13 The Bread of Life (John 6)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. I'm so glad you joined us today. Today is the 13th talk in our series on the Gospel of John, and we will be studying John chapter 6. This chapter starts with two very famous miracles, the feeding of the 5,000, followed by Jesus calming the seas and walking on water. The two events are tied together in all four of the Gospels. This is one of the few stories John includes, which also appears in the other Gospels. But as we'll see, John has a particular purpose for including these miracles. He leaves out most of the details that we find in the other gospel writers. He races through the miracles themselves because I think he really wants to talk about the dialogue that follows. In this study, we've been focusing on the big picture John is painting. Instead of going through the details of each verse, we're looking at the overarching themes in the gospel. As we've seen, John has been arguing that eternal life comes to those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, but he's been exploring the issues that surround belief, such as the evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the importance and veracity of testimony, and the dynamics of belief and unbelief. John continues to explore the complicated relationship between miracles and belief, and we'll see that in this chapter. And as he goes along, he's painting a more complex picture of the relationship between miracles and belief. He started with people who believed upon seeing a miracle, like Nathaniel or the apostles who saw Jesus turn water into wine. Then he introduced the concept of being born again through the dialogue with Nicodemus. Then we progressed to seeing Jesus heal an invalid on the Sabbath, but neither the healed man nor the Jewish leaders respond with belief. Instead, the Jewish leadership became hostile and angry and wanted to kill Jesus because he was breaking the Sabbath. With that story, John widened his focus to include this growing conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leadership. Today we're going to see the conflict between Jesus and a large portion of his followers, and by the end of the chapter, many of his followers will abandon him. We are going to go through the miracles themselves rather quickly. Since this is a big picture study, we're focusing on the main themes, not the details and implications of every passage. I am going to cover the whole chapter today, but I'm going to do it in really broad strokes. We're going to cover the miracles themselves quickly and spend most of our time on the dialogue that follows. In my podcast series, which is called Questions Jesus Asked, I cover Mark's version of these miracles in a lot more detail. If you're interested in that, I'll put a link to those podcasts in the show notes, so if you want to spend more time on the miracles, you can look there. Let's start with John 6 and I'm going to read verses one through 15. After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? Jesus said, Have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down about five thousand in number. Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told the disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew to the mountain by himself. Now once again John is very interested in how people respond to this miracle. The crowd is so fascinated with the miracles Jesus has been doing that they're following him around, and they're not disappointed because he does another miracle. He does this mind boggling miracle. John tells us there are five thousand men present and he uses the word for adult males. He's probably counting the heads of families, so it's quite possible that there were a lot more people present, as each adult male would have represented his family unit, and that would add up to a lot more than five thousand. Jesus starts with five loaves and two fish, and at the end everyone has eaten as much as they want, plus twelve baskets full of leftovers. Part of the reason John includes the story is for our sake. Here is another miracle that Jesus did. It's part of the evidence we ought to consider when we decide to believe in him. And this event is part of John's testimony to us. John was there, he saw this happen. But John is primarily interested in the way people respond to this miracle, and really the whole chapter is about that response, and he gives us their response immediately. Let me read 14 and 15 again. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. So the people see this miracle and they think Jesus is the prophet Moses predicted in Deuteronomy 18. I think it's likely they've understood this prophet in Deuteronomy 18 to be the Messiah because they want to make him king. And remember the Messiah was the coming king of Israel. Jesus looks and sees that the crowd is starting to turn into a mob. They're preparing to grab him and start a revolution. And you might think Jesus would be excited about this, because isn't this what he came to do? He is, after all, the king of kings and lord of lords. It is his destiny to become king, but clearly he's dismayed by their response and he withdraws so they can't do anything about it. It's interesting as an aside to note what a strong sense of purpose Jesus had. I think all of us in that situation would be at least a little bit tempted by a crowd of five thousand people who want to make you king. That ought to be a little bit exciting, especially if you know this is your destiny. That has to be tempting. But Jesus knows this is not God's plan, this is not the way his plan's going to unfold, and so he removes himself. And that sets up the second miracle. Let's read John six, sixteen through twenty five. When evening came his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles they saw Jesus walking on the water and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, It is I, do not be afraid. Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw there had only been one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberius came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us a lot more details about this story of walking on the water and calming the sea. John makes the account fairly simple because he has a minor and a major purpose. The minor purpose is to tell us this is another miracle Jesus did. The disciples are the only ones who saw it. This was not a public miracle. This is something only they saw and knew about, and they're the only ones who can tell us what happened. John was part of that group. He can tell the story, but John doesn't repeat the details found in the other gospels. He wants us to understand the situation for the dialogue that comes next. This crowd of thousands of people saw this miraculous feeding with the fish and loaves. Then they saw the disciples leave in the only available boat, but Jesus wasn't with them. They stay put because they want to be where Jesus is and they expect they're going to find him there again in the morning. But the next day they look around and Jesus isn't there. They seek the disciples, and there's Jesus with them. He hadn't gone in the only available boat, but he's there when they arrive. He's been healing the sick, he's fed people miraculously. Who knows what miraculous way he got to the other side? So they ask him, How did you get here? And Jesus responds, this is John six, twenty six and twenty seven. Jesus answered them, 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 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. Jesus pours cold water all over their enthusiasm. He says, You're not seeking me for the right reasons. The miracles that Jesus did were signs. They signify something, they have a message. Through the miracle God was saying, This is the Messiah. You need to pay attention to him. Or as Jesus puts it here, God has put his seal on Jesus. The miracles were like a stamp of approval from God saying, Yes, this man is my Messiah. Now it might be helpful to remember this is not the first time that God sent a message through a miracle involving bread. In the history of Israel, at the time of the Exodus, God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt. After the rescue, they're in the desert following Moses and they're complaining they don't have anything to eat. In response, God sent manna from heaven. He literally dropped food from the sky every day, and that kept them going for a long time. At that time, Moses told the children of Israel that God gave them the manna to teach them that human beings do not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of God. God miraculously provided food to teach them something. It was intended to show them God is the one who sustains and provides for them. The feeding of the five thousand was the same kind of miracle. You're not supposed to respond to it with, ooh, cool, here's a guy who can give you bread whenever you want it. Well that will certainly make my life easy. This miracle is to remind you, first, God is quite capable of providing for your needs, but second and more importantly, the miracle testifies that this man Jesus has been sent from God as the Messiah. He in fact who is the one who can provide what you truly need. If the crowd had understood the miracle as the sign it was, they would have come to Jesus and said, Okay, we understand you're the Messiah. Teach us, tell us why you're here, tell us how we find God. Jesus seems to know they're not interested in finding God. What's driving their interest is the fact that he supernaturally gave them bread. Now we might have a little patience with them. It's easy to think, man, if I'd been there, I would have known better. But if you stop and think about it, it's easy to understand why miraculous bread would be so interesting to them. Life is hard, and it was harder for them than it is for us today because we have modern conveniences. They had to work harder than we typically do today to ensure that they have enough to eat and drink. To have someone come along from God and miraculously feed you without any effort, that has to be compelling. And I don't think Jesus is dismissing that we should be concerned with providing for ourselves, but it's an issue of priorities. It's an issue of understanding what is the most important thing in life. Yes, providing for physical needs is important, but there is something more important. Imagine if Jesus has responded to them, oh sorry, that bread was a one time deal, I'm not going to do that again. What would they do then? Would they still want to follow Jesus if it means they had to work just as hard as they always had to work to get bread for the rest of their lives? Would they still be interested? Well we know the answer, because Jesus does not repeat the miracle and most everybody ends up leaving. They were looking for something other than what Jesus came to provide. And I think part of John's purpose here is to confront us with that same question. What is it that you really want Jesus to do for you? As the Messiah, Jesus has something more valuable to offer than daily food and giving you a smooth, easy life here on earth. Bread in this life is perishable. It has a shelf life, and the implication is so do we. Grocery store bread doesn't last, and if you eat it, you don't last. It doesn't matter how much bread you eat, eventually everyone dies. But Jesus has a metaphorical bread to offer that does not perish, and the one who eats it does not perish either. The bigger issue is eternal life, which is of course the theme we've been exploring in John from the beginning. Jesus has come to bring eternal life. He has come to explain how to find it. If they understood what was really at stake in all of this, they would seek the eternal bread that Jesus is offering. Let's look at how they respond. This is 28 and 29. Then they said to him, What must we do to be doing the works of God? Then Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him who he has sent. The crowd responds, Okay, great. You say that we should be working for this bread from God. Well, what do we do? What is the work that you're talking about? And Jesus says something that should be very familiar to us at this point in John's Gospel. He says, The work you must do is believe in Jesus. That's the work you need to do to find eternal life. Just like you sow, plant, and harvest grain to make bread to sustain your earthly life, the way you get the bread that gives you eternal life is to believe in Jesus. This is kind of a double-sided answer he's giving here. On one side, it's hugely encouraging. How am I going to arrive at eternal life? How do I solve the problem of death? How am I going to solve the problem of my guilt before God? What could I possibly do to solve all those problems? And Jesus says, You're right, there's nothing you can do except believe in me. I am the one who's going to solve all those problems. All you have to do is believe that I am the one who came to do that. But flip the coin and you realize this is kind of a huge demand. Following Jesus can be very costly in the short term. By the time we reach the end of this chapter, we'll see most of the people he's talking to can't do it. They go away. As easy as it sounds to believe in Jesus, most of them are not up to that task. They walk off and abandon him. Believing in Jesus requires us to confront some very uncomfortable truth that we want to deny, truths like we are sinners and we are guilty before God. Now let's look at how they respond. Let's read verses thirty through thirty five. So they said to him, Then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. 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. The crowd says, Okay, if you want us to believe you, prove it. You got off to a good start yesterday when you gave us all that miraculous bread and fish. That was good, but today we're hungry again. Remember what God did for our fathers in the wilderness? Moses gave them bread every day for years. That would be nice. If you repeat that bread from the sky thing, then we would really know that you're the Messiah. So show us a sign, keep the bread coming, and we'll know you are who you say you are. It's interesting that they call for a sign at all. It reinforces what Jesus said to them in the beginning of this about their motives. You would think that the miracles that he has already done might be enough, but no, they want another sign. Now I suspect they're asking for more signs, not because they really want more evidence to prove Jesus is the Messiah. They want evidence to prove he's the right kind of Messiah. They want a political Messiah who will free them from the Romans. They want a practical Messiah who will feed them the way Moses fed the people in the wilderness. They want a Messiah who will provide for them their daily bread like Moses did because that will make their lives easier. And if Jesus doesn't do those kinds of things, well, he's not the Messiah they're interested in. Jesus responds by building on this idea of bread from heaven. It's interesting how often John reports Jesus doing this sort of wordplay. We're talking about water, we're sitting at a well talking about water, okay, let's talk about living water. We're talking about light, okay, let's talk about the true light. We're talking about bread, let's talk about the bread from heaven. It just so happens God has sent bread from heaven. He has sent the food that brings eternal life. It's the true bread because it's the bread that really keeps you alive. Not like the bread you bake every day that after you eat it you eventually die. This bread grants you eternal life. This bread came down from heaven to give life to the world. What is this bread I'm talking about? Well, I'm the bread. I myself am the bread that gives life. This is Jesus speaking, obviously. He's saying, I am here to permanently solve the problem of your hunger and thirst. Come to me, Jesus, and you will never hunger again. Just as Jesus did with the woman at the well, he's building on the topic under discussion. But there's an important difference though. With the woman at the well, Jesus said he would provide water that led to eternal life, and she would never be thirsty again. Here Jesus ups the stakes. He says he is the bread of life, not just that he will give the bread, but that he is the bread. I think it's significant that he builds his metaphor and takes it one step farther than he did with the water, and he's going to make that point next. Let's look at thirty six through forty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me, and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Jesus kind of rebukes the crowd here because they don't understand the significance of the miracle. He says you You have seen me, but you don't believe. That's the same point he made in the beginning when he said, You're here for the wrong reasons. You're not here because you believe I'm the Messiah. You're just interested in quick and easy bread. It's similar to the conversation we saw with Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus people didn't believe in him because they didn't want to come into the light. He was shining the light of truth on their evil lives, and they wanted to avoid that. Jesus told Nicodemus, it takes rebirth from the Spirit of God to enter into the kingdom. We have this problem that we want to cling to the darkness, and we need the Spirit of God to change us so that we no longer hide from the light. Here Jesus speaks in a very similar way. The crowd has another reason for not believing in Jesus. They don't want what he's offering. It's not that they're hiding in the dark, although some of them probably are, but they are looking for something else. They want someone to give them an easy life. They don't want a savior. Why can't they grasp that the Messiah is standing right in front of them? Well, building on what he said to Nicodemus, Jesus says, all that the Father gives me will come to me. No one can come to Jesus unless the Father gives him to Jesus. Now there is a whole lot we could talk about with those verses, but I'm just going to fly over the surface. It's so easy for us to get distracted by the cares and responsibilities of this world that we ignore the fact that eternity is coming, and one day we will stand before our Father on judgment day, our Creator, and we will be found guilty. We are too busy running after earthly things to even stop and think about that and realize something more important is going on. Now Jesus adds to the picture, the Father has to draw us to Jesus. Jesus guarantees that he will not lose a single person that comes to him, and he will raise everyone who comes to him up on the last day, that is, resurrect them to eternal life. But he adds this additional note, only those that the Father brings will find that life, and that everyone the Father brings will find that life. Only those who are drawn by the Father come to Jesus, and Jesus won't lose anyone. Again, John is dealing with this classic problem of why some people believe and others don't. Given that all of humanity is sinful, selfish, and uninterested in God, how does anyone ever find eternal life? Well, as we started explaining with Nicodemus, God works in the hearts of his people to draw them to the source of life. He sends his Holy Spirit to change them from the inside out so that they want to become people who follow Jesus. Well the crowd is getting seriously upset by all this at this point. Let's look at forty one through forty six. So the Jews grumbled about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered them, Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 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. Not that everyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God, he has seen the Father. They say, Okay, wait a minute, you are the bread of life, you've come down from heaven. What in the world are you talking about? We've met your mom and dad. We know exactly where you're from. What do you mean you came from heaven? Jesus refers to a passage from Isaiah 54. In that passage, God promises Israel that one day all her children will be taught by God. And I think this passage in Isaiah is similar to the other Old Testament passages we looked at a few weeks ago, where God promised the children of Israel that he would write the law in their hearts and give them a new spirit. This is a similar kind of statement in Isaiah that the day is coming when God Himself will teach the children of Israel, implying He's teaching them on the inside where only He has access to. But Jesus adds something new to it. He says, The result of God teaching you on the inside is that you will come to me. Everyone who learns from the Father comes to me. God promised in the past that he's going to teach everyone what's the content that he's going to teach them. He's going to teach them to come to Jesus because Jesus is the Messiah. And then he qualifies it a bit, not that God teaches you face to face. No one has seen the Father except him, Jesus. When you're taught by God, you don't go up to heaven and sit in his heavenly classroom, get taught directly and then return. That's not the way it works for us, but Jesus can make that claim. He is the only one that can make that claim. For the rest of us, God sends his invisible spirit who works like the wind, changing you from the inside out. Now Jesus comes back to his main point in forty seven through fifty one. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. 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. 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. Now we can see more clearly why Jesus has called himself the bread of life. Not just that he brings this bread, but that he is the bread. He didn't just come to announce the path to eternal life, he came to be the source of eternal life by offering his body and his blood. He says the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. Now that statement sounds a little weird, but at this point Jesus is doing something that he doesn't often do. He's explaining his metaphor. In what sense am I the bread that gives life? I'm going to offer my flesh, my body. He's predicting the cross. Now from our perspective in history, we can see that he has in mind his coming death on the cross as an offering for the sins of the world to reconcile us to God. But it must have sounded really strange to his immediate audience. He's explaining his metaphor. He's saying you want earthly bread, but you know that after you eat earthly bread you're still going to die. Eating earthly bread doesn't solve the problem of death and sin and guilt before God, but I am the bread that gives life forever. In what sense am I that bread? I am the bread, the food that brings life, because I am offering myself as an offering to God to bring you eternal life. Well the crowd gets confused by that. Let's look at six fifty two to fifty eight. Then the Jews disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, 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. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Now they don't get the metaphor. They say, you know, this just doesn't make any sense. What's he talking about? How do you give your flesh to eat like bread? I mean, that's just kind of creepy and gross. What are you talking about? Notice though that Jesus didn't use this language about eating my flesh first. He was just explaining his metaphor. He's saying, the bread of life is my flesh. But now they've said we don't get it. What do you mean? How are we going to eat your flesh? And it always strikes me that this is the perfect place for Jesus to say something like, You understand I'm speaking metaphorically, right? I wasn't speaking literally. But instead, he kind of doubles down. He's not the one who brought up this literal idea, this literal interpretation. They brought it up. But once they bring it up, he says, okay, let's go with that. That's exactly what you've got to do. You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. Now, why does Jesus do that? As a teacher, I have this constant anxiety that somebody's going to misunderstand me, and I can get very repetitive to try to avoid that possibility. But Jesus never seems to worry about confusion. When the crowd gets confused, he tends to press the topic further or he just moves on. He doesn't usually stop and clarify. I think that's why we see in the other gospels the disciples get him alone, and the first thing they say is, Wait, can you explain that? What did that parable mean? Well, why does he do this? Why does he press on? I think the clue we have from the text is what Jesus said about the Father drawing his people. Jesus is supremely confident that the Spirit of God will draw all of God's people and they will get it. He has absolute confidence that in the end God's people are going to put the puzzle together, they're going to stick with him, think through all the difficult things that he says, and eventually they will get them because the Spirit of God will give them understanding. And interestingly, in this story, we can see he's right about that. In fact, that's exactly what happens. But before we get to that, you're probably aware that many people relate what Jesus says right here to communion. In communion, we eat the bread, which is said to be his body, we drink the wine, which is said to be his blood, and some people understand him to be saying, Here, this is how you find life. Literally, you take communion. My opinion is there is a connection to communion in this passage, but not that connection. In the context, he's been saying you find life by believing in him. That's the work we're called to do. You're called to believe in him as the Messiah. You're called to believe in him as the one who has offered his body for our life, for our guilt, to reconcile us to God. Now, communion is a commemoration of that fact. It's a ceremony that points to his death on the cross to give us life, to help us remember what he did for us. And so I think we are remembering his body and his blood. We are not literally feasting on them. And that taking communion in and of itself does not result in eternal life, it requires belief. But we will leave that topic for another day. I do have some more talks on communion in my series on 1 Corinthians, if you're interested. Let's finish the story. John looks at two different responses to what Jesus has said. Let's look at six fifty-nine through seventy one. Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This is a hard saying, who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life, but there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. And he said, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. After this many of his disciples 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. Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. As we might expect, John turns to the issue of how people respond to the miracle and the testimony that Jesus gives about it, and we see two responses here. In six hundred sixty six, many of the disciples grumbled and left. Now in that verse he's not talking about the original twelve, he's talking about the crowds that followed Jesus around listening to his teaching. Like the crowd of over five thousand who were fed by the bread and fish, they are disciples in the sense that they see his miracles, and they follow him to hear his teaching and see more miracles. At this point, most of these folks have had enough. All of a sudden, Jesus seems to be a little too strange to follow. They like the healing, they like the free food, but eat my flesh, drink my blood, okay, we've crossed a line. They think, what in the world is he talking about? Who can listen to this? No reasonable person would hang around with this guy who says stuff like that. Perhaps they are also responding to the audacity of his claims. Remember, at this point he has claimed he will raise the dead. He claimed to come down from heaven, he claims he is the one who brings eternal life. And Jesus responds, My words are from the Father. They are spirit and life. They are true and they bring life. His death on the cross is the offering that brings eternal life to the world. He is the one who will raise the dead on the last day. It doesn't matter if the world thinks what he's saying is a little weird. It's true. Besides, he wasn't speaking literally about eating his flesh, this was a metaphor. There is a spiritual and important truth behind it. Nonetheless, most of his disciples aren't buying it and they leave. Now the powerful and really touching part of this story to me is what happens with the disciples. Jesus turns to the twelve and says, What about you? Are you going to leave too? He's just seen this huge crowd take off because they think he's a little too strange to follow. He's not the Messiah they want, he's not doing the things they expect. So what are they going to do? These who have been with him from the beginning. And in one of my favorite statements in the Bible, Peter says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. But notice how important that statement is in the context of John. Remember, John's whole thesis has been to explain to us how to find eternal life. The crowd was looking for someone who would give them daily physical bread, heal them of their sickness, and make their lives easy. Peter recognizes Jesus is offering something way more essential than that. Jesus is offering eternal life. Why did Peter stick with Jesus? Because Peter recognized Jesus has the words of eternal life. What you're saying, Jesus, is more important than anything else. What you're offering is what I want. You have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. I suspect Peter and the rest of the twelve didn't really fully understand what Jesus was saying about his death and resurrection at this point, but he understood that Jesus was saying something profound and something true. He may not have understood everything yet, but he understood Jesus was the Messiah. He was sent from God with the words of eternal life. Now Jesus adds here that one of the twelve that he chose was not a believer and in the end would betray him. Of course, that's Judas. It's interesting to ask why would he bring up Judas at this point? I think it's connected to what he said about not losing anyone that the Father has given him. Jesus is pointing out, I didn't lose Judas because I never had Judas to begin with. He was not one of the ones that the Father brought me. Now let me try to wrap up what we've seen here. Like the rest of John, this story involves issues of belief. There's a miracle. Some respond by believing in Jesus, they believe he's the Christ and find eternal life. Others don't. Our response to Jesus depends on what we truly want. Are we seeking forgiveness and mercy from God? Or are we seeking the approval of our peers? Or are we seeking earthly rewards and an easy life? Responding with faith depends on being called by the Father and being born by the Spirit. I think those are two ways of saying the same thing. The only way to become the sort of person who will believe and arrive at eternal life is if the Father sends his Spirit to change you. Now we've seen these themes being mixed together in various ways as we go through John. This time the themes are centered around this idea of bread. Jesus does a miracle where he gives miraculous bread, and so then the metaphors about bread. But the key question is, how are you going to respond to the miracle? What do you learn when you see Jesus providing bread? A miracle by itself has no power to cause belief. We see this large group of people who are excited because Jesus miraculously fed them, but in the end they walk away. And that's exactly what John is talking about in this section. That's at the heart of what he's getting at. The crowd saw the miracle and responded, hey, maybe we're finally going to solve the most important problem to us, putting food on the table. Maybe God has finally come around to see things my way. He realizes life is a little too difficult and what we need is for him to make things easier and now he's finally going to come through. That's what they saw when they saw the miracle. When it became clear that Jesus didn't intend to solve their earthly problems, they lost interest and they left. Why did so many walk away? Ultimately, only those whom the Father draws to Jesus are going to see and understand the significance of his miracles. But for those with the eyes to see the miracle, they realized it was a sign that said, This is the Messiah who has been sent from God. This Messiah has come to bring something more important than daily food and an easy life. He's come to bring eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. You've been listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to explain not only what a passage means, but how we figure it out. The blog version of this episode is on the link below the podcast, or you can go to Wednesdayintheword.com slash John 13. If you've been blessed by this podcast, please support the show by subscribing and leaving a positive review on your favorite podcast platform. But most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find his music on heartfeltmusic.org. I have a whole library of Bible study resources on my website and it's all free, no ads, no spam. If you want to find out more or hear any of the episodes in this series, please go to wednesdayintheword.com. Thank you so much for listening. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.