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opposed to false, but real as opposed to shadow or type. It is the relationship of type to
antitype. Here Christ explains the difference between the typical manna and Himself, the
true Bread from heaven, giving life to the world, not just to Israel.
Like the Samaritan woman who asked the Lord to give her the living water that He
spoke about, so now His hearers eagerly request the gift of this bread for always (6: 34).
They were still thinking of His words in a material sense, so the Lord Jesus replies with a
statement which they must have found astounding:
"Then Jesus declared, `I am the Bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go
hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty'." (6: 35).
This is the first of the great "I am" (ego eimi) sayings of the Lord, recorded in this
Gospel, ego eimi. Normally the pronoun is not expressed separately from the verb in
Greek. When it is, there is always emphasis. Carefully note the further occurrences of
these two words in 6: 41, 48, 51; 8: 12, 58; 10: 7, 9, 11, 14; 11: 25; 14: 6; 15: 1, 5.
They are all very important statements and take one back to the great I AM title of God in
Exod. 3: 13, 14.
Especially is this so in chapter 8: in the Lord's argument with the Pharisees. We
shall give further consideration to this when we read this chapter.
No.12.
6: 36 - 71.
pp. 101 - 105
After the tremendous statement that He was the Bread of life, which, if received by
faith, would give eternal satisfaction, the Lord had to say to His hearers:
"But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. All that the Father
gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away" (6: 36,
37, N.I.V.).
"All that the Father gives Me" is the death knell of universalism. Note how this is
stressed by Christ (see 6: 39, 65; 17: 2, 6, 9, 12, 24; 18: 9). Whether this is a large
company or small is not revealed and it is fruitless to guess. However many make this
number, they are all eternally safe (10: 29), and all will come to Him by constraining grace
and never will He turn any away. This is the Father's will which the Son had come to
carry out, and it will most certainly be fulfilled to the letter.
Professor F. F. Bruce comments here, "In the first part of verse 37 the pronoun `all' is
neuter singular, pan, denoting the sum-total of believers. In the second part (`the one
who comes'), each individual member of this sum-total is in view".
"For I have come down from heaven not to do My will, but to do the will of Him Who
sent Me. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me that I shall lose none of all that He has