Wednesday, October 22, 2008

John 6b (TNIV)

John 6b
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 30 So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread."
35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 6162 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." 70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

John 6:22-71: 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias (This chief and largest city on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee was founded early in the 1st century by Herod Antipas in honor of his patron, the Roman emperor Tiberius [A.D. 14–37]; it subsequently continued as the Galilean royal city under Agrippa I [A.D. 39–44]. The city was built upon an old cemetery, and thus was considered unclean by many Jews until the second century, when it became the center of Palestinian rabbinic Judaism) landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

24
Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

26
Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill (implies that people were seeking Jesus only for the physical or material benefit that he gave, whereas they should have sought him because they saw signs, that is, miraculous signs that pointed to Jesus' divine nature and identity as the true Messiah
). 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval ('seal of approval' represents or is language used about the authentic approval by a king)."

28
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 30 So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" (The OT reference seems to involve several passages, with Psalms 78:23-24 being the most prominent [Exodus 16:4,15; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalms 105:40]. The passage sustains links with [1] the exodus and Passover motifs, [2] the characterization of Jesus as the Prophet like Moses, and [3] the expectation that God would provide manna once again in the messianic age
.)

32
Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "always give us this bread."

35
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life (This claim constitutes the first of seven “I am” sayings recorded in this Gospel. Apart from these sayings there are also several absolute statements where Jesus refers to himself as “I am” [John 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5], in keeping with the reference to God as “I am” in Exodus 3:14 and the book of Isaiah [Isaiah 41:4; 43:1-, 25]. Jesus is the “bread of life” in the sense that he nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longings of their souls. In that sense, those who trust in him shall not hunger; that is, their spiritual longing to know God will be satisfied [John 4:14 for a similar discussion of satisfying people's spiritual thirst]
). Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away (this statement implies that people should never think, “Maybe I am not chosen by God, and therefore maybe Jesus will reject me when I come to him.” Jesus promises to receive everyone who comes to him and trusts him for salvation. Yet, a few verses later Jesus states the paradoxical and corresponding truth that once people come to Jesus, they will realize that behind their willing decision to come and believe lies the sovereign, invisible work of the Father who all along was drawing them to Christ - Romans 9; Ephesians 1:3-6). 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day (Verse 39 implies that everyone who has been chosen by the Father and has been “given” by the Father to the Son for salvation will in fact be saved). 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day (here in verse 40 Jesus further explains that these people whom the Father has “given” him are also those who believe in the Son and have “eternal life.”)." 41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven (this is a reference to the manna that was sent from heaven to the children in the wilderness, but Jesus is claiming to be the manna for all of humanity in the 'wilderness of sin.')."

42
They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

43
"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day (No one can come to me means “no one is able to come to me” [dynamai means “to be able”]. This implies that no human being in the world, on his own, has the moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ unless God the Father draws them, that is, gives him the desire and inclination to come and the ability to place trust in Christ
). 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven (The “bread” Jesus gives is his flesh [a reference to Jesus' death on the cross]. Jesus' statement intermingles physical and spiritual truth. Jesus is talking about the true “living bread” in the sense that those who believe in him have their spiritual hunger satisfied. He becomes this spiritually satisfying “bread” by sacrificing his own physical body in his death on the cross, and in that sense he can say that this spiritual bread is my flesh). Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

52
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Here, to “eat” Jesus' flesh has the spiritual meaning of trusting or believing in him, especially in his death for the sins of mankind. See also refer back to verse 35, where Jesus speaks of coming to him as satisfying “hunger” and believing in him as satisfying “thirst.” Similarly, to “drink his blood” means to trust in his atoning death, which is represented by the shedding of his blood. Although Jesus is not speaking specifically about the Lord's Supper here, there is a parallel theme, because the receiving of eternal life through being united with “the Son of Man” is represented in the Lord's Supper [where Jesus' followers symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood - 1 Corinthians 11:23-32]. This is anticipated in OT feasts [1 Corinthians 5:7] and consummated in the marriage supper of the Lamb [Revelation 19:9]
). 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 6162 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh (The flesh [i.e., human nature including emotions, will, and intellect] is completely incapable of producing genuine spiritual life [Romans 7:14-25], for this can only be done by the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit works powerfully in and through the words that Jesus speaks, and those words are spirit and life in the sense that they work in the unseen spiritual realm and awaken genuine spiritual life
) counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."

66
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God (We have come to believe implies that Jesus' disciples at this point had genuine, saving faith [though they would still have to learn much more about Jesus' death and resurrection and the meaning of these things for them]. Peter's confession anticipates later references to Jesus being consecrated, or set apart for service to God [John 10:36; 17:19]. In the OT, God was called “the Holy One of Israel” [Psalms 71:22; Isaiah 43:3; 54:5]. See the similar confessions of Jesus as the Christ by Peter in the Synoptics [Matthew 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20]
)." 70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

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