Bible Study Notes -
John 6:41-50
Why eat stale
bread? That sermon title on the
foregoing passage asks disciples an important theological question relating to
the use of their time, talent, treasure and temperament. Jesus continues his “Bread of life”
teachings. He declares He is the living
bread from heaven which the Father graciously gives to humankind to experience
abundant life on earth and eternal life afterwards. Jesus stands in the midst
of a crowd and asks them this significant theological question using an
everyday image. He criticizes
traditional religious beliefs which have petrified to a point of
meaninglessness. Although His listeners
know the Law and teachings of the prophets, this knowledge does not enhance
their quality of life. To rely upon
those dead creeds in opposition and dismissal of Jesus’ teachings is synonymous
to eating stale bread.
In a previous
pastorate, I discovered to my great chagrin that the most vocal opponents who
attended “The Mustard Seed Hour,” our weekly Bible study and prayer meeting,
possess greater clarity about church traditions and religious rituals than they
did the Word of God. Their biblical
illiteracy meant they consistently feasted upon the stale bread of unreliable
church legends which they insisted others must follow. This stale bread also included yeast of
Southern, cultural and political traditions and practices that unduly and
illegitimately influenced church affairs and policies. Theologically, we characterize this mixture
of disparate ideas as syncretism. A
major threat to Christianity as it evolves in twenty-first century United
States is the propensity to cloak the American dream, rugged individualism,
free market principles and libertarianism in Christian vestments. Are we Christians who reside in the United
States and happen to be loyal American citizens? Are we Americans who pledge allegiance to
Christian principles? The stale bread of ideological, religious and
philosophical syncretism eventually fails to satisfy those persons who purchase
it. In this passage, Jesus offers the
alternative of adhering faithfully to His teachings and progressively maturing
as a disciple who enjoys the Father’s blessing of continual faithfulness. In the colloquialism of many church circles,
“it’s about relationship with Christ and not religion.” Rather than accepting bread with mold and
mildew which occurs in unsold restaurant inventory, spiritually speaking,
disciples choose the teachings of Jesus as the foundation and provision of
their lives.
During my
bachelor days, I lived in the theatre district of mid-town Manhattan on West 46th
Street between 9th and 10th avenues. At the corner of West 46th Street
and 9th Avenue, Amy’s Bread Shop sold the very best pecan breakfast
buns I have ever had. As you passed the
open door, the alluring aroma of fresh ingredients as the bakers worked
lingered for blocks. It fueled the taste
buds and enflamed expectation as I could not wait to sit down at my desk and
enjoy my breakfast bun with a piping hot cup of hazelnut coffee with
cream. Actually, this sweet smell of
freshly baked remained with me throughout the day. Sometimes, I returned to Amy’s on the way
home to purchase a loaf of Irish soda bread with raisins and had it for dinner
along with cheese, butter, preserves or peanut butter. On pasta nights which were often as I was
single at the time, I bought a fresh loaf of Italian or French bread. My sandwiches for lunch were made with a
rotation of fresh rye, wheat, pumpernickel and sourdough loaves. Soon, I began to think that a man could live
on bread alone.
After the
foregoing description of fresh, daily bread, would you buy stale bread? Why buy stale bread when you can purchase
freshly baked bread? Conjure an image of
mold and mildew. Smell moisture and
decay. Look for the inevitable maggots
and flies. Feel how hard, crusty and
inedible it is.
The wilderness
is the setting of this text. The crowd
that surrounds Jesus resembles the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness
for forty years. In response to their
faithless grumbling, God provides manna to meet their physical needs. Instead of responding with gratitude,
thanksgiving and praise, they then complain about their lack of meat and
water. The crowd following Jesus
searches for Him because they want more bread.
They ate but were still hungry. To
guard against perpetual hunger, some of them hoarded manna though God through
Moses gave explicit instructions to gather a daily allotment of manna lest it
become stale and maggots begin to birth within it. Nonetheless, they ate this divinely given
bread and because of their intense desire for greater satisfaction they were
still hungry.
Symptomatic of
the wilderness generation, the crowd that forms around Jesus wanted more food
from Him although they had their fill at the feeding of the five thousand men
plus women and children. As the Father
provided manna each morning for the Israelites, maybe the crowd assumed Jesus
would feed them each day were they to follow Him continually. Their desires and expectations parallel the
ulterior motives and assumptions which many contemporary seekers have when they
come to the Lord. They make a grocery
shopping list of personal, emotional, financial and existential
challenges. They expect Jesus to resolve
each one if He is the Son of God. They
seek the miraculous sign of the elimination of their problems as a condition
for faith and remaining a Christian.
In stark
contrast, Jesus offers the crowd bread that satisfies forever. The wilderness manna and fishes and loaves of
bread temporarily cured hunger pains. The
“bread from heaven” that Jesus serves actually eradicates hunger and prevents
death. Obviously, Jesus speaks
metaphorically as He allegorizes their physical hunger with a more formidable
and enduring spiritual hunger. His
teachings and commands if followed faithfully yields rest, satisfaction, peace,
healing and wholeness. Returning to a
major theme of this text, you cannot receive the “bread from heaven” from
anyone other than Jesus. To attempt to
buy it from another spiritual teacher or religious leader equals buying stale
bread. Practically, mixing dough of
different types of bread does not succeed; it results in a hot warmed over mess
of ingredients that have very little in common and are not compatible. Should you actually bake different kinds of
dough, you will not eat the loaf as it will taste revolting. It will become stale in time and be thrown
out. Concluding this overview with
reiteration to the Eucharistic themes of this passage, the broken body of
Christ is the bread of heaven and the very source of eternal life. Rather than acquiring more physical food
which they will need again and again, Jesus encourages the crowd to examine
their deeper spiritual hunger which can only be met with His teachings.
Consider the
following thoughts, ideas and questions as you study the text
·
As a consequence
of their misunderstanding of Jesus’ ministry and conceptualization of the
kingdom of God, the crowd grumbles about the bread of life sayings. You recall the persistent grumbling of the
wilderness generation. Parenthetically,
grumbling is an act of faithlessness. It
indicts the holy character of God alleging He is not simultaneously
all-powerful, all-kind, all-knowing and ever-present. Constant complaining by disciples means we
really do not believe that our Heavenly Father possesses the power to
accomplish His Word and fulfill His promises in our lives. Confronted by Jesus with the stalwart “bread
of life” teachings, the crowd openly displays their dislike of His emphasis
upon more substantial spiritual realities as opposed to their physical needs. Most regrettably, many contemporary church
goers simply utilize Christianity as a religious cloak for their self-centered
ambitions and self-seeking impulses.
Preaching about total surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and living
under His Lordship particularly offends many of them.
·
In the forty-second
verse, members of the crowd allude to Jesus’ humble earthly origins as a means
of diffusing His teachings. Elsewhere in
the gospels, Jesus teaches, “A prophet is without honor at home.” Often, family members, neighbors and
childhood friends assume they know you better than you may know yourself. They rarely allow you to grow up and become the
unique person whom Almighty God created you to be. They prefer the label they placed upon you to
remain throughout your life. As you make
different choices and pursue interests contrary to theirs, they suspect “you
have forgotten where you came from.”
Similarly, this crowd wants Jesus to know that they remember his lowly
beginnings as a carpenter’s son in the backwater region of Galilee, an area not
particularly known for its education, commerce or culture.
·
Thus, who is
Jesus to declare boldly “I came down from heaven?” Who is he?
He came from the same neighborhood as we do. We know his parents and family for more than
three generations. “Familiarity breeds
contempt.” As a consequence, this crowd
takes offense as they listen to the discourse on the “bread of life” and His
claims of divinity.
·
Sensing their angry
response and faithless attitude, Jesus demands they cease grumbling. Again, the wilderness passages of the Old
Testament contextualize the evangelist’s writings. The children of Israel grumble incessantly as
their physical needs increase. Although
they appeal to Almighty God who graciously provides for them, they continue to
grumble. Their ungrateful words indict
the holy and faithful character of the Heavenly Father. In a parallel manner, the crowd’s grumbling against
Jesus is an indictment of his claims to divinity. They would like the benefits of discipleship
without the responsibility and commitment.
Being a disciple means a lifelong commitment to learning and applying
Christ’s teachings and commands. To
demonstrate love for our Lord, we obey His commands which are not burdensome because
of the commitment we make to love Him wholeheartedly.
·
In the next few
verses, Jesus tells them that the Father teaches everyone who genuinely believes
in Jesus. The Law and the Prophets
combine to predict the coming of Jesus who is Supreme to the written code and
prophetic teachings. In fact, Jesus is
the Father’s greatest revelation. He
supersedes manna, bread, water, temple and any other philosophy, theology or
ideology. Relating directly to Him is
the most effective means of learning the will of the Father. To this group of common people, Jesus offers
the benefits of relational and experiential knowledge in contrast to theoretical
material which may have little bearing on the daily and practical concerns of
their lives. Obtaining this divine
wisdom begins with a critical conversation with Jesus.
·
The
forty-seventh verse of this chapter reassures disciples that eternal life begin
from the very moment they genuinely believe in Jesus Christ (John 1:12, 5:24,
20:31; Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 and 1 John 1:1-4). The religious training of my childhood encouraged
us to look forward to heaven where we would receive our just rewards for
earthly obedience, begin eternal life and enjoy the presence of our Lord
forever. Actually, the evangelist insists
this experience starts from the very moment that you sincerely and irreversibly
put your faith and hope in the salvific work of Jesus. We do not have to wait until a future eschatological
period such as the rapture before or after the “Great Tribulation.” The great news is eternal life is now! Love, joy, peace, healing, wellness and
wholeness will be your daily and constant companions from the instant you
establish a relationship with Jesus, the Son of God.
·
In John 6:48,
Jesus reiterates “I am the bread of life.”
The “I AM” sayings of John parallel Exodus 3:14 in which the Father
tells Moses to instruct the Israelites that “I AM” sends you. “I AM” is the Name of Almighty God. Jesus in referring to Himself with this divine
appellation essentially states He personifies the Father’s revelation of
Himself as manna (the bread of life), the Good Shepherd, the Gate, the Way, the
Truth, the Life and the Resurrection. This
verse serves as the Words of Institution in John’s gospel. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus says at this
juncture in the meal, “This is my body which is broken for you. As often as you eat it, remember me.” To demonstrate the surpassing greatness of a
relationship with Jesus over repetitive rituals, the Johannine evangelist records
this verse to instruct the reader that the teachings and commands of Jesus are
an eternal source of divine provision upon which any disciple can feed at any
time. For John, the Eucharist is
relational rather than ritualistic.
·
In the next
verse, Jesus returns to physical realities.
He reminds the crowd that the generation who ate the manna in the
wilderness died. In contrast, any
disciples who live by the bread of life will never die. They receive freedom from death which is not
equivalent to physical expiration. Physically
exiting this life means entering into eternal life for disciples. Eating the bread from heaven eliminates spiritual
and existential death and allows disciples to begin immediately the journey
toward glorification as an eternal spirit born of the One Eternal Being,
Almighty God (Colossians 1:27).
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