LIVING BREAD FROM HEAVEN

Passage: John 6:41-59

Key verse: 51

NIV

41 At this the Jews there 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,(A) whose father and mother we know?(B) How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”(C)

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,(D) and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a](E) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;(F) only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.(G) 48 I am the bread of life.(H) 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.(I) 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,(J) which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread(K) that came down from heaven.(L) Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”(M)

52 Then the Jews(N) began to argue sharply among themselves,(O) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh(P) of the Son of Man(Q) and drink his blood,(R) you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.(S) 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 them.(T) 57 Just as the living Father sent me(U) 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 ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”(V) 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

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Footnotes
  1. John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, (A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, (B)“Is not this Jesus, (C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother (D)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 (E)draws him. And (F)I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, (G)‘And they will all be (H)taught by God.’ (I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 (J)not that anyone has seen the Father except (K)he who is from God; he (L)has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, (M)whoever believes has eternal life. 48 (N)I am the bread of life. 49 (O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and (P)they died. 50 (Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it (R)and not die. 51 I am the living bread (S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give (T)for the life of the world is (U)my flesh.”

52 The Jews then (V)disputed among themselves, saying, (W)“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 (X)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you (Y)have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood (Z)has eternal life, and (AA)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 (AB)abides in me, and I in him. 57 As (AC)the living Father (AD)sent me, and (AE)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 (AF)This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus[b] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught (AG)at Capernaum.

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Footnotes
  1. John 6:58 Greek lacks the bread
  2. John 6:59 Greek He
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
1. "This bread is my flesh" (41-51) There are many barriers that hinder our belief in Jesus. For the Jews present that day, it was their familiarity with Jesus' earthly family and upbringing. They knew his parents Mary and Joseph personally and wondered, "How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" We all face barriers to belief. In fact, it is through God's grace alone that we are able to believe at all. God had to take action on our behalf. He was the one who initiated our belief in Jesus by drawing us to him. And here we are! God has brought us to Jesus, the living bread. Jesus says, "This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The sacrifice of his body on the cross is the basis of our salvation and hope. 2. Real food and real drink (52-59) Faith in Christ is the only way to life. Without him, no one can live. Jesus says, "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." We eat his flesh and drink his blood when we put our faith in him and accept that our sins have been forever forgiven through the sacrifice of his body and blood on the cross. He is the source of life and we will live because He lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the cross. Thank you for giving us bread that leads to eternal life.

One Word: Eat the bread of life!