John 6:48–51

The Lord then solemnly repeats, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life" (verses 47, 48). In truth, as the promised One, He was always the object of faith. As the eternal Son He had always given life to the believer. But now He was the Word made flesh. He was the Son of God, and this as a man in the world. Rejected by Israel, He announces that He is the giver of eternal life. This is the great point: not the kingdom at some future day, but eternal life now in the Son. That life cannot be separated from Him — and He is now a man.

Here our Lord presents Himself as the full, present object of faith: "I am the bread of life"; "he that believes." The "I am" includes His flesh. That is, He has come and is now here. Faith rests on Him as one who has come in the flesh and been made visible — the life that was with the Father, now made visible. He is "the bread of life." He does not say simply "life," but the constant sustenance of life: life from God, life from the Father, really made visible, seen, and able to be touched.

Scotland is the land of cakes, and there is great variety in them, but you can do without them; you cannot do without bread. Bread is a necessity; you can do without treats, but you must have bread. It is basic, and the Lord says, I am the Bread of life, an absolute necessity to life. He presents Himself like that. Do we know Him as the One who is absolutely indispensable to us? He is all-sufficient, blessed be His name — but do we know Him as needed for life itself?

Now turn to chapter 6. Here we have Christ as the Bread of life. In chapter 5 it is more the Word of life, Christ as the quickener or life-giver. In this chapter 6 He is not only the giver but the sustainer of life. Jesus is the Bread of life. He was to be eaten. He had come within reach of man's appropriation... If man is to live by bread, he must partake of it; it may be set before him, and he may not eat it, and if he does not eat it he must perish of hunger. Nothing can satisfy the hunger of a man's soul but Christ.

The discourse in the later part of John 6 seems to let us see in the Lord Jesus the fulfilment of the manna. But (as always) the reality appears to be so much greater than the picture. For example, "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die." Again, the manna was for Israel only; not for Amalekites, or Moabites, or any Gentile nation. But Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven... And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Hunger and thirst belong to man's natural life in this world. They are not only of the body. There is also the natural desire for what will satisfy the soul — a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy. Man may gratify his natural desires; he can never satisfy them. But the life that the Lord Jesus came to give was one in which there is true satisfaction. Every desire of the heart is satisfied not only by Him, but with Him.

They tell Him, "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness." They failed to add what the Lord reminds them of — "and they died." They had found no life in the law, in the manna, or in the well that sprang up for them. They ate the bread of the mighty, angels' food, but they had died like men, and their bodies fell in the wilderness. These mercies could not deliver them from death, because of the perversity of the flesh.

They had pointed to the manna, and behind it to Moses as its giver, to belittle Christ. He returns to that subject now, to press the contrast on them for their own sakes... The manna was a witness to God's power and grace, and a real picture of Christ Himself. Yet in actual use it only nourished for a few years that poor, fleeting, feverish, forfeited life. That life begins at our birth and ends at our death. It is a candle burning down from the moment it starts to shine. It is "a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Is it for this life, or to keep it going, or for the brief pleasure it gives, that people toil, fret and wear themselves out? Is it for this that they despise heaven with all its glories, and refuse or neglect Christ and His great salvation?

The Jews had brought up the manna in the wilderness. The Lord now uses it in sharp contrast with Himself. Their fathers were dead, though they shared in the manna. He was the bread come down from heaven, and to partake of Him meant deliverance from death. Their fathers were dead in soul as well as in body. They ate the manna, but they had no faith (see Hebrews 3:19). The person who eats the bread that came down from heaven never dies in soul, whatever happens to his body.

The crowd had drawn attention to the manna. The Lord reminds them that the manna kept people alive, but it never saved anyone from death. He, however, the living bread, as He now presents Himself, could give eternal life to those who eat of it. But as with the manna of old, so with the living bread, something more was needed before it could be eaten. The manna was first pounded in a mortar, or ground in a mill, and then baked in a pan (Numbers 11:8). The One who is the living bread had first to die.

The second half of John 6 seems to justify seeing the Lord Jesus as the antitype of the manna. And, as always, the antitype turns out to be far greater than the type... Again, the manna was for Israel only; not for Amalekites, or Moabites, or any Gentile nation. But Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

So if the Lord was pictured by the manna, He went far beyond anything it could do. The ancestors of the Jews ate the manna in the wilderness, but it could not keep death away, for they died like everyone else. Christ is the Bread that comes down out of heaven so that a person may eat of it and not die. Eternal life is in the Son of God, and no less so because He was then the Son of Man. Rather, the grace of God was more clearly seen in Him that way; for if He was a man, was it not so that men might eat of Him and not die?

Their ancestors were dead, though they had shared in the manna. He was the bread come down from heaven, and to share in Him meant deliverance from death. Their ancestors were dead spiritually as well as physically, for they had no faith (see Hebrews 3:19) though they ate the manna. The man who eats the bread come down from heaven never dies spiritually, whatever happens to him physically.

Here it is Christ come down from heaven, the incarnation, setting aside every idea of promise. It is the great and mighty fact that in the Person of Jesus people saw the One who had come down from heaven, the Son of God become Man. We see the same in the first chapter of the First Epistle of John: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life... the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us."

The Bread of life is not a rite or a sacrament, but the Incarnate Word. He is the object of faith set before us, so that needy, starving souls may have eternal life. The manna in the wilderness pointed to Him, though those who ate it and died there hardly knew it. The Lord Jesus is the Bread of God that comes down out of heaven and gives life not to Israel only but to the world.

It is entirely an individual matter, and each one must face it for himself. We have either accepted in faith the death of the Son of Man as the way of life or we have not. When He gave His flesh at Calvary, it was with the whole world in view. But we must take it for ourselves, as He said, "so that one may eat of it and not die" (John 6:50)... It is a question of receiving the truth into our hearts by faith. The truth is made known, and the true believer takes it as his own. That is the eating and drinking spoken of here.

Christ is the bread of God that came down from heaven, so that a man should eat of it and not die. But that could not happen until He had died and risen again. But now that He has died and risen again, you and I are called on to eat and drink, to take what God provides... There is God's side, and your side. He gives; you have only to take and enjoy.

He speaks of Himself as the living bread come down from heaven. Yet in the same sentence He says that He, the One who came down from heaven, will give His flesh as bread for the life of the world. Two natures stand here in His Person: manhood and eternal deity. Yet no one can separate them in His actions.

In coming down, in becoming man, He was the bread of God, His Father's gift. But there was bread which He Himself would give: His own flesh, which He would give for the life of the world. This giving of His flesh was the laying down of His life. It was His yielding Himself up to death. So He might become to sinners — to fallen, perishing men — what bread would be to a crowd of people starving with hunger.

The crowd had drawn attention to the manna. The Lord here reminds them that, though it sustained life, it never did preserve from death. He, however, the living bread, as He now presents Himself, could give everlasting life to those who eat of it. But, as with the manna of old, so with the living bread: something more had to happen before anyone could eat it. The manna was first pounded in a mortar, or ground in a mill, and then baked in a pan (Num. 11:8). He who is the living bread had first to die; for to profit by Him as the bread of life they must eat His flesh and drink His blood.

There is a marked change in our Lord's discourse. He turns from His incarnation to His death. In both cases He speaks of eating. In scripture it is the well-known picture for making something your own, or for close fellowship. He was not only the Living Bread that came down out of heaven, that one might eat and live for ever. He would give His flesh for the life not of Jews only but of mankind, or as He says "for the life of the world."

The tense of the verb "eat" in verses 51 and 53 is worth noticing. Darby's New Translation translates them as "if anyone shall have eaten…" and "unless you shall have eaten…". It means an act of taking Christ for yourself, done once for all. This act must happen if a person is to live toward God. There is no life without taking hold of the death of Christ by faith. This, however, does not rule out eating as a habit. The word appears four more times, in verses 54, 56, 57 and 58. The life received has to be fed and kept up. So the one who has eaten still eats… He has believed, and he goes on believing.

Eating Christ's flesh and drinking Christ's blood (John 6:53-54) gives life. Eating of the supper does not. As the Bread from heaven, the Lord presents Himself to the world (John 6:33, 51). But He set up the supper for disciples only… No one should eat of the supper who has not first eaten of His flesh and drunk of His blood. For who has a part now in the blessed results of His death, but those who believe on Him?