The Book of John - Chapter 6 (Part 3)

Hello Everyone!

Since we have completed our study on worship, we will be making more progress in the Book of John until another thought comes up that I feel like sharing on this platform! Today, we will jump into John 6 starting in verse 33. I had one recurring question that kept coming into my mind during the reading of this section (v33-59). What the heck is the bread of heaven. Now of course the Sunday school answer of Jesus is correct, but why bread? Why isn't he the meat of heaven or anything else? This may seem like a silly question, but I believe the Bible is very intentional in how things are worded and the deeper meanings behind what is said. So join me as I try to explain what I found!

John 6:33-59

So we start with bread, why bread? Specifically, why the bread of heaven. To start with, bread is a base level food for nourishment. It fills a very specific role in the food pyramid by providing carbs and wheat. Bread is typically very filling in a time of desperate need. Bread also is something that supercedes social class and status. A poor man and a rich man can eat bread. All ethnicities can eat bread. Bread is a food that is approachable. All these things describe God and Jesus both. We can check in the old testament and see an example of this in Exodus 16:1-4. The Israelites are on the long journey out of Egypt and cry out for some food. God provides them manna or also called the bread of heaven for the nourishment.

We also see Jesus in John 6:48 go a step further to say that he is the bread of life. So we know that when Jesus speaks of life, he speaks of our spirit. The bread of life then must fill our soul life the bread you can buy at the store fills your stomach. We have life through Christ Jesus because our souls are filled with him as we can see in Romans 8:10

Why do you think it is important for Jesus to make this analogy to this specific group? How does this apply to our local communities where food scarcity might not be as big and issue as Israel in 30ish AD?

For a few verses, Jesus takes a side-step from the bread and talks about straight doctrine to the people. Jesus is telling the people with him and us that God is the one who draws us to salvation and not us who initially sought him. Psalm 53:1 describes this perfectly. I also think it is funny how close John 6:40 mirrors John 3:16. It's almost like Jesus thought this message was important! Skipping over to John 6:45, we see that Jesus is speaking to the prophecy that Isaiah gave in Isaiah 54:13 that all men should be taught of God. All through the old testament, this was God's intended plan for Israel. However, the Israelite tradition that had been passed down taught that only Israel was to receive God's blessing, which is not true. The real blessing in this prophecy of Isaiah and Jesus's words in John are that us none Jews get included into salvation through it! This may seem like a throw-away verse at first glance, but remember what I said in the beginning, every word in the Bible has a purpose!

So in verses 53-56 we see Jesus bounce back to the analogy of bread, specifically his body being bread. I think it would be most beneficial to describe this passage by jumping to Matthew 26:26-28. We see a few extra details relating to this same topic in Matthew that we don't see in John. First, we see a strong emphasis on the breaking of the bread. This symbolizes that Jesus's body had to be broken to fulfill the new covenant of salvation. If you remember, the beatings and crucifixion of Jesus are not only a huge emphasis in the new testament gospels, but also prophesied about on several occasions in the old testament. It was a requirement to fulfill the wrath that God had towards our sin.

Also, we see the wine symbolizing Jesus's blood. Blood is used as a reminder of this covenant. When God looks down and sees us spiritually covered by Jesus's blood, it is a reminder of the covenant that he has with us. Wine was also used in those days as a healer of internal ailments as Proverbs said to use a little for the stomach. Paul relayed this message to Timothy also in 1Timothy 5:23. If physical wine had this much power how much more the blood of Jesus. Lastly, Leviticus 17:11 speaks to the necessity that blood had to be shed for the atonement of sin. This is a critical thing to keep in mind when reading over this passage.

Why is taking the communion so important in today's church? What does communion mean to you?

I hope you all enjoyed the study. I also hope that the questions that I posed throughout the study were a nice change of pace also! I look forward to what God will show us in the chapters and verses to come in John! Please continue to study over these verses for yourself and see if there is anything else that you learn from it!

Thanks

God Bless