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Thoughts on John's Gospel
No.6.
Chapter 6:
pp. 11 - 15
This chapter (6:) starts off with the feeding of the five thousand. Arising from this,
the Jews refer to the manna (verse 31) and in the chapter Christ develops this theme to
say He was the true Living Bread from heaven sent by God:
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life
of the world" (6: 51).
Finally Christ links the bread with His flesh and that with His words:
". . . . . he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me" (6: 57).
". . . . . the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (6: 63).
"Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life" (6: 68).
We should remember that the words of our Lord are not only those recorded in the
four Gospels and spoken by Him during His earthly life, but just as important to us, are
the words He gave to Paul to record after His resurrection and ascension.
In common with other chapters of this Gospel, the Lord Jesus here glorifies His Father
by stressing the part God has taken in bringing us to this source of spiritual nourishment
and eternal life:
(1) Guidance of the Son by the Father.
"When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to
make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone" (6: 15).
Matthew adds (14: 23) that this was to pray. Here was a crisis, the crowd wanting to
make Him a king. Our Lord seeks the guidance of His Father.
(2) The seal of God the Father on the work of His Son.
"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father
sealed" (6: 27).
A seal to us in this life is evidence that a certain person has authorized the terms of a
written document. It is used twice in John's Gospel, here and in John 31: 32: "He that
received His (Christ's) testimony hath set to his seal that God is true". Where we believe
the words of Christ and accept His act of redemption recorded in the Scriptures, the Holy
Spirit confirms with our spirit that God is true. This is testimony (like a seal) that all our
readers, we hope, have experienced. Here in John 6: 27 the point is that God the Father