John 6:22-59
Read John 6:22-59
Helpful Background Information:
The Gospel of John was likely written anywhere between 80-90 A.D., about fifty years after John witnessed Jesus’s earthly ministry, and how we know this is simply fascinating. The early church father Irenaeus (c. 130-200) was a student of Polycarp (c. 70-160), and Polycarp was a student of the Apostle John himself. Irenaeus testified on Polycarp’s word that John wrote this Gospel while he was in Ephesus when he was “advanced in age.” We still have the document where Irenaeus wrote this down, a booklet called Against Heresies. This is incredibly reliable information, as it was only 2 generations removed from the Apostle.
Right before this chapter, we see John’s account of Jesus feeding the 5,000. However, unlike the other gospels, John includes Jesus interacting with that very crowd after the miracle: the famous Bread of Life passage. The key verse here is John 6:35, “I am the bread of life.” This is the first of seven “I am” sayings, which emphasize Christ’s divinity and his role as Savior and Messiah. The physical miracles of Christ point to the wonderful main, spiritual mission of what Christ came to do: to save man from sin and restore him to fellowship with the Father.
It is this mission that the crowd doesn’t get. Jesus’ rebuking the crowd in verse 26 for following him only because they ate physical food reinforces this. Jesus then makes the point: The work of God is that one believes in His Son (verse 29) and is nourished by Him (Verse 35). The one who comes to Christ will have his greatest need satisfied: a saving relationship with God, and he who comes to Christ will never be hungry again. This does not mean there is no need for continued dependence or feeding upon Jesus; it does mean there is no longer that core emptiness which Jesus, and only he, satisfies.
Quick sidenote, at the end of this section, Jesus states in verse 53 that whoever eats of his flesh and drinks of his blood has life. The Roman Catholic Church uses this passage to support its view of communion, where they believe that the bread and the wine become the body and blood of Christ. However, the Roman Catholic view is mistaken for a couple of reasons. First, Jesus is not even talking about the Lord’s Supper here, as the practice was not commanded for the church until the Last Supper. Second, Jesus already established earlier in the chapter that when he refers to himself as the bread of life, he is speaking metaphorically. It is inconsistent with the text to assume that Jesus is suddenly now speaking in a hyper-literal manner. Jesus’ point was that just as eating and drinking are necessary for physical life, so also is belief in his sacrificial death on the cross (where his blood was poured out and his body pierced) necessary for eternal life.
Reflection Questions:
This passage is so rich with truth about Christ and his work in the life of a believer. Record 10 insights, praises, and so on about Christ’s saving work and how it applies to and/or encourages you.
What are the "earthly breads" you sometimes pursue more than Christ Himself? In what ways do you treat Jesus as a means to an end rather than him being the end of our rest and satisfaction?
How would you explain to an unbeliever that Jesus is the bread of life?
How does this connect to the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and God’s feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16)?
These passages are parallel passages of the same events described in Mark 6:30-44
Reflection Questions:
Compare and contrast these passages and Mark 6:14-29. What similarities do they share? What details does each include or omit?