Summary of John 6:1-69
Jesus Christ had just miraculously fed five thousand people with five barley loaves and two fish. And the next day, the crowd who had been fed by him sought after Jesus to find him. And when they found him they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” And Jesus responded to them by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
And then Jesus and the crowd entered into a discussion on the works of God and of faith in Jesus Christ and on the subject of bread from heaven. And then Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe…”
And further in the discussion Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day…” And after this many of his disciples (not the twelve) turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
The Bread of Life
It appears to me here that many who were following Jesus around, and who had been listening to his sermons, were people of very shallow and superficial faith in Jesus Christ, but not the kind of faith required for salvation from sin and eternal life with God. It appears to me that they were more caught up in the miracles and in having their bellies filled with food which perishes than they were interested in truly following Jesus with their lives. For once he let them know the cost of following him, many turned back to their old ways of living and no longer walked with Christ.
And times haven’t changed all that much in that regard. For it is not the majority of the people who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are taking him and his word seriously, and who are walking in the truth, and in holiness and righteousness, and in obedience to the Lord and to his will for our lives. But it is the minority, represented by the twelve. For the majority who profess faith in Christ, at least here in America, appear to be mainly those who are worldly and whose faith is pretty surface level, who reject the hard messages of the Scriptures in favor of “gospel lite” taught by humans.
Thus, many of them are the selfish and the self-indulgent who are being taught by liars and deceivers and manipulators who seduce the people into believing the lies and into rejecting the truth. And these who seduce others to sin in the name of Christ are opportunists who are the opposite of good who fake their Christianity in order to deceive and to trick and to trap people in their lies. For their goal is to turn people away from biblical Jesus and away from biblical faith and the truth of the gospel in order to receive an altered gospel which tickles itching ears and which appeases human flesh.
But what was the gospel that Jesus taught? What did he mean by the things he said here? Well, if we think about the symbolism of the bread and of the cup we understand that they represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ which were given for us on that cross in sacrifice for our sins. And why did Jesus die? It was to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin so that we might now honor our Lord by living holy and godly lives, in the power of God, according the will of God, in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant.
So, to eat of his flesh and to drink of his blood symbolizes us participating with Christ in his death and resurrection by being crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and being raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Therefore, sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it will lead to righteousness and sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And then we must walk (in conduct, in practice) no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, daily by the Spirit putting to death the deeds of the flesh that we might live with Christ for eternity. For it is not those who give lip service only to God who are saved from their sins and who have eternal life with God, but it is those who are DOING (putting into practice) the will of God the Father who is in heaven, and it is those who continue in those walks of faith until the very end (see Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Colossians 1:21-23; Galatians 6:7-8, etc.).
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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