Bible Study Notes - John 6:25-36

Bible Study Notes - John 6:25-36

Differing from the synoptic writers, the Gospel of John does not contain a formal Eucharistic passage with the “Words of Institution” for this sacramental appropriation of the Jewish Passover.  John uses this “Bread of Life” passage to communicate a similar message to the crowd about the enduring ad eternal nature of Jesus’ teachings.  Previously, this crowd receives physical food and eats until all of them are full.  They additionally receive healing of their bodies.  Not surprisingly, the previous day’s bounty does not satisfy them.  They want even more!  They pursue Jesus hoping He will give them even more healings and food.  He uses their pursuit to educate them about the kingdom of God and spiritual food, the bread of life which He personifies in His life, crucifixion, death and resurrection.

For the listeners and contemporary disciples, Jesus’ teachings are the bread of life, abundant and eternal life given freely to anyone who genuinely believes.  Whereas hunger, thirst and physical afflictions are normal occurrences of daily living which emerge and are resolved with the dawn and setting of the sun, their spiritual equivalents are not as easily satisfied.  A person can remain spiritually hungry and thirsty for years perhaps even an entire lifetime.  A physical resolution cannot be found for this predicament.  Contemporarily, the crass commercialization of American and Western society with its emphasis upon material and financial gain does not yield lasting happiness, joy, love or any other enduring riches.  As prosperous as twenty-first century United States citizens are, they still hunger and thirst for righteousness, justice, equality and purpose not unlike global citizens of developing nations.  With forty thousand stand-alone storage facilities excluding the material goods stored in attics, closets, basements and garages containing more personal items per capita per person compared to any other period of recorded human history, American citizens are amongst the most stressed, depressed, unhealthy, suicidal and spiritually unfulfilled people on the globe.  Annually, half a billion pharmaceutical prescriptions are filled in this country.  Pejoratively, chemists and counselors characterize America as a “Prozac nation” as pills are needed daily by countless millions of citizens to cope minimally within ordinary circumstances. In stark contrast, genuine spirituality encompassing an interdependent relationship with Almighty God, obedience to His teachings, and learning and applying them to daily living offer a viable alternative. 

Practically speaking, authentic spirituality effectively bestows holistic wellness incorporating soundness of mind, heart, body, soul, spirit, psyche and will.  Faithful adherents seeking a daily reprieve from life’s adversities through the practice of spiritual disciplines surmount mental and psychological illnesses, overcome myriad addictions and existential fear, humbly adhere to routines to preserve and maintain physical health, cultivate empowering relationships, find a unique purpose with which to serve God in meeting human needs and discover unconditional self-acceptance, creativity, and joy.  Inner healing and wholeness comprise the major poles of a spiritual life.  Embracing and maturing within the life you imagine in the innocence of your formative years is possible without chemical dependency or other types of secular and humanistic crutches.  I hasten to add such a life is also possible without a religious opiate, too.  Essentially, it is the gracious gift of God to anyone who humbly and genuinely relates to Him.

Jesus in this “Bread of Life” discourse exhorts the crowd to look beyond their immediate physical needs.  Once they have eaten again and had their fill, assuredly, they will experience hunger later in the day.  A miraculous healing will not remove future threats to their health.  Physical food and healing in and of themselves do not result in love, joy, purpose and other eternal riches.  Material and financial gain do not necessarily produce happiness in life.  However, a primary and growing relationship with the Heavenly Father offers abundant and eternal life which commence at the moment of heartfelt belief.  It therefore stands to reason and practice that a disciple commits his life to developing this primary relationship as his “Ultimate Concern.”  Dedication to learning God’s Word as he experiences God’s unfailing love, unquestionable faithfulness and unending grace is a fundamental requirement.  Insightfully, Jesus utilizes this setting with a captive audience to instruct them about the necessity of finding food that lasts and endures until eternal life.

Again, this passage is John’s version of the Eucharist.  He exhorts disciples to value this sacrament as more than an important ritual of which most of Christendom partakes once a month.  Rather, each time a disciple eats the bread and drinks the wine, those two holy and mysterious divine gifts, he reaffirms, renews and revitalizes his relationship with the Lord.  The sacred elements strengthen the disciple to progress in his spiritual journey.  Mystically, they infuse him with divine and supernatural power to persevere.  They encourage him to remain “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; knowing that your labor is not in vain.”  Beyond the repetition of a religious ritual in pursuit of personal piety and public righteousness, the Eucharist is an enduring venue to build and strengthen a disciple’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, “The Bread of Life.”

Consider the following questions and ideas as you study and reflect upon the passage.

·         Jesus dismisses the crowd’s polite and honorific greeting by exposing their true motive in following Him.  They wanted more natural food and physical healings.

·         Interestingly, the crowd addresses Jesus as “Rabbi” when is Israel’s title for an esteemed teacher.  Underneath their socially respectable words, they partially understand that He is more than a miracle worker sent to satisfy their physical desires.  He offers more than miracles.  Further, His teachings can supply miracles beyond physical ailments.  A paradigm shift in thinking which results in a comprehensive lifestyle change is nothing less than a miracle.  When an alcoholic or addict finds freedom from the enslavement of addiction and exchanges it for a spiritual relationship with a Higher Power, a miracle occurs.

·         Accordingly, Jesus teaches the crowd to pursue “food that does not spoil but food that endures to eternal life.”  An Ethiopian proverb posits, “If a man is hungry and you give him a fish, he will eat for a day.  If you teach him to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”  This maxim has obvious spiritual applications.  A tremendous miracle affects thinking and behavior until its drama details and extraordinary circumstances begin to fade in the consciousness and memory of witnesses.  Eventually, it has very little affect as its origins, sequence and consequences are lost.  However, if a person internalizes spiritual principles and persistently and pragmatically applies them to his life, he achieves integrity in time.  As a dimension of his spiritual progression, his principles become a type of spiritual food upon which he feeds as life’s situation cause him to hunger for righteousness and joy.

·         Jesus warns the crowd against devoting themselves to vain pursuits that will leave them in the same spiritual predicament.  I recall visiting a congregant in the hospital who was battling cancer.  She belonged to many social clubs and community organizations inclusive of a teaching sorority, ethnic sorority, Bridge club and approximately seven other groups.  Despite numerous hospitalizations and complex treatments, none of the members of any of these clubs visited her.  Her natural and church families comprised her cadre of visitors.  On this snowy, cold, bleak and dismal Sunday afternoon, she confessed to me, “You know Reverend; you spend your life belonging to a lot of things only to realize that you have been building on sand.”  Her sobering and humbling words resounded loudly in the room.  I imagine they were even louder in our mental and emotional consciousness.  This woman earnestly thought her memberships in those myriad organizations would enable her to contribute to a better world.  Personally, she possibly assumed her allegiances would enrich her life.  Not surprisingly, she presumed her commitment would engender the gratitude and reciprocity of her fellow members.  My visit on that dreary day which lent itself to such thorough self-reflection confirmed the undeniable errs of her assumptions.  Isolation, a fierce companion who refuses to tolerate illusions and dishonesty, compelled her to say the eternal meaningless of years of busyness. 

·         This “Bread of Life” passage offers similar sobering and hard warnings to contemporary disciples who may mistake earth’s fleeting riches as equal to eternal wealth.  Does anything we do possess any eternal worth?  Are we doing anything that will last beyond our physical existence?

·         The evangelist reminds his readers of the importance of Jesus who is the One who gives the “Bread of Life” through his preaching, teaching, healing and sacrificial life.  As the embodiment of the Father and Holy Spirit, Jesus imparts the gift of eternal food to anyone who believes.  Jesus is the One who receives the Father seal of approval to graciously give divine gifts.  You will recall from the Prologue of the Gospel, the evangelist characterizes Jesus as the grand architect of universe as Jesus fully and equally assists the Father in creation.

·         The crowd asks in return what the Father requires of them to do the work that pleases Him.  Interestingly, Jesus does not supply with a list of tasks and qualities similar to an enumerated job description.  Ironically, Jesus says one primary deed is necessary.  They must believe in the One who the Father sends. 

·         Hearing this requirement parallels a batter’s bewilderment in receiving a one hundred-mile-per-hour curve ball when he expects a fast or breaking ball.  The crowd does not expect Jesus to challenge to their long-held expectations and presumptions as to who will be the Messiah and how he will appear.  They are unprepared to surrender these heartfelt and enduring beliefs notwithstanding any evidence to the contrary.  Whereas they appreciate the miracles of food and physical healing, their gratitude will not extend to rethinking their expectations.

·         Belief for a disciple demands more than mental assent to reasonable theories.  The evangelist argues to his followers in the Johannine community and the church which forms in Ephesus that an authentic belief in Jesus necessitates a transformation in lifestyle beyond a comprehensive exchange of religious tenets. 

·         As this exchange between Jesus and the crowd continues, they ask for a sign to validate this ironic and strenuous teaching.  More specifically, they allude to the gift of manna that the Father provided during the wilderness wandering years.  Essentially, they counter Jesus’ teaching with an equal demand for yet another miraculous sign.

·         As is the case with miracles, were Jesus to answer their demand with another astounding event, assuredly, it would wear off in time.  Then, they would ask for another one.  This hapless sequence would repeat itself innumerably.

·         Provocatively, Jesus informs the crowd that Moses is not bestows the gracious gift of the manna contrary to popular belief.  Actually, the Heavenly Father with the full participation and cooperation of the Son.  The evangelist uses this startlingly remark to contrast the work of Moses as revealed in the gift of the Law with that of Jesus who reveals perfectly the Father’s gift of love.

·         Because of Israel’s intractable and hard hearts, the Law proved ultimately powerless to engender the praise, worship, obedience and love of the people toward Yahweh.

·         The life and teachings of Moses represent this struggle between the people’s mental knowledge of the Law and God’s holiness which the Law reveals.  The specification of nearly seven thousand regulations could not garner their allegiance and respect for God’s holy character.  Further, they simply did not appreciate God’s loyal, covenantal, faithful and unfailing love as demonstrated in His enduring provision in the wilderness. 

·         John uses this reference to Moses and manna to reflect the temporality of physical food and healings.  Instead, Jesus exhorts the crowd to pursue eternal food.

·         He characterized the “bread of life” as food that descends from heaven which the Heavenly Father graciously gives.  In fact, Jesus tells them to reassess their understanding of the origins of the manna to which they allude for justification.  Whether from the Heavenly Father or Moses, the manna which was given in the wilderness was temporal and daily.  It required constant replenishment.  Its supply was finite.  In comparison, the “Bread of Life” is eternal and infinite.

·         In response, the crowd asks for this kind of bread henceforth.  Possibly, they still confuse Jesus’ intent with a literal interpretation of His words.

·         Jesus then declares “I am the Bread of Life.”  Anyone who embraces His teachings and endures within a progressive relationship with Him will never hunger or thirst.  The evangelist posits through these verses that a genuine belief in Christ resolves any human ailment, challenge or adversity.  Notice the evangelist mentions two primary human needs, hunger and thirst.  Beyond these rudimentary physical needs, Christ encourages and empowers disciples to surmount life’s problems and possibilities with His love, teachings and power.

·         Contemporary disciples find wisdom, knowledge, guidance and answers as they faithfully study the teachings of Jesus.  To feed upon the breads that comes down from heaven and endures to eternal life means practically to devote one’s life to learning and applying this divine wisdom into one’s daily living.  A disciple is a student which means lifelong dedication to this task facilitates acquisition and emulation of the mind, heart and character of Jesus Christ.

·         In the thirty-sixth verse, Jesus brazenly condemns the crowd for their refusal to believe in Him though they see Him and witness the Father’s approval of Jesus through signs and wonder.  Belief in Jesus is the primary step toward eternal life.  Throughout the various discourses between Jesus and others in the “Book of Signs” (Gospel of John Chapters One Through Twelve), the necessity of belief arises.  Just as repeated performances of miracles could not sustain the belief of the wilderness generation, Jesus’ repetition of similar signs and wonder will not affirm belief in his listeners. 

·         Do you require litmus tests in order to believe?  Like Gideon, would you need a fleece to believe? 

·         Genuine belief emerges from a combination of head and heart.  Intellectual respectability is a necessary component of faith.  Reason, logic, evidence, evidentiary standards and historical, critical analysis are central components of faith.  Belief is more than emotional and satisfying worship.  Authentic faith in Almighty God requires more than a warm fuzzy feeling in a person’s heart.  A stalwart and sincere conviction about God, the Bible and religion welcomes life’s complexities and contradictions.  Tunnel vision is not admirable when it ignores hard questions and tough realities. 

·         Jesus informs the crowd of the farce of relying upon external phenomena to validate their faith.  Eventually, this method of justifying faith will not suffice as a person will need a greater sign or miracle each time to legitimate his or her faith.