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“I Am the Good Shepherd” John 10:1-21
“I Am the Good Shepherd” John 10:1-21
“The Conversationalist” Sermon Series
When Jesus Speaks Through Parables
“I Am the Good Shepherd”
John 10:1-21
Prayer
Introduction
In John chapter 10 we jump right in the middle of an ongoing event, so in order to understand the chapter we need to look at what comes before this chapter. At the end of chapter 8 Jesus told the religious leaders, John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”
They have tried to kill Jesus three times so far. They become so enraged at Jesus that by v. 59 they pick up stones to kill him. He slips into the crowd, and as he is leaving the temple, he heals a man born blind (chapter 9) who places his faith in Jesus, and worships Him. By chapter 10, the Pharisees have caught up with Jesus (who is protected by the crowd). The blind man is still there, and the disciples are all there. He now is going to address why these religious leaders are not true shepherds of God’s people. And Jesus says . . .
Jesus Gives An Illustration (vv. 1-5)
The Gate
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens.
“Truly, truly, I say to you” – Jesus uses this phrase several times when he gives a parable, or wants to emphasize something very important.
Jesus begins the teaching by referencing a gathering of sheep, a sheepfold. People would typically gather their flocks together at night, into an enclosed arena where the wall would not be very high, and the area could be quite large. The danger is that a thief could reach over the wall, or easily climb in, and steal the sheep.
The gatekeeper sees and recognizes one of the several shepherds and lets him in (opens the gate for him). “One door-keeper can thus look after a large number of sheep.”[1] One person (the shepherd) is legitimate and one is not (the thief and robber). How can you tell the difference?
The Shepherd
The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
In the evening the various shepherds would join their flocks together into the corral. Then in the morning when it was time to go to their various pastures, the shepherds would gather their sheep. “In Jesus’ time (and today), a shepherd would assign each sheep a name or call (for instance, a certain set of notes on a flute), and this would enable him to recall one that started to wander off. With these distinctive calls the shepherd could keep the herd together and following him (v.4).”[2]
(v. 4) Sometimes when we think of sheep and shepherds the European or Australian model comes to our mind, where there is a sheep dog who is sent by the shepherd. The dog growls, nips, and bites the sheep. The dog runs across their back and quickly moves from the rear to push the sheep toward the shepherd. But this is not the model Jesus presents, “he goes before them, and the sheep follow him,” Jesus’ sheep know Jesus’ voice, they follow by their own desire and knowledge of the shepherd because they know He is good. There is no biting, intimidation, growling, or fear.
Psalm 23:5-6 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my scup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,” The sheep follow the Shepherd who loves them.
In Jesus’ day, these thieves and robbers were the religious leaders who opposed Jesus’ ministry, and were trying to steal his flock. By Paul’s time the “strangers” were false teachers who “falsify God’s truths,” changing the gospel, and were forcing their versions on the church (1 Tim. 1:4). Today, we must be extremely vigilant to uphold and follow God’s Word and to examine someone’s teaching very closely.[3]
Acts 17:10-11“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” They received the teaching of Paul and Silas, but they examined them closely against the Scriptures.
Jesus Explains the Illustration (vv. 6-18)
The Gate Explained
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(v. 6) “This figure of speech Jesus used with them,” Jesus often taught with stories, parables, word pictures, figures of speech – where the meaning is not obvious. Why not just state the obvious truth? One has to scratch below the surface, seek after the meaning, try, look into, pursue, draw closer, lean in. Jesus’ truths are there, but a person has to want to know truth enough to try to figure it out.
The sheep become a picture of God’s community, and the only way for the sheep to enter into God’s community is through the gate. Jesus says that, He is the gate, He is the only way for a person to enter. “At night in the field where the sheep grazed, shepherds would build makeshift pens, using rocks with thorns on top of them to keep the sheep in and the wild animals out. The shepherd would then sleep across the opening becoming in effect the ‘gate for the sheep.’”[4]
Jesus is different from the “thieves and robbers” who came before him (v. 8). Jesus is not referencing the prophets of the OT, but to the religious leaders, mentioned in Ezekiel 34:2-3 “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.”
In Matthew 23:1-36 and Mark 12:38-40 Jesus teaches of how these leaders took money and property from widows, became rich from the temple treasury, and there were other people/leaders who claimed to be the messiah and led revolts which caused much harm to the nation. “All who came before me are thieves and robbers.” (not were thieves and robbers), The thieves and robbers are still around.
When Jesus seeks to restore the relationship with Peter after his three denials of Jesus, Jesus’ command to Peter was, “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15f). Legitimate shepherds feed and tend the sheep (they are called to love and care for, and have responsibility for the flock), illegitimate shepherds steal, kill, and destroy the sheep (for them, the flock exists to take from).
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ck3gaEEHhc Shrek the sheep
The Shepherd Explained
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
The bad shepherd “steals, kills, and destroys,” but the good shepherd (notice Jesus is not one of several, he is not a good shepherd but The Good Shepherd) gives an abundant life, Psalm 23:1-3 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul.” The good shepherd lays across the opening, as the gate, and lays down his life for the sake of the sheep. Jesus knows his mission and that it will ultimately end with him giving up his life to save humanity from their sin.
The hired hand runs away when there is the presence of the wolf because he has no ownership of the sheep, they are not his sheep, and he has no concern for the sheep. His interest is in the pay, not the sheep. He is ok with letting the wolf brutalize the sheep if it means saving himself.
Ezekiel 34:8 “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep,” The shepherds abandoned the sheep and so they fell prey to the wild beasts.
Paul also warms the Ephesian church of wolves coming in to the fold in Acts 20:28-29 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;”
It is essential that we choose church leaders by their walk with the Lord, and not charisma, charm, skills or ability, even willingness to serve in these positions – it is their character that is of utmost importance. It is better to not fill a position of leadership, than to put a “wild beast” there.
What keeps the sheep safe is a loving shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and sheep who know the voice of the Good Shepherd. There are a lot of sheep who follow after any voice they hear. They can’t distinguish between the howl of a wolf, and the call of the shepherd.
Also, we see this word “hireling” in Mark 1:19-20 “And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” The father (Zebedee) and by extension the sons (James and John) owned the fishing business. They hired servants to help them in the business. There is a difference between someone who has a personal stake in the ministry, and those that do it only for a paycheck. Jesus called the brothers to come and follow me; shepherds of God’s people should have the same calling to a specific church.
(v. 16) “So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” – The church argues and is divided about all kinds of things, Jesus is referencing Gentiles becoming part of God’s family. But all the differences we have in the church will be gone in eternity.
(v. 17) “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” – It was certainly the Jewish people who condemned Jesus, and it was the Roman people who carried out the execution, but no one takes Jesus’ life; He laid it down of his own free will. Jesus voluntarily went to the cross as the substitute for our sins. It was a command from God the Father, carried out by God the Son.
Jesus describes himself as a door and a shepherd. Both have to do with salvation. “As the Door He is the only way of entrance into salvation. As the Good Shepherd He is the one who cares for and provides for their salvation at the cost of His life.”[5]
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Division marks the end of Jesus’ teaching – some say he is demon-possessed, some say he is insane. Earlier in chapter 9 Jesus opened the eyes of a man born blind. We have to take what Jesus does (healing the blind, raising the dead, calming the sea, etc.) and combine it with His Words, specifically when He says that He is God and that He is the only way for men to be saved. Others say, demons can’t heal – they only steal, kill, and destroy.
Psalm 23: “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” There is no green pasture nor still waters in the sheepfold. In the morning the shepherd appears at the gate and calls his sheep, one by one. The only way for the sheep to be cared for is for the Good Shepherd to call His sheep, and for them to follow Him “all the days of his life.”
__________________________
[1] Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981) 502.
[2] Grant R. Osborne, John Verse by Verse (Bellingham, Washington; Lexham Press, 2018) 250.
[3] “This chapter should be read in the light of OT passages which castigate shepherds who have failed in their duty (see Jer. 23:1-4; 25:32-8; Zech. 11, and especially Isa. 56:9-12 and Ezk. 34). God is the Shepherd of Israel (Ps. 80:1; 23:1; Isa. 40:10f), which gives us the measure of the responsibility of His under-shepherds. Those entrusted with this duty must be faithful, and it is a heinous crime when they are not.” Morris, 498.
[4] Osborne, 251.
[5] Morris, 505.
“I Am the True Vine” John 15
“The Conversationalist” Sermon Series
When Jesus Speaks Through Parables
“I Am the True Vine”
John 15
Prayer
Introduction
Jesus and his disciples have gathered to celebrate the Passover and Jesus has introduced the Lord’s Supper where he talks about the disciples eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and how he will leave but will return. Having argued about who was going to be the greatest in the new kingdom that Jesus was about to usher in, to their astonishment Jesus took off his outer garment and went around and washed their feet as a servant. They leave the meal and follow him into the night air, no one is speaking, they seem to know that something bad is about to happen. Before the torches, soldiers, Judas’ betrayal and his arrest, they are standing in a vineyard. Jesus turns to them and says, . . .
I. Jesus is the True Vine (vv. 1-6)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
(v. 1) “I am the true vine “ – “If you didn’t grow up in wine country, you might think that the vine is a long, trailing limb that sprawls along the trellis. Actually, it’s the trunk of the plant that grows out of the ground. Vineyard keepers traditionally keep the vine at waste height – thirty-six to forty-two inches.”[1]
“my Father is the vinedresser,” – The vinedresser is the keeper of the vineyard, and their job is make as many grapes as possible. He is the one who decides which vines stay and which ones will be removed. God the Father is moving and orchestrating our lives before us, Isaiah 5:2 “He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;”
(v. 2) “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” – Jesus gives three parts, the vine (Jesus), the vinedresser (God the Father), and now he moves to the branches (the disciples). He shows that there are two types of branches—those that bear fruit and those that don’t. The branches that did not bear fruit “he takes away,” and those that do bear fruit are carefully trimmed so that they will produce even more fruit.
Pruning is painful, and involves loss, James 1:2 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
(v. 3) “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” – earlier in the evening as the disciples were celebrating the Passover meal, Jesus washed the disciple’s feet (John 13). Peter does not want Jesus to wash his feet, but Jesus insists saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” Jesus then went on to say, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
Here the disciples are already bearing fruit because of their following Jesus’ teachings. Jesus’ Word leads all of his disciples to God honoring action, and that is bearing fruit, having spiritual growth. “The fruit which the branch bears is the fruit of the vine. It is the fruit of Himself, produced by the indwelling Spirit, the fruit which is like the true vine Himself; it is Christlikeness.”[2]
Bearing Fruit = Christlikeness
(v. 6) “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” – Bible scholars have struggled with verse because they feel it deals with eternal security, and can a person lose their salvation? This verse deals with judgement of those that do not abide in Christ. This does not apply to believers, Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide” The end result of not abiding in Christ is there is no fruit in a person’s life – which we define as being like Christ (Christlikenss).
Then this judgement makes sense – if a person doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus so that they sense a separation and draw near to Him, they are not concerned about obeying and applying Jesus’ words to their lives, nor are they growing in walk with Jesus – at the end of the day, they don’t know Jesus. Matthew 7:23 “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” These are the branches that are thrown into the fire, those that have an outward appearance of being religious, but there is no “abiding” in Christ.
A. Remaining & Bearing Fruit (vv. 7-8)
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Abiding is a continuing exercising of faith in Jesus. So Jesus tells us that the branches that do not bear fruit (which we define as being like Jesus) are cut off and destroyed, and those that do bear fruit are pruned, how then does a follower of Jesus “bear fruit (become more like Christ?)” “We are responsible to live entirely in union with Jesus and in dependence on his presence.”[3]
Followers of Jesus are to “abide” in Him. “Branches have life only to the extent to which they are attached to the vine, and fruitfulness stems only from the life-giving sap provided by the vine. All this illustrates the fact that the extent to which we rely on ourselves and our resources is the extent to which we fail”[4]
“Abide is an old English word for “remain,” “stay steady” and “keep your position.” What it means to abide in Christ—that is, always to be resting on him, anchored to him, fixed in him, drawing from him, continually connected and in touch with him—is a pervasive theme in chapters 14—17. There is no more precious lesson to learn, no more enriching link and bond to cherish, no more vital connection to keep snug and tight, so that it never loosens, than this. Abiding in Christ brings peace, joy and love, answers to prayer, and fruitfulness in service. The abiding life is the abundant life.”[5]
Jesus gathered disciples around him, they lived with him, ate with him – they were with him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over three years – why? So that Jesus could show them how to live the Christlike life. They had to be close to Him to see Him and learn.
The follower abides in Christ (dependence on Jesus), he also abides on Jesus’ word (the Bible as our source for living life), and asking “whatever you wish” (which is prayer) Jesus for what is needed to live out this life. God is glorified when a believer does and lives this way.
Our prayer life “is a reflection of that union with him, and the implication is that our prayers will not be self-centered but will seek God’s glory and leave our needs with him. Prayer in this sense is a major kind of fruit-bearing, a hallmark of true discipleship.”[6]
“Christianity can be such a pretty faith. God calls us to wonderful things, to noble deeds, and to be a people of love. We are meant to be kind, joyful, brave, and good. These are attractive qualities that most people would love to be known for, Christian or not. The trouble is, we can approach the Christian life in the same way we decorate a Christmas tree, by piling on pleasing spiritual adornments. We can dress up our lives with church commitments, community service, spiritual language, a clean-cut family, and an upbeat attitude. All of these things look so great—so Christian—while obscuring what is really going on underneath. Beneath all the spiritual glitz, we can exist cut off from our root system, without detection. We can appear to be thriving, even though we are disconnected from the vine.”[7]
B. Love & Joy in Jesus (vv. 9-11)
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
The love that God the Father has for God the Son is perfect and all-embracing. It is impossible for us to know the full extent of the Father’s love for the Son, but it is wonderous and incredible. “And his own are now the objects of the love of the Son of God in the same degree as He is beloved by the Father. Believers are “loved by God and called to be saints (Romans 1:7).”
For the believer three should be an overarching life of obedience to Jesus’ teaching and commands – but all Christians sin. And when we sin and rebel against God, we are convicted of sin, we repent and God forgives us, and then we deal with shame and guilt, and have to mend our relationship with God, etc. and there are seasons of joy. But God’s desire is that our joy may be full. This fulness of joy only comes through keeping Jesus’ commands.
My children know that Kimberly and I love them; and in their times of rebellion and disobedience we still love them the same – but our relationship changes. We move from being guides, friends, and experiencing the joy of life and move to discipling, limiting boundaries, removing privileges, and keeping them from doing things that would harm them. The joy in the relationship goes away and it becomes parent verses rebellious heart. The love is still there, but the joy is not there.
We don’t tell God how to run His universe and creation – He is the Creator and sustainer of existence. We follow His rules, and this omnipotent being desires to have a loving joyful relationship with His creation, giving His Son who gave His life so that the relationship may be restored, even calling us His children, so “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you.” Our joy in our relationship with God, will come as we obediently keep His Word.
C. Loving One Another (vv. 12-17)
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Having established the need to be obedient to Jesus and His Word, Jesus then gives a command to be followed, “love one another as I have loved you,” so how does Jesus define love. If I am going to show love or express love toward “one another,” what does that mean? Jesus gives the example, that followers of Jesus are to “lay down his life for his friends.”
1 John 3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Christians are commanded to love others, specifically, other Christians, we are to “love one another.” But there is also a higher love, a greater love, that a person would “lay down his life for his friends.”
(v. 15) Jesus says, “No longer do I call you servants,” – servant was a common reference for a follower of a Rabbi. But now they have past the servant-Rabbi relationship to a friend. They are more than disciple-master relationship, they are the objects of Jesus’ love and friendship. Later in John 20:17, the relationship changes again, “Jesus said to her (one of the women who first discovers the empty tomb), “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers . . .”
(v. 14) This friendship is not conditional, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” As if when a Christians sins, then they lose their relationship or friendship with God. Following His Word allows us to enjoy a special intimacy with him. “Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, (Romans 8:35), not even disobedience, but we can affect the closeness of the relationship.[8]
“but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” – We have the title, “friend of God,” and as friends, Jesus has told us the plan, He has made known to us the gospel.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit . . .” – The friendship, the eventual brotherhood, is rooted in a shared mission which all Christians have been appointed to be about, “bearing fruit.” As we seek to carry out this calling, and mission upon our lives – we abide in Christ, and together we move forward, so when we ask God the Father for something you need for the mission, (in Jesus’ name), he may give it to you.
Our love for one another is grounded in a friendship where we share the common command to abide in Christ, to have joy our relationship with Him, and as friends, carry out the mission of the gospel.
__________________________
[1] Bruce Wilkerson, Secrets of the Vine (Sisters, Oregon; Multnomah Publishing, 2001) 18
[2] Arno C. Gaebelein, The Gospel of John, An Exposition (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1982) 296.
[3] Grant R. Osborne, John, Verse by Verse (Bellingham, Washington; Lexham Press, 2018) 357.
[4] Osborne, 357.
[5] J.I.Packer & Carolyn Nystrom, Abiding in Christ (LifeGuide Bible Studies), InterVarsity Press.
[6] Osborne, 359.
[7] Sharon Hodde Miller, Nice: Why We Love to Be Liked and How God Calls Us to More, Baker Publishing Group, 2019.
[8] Osborne, 363.
“I Am The Bread of Life” John 6:25-59
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Following the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, the crowd finds Jesus again and wants him to fill their bellies again — instead he shows them how to feed and never be hungry again.
“I Am The Bread of Life” John 6:25-59
“The Conversationalist” Sermon Series
When Jesus Speaks Through Parables
“I Am The Bread of Life”
John 6:25-59
Introduction
“Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”[1]
Prayer
The Work That Produces Life (vv. 25-29)
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 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. 27 Do not work for the 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.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
John 6:4 tells us that the setting of the parable is the Passover, and is introduced by two sign-miracles (6:1-21); God supplies manna for the needs of his people and leads the disciples to safety across the dangerous waters of the sea. Later in v. 59 we see that he is teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The crowd seems to be upset with Jesus because He and the disciples had left them, so they ask, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” – There were also some in this crowd that wanted Jesus to become their king and lead a revolution against the Roman oppression (see 6:15). Jesus doesn’t respond to their question, but speaks to their motives. Jesus is asking them, why are you following me?
Even though they had all night and into the next day to think about the miracle of the multiplying of the loaves and fish, “They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies.”[2] They were seeing him as the Messiah, “who could maintain them in a life without toil.”[3] They were hungry again. Jesus is not a genie in a lamp that comes out to give us the wishes of our hearts.
Are you following Jesus because you want Him to fix your immediate life issue, make you wealthy, healthy, make your life easier – or do you truly understand who Jesus is and what the miracle (feeding the five thousand means)? The crowd is focused on the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, and not the meaning behind the miracle. Jesus wanted to teach the crowd something about Himself through the miracle. “They certainly saw the miracle and even tried to make him the messianic prophet and royal Messiah (6:14-15), But they missed the true significance of the “sign” pointed to Jesus as The Bread of Life, not just a miracle worker.”[4]
(v. 27) “Do not work for the food that perishes,– Jesus is telling the crowd to stop seeking food that spoils and go after “the food that endures to eternal life” Jesus gives a similar teaching to the woman at the well in John 4:13 when He tells her “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.”
How much time are we spending “building up treasures in heaven,”
verses pursuing earthly treasures on earth? (Matthew 6:19-21) Every person has a “hunger of the soul,”[5] which food will you ease the craving[6], heavenly food or earthly food?
In this hunger we ask the question, “Why are we here?”
So thinking that they could do something to earn God’s favor, or do something to receive eternal life for their effort, they ask “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” “They have completely missed Jesus’ central point, repeated again here, that “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
“It is the ‘Cain-heart’ and though there may be a religious profession, a form of godliness, as Cain had it, yet it is solemnly true of the natural man as it was of Cain, ‘the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes’ (Romans 3:17-18). The natural man thinks he can do something and by doing he will make himself acceptable to God. And thus speak of “the golden rule,” as if man had inherent capacity to practice it. Or someone else says “do some good deed every day”; as if good deeds as the way to peace and glory. Even pagans have done this, . . .”[7]
Eternal life is a free gift from God and comes only through faith in Jesus.”[8] They wanted a list of things to check off. Our work is faith in Jesus. The verb that John uses for faith or belief does not mean a mental belief of something, it also included obedience or action.[9] You will act on what you believe to be true.
The Wanting For One More Miracle (vv. 30-34)
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”[10] 32 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. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”[11]
Jesus has claimed to be God by referring to himself as, the Son of Man (v. 27). And while this crowd has seen him perform the miracle of feeding five thousand people from five loaves and two fish – they want another sign. They reference the Israelites in the wilderness where God provided mana (bread) “from heaven” (Deuteronomy 18:15). They don’t connect that Jesus is his provision as being from heaven, like the manna in the wilderness is “from heaven.” God had provided manna for forty years, Jesus’ miracle was this one occasion. They think that is Jesus is the Messiah, then he should out do Moses.
Jesus corrects them when they say it was Moses that gave them the bread in the wilderness, it was God. And here, it is God who has provided it. The bread that God provides now is a “he.” And so, completely missing the spiritual meaning, they want this bread now, always.
They are thinking that like God providing bread in the wilderness, where they would go and collect it every day – Jesus would now multiply bread (from loaves and fish) “always.” But this bread, that was from long ago, didn’t give eternal life (they all eventually died), but the bread Jesus offers them, once they eat of it, they will live forever.
Jesus did the miracle of multiplying the fish and loaves for a reason – to show how He provides eternal life. They are only thinking about Jesus as a bread miracle worker. They are missing the spiritual implications behind the miracle.
(v. 34) “They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” – They refer to Jesus as “Sir,” not Lord. Earlier they called Jesus “Rabbi, but here their greeting is respectful, but they do not regard Jesus as their Lord. They want the miracle (free ongoing bread and fish), but they do not want to submit to Jesus as God of their lives. Jesus “desired that men should receive him, not simply for what he might give them, but for what he might be to them.”[12]
The Will of the Father that None Will Be Lost (vv. 35-40)
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life[13]; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 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. 40 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 says that He is what they need – but what do we do with Jesus? He says there are two things, “whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” “Later when an awakened sinner cried out, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ the answer was given at once by the Spirit of God, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and your household. Acts 16:31).”[14]
So while we do no work to earn our salvation, Jesus explains that a person must “coming to Jesus, and believing in Him.” Numbers 21:7-9 “Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” If you were bitten by a snake in the wilderness if you would go and look upon the raised bronze serpent, you would be healed. But you had to go and physically look at it.
Jesus is the way for a person to have eternal life – our action we take is to move toward Jesus, and believe that He will save us. He even promises here that anyone who does this will never be cast out.
(v. 39) “but raise it up on the last day.” – This is a reference that at the end of time, The Day of the Lord (Zech. 14:1-9); Those that Come to and believe in Jesus will be with God.
The Wrong Things Being Focused On (vv. 41-51)
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 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’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 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— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
(v. 41) “So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” – “His ‘I am’ is a solemnly emphatic statement, and in this context has overtones of divinity.”[15] We see that Jesus says He has seen God, that He was sent by God, and here (v. 41) that Jesus is God – from this passage alone one has to decide what they are going to do with Jesus – He cannot be a good moral person, if he lies about being God. He cannot be trusted if He is a lunatic claiming to be God and spouting off teachings, or He really is God that has come down from heaven.
In the wilderness the Israelites grumbled in 14 different occasions (they grumbled and complained about Moses’ leadership, thirst, hunger, they wanted meat, about the giants in the promised land, etc.) John specifically highlights, “the Jews” it is to remind us of their previous grumbling in the wilderness, and they even grumble about Jesus.
Jesus responds to their grumbling by saying, “Do not grumble among yourselves.” – If the goal is understand the things of God, it does no good for the church to grumble.
They are willing to receive the miracle bread, “Sir, give us this bread always,” but how can the carpenter’s son, “the son of Joseph” – we know his parents, how did He come down from heaven? They are being asked to place their faith in Mary and Joseph’s kid – Jesus doesn’t try to prove who He is, but explains, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
With our relationship with Jesus; God draws people to the Son, and those people come to and believes in Jesus. The Christian theologian John Calvin had a lot to say about this concept of God’s election, and human choice in salvation. But it is a “both and” – we can choose God and His gift of salvation, while also God is sovereign in the process. It is not by works that we are saved, but the work we do is to place our faith in Jesus. “Salvation is never achieved apart from the drawing power of God, and it is never consummated apart from the willingness of humans to hear and learn from God.”[16]
(v. 45) “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’” Jesus is quoting Isaiah 54:13. “He will teach them within their hearts. Only those who are taught in this fashion come to Jesus.”[17]
(v. 46) “not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.” Jesus is saying that He is the only person that has seen the Father, and it is because He has been sent by the Father as the only means for anyone to be saved. God has revealed Him as the only Savior through whom anyone can ever be saved (14:6-7). To reject Jesus is to ensure that you will never know God. Stop grumbling and focusing on the wrong things – If you come to Jesus and believe in Him, you will be with God forever – if you reject Him there is no other way of salvation.
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 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.”
(v. 40) “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” There was miracle bread in the OT, and Jesus provided them with miracle bread (multiplication of the loaves and fish), and “The physical bread on the hills would not guarantee life any more than the manna did”[18] in the OT.
Jesus very clearly is claiming to be God (because only He has seen the Father), he was sent by God so that people may have eternal life (by coming to and having faith in) Jesus, and is the only way to be saved – if one follows the law, you will eventually die, but if you believe in the one who the law points to, and the prophecies point to – then you will be saved.
(v. 51) “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” – “To eat of this bread means to appropriate Christ as one’s life. Jesus equals life.
The Willingness of the Disciple to Consume Jesus (vv. 52-59)
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 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. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 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. 58 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.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.
Jesus has pointed this crowd to the Israelite wilderness experience (the lifted up serpent, manna from heaven, grumbling by the people) which begins with the Passover meal as they leave Egypt and slavery, and here as he is teaching in Capernaum at the time of the Passover – now references the Passover meal. The family as they are celebrating the Passover meal must eat all of the Passover lamb – consume it completely.
Jesus is saying that as the Bread of Life, his followers must consume him completely. Half-hearted followers fall away, v. 66 The disciples said to Jesus, this is very hard, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Jesus starts this teaching with focusing on the things that are of eternal significance – the truly important things in this life. Far too many Christians want to focus on the treasures of this world – and end up being half-hearted followers of Jesus.
“In John 4:10 he offered the Samaritan woman “living water” to drink, and now he is “living bread” to eat. This is the sixth of seven times in this chapter Jesus describes himself as descended from heaven, further stressing his true origin from God.”[19] But He demands full, complete devotion (because God is worthy of our everything).
This is one of the greatest paradoxes of Christianity, that life comes through death. Jesus dies that we may live, and we die to the things of this world, so that we may live for God (Rom. 6:4-6). In order for you to have eternal life, you give Jesus your entire life, and He lays down His life in exchange for yours.
_________________________
[1] C. S. Lewis, from the sermon “The Weight of Glory”
[2] Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan, WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981) 358.
[3] W. Robertson Nicoll, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967) 751.
[4] Grant R. Osborne, Osborne New Testament Commentary, John Verse by Verse (Bellingham, Washington; Lexhan Press, 2018) 157.
[5] “All earth’s full rivers cannot fill, The sea, that drinking thirsteth still.” Christiana Rossetti, “By the Sea.”
[6] B. F. Westcott, The Gospel According to St. John, The Authorized Version with Introductory Notes (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981) 100.
[7] Arno C. Gaebelein, The Gospel of John, A complete analytical Exposition (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Brothers, 1982) 124.
[8] Osborne, 158.
[9] Gerald L. Borchert, The New American Commentary, John 1-11 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 1996) 263.
[10] They are comparing what think Moses did (the feeding of over a million people), to Jesus’ only feeding five thousand.
[11] “There was a tradition (quoted by Lightfoot and Wünsche) that ‘as the first Redeemer caused manna to fall from heaven, even so should the second Redeemer cause manna to fall.’ For this sign then, or one like this, the people looked from Him whom they were ready to regard as Messiah.” Westcott, 101.
[12] Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1981) 76.
[13] This is one of seven “I am” statements Jesus makes in this gospel; The bread of life (6:35); the light of the world (8:12); the gate (10:7,9); the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14); the revelation and the life (11:25); the way, the truth, and the life, (14:6); and the true vine (15:5). Osbourne, 161.
[14] Gaebelein, 124.
[15] Morris, 365.
[16] Borchert, 268.
[17] Morris, 372.
[18] Borchert, 269.
[19] Osbourne, 169.
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