saying this Jesus is rebuking the Jews false confidence that their ancestors were fed by God (Ps. 78:25), and thus they themselves by default then belong to God. For though God fed their fathers manna in the wilderness, they all died, for none came to eternal life through the manna, for that manna was given them as a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ who would bring them (and all who believe in Him) to life!

Vs. 50 “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.”

Jesus then is trying to redirect their thoughts and trust and confidence away from that manna to Himself, for He is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die!

Vs. 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.”

Unlike the dead manna which brought no one to life, the Lord Jesus Christ is the living bread which came down from heaven, therefore if anyone eats of this bread they will live forever! Now the bread that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about is His flesh, that is His Person Crucified on the Cross which was done by God through Himself for the life of the world!

Vs. 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

Clearly then the Jews were not understanding Jesus’ Word, for having both seen and heard Him, all they can do now is grumble even more amongst themselves saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

Vs. 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.

Jesus though does lesson His metaphor about Himself one bit. Indeed, He doubles down on what He has been saying, by now saying, “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.”

At a glance then this seems a hard lesson, but it is not, it is merely Jesus telling us that we cannot partake of only a little of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must have Him all, that is we must take and eat of all of Him, both His flesh and His blood! For there is nothing of His Person (nor His Word) that we can refuse to believe, or reject!

Vs. 54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus now returns to His Promise of everlasting life given to everyone who believes in Him (vs. 47), who eats His flesh and drinks His blood, for everyone who does so has the Promise of being raised from the dead on the last day to spend eternity with God in heaven!

Vs. 55 “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.”

Again, the manna did not satisfy the cravings of the Israelites in their wilderness wandering days. Indeed, nothing in heaven or on earth does, except having the Lord Jesus Christ and feeding on Him, thus He rightly says that His flesh is food indeed and His blood is drink indeed, for only He can satisfy our souls hunger and thirsts!

Vs. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

Now to eat the Lord Jesus Christ’s flesh and to drink His blood is not the observance of the ceremonial communion which He instituted the night of His Crucifixion. For one can do these and still not believe in Him! Therefore, to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood is to by faith consume Him wholly! For when one does, believing in Him, and thus receiving Him without reservation, He likewise comes and abides in us (Rev. 3:20). Now Jesus Christ’s flesh is His Body broken for us on the Cross for our eternal salvation, while His blood is what cleanses us of all our sins, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22).

Vs. 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.”

Feeding on the Lord Jesus Christ then is to listen and believe and receive His Word into one’s heart. For when one does one has all that makes for life, free, full, and abundant, for only His Word brings us to life, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, to Spiritually live one must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ, for one’s souls’ hunger cannot be satisfied any other way.

Vs. 58-59 “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.” ⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

The Lord Jesus Christ then in closing His address to them once again declares that He is the bread which came down from heaven, a bread then that is exceedingly Superior to the manna which the Jews fathers ate and still died, for if anyone east of Him they will live forever! Now Jesus said these things to them in their synagogue (that is the Jews place of worship) as He taught them in Capernaum.

Scripture Quotations 

New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson.