Lesson for June 15, 2025

The Book of John

Lesson 19

Chapter 6:26-40

^“Jesus answered them and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.’ Therefore, they said to Him, ‘What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’ Therefore, they said to Him, ‘What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of Heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of Heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of Heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of Heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.’”

Truly, truly is a Greek idiom that means an absolute truth from God follows. Jesus had already discerned their motives and was going to call them out on those motives. They received the food when Jesus fed them, but why were they seeking Him now? It was not because of the miracle. The miracle authenticated that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, that He was deity, that He was their Messiah, and that He had come to pay the penalty for their sin. This was the purpose of all miracles performed by Jesus. The miracles were to focus attention on Him as the Savior. But their focus was on food (Do not work for the food that perishes), instead of faith in Jesus, the Bread of Life.

But for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal. The food that lasts for eternal life is an analogy for faith in Jesus as their Savior. The seal of the Father means that God the Father gave His approval for His Son to be the Savior of the world.

Therefore, they said to Him, ‘What are we to do, so that we may accomplish the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. They missed the point of grace, thinking that human effort was the means of receiving eternal life. However, Jesus clearly explained to them that the “work” that God required for eternal life was faith in Christ.

Therefore, they said to Him, ‘What then are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? Remember who asked this question. Jesus had just fed them by turning two loaves of bread and five fish into a meal for thousands of people. But that was not enough for this crowd, they wanted to see more miracles. So that we may see and believe seems to be a ploy to entice Jesus into performing another miracle for their entertainment.

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread out of Heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father Who gives you the true bread out of Heaven. This was a quote from Psalm 78:24, where God gave the Israelites bread from Heaven for forty years. The Jews were giving Moses the credit for providing bread to the Israelites. We see this when Jesus corrected them by saying it was not Moses who gave them bread, it was God the Father.

Jesus knew exactly what they meant and called them out on it. Then He referred to Himself as “the true bread out of Heaven.” Of course, they didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. Using this illustration of God feeding the Israelites proved they were wanting Jesus to feed them by performing another miracle.

Jesus switched from divine provision for physical life to divine provision for eternal life. They needed the Bread of Life more than they needed food. In this verse, Christ is called the True Bread, in verse 33 He is called the Bread of God, in verse 35 He is called the Bread of Life. Jesus was saying that what they really needed was salvation, not food for their stomachs!

For the bread of God is that which comes down out of Heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. Jesus drove the point home as He explained that He came from Heaven to provide eternal life for the world. It may seem like they had a change of mind and actually believed in Him as their Savior. However, this was not the case, as we will see in the following verses.

But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

The Greek word for seen is “horao,” meaning to discern clearly or to perceive. Jesus had made it crystal clear Who He was and what He had come to do. By performing miracles, He had authenticated His deity and that He had come from Heaven to be the Savior of the world (the Messiah of Israel). And yet, they refused to believe in Him.

Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. God the Father gives God the Son all who believe in the Son for salvation. And they are eternally secure in Him (I certainly will not cast out). Eternal life is God’s life imputed to our human spirit at the moment of salvation. Though we possess eternal life the very moment we trust Christ as Savior, we will not fully realize all it entails, until we enter the eternal state.

Since it is God Who imputes eternal life to believers, it is a matter of His grace. Therefore, eternal life is not deserved, nor can it be earned. This means that anyone who has believed in Christ for salvation possesses eternal life. It also means that believers are secure in Christ forever. (John 5:25-26; 11:25-26; 14:6; I John 5:11-13)

I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing but will raise it up on the last day. Christ was a willing substitute. He was not forced by God the Father to become humanity and die in our place. Jesus willingly and joyfully fulfilled God the Father’s plan of salvation. (Hebrews 12:2) This plan of salvation called for the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ, which would satisfy God’s righteous judgment of sin.

(I John 2:1-2)

When Christ became our substitute on the Cross and paid the penalty for the sin of the entire human race, the barrier of sin that previously existed between God and man was removed forever. The removal of this “sin barrier” means that the only issue at salvation is whether a person will accept God’s offer of eternal life through faith in Christ. (II Corinthians 5:17-19)

Another result of the imputation of eternal life to believers is the guarantee of a resurrection body. Theologically, we call this Ultimate Sanctification, and it will occur at the Rapture of the Church. Our resurrection bodies are going to be like that of Christ’s resurrection body. This means that we will no longer possess a sin nature and will no longer produce human good. In our resurrection bodies, we will be able to produce only divine good. Possessing eternal life assures believers of an eternal relationship with God. (Philippians 3:21; I Corinthians 15:51-57; I John 3:2)

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. Seeing the Son means to perceive Who He is and what He accomplished for us. Christ’s sacrifice was a complete and eternal sacrifice. It was complete, in that it would never be repeated. Christ would die once for all of mankind. Those who believe in Him will be raised up to meet Jesus in the air at the Rapture and live forever in a glorified body. (I Thessalonians 4:13-17)