John 6 (Part 5) The Jews Disputed, (John 6:52-59)

 Knowing the Ex. 12. Passover Language and terminology help some key concepts make a lot more sense. For example, 

John 6:53, 

1-Eternal Life (earthly life and heavenly life)

2-Abide (connection, family)

3-The Father’s ate and died (true source of life)

So the word “Eternal Life” gives the idea that their is more to the life we know that is available. One of the challenges the hearers of Jesus struggled with was this greater meaning of life. They again and again tried to process His words. As believers, we believe we will live forever, but many people in our world think once they die that is it. A person that doesn’t understand that their is more to this life than what we know and  has not had Jesus opens their eyes to that doesn’t consider Eternal life as a reality. That is what Jesus is doing here for those who have an ear to hear. (Matt. 11:15, Mark 4:9, 23, Luke 8:8, 14:35) 

So we have a trigger that brings thoughts to our mind when we hear the phrase “Flesh and Blood”. We think family and close ties. We will forgive people more because they are our “Flesh and Blood”. We will go farther to help people that are our “Flesh and Blood”.

John 6:53-57 

So let rework the phrases with this idea of “Flesh and Blood”

1-in vs. 53, it says Unless you eat and drink My “Flesh and Blood”

You have (no life in you) (The people who don’t eat)

2-In vs. 54, Whoever feeds and drinks  my “Flesh and Blood”

 (has eternal life)(The people who do eat)

3-In vs. 55, He then exalts the value of His “Flesh and Blood” calling it (true food and true drink)

4-In vs. 56, He uses the word (“Abide”) which speaks to the unity that is accomplished by partaking in His “Flesh and Blood”. John 15:4-10, 1 John 3:24, 4:12-16  

John 14:5, (Thomas) “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 14:7-11, (Philip) “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (This speaks to “abidingand truly knowing”

John 14:22, (Judas) “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not the world?”

5-In vs. 57, He speaks to the (source of life).

John 6:58

In vs. 58, He goes back to the “bread that came down from heaven” phrase. In this, He comes back to the point that the bread that the father’s ate, they died. But this new fulfillment bread is greater than that bread because it offers something the other bread couldn’t offer. It offers a meal that prevents one from dying. 

(So from our point of view, that is what “Salvation” is all about. Finding Eternal Life. Finding a life that transcends this earthly life. A heavenly life.)

John 6:59

Vs 59, points out the finish of this 3 part teaching was in Capernaum. John 6:24, captures the start of this teaching. When the crowd was seeking Him eagerly with wrong motives. And by wrong motives, we would say seeking  things that perishes and do not endured to eternal life.

John 6 (Part 5) Preparing your Heart (John 52-59)

  John 6:52-59,

The Jews Disputed

This section is the 3rd escalation of Jesus teaching to the crowd He fed. 

1- Starts with them “Seeking Him” in John 6:22, they are frantic and intensely focussed on Him, He shocks them with instead of giving them a practical teaching or instructions, He points out how their motives are wrong. He says, “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life”. John 6:27 

2-Starts with “So the Jews Grumbled” John 6:42

Over Him saying He is “the bread that came down from heaven” 

Here we revisited the Ex. 16 story about how God fed them mana in the wilderness through Moses. 

3-Finally starts with “The Jews then disputed” John 6:52 

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Here this week, we will consider the Ex. 12 story about the Passover and the terms used to explain how to observe it. Notice how Jesus is using the same terminology in this passage.

So in Ex. 12:8, we see in the instructions of the 1st Passover, they took the “blood of the lamb”and put on door post and the phrase “eat the flesh” is used to describe the eating of the lamb. So when Jesus says unless you “eat of my flesh” He is pointing them to the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb and this act that was foreshadowed in the “eating of the flesh” of the lamb, would have to be done in order to partake in the blessing that comes from the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. John 1:29 

This makes a bunch of the other statement make a lot more sense. For example, 

John 6:53, 

Eternal Life (earthly life and heavenly life)

Abide (connection, family)

The Father’s ate and died (true source of life)

I will address these in the next entry. 

John 6 (Part 4) The Jews Grumbled (John 6:41-51)

 Day 1, (Knowing)

John 6:41-42, They said “Is to this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? John 7:27-28, We know where the man came from..

Day 2, (Grumbling)

John 6:43, Do not grumble Ex. 16:2, 7, 8, 9, 11, (8 times)

John 6:44, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. 1 Cor. 12:3 

Other parallels between two text, mana in the wilderness, vs. feeding of 5000, relates to the fathers not “knowing” what was actually going on Ex. 16:12, 15, 

 and them eating to their fill in the wilderness or desolate place. Ex. 16:16, 18, as much as he could eat John 6:11-12 

Also “kill”, with Jesus they want to kill Him because of His words, but in the wilderness the fathers think God wants to kill them

Exodus 16:3, 17:3 (in the wilderness to kill by hunger and thirst)

Ex. 12:6, 21. (Kill the Lamb) John 5:18, 7:1, 19, 20, 25, 8:37, 40 

Ex. 13:15 (Kill the first born of Egypt)

Day 3 (God Teaches)

John 6:45, It is written in the Prophets, “And they will all be taught by God. 

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me

Isa. 54:13, Jer. 31:33-34, Heb. 8:10-11 (This is the NC promise and it’s realities) John 7:16-17 , John 7:28, Jesus taught in the temple…

(Luke 12:12, Matt. 10:19-20)

Day 4, (The Unseen’s Messenger)

He makes Him known, Heb. 1:1-2 

John 6:46, not that anyone has seen the Father except He who is from God; He has seen the Father John 1:18, John 14:6-11 

John 7:29, I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent me   

John 3:32, 8:38  John 7:28-29, He who sent me is true, and Him you do not know. I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent Me.

Heb. 3:1-6

Day 5, (Eternal Life)

John 6:47, Truly, truly, I say to you, (whoever believes has eternal life)

John 6:48, I am the bread of life, John 6:35, 

John 6:49-51

Those who ate of the bread in the wilderness died

Those who eat of this bread will not die

(What is the difference between life and eternal life?)

We can say physical life and spiritual life. Physical death is not the end.

John 6:57-59 (the wilderness bread) John 6:52-56, the Exodus 12:7-11, (eat flesh) and Ex 12:12-13 (drink blood) Passover concepts

Again Jesus is making the contrast between the wilderness mana and the feeding of the 5000 bread. God supernaturally cared for people in a deserted place, but the bread administrated by Moses was a shadow of the fulfillment to come delivered by the Christ. Heb. 3:3 

John 6 (Part 4) Preparing your Heart (John 6:41-44)

 John 6 (Part 4) 
The Jews Grumbled
John 6:41-51

John 6:33, The Jews Grumbled
Because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
This is the 2nd “Truly, truly” statement of last week. The first one was were He called them out on wrong internal motives.

Two possible directions you can take in your personal study here to dive into this text is,

• one to refresh you mind with the OT story of feeding of the mana in Exodus 16.
• Another is to consider the Jews logical source of reason for their grumbling spelled out in John 6:42, Do we not know His parents?

How do you explain the reality of Jesus coming from heaven if He has earthly parents?

If you would have been in that crowd and your ears were hearing these things in that cultural context, how would you have processed these words. What would of helped you through this logical challenging dialogue? 

Exodus 16:2 
One parallel you see in our text this week is were the Jews Grumble about Jesus’ proclamation of who He was because it defied logic was in Exodus 16:2, where their fathers also grumbled against Moses in the wilderness because the logic of God’s deliverance in that day was also “hard to listen to” John 6:60. 

John 6 (Part 3) Preparing your Heart (John 6:36-40)

Hope you guys are doing great and having a good week. 

Hopefully you have found some time to briefly consider the 4 main ideas of the first paragraph for this weekend in John 6:26-35.

Like in the discourse with the Samaritan woman and Nicodemus Jesus causes His audience to think deeper than they normally would do. To think about more weighty spiritual matters than just day to day earthly matters. 

If you have processed in your heart and mind the above text and it has become a building block or puzzle piece for you then move on to the next paragraph of thoughts in John 6:36-40. Here the text makes 5 basic points.

• 36, You see but don’t believe, John 6:64 
• 37, All the Father gives Me will come to Me, John 6:65, 44 
• 38, Not My will but the will of Him who sent Me, John 3:30 
• 39, His will is that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, John 17:6 
• 40, Those who look on the Son and believe in Him should have eternal life

As you attempt to commit these concept to your heart and mind consider grouping them in this way.

1. Consider vs 38. What do you see? What is the main idea?
2. Consider vs 36 and 40. How are they similar? What are the two groups of people described?
3. Consider vs 37 and 39. Are these definite statements or general ones? What does it mean by “All the Father gives Me will come to Me?”

I put a few other references to do further study on the ideas, take some time to go visits any verses that you think relate and are relevant to give a better understanding to the passage.

Hope you are all doing well and look forward to meeting with you this weekend.