Here is a teaching of part 2 of chapter 6 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
Part 2 of John Chapter 6:
25 When they found him on the other side of the Lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do you 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 miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
I'm just going to stop right there and discuss a few things with you guys here. So Jesus told these people that they weren't looking for him because he performed these miraculous signs, but because he had given them food to eat. He also said not to "work for food that spoils, but food that endures eternal life, which the Son of Man will give" (and the food that he meant here is spiritual food that gives eternal life.) And we'll see in the verses going forward, that Jesus talks about him being the bread of life and that's what he is talking about here: that the son of man, which is Jesus Christ, will give them food that endures eternal life. Then they asked "What must we do to do the work God requires?" And Jesus said to believe the one that he sent. Which we know from the past Bible studies, that many Jews are seeking to kill Jesus because he performed a miraculous sign on the Sabbath, which was healing the man at the pool. And a lot of people aren't accepting his testimony, but they want to know what to do to do the work that God requires and that's to believe in Jesus Christ. Then they wanted him to perform a miraculous sign to make them believe and they said that their forefathers ate the manna (or bread) in the desert. Okay I'm going to continue reading forward because this is where Jesus talks about him being the bread of life.
32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses just 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 he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35 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. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that 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 that 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 him up at the last day."
So these people are asking Jesus to perform this miraculous sign and to give them this bread from heaven and he says that he is the bread from heaven, and that it's not Moses who has given the bread from heaven, but God the Father. He also goes on to say that whoever comes to him won't go hungry or thirsty (and this is spiritual hunger and thirst.) These people are searching for food to get their fill on actual food, but they're not thinking of their spiritual hunger and things from the inside that Jesus provides. They're so focused on him performing a miraculous sign for them, that they're not focusing on who it actually is right in front of them.
In verse 36, Jesus says "But as I told you, you have seen me and you still do not believe," even though they've seen him perform these miraculous signs and he's been teaching the Jews these things, he has these disciples, he's been telling them that he's Jesus Christ and he comes from the father, they're still not believing in him. But they're wanting the benefits, they're wanting the miraculous signs, they're wanting this food that will give them eternal life, but they're not believing in Jesus Christ. And that's the only thing that can give them eternal life.
Like we've heard in other Bible studies, in verse 38 he says that he's come down not to do his will but to do the will of Him who sent him and he says, "this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." So Jesus already knows the people that are going to believe and he knows the people that are going to crucify him, and he's not going to lose anyone that has been given to him. And on the last day he's going to raise them up, which means the second resurrection; not whenever he raises three days later, but whenever he comes back to the earth and brings his people back to heaven. All of those that believe in him, he's going to raise them up on the last day.
41 At this the Jews 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 him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns 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 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world."
So I'm going to stop right there and discuss a few things with you guys here. So the Jews started to grumble because he said that he came down from heaven, but they know that his mother and father are Mary and Joseph, and so they're thinking, "how could he come down from heaven if his mother and father are here?" But if they really believed in God, they knew the truth of his words, that his words lived inside of them, and they really studied the scriptures, they would know that the Savior, the King that's going to save the world, is going to be born, he's going to come down from heaven, and walk on this earth. The Jews didn't quite understand how he could have a human mother and father but claim to have God the Father as his father and come from heaven. But we know from reading the Bible that an angel came to Mary in a dream, she was a Virgin, and the angel said she was going to have a son and name him Jesus, and we know all of these things about Jesus's birth, and we know that he did come from heaven, but they were confused on how he could come from heaven when he had a human father and mother.
Then Jesus told them in verse 45, that "everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him, comes to me." So everyone that truly believes in God, studies the scripture, and knows the truth of God's words, will come to Jesus Christ, because they know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no one can come to the Father except through him. In verse 49, he says that their forefathers ate the manna in the desert yet they died, but the bread that comes down from heaven, (which we know that Jesus says he is the bread from heaven,) a man may eat and not die. Jesus is the living bread and anyone that eats his flesh will live forever. And he says, "this bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." He knows that he's going to die on the cross for our sins, and they don't realize this at the time, but he is going to give his flesh for the life of the world because he's going to die on the cross for our sins.
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, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him 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 him. 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 forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
So Jesus explained that his flesh would be given and his life would be laid down for the world and they automatically were like, "how can you give us flesh to eat?" So instead of thinking of the bigger picture of him laying down his life for the world to forgive us of our sins, they automatically were thinking of cannibalism. The sacrificed life of Jesus, of him dying on the cross to forgive us of our sins, that is food and drink for our hungry and thirsty souls. When we receive Jesus, we believe in him, and we receive him into our hearts; we have the fruit of the Spirit inside of us, we have that food and drink for our souls. So here he's not deliberately talking about actually eating his flesh and drinking his blood, but the spiritual food and drink that they're going to get from his sacrifice of dying on the cross for our sins and that if we believe in him, we will have eternal life and have that food and drink that our soul needs. Whoever has that spiritual food and drink, we remain in Jesus and he remains in us and we have the Holy spirit inside of us. In verse 58, he reiterates that "this is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." So Jesus is the bread that comes down from heaven and when we believe in him and we ask him to come into our hearts, we have that spiritual bread and we have eternal life.
60 On hearing it, many of the disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 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 are spirit and they are 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 him." 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
So I'm just going to stop right here and discuss a few things with you guys. So a lot of these disciples that were following Jesus and wanting to see these miraculous signs that he was doing, they couldn't accept the teaching of him saying he was the bread of life and that whoever ate his flesh and drink his blood would have eternal life, because they weren't understanding it. They didn't understand that it was spiritual food and drink. In verse 63 he says that "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing." Whenever we believe in Jesus Christ and we have the Holy spirit within us, we're no longer of this world, whenever we die and we go to heaven, our bodies aren't going to come with us. Our spirit is what's going to go to heaven and that's what lives on forever. Jesus had already known who was going to betray him and who was going to believe in him and he said in verse 65 that, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." And because of this teaching about the bread of life, a lot of his disciples turned away from him and they 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 believe and know that you are the Holy one of God." 70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, he 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.)
So these are the last verses of chapter six, but I'm going to discuss these last versus what you guys. So after giving this teaching of him being the bread of life and letting them know that he's going to sacrifice his life for the sins of the world and that whoever accepts his sacrifice, they believe in him, and they ask him to come to their hearts, they're going to have eternal life; a lot of people that were following him, no longer followed him because they didn't understand this. They thought it was a hard teaching and they couldn't accept it. and Jesus already knew who was going to keep following him and who wasn't. Jesus asked his 12 disciples if they wanted to leave too and Simon Peter said that Jesus had the words of eternal life and that they know that he is the Holy one of God. In verse 70 Jesus said, "Have I not chosen you," because he was talking about in the verses before we just read, that what the Father gives him will come to him and he's not going to lose and he's not going to drive them away. And he had chosen these 12 disciples, but one of them was a devil, which we know from verse 71. We'll read further in the chapters what happened with Judas and how he betrayed him.
John Ch 6 Study Guide Part 2
1. Why did Jesus say that the crowd was looking for him?
2. Who gives the true bread from Heaven?
3. What is Jesus referring to in verse 40?
4. Why were the Jews grumbling about Jesus saying that he was the bread that came down from heaven?
5. What was Jesus referring to when he says, “This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world?”
6. What goes with us when we go to Heaven?
7. Why did many disciples stop following Jesus?
8. What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
Before I let you go I wanted to say a quick prayer for you guys... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up their eyes to see the truth of your words, that they open up their heart to receive the truth and to receive you, and your love, mercy, and grace. I pray that they open up their ears, their mind, and every bit of them to you Lord, and that they know the truth of your words. And they spread the gospel to others and let everyone that they know and love know about you so that they may go to heaven when it's their time to go and become disciples of Jesus Christ also. I love you so much Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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