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two-fold. First, Moses did not give the manna in the wilderness, but God; and secondly,
the manna in the wilderness was not the true bread, the real thing, it was but a type.
"For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world. Then said they unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread, and Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that
believeth on Me shall never thirst. . . . For I came down from heaven not to do mine
own will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (verses 33-38).
He is the sealed one (27) and the sent one (38). In connection with this emphasis upon
being the sent One is the will of the Father and the election unto life. Verse 37 is very
strong, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me". Verses 39 and 40 emphasize
the will, the gift, and the sent One. Of those given to Him He was to lose nothing. In
John 17: these thoughts recur. Aionian life He gives to as many as the Father gave
Him (2); "Thine they were and Thou gavest them Me" (6); "I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine" (9). In verses 11 and 12 we
have the fact stated "that none of them is lost" who were given to the Lord. Judas being
known from the commencement as being "a devil" is mentioned in verse 70, of the
chapter (6:) which we are considering. The elective character of the subject of
chapter 6: is emphasized by the Lord, for continuing in verse 44 He says, "No man can
come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him".
The Lord also makes reference to resurrection. In verse 39 being raised again at the
last day is supplemented in verse 40 by having aionian life. Verse 44 and 45 say the
same thing. Aionian life therefore is resurrection life, life which is something different
from the life that is possessed by creatures in this world. The fathers who ate the manna
"are dead". The Lord, as the sent One, is the living bread, and He gives "to live unto the
age" (51). He testified that man by nature had "no life" in him. The utter dependence
upon Christ for life is further brought out by the parallel in verse 57. "As the living
Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me (the living bread, the
sent One), even he shall live by Me". Many, even of the disciples, when they heard this,
said, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" Again the Lord emphasizes His place
with the Father (62), the elective character of the subject (64, 65). All but the twelve
"went back". The Lord asks them:--
"Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of aionian life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
Here then is the full meaning of believing the Lord as the sent One. It is a faith in
Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God". Towards the close of the book the
Apostle clearly indicates its purpose:--
"These (signs) are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing ye might have life through His name" (20: 31).
The opening chapter records the blessing that follows belief "in His name" power to
become the sons of God. This too is in a setting that emphasizes election unto life.