Bible Study Notes: John 6:37-59

Bible Study Notes - John 6:37-59

In this scene, the evangelist, the sage of the Johannine community and the last remaining disciple among the twelve whom the Lord Jesus Christ tutored during the three and a half years of His public ministry, offer two contrasting depictions of the Church.  The first impression portrays a group of disciples and followers who vociferously deny the teachings of Jesus.  They forcibly contend He is wrong about the “Bread of Life” teachings.  Angrily, they reject these sayings; instead, they rely steadfastly upon the religious traditions they knew from childhood.  They insist Jesus’ teachings must adhere to the traditions of Moses, statutes of the Law and preaching of the prophets.  They summarily denounce any theology that contravenes the history, religion and literature of Israel.  Simply put, they refuse to accept Jesus’ claims about His divinity and equality with the Father.  Jesus’ statement that His teachings are superior to the manna that Yahweh provided daily for their forbears startles them and causes their cacophonous revolt. 

Second, there are those persons in the crowd who genuinely listen to Jesus and humbly consider the gifts of His teachings.  After millennia of theological, political and economic oppression by the Gentile rulers whose actions were sanctioned by their religious teachers and leaders, these listeners are open to the Father’s visitation through Jesus.  They willingly grant their devotion to Jesus who directly, perfectly and simply reveals the Father’s will.  They appreciate the opportunity He affords them to relate rightly and directly to the Heavenly Father without the burdens and trappings of rites, rituals, religion and self-righteousness.  Not surprisingly, the Beloved Disciple suggests the unfailing and unconditional love that Almighty God offers in Jesus clarifies this fundamental difference for disciples.

Interestingly, the clashing choices of Jesus or religion linger contemporarily in the Church.     The extensive biblical illiteracy in most churches in the United States seriously and substantially threatens the gospel of Christ and “The Great Commission.”  Regrettably, many American Christians are more conversant with their secular political ideology than they are with the cardinal tenets of the scriptures and the Christian faith.  They do not know enough about the Bible and Christ in order intelligently to share their faith with someone who does not know Christ.  As a result, they rely upon church sayings, clichés, traditions and cultural mores instead of the direct teachings of the Bible.  The least attended activities in most churches are Sunday School and weekly Bible study and prayer meeting. 

Ironically, when challenged with the actual sayings of Christ ( e. g. Matthew 10 and 23, Mark 13, Luke 21 and John 6), many contemporary disciples recoil in bewilderment as the Bible contradicts their Hollywood impression of an effeminate, spineless, self-effacing, weak-minded and cowardly Christ who acquiesces everyone’s whims in order to be liked universally.  The sophomoric phrase, “What Would Jesus Do – WWJD,” substantially undercuts the authentic, literal biblical portrait of Jesus.  However well-meaning, the phrase furthers a uniformed popular perception grounded mostly in cultural, social and geographical mores of congregants.  In stark contrast to these prevalent presuppositions about the Lord, the Bible reveals a loving Christ who shares straightforwardly divine truth which insists upon honesty and integrity in behavior.  Christ’s commands and teachings often conflict with cultural norms.  Whereas He love unfailingly and unconditionally, His teachings about the “new Law of Love” does not sanction immorality and unethical behavior. 

As an extreme example, a clergy couple began their marriage in an adulterous affair but justified their behavior and insisted that the Lord approves because of how deeply in love they are.  In time, the former mistress who became the second wife reaped what she sowed as the leopard whom she married did not shed his spots and began yet another adulterous affair with a woman who became his third wife.  Would Jesus forgive them?  Assuredly, He would.  Would He overlook the glaring inconsistencies between their verbal profession of faith and lifestyle?  Equally assuredly, He would not.  As He lovingly, compassionately and pastorally counsels the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 7:53 to 8:11, Jesus posits a change in character to enable integrity.  Religion furthers self-righteousness as a person utilizes rituals, rites and other aspects of church culture to establish and verify his or her worthiness in relationship to Almighty God.  Jesus offers a startling alternative.  He teaches the necessity of an interdependent relationship in which disciple shares in God’s perfect holiness and righteousness.  Jesus dismisses the worth and need of fallacious creeds, dogmas and practices.  As the crowd fears relinquishing their “Linus blanket” of tradition and self-reliance, they argue fiercely and defiantly with Jesus.  Eventually, some of them sever their relationship with Him.

Contemporary disciples face a further clash with the biblical depiction of Jesus and the one perpetrated by worldwide “Christian” television.  The latter portrayal rarely grapples with the foregoing hard sayings and moral, ethical requirements of Christ.  Instead, it posits the idea that Jesus came to bestow financial bounty, material acquisition, perfect physical health, success in every endeavor, total exemption from daily adversity, and general prosperity in all components of a disciple’s life.  Despite Jesus’ insistence that rain falls on the just and unjust alike, prosperity gospel preachers argue fiercely that God’s good favor protects believers with “real faith” against the challenges and burdens of daily human existence.  Large bank accounts and houses with thousands of square feet are the surest evidence of the righteousness and blessings of God. 

Followers of this strange teaching learn the scriptures in order to command God to fulfill His Word in their lives.  These teachers gloss over the simple fact that a sovereign and omnipotent deity does not have to answer to the whims and fleeting impulses of His creatures.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives and ministries of certain disciples elevates them to “super apostle” status; they employ their higher spiritual distinction to manipulate the uncritical obedience of fellow disciples.  The fruit of the Holy Spirit are marketable commodities in these sectors of the Church.  Essentially, this crass commercialization of the Christian gospel and the Bible contradicts the Lord Jesus Christ’s character, teachings and personality. 

Consider the following ideas and questions as you study the passage

• ·         The thirty-seventh verse lends itself to an interpretation in favor of predestination.  If the Father gives disciples to Jesus, has He chosen them in advance?  Rather, does His grace and love providentially create the circumstances which lead them to Christ?
• ·         In the next verse, Jesus reminds the crowd that He came to fulfill the will of the Father.  Instead of furthering a religious system that was then thousands of years old, Jesus came to reveal directly and clearly the love of the Father for humankind.  The Beloved Disciple paints a mosaic of God’s unfailing love in Christ.  Primarily, Jesus came to share the Father’s love which is hard for some listeners to accept as they are so accustomed to the dictates of Law and religion.  Many persons accept Christ as an eternal life insurance policy because they fear an eternity in hell.  Their limited perspective prevents them from appreciating the height, depth, breadth and width of the Father’s love.
• ·         Jesus assures His listeners that they will not fall away from the faith nor will they be spiritual orphans without a foundation in faith.  He will not lose anyone who comes to Him.  Practically speaking, anyone who learns and internalizes Jesus’ teachings will mature and persevere.  In fact, Jesus later promises the Holy Spirit as a Helper, Comforter and Friend who empowers and encourages disciples.  Moreover, the Holy Spirit will ensure the resurrection of each genuine believer in accordance with the Lord’s resurrection and promise.
• ·         Anyone who looks to the Son finds complete and irreversible healing from any human ailment whether physical, spiritual, mental, emotional or psychological.  The evangelist literarily alludes to the wilderness scene in which scorpions attacked the grumbling masses.  To relieve this disease, Moses lifts up a serpent on a stick; everyone who looks upon the snake is healed.  In the crucifixion, the Father lifts up the Son and anyone who believes on His Name and in His saving atonement finds salvation, healing and wholeness.  Furthermore, believers receive eternal life immediately when they put their faith and trust in Jesus.  The promise culminates in the believer’s resurrection on “the last day.”
• ·         In the forty-first verse, the crowd continues to grumble because of His “Bread of Life” sayings.  They forcefully resent that idea that Jesus suggests He is greater than Moses.  How can an illiterate, poor, uneducated carpenter from a backwater region of Galilee dare to suggest He exceeds the unparalleled greatness of Moses?
• ·         In the next verse, they question His pedigree.  As the son of a poor man however upright, Jesus could not possibly and reasonably affirm a heavenly origin.  Again, today, many people cannot accept His teachings because they trespass their social and cultural mores.  They expect leaders in any segment of society to possess a certain level of education and preparation.  They prefer people who grow up in “fine families.”  They desire leaders who are handsome and pretty and offer a striking public image and persona.  They want someone who represents someone whom they wish to become.   In the past as well as contemporarily, it is very difficult for people to receive a poor man’s son as they chosen leader.
• ·         The forty-fourth, forty-fifth and forty-sixth verses also lend themselves to the enduring theological debate about predestination versus antinomianism.  Consider the role of God’s perfect foreknowledge which means He predestines those believers whom He knew would choose Christ and thus seals their choice by enabling them to persevere with the power of the Holy Spirit.
• ·         In the forty-seventh verse, Jesus declares the gift of eternal life for anyone who genuinely believes.  The “Bread of Life” comes from heaven to give eternal life in contrast to manna which merely sustains life for a day.
• ·         Jesus then reiterates “I am the Bread of Life.”  His teachings are spiritual manna for disciples.
• ·         His words and sayings are “living bread” which will not become stale and moldy.  Amazingly, each time you read a passage of scripture, you discover something new and relevant to your daily circumstances.  Regardless of changes in human conditions or fundamental societal and paradigm shifts, the gospel of Jesus Christ empowers disciples for purposeful and intentional living. 
• ·         Allude to the Eucharist, the evangelist reminds his readers that Jesus’ body is they physical bread.  He willingly shares it so that believers can feed upon it and inherit eternal life.  In the celebration of Holy Communion, communicants receive the mysterious and sacred elements as reminders of Christ’s gift of eternal life.
• ·         In the fifty-second verse, the crowd accuses Jesus of advancing cannibalism.  “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  Certainly, this teaching sounds bizarre to them.  Interestingly, they take Jesus’ words literally and thereby miss the more important lesson relating to the Father’s invitation of love through the Son.  The teachings of Christ which are stated in accessible words for everyone are the “Bread of Life” which endures forevermore.
• ·         The next six verses, fifty-three through fifty-nine, are John’s equivalent of “The Last Supper” as the fourth gospel does not contain an explicit account of the “words of institution.”  As you read these verses, envision a clergyperson celebrating the Eucharist and repeating the Lord’s words as John records them.
• ·         The ritual of the Eucharist reminds partakers of God’s gracious gift of eternal life in Jesus.  Belief in Him enables the disciples to share in His righteousness and accordingly rightly relate themselves to the Heavenly Father.  The repetition of the ritual reinforces the relationship and yields more authentic righteousness rather than bolstering a false self-righteousness and religiosity.  The gracious gifts of the elements empower disciples to persevere and mature.