John 06
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
6:1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). 6:2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus was a celebrity. Large crowds followed Jesus everywhere.
6:3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples.
Rabbis stood when they read the Word of God, but they sat when they interpreted it with their own commentary. This is not a Biblical doctrine, but Jesus followed this same teaching method.
6:4 (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover was near.)
Devout Jews from all over the Roman Empire would travel to Jerusalem during the Passover.
6:5 Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”
Philip lived in this area. He would know the best places to purchase food.
6:6 (Now Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.)
Jesus is God. Just as God asked Adam, Cain, and Job questions, Jesus asked His disciples questions although Jesus already knew the answer to the question.
6:7 Philip replied, “Two hundred silver coins worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.”
The disciples did not have enough money to purchase food for the large crowd.
6:8 One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 6:9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?”
Andrew was underestimating the omnipotence of Jesus.
6:10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.) So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
Jesus was organized in His administration.
6:11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted.
From five loaves and two fish, Jesus fed a feast to everyone in attendance. This was most likely the most food that these peasants had ever eaten.
6:12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves left over by the people who had eaten.
There were twelve baskets of leftovers which no one could eat because everyone was full.
6:14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Notice that the people did not yet recognize Jesus as God. They saw Him as the prophet whom Moses promised would come. Jesus was the “prophet like unto Moses,” but He was also deity in human form.
6:15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.
Jesus is omniscient. He knows all things, including the thoughts of all intelligences on earth. He withdrew, because no man can force Him to be king. Jesus will be King after God the Father makes Satan His footstool.
Walking on Water
6:16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 6:17 got into a boat, and started to cross the lake to Capernaum. (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)
While Jesus was praying, the disciples stepped into a boat and traveled to Capernaum. Capernaum was the headquarters of Jesus.
6:18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough.
This wind could have been satanically-inspired. Since Satan could not touch Jesus, he may have been attempting to wipe out the disciples.
6:19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, approaching the boat, and they were frightened.
Only God can walk on water.
6:20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”
There is no reason for any believer to be afraid in any circumstance. God is sovereign over all things, including weather and death.
6:21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
The boat reached the shore.
6:22 The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake realized that only one small boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 6:23 But some boats from Tiberias came to shore near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 6:24 So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
The crowds followed Jesus everywhere.
Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life
6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Notice that they called Jesus “rabbi” and not “Lord.” They recognized Jesus as a great human teacher at this time but nothing more.
6:26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.
Jesus is omniscient. He can read their minds. They are not interested in hearing divine viewpoint. They were following Jesus for food.
Many missionaries send food to the mission fields. What they should be doing is sending the good news and not food. Otherwise, the people will come to eat instead of to learn about God. God has promised food, shelter, clothing, and teachers to all believers.
6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”
Notice that Jesus concentrated on the spiritual nourishment of the people and not the physical nourishment. Missionaries do not want to feed the enemy, because the enemy will rise up and ban the missionaries.
When the American government feeds communist nations, then the communists will rise up, defeat America, enforce communism, and then outlaw the gospel. America should never feed an anti-biblical nation. They should allow the people to starve so that they will rebel and remove the godless leaders.
When American missionaries feed India, they are empowering Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. The American churches need to leave these godless nations alone and allow their religious and political leaders to feed them. In this way, the people may turn away from false religions and look for the one true God.
6:28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?”
The people were into works salvation. They wanted to perform some special deed that would secure their place in heaven.
6:29 Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires – to believe in the one whom he sent.”
Salvation is simple. Just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
6:30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
Jesus had performed many miraculous signs already. He had just fed nearly 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish. However, the people still refused to believe.
6:31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
The people wanted Jesus to rain down manna from heaven.
6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.
They did not need manna. Manna will not save them. They needed the true bread from heaven, which only the Father can send.
6:33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Jesus Himself is the true bread from heaven. He is the only way to salvation.
6:34 So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”
They still did not recognize that Jesus was talking about Himself.
6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus point blank told the people that He was the bread from heaven. If the people would come to Him, then they would never be hungry or thirsty.
6:36 But I told you that you have seen me and still do not believe.
It does not matter how many miracles Jesus performed. Unless the Holy Spirit opens up the eyes of this crowd, they will never believe in Jesus.
6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.
No one can even come to Christ unless God the Father gives them as a gift to Christ. Everyone that the Father gives to Christ will come to Christ and Jesus will never turn them away. This is the doctrine of the efficacious call of God. There is a general call made to all men which is rejected by everyone. There is an efficacious call to the elect, which will not be rejected. Anyone who does not receive an efficacious call will never turn to God. He is too totally depraved and evil to make this choice on his own.
6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.
Only God can come down from heaven. Jesus came to do the will of the Father.
6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day.
Every one of the elect will be sent to Jesus by God the Father. None of the elect will lose their salvation. Jesus will raise them all up on the last day. As soon as a believer dies, his soul and spirit go to Christ in heaven immediately. The dead in Christ will receive a glorified physical body at the rapture of the church.
6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The will of God the Father is for every one of the elect to believe on Jesus, possess eternal life, and to be raised on the last day.
6:41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
The Jews knew the human parents of Jesus. To them, Jesus was just a little boy from Nazareth.
6:43 Jesus replied, “Do not complain about me to one another.
Jesus commanded them to stop complaining. They were not God. They were humans. There were many things that these humans did not understand.
6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
The Greek word for “draw” is ἑλκύω (elkuow), an aorist active subjunctive verb, meaning to possibly drag, draw, pull, persuade, or induce. It means to draw a sword out of its scabbard. It is aorist subjunctive, meaning that the pull is a onetime possible completed action of the past. In Greek, the verse translates as “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me possibly drags him out as a onetime completed action of the past, and then I will raise him up on the last day.”
Man is totally depraved and evil. “There is no one who is righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands God. There is no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:11)
Since no one seeks God, then God must seek the lost. No one can come to Jesus unless God the Father pulls him out of his lost state. After God pulls a person out of his lost state, then the person is given to Jesus as a gift. Jesus preserves His salvation and then raises him up on the last day.
Without the ἑλκύω (elkuow), or pulling out by God the Father, no one would be saved. Everyone would reject God and burn in the Lake of Fire forever.
6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.
Jesus quoted from Isaiah 54:13. Man is totally depraved and evil. He will never come to Jesus, unless God teaches him to do so. Everyone who hears and learns about Christ from God the Father will come to Jesus as a believer and receive eternal life.
6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he has seen the Father.)
If anyone sees God the Father, then they will die. Jesus will not die, because He is also God.
6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life.
Salvation is simple. One must believe in Jesus to be saved. However, one cannot believe in Jesus unless God the Father teaches one to do so.
6:48 I am the bread of life. 6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
Everyone who ate the manna in the wilderness died physically.
6:50 This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die.
Jesus is better than manna. He also came down from heaven. If anyone eats Jesus, then they will not die. This was shocking teaching to the Jews because Jesus is teaching spiritual cannibalism. Eating Jesus means believing His words.
6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Many denominations claim that this passage describes the Lord’s Supper. They falsely teach that the bread turns into the literal body of Christ. This is not possible because the Lord’s Supper will not take place until one year later. One cannot make a doctrine out of an historical incident. Paul gave the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper in his letters.
Jesus is speaking in metaphors. The people asked for Jesus to rain down manna from heaven. Jesus explained that the manna will not bring them eternal life. What they need for eternal life is the Bread from heaven which is Christ. When Christ’s body is broken, those who believe in Jesus will receive eternal life.
6:52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
The Jews would not understand this metaphor until after the body of Jesus was broken for their sins. Then the true meaning of the Passover will become more clear.
6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. 6:54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 6:55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 6:56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him. 6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me. 6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”
This was a shocking teaching to the Jews. It was against the Mosaic Law to eat or drink blood. This statement was actually a metaphor of what Christ would do on the cross.
Many Followers Depart
6:59 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, said, “This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?”
Jesus had other disciples besides the twelve. They found this teaching too deep to understand. Instead of studying the Word of God to receive the deeper meaning, they complained. Many baby Christians will complain when the Bible is taught at a deep level. Instead of complaining, they should study at a deeper level.
6:61 When Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended?
Deep teaching offends many baby Christians, especially when the teacher teaches expository from the Biblical languages. Exposing evil also offends baby Christians. They desire more milk and cookies.
6:62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?
This teaching went over everyone’s head because they did not understand the coming ascension of Jesus. However, this did not stop Jesus from teaching at this level. The disciples would recall this lesson after the ascension of Jesus. Deep spiritual truths often may not be understood by believers until years later.
6:63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
The words of Jesus were alive because they were the active Word of God. When God uses language, history becomes active. These living words cannot be understood by the natural man. Only the Holy Spirit can explain this type of deep teaching.
6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
There were many unbelievers in the crowd. They would not be able to understand any of the teachings of Jesus.
6:65 So Jesus added, “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.”
Because man is totally depraved and evil, he will not be able to come to Christ on his own. If the Father allows one to come to Christ, then the Holy Spirit will make the dead spirit alive so that the person can learn divine information directly from the Father.
Peter’s Confession
6:66 After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him any longer.
Many of the disciples quit on Jesus. This doctrine was too strong for them. They were not mature enough to handle it. Instead of quitting, they should have studied more from the King Himself. Many baby Christians in modern churches make this same mistake. When a pastor teaches doctrine at a high level, then most of the congregation will leave and attend a church that teaches more shallow Bible doctrine.
6:67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”
Jesus did not change His teaching style to a seeker-friendly method in order to keep and attract more disciples. Instead, He asked His inner twelve if they wanted to leave.
6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Peter and the disciples were not about to leave. They would later turn the world upside down with Bible doctrine. Their teachings will bring down the Roman Empire.
6:69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”
Peter and the apostles recognized that Jesus was God Himself in the flesh.
6:70 Jesus replied, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?”
Notice that the disciples did not choose Jesus. Jesus chose them. This is the doctrine of election and predestination. Jesus does the choosing and the elect obeys. Jesus also chose the devil to be one of His disciples. He even placed the devil over the treasury.
6:71 (Now he said this about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for Judas, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.)
Jesus knew He was going to be betrayed by Judas, but Jesus chose him anyway. Why? This was part of God’s divine plan which was decided before the foundations of the world were created. Also, the betrayal of Jesus was predicted in the Old Testament.