This Lesson is part of John’s Gospel Easy Notes Series.
John 6:35
The Debate About Manna
Jesus had just fed the five thousand with five small loaves of barley and two small fish. The miracle was fresh in the minds of all. Jesus used that incident to talk about himself as the bread of life.
In the minds of his Jewish audience the miracle of manna raining down from heaven for forty years in the wilderness was strong (v. 31). Jesus tells them that it is not Moses who gave them the bread from heaven but it is his Father who gives them the true bread from heaven (v. 32). Jesus now told them that he is the bread of God who came down from heaven and giving life to the world (v. 33).
The call of Jesus to them and to us is to believe in him the one God has sent (v. 29). And he declares himself to be “the bread of life.” Jesus promises nourishment to all who come to him. The great assurance that he will never drive away anyone the Father gives to him and who comes to him (v. 37) is declared.
The Jews couldn’t understand how someone they knew, the son of Mary and of Joseph, an ordinary man can claim to have come down from heaven (v. 42). But Jesus repeatedly tells them that the one who believes in him has everlasting life (v. 40, 47).
Are You Looking for Temporary Satisfaction?
But people then, and even today, are looking for temporary satisfaction not eternal life (see verses 26, 34). What are you looking for in Jesus? If you are looking for someone to satisfy your earthly needs alone, you are going to be disappointed. Jesus asked the crowds not to work for the food that spoils and perishes (v. 27).
As Jesus continued to talk about eating his body and drinking his blood (v. 53—56), people found it a hard teaching (v. 60) and grumbled (v. 61). “From that time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him (v. 66). Finally, Jesus asks the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you (v. 67)?” What is your response to this question?