Sermon Tone Analysis

*JOHN 6:35-40   *

This section of the discourse is to be understood against the background of a Jewish expectation that, when the Messiah came, he would renew the miracle of the manna.

Comfortably filled with the loaves Jesus has provided, the multitude challenges him to give them a permanent supply of bread.

§         The miracle of the five thousand [6:1-14].

§         Jesus walks on the water [6:15-21].

§         The searching for Jesus [6:22-26].

§         The true manna [6:27-34].

#.

*THE REAL BREAD OF LIFE [6:32-35]*

*1.        **The Jewish Tradition *

There was a tradition that “as the first Redeemer caused the manna to fall from heaven, even so should the second Redeemer (גואל אחרון) cause the manna to fall.”

For this sign then, or one like this, the people looked from Him whom they were ready to regard as Messiah.

*a.        **The Exodus *

The idea that the feeding miracle is a repetition of the nourishment of Israel gives way to the controlling thought of the miracle as a sign of the fulfilment of the hope of the new exodus brought about by Jesus.

§         The mention of the proximity of the “/Passover/” [6:4; Exo.12] naturally includes this concept, but more strongly hints of the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God, which is fundamental to 6:51-58.

§         That they saw a link with the exodus is confirmed by the use of a Scriptural proof text: “/he gave them bread from heaven/…” [6:31].

§         The reference to the promise of Moses provides another link: “/This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world/” [6:14; Deu.18:15]].

*b.        **The Sign *

*c.        **The Worldly Desire *

*i.        **A Sign *

They had called for a sign like that of receiving manna from Moses: “/what sign do you show us/…” [6:30].

§         σημεῖον - “/sign/” [6:30], ‘a pointer to aid perception or insight’; ‘a confirmation’;

*ii.

**A Constant Provision *

The thoughts of the people ate hopelessly earthbound: “/evermore give us this bread/” [6:34].

§         πάντοτε - “/evermore/” [6:34], ‘at all times’; ‘forever’;

§         δὸς - “/give/” [6:34], aorist active imperative, ‘thing given by a person in a superior position to a subordinate’;

§         τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον - “/this/ /bread/” [6:34], ‘loaf of bread’; ‘nourishment’;

§         Moses gave them “/manna/” [Exo.16:15] for forty years; Jesus gave them “/bread/” on one occasion.

*Application*

The misunderstanding implicit in the opponents’ response: ‘they were suggesting that the bread of heaven needed to be given again and again’;

 

*2.

**The Provision of God *

The first thing that Jesus does - Jesus corrects the erroneous interpretation of the Scripture cited.

*a.        **God’s Provision in the Exodus *

The correction: “/Moses gave you not that bread from heaven/…” [6:32].

§         δέδωκεν - “/gave/” [6:32], the /perfect/ active ‘points to God’s provision for forty years’;

§         The wilderness: “/when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna, for they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat/” [Exo.16:15].

§         The promise of God: “/Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you/…” [Exo.16:4].

*b.        **God’s Provision in the Incarnation *

*i.        **The Gift of God*

The same God is now active in Jesus: “/my Father gives you the true bread/…” [6:32].

§         ὁ πατήρ μου - “/Father/” [6:32],

§         δίδωσιν - “/gives/” [6:32], present active indicative, ‘thing given by a person in a superior position to a subordinate’;

*ii.

**The Spiritual Reality *

The spiritual reality: “/the true bread from heaven/” [6:33].

§         τὸν ἀληθινόν - “/true/” [6:32], ‘the true thing’; ‘the reality’; ‘genuine’; the “manna” [Exo.16:15] was the symbol of spiritual food;

§         τὸν ἄρτον - “/bread/” [6:32], ‘loaf of bread’; ‘nourishment’;

§         ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ - “/from/ /heaven/” [6:32], ‘motion away from’;

*Application*

 

*3.

**The Bread of Life *

*a.        **The Identification *

The identification: “/the bread of God…/” [6:33].

§         ἄρτος - “/bread/” [6:33], ‘loaf of bread’; ‘nourishment’;

*i.        **The Incarnation  *

The incarnation: “/is he which came down from heaven…/” [6:33].

§         ὁ καταβαίνων - “/came/ /down/” [6:33], present active participle, ‘to descend’; ‘move from high elevation to lower elevation’; “/And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven/” [3:13].

§         ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ - “/from/ /heaven/” [6:33], ‘motion away from’;

*ii.

**The Life *

The gift of life: “/and gives life to the world/” [6:33].

§         διδοὺς - “/gives/” [6:33], present active participle,

§         ζωὴν - “/life/” [6:33], ‘physical vitality’; ‘everlasting life’; life in its /qualitative/ sense more than in its /longevity’/;

§         κόσμῳ - “/world/” [6:33], ‘the world alienated from God’: “/God so loved the world/…” [3:16].

§         The life of the Son: “/as the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself/” [5:26].

*b.        **The Embodiment *

Jesus is the embodiment of the life: “/I am the bread of life/…” [6:35].

§         ἐγώ εἰμι - “/I am/” [6:35], first person pronoun plus indicative present active of ‘to be’; a title of ‘self-designation’;

§         ὁ ἄρτος - “/bread/” [6:35], ‘loaf of bread’; ‘nourishment’;

§         τῆς ζωῆς - “/life/” [6:35], ‘physical vitality’; ‘everlasting life’; life in its /qualitative/ sense more than in its /longevity’/;

§         This is the first of seven emphatic statements that Jesus makes about himself in this gospel [6:35; 8:12; 10:7; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1].

§         Each one brings home an important aspect of the person and ministry of Jesus.

It is not that Jesus “/gives/” the bread, He “/is the bread/” [6:35].

The Father “/gives the bread/” [6:32]; Jesus “/is the bread/” [6:35].

*Application*

Jesus is the fulfilment of the symbolism of the “manna”; the “manna” came down from heaven and the people were fed by it; so Jesus…

§         As the “wilderness” was without food without the manna, so the “world” is without life apart from the coming of Christ.

§         Jesus is the food which supplies life; the Israelites: “/they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating/” [Exo.16:21].

*4.

**The Message of the Kingdom *

*a.        **The Promise*

*i.        **Active & Outward Faith *

The first facet of the process presents faith as active and outward: “/he that comes to me shall never hunger/…” [6:35].

§         ὁ ἐρχόμενος - “/comes/” [6:35], present middle or passive participle, ‘to come, go’; ‘to move toward or up to’;

§         πρὸς ἐμὲ - “/to/ /me/” [6:35], ‘denotes motion up to’;

§         οὐ μὴ - “/never/” [6:35], ‘used together to express a strong negative’;

§         πεινάσῃ - “/hunger/” [6:35], ‘conscious of need and to desire something to meet that need’;

§         Jesus stresses the movement away from the old life with its beggarly famine and its total inability to satisfy: “/why do you spend your money on that which is not bread/…” [Isa.55:2].

§         People must come with a whole needy personality: “/come unto me all you that labour/…” [Mat.11:28].

*ii.

**Inward & Intellectual Faith *

The second essential facet of the process presents faith in thought as resting and inward: “/he that believes on me shall never thirst/” [6:35].

§         ὁ πιστεύων - “/believes/” [6:35], present active participle, ‘to trust’; ‘to have faith’; ‘knowledge, assent, trust’;

§         εἰς ἐμὲ - “/on/ /me/” [6:35], ‘denoting motion into’;

§         οὐ μὴ - “/never/” [6:35], ‘used together to express a strong negative’;

§         διψήσει - “/thirst/” [6:35], ‘bodily desire for liquid’; ‘a spiritual need that god can satisfy’;

§         πώποτε - “/never/” [6:35], ‘at any time’;

*iii.

**The Exodus Imagery *

The exodus imagery behind what Jesus is saying:

§         Israel hungered and God gave them food: “/Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you/…” [Exo.16:4].