INTRO TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, Sarah Barry
LIVING BREAD FROM HEAVEN
Passage: John 6:41~59  
Key verse: 51
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.
Footnotes
- John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
Cross references
- John 6:42 : Lk 4:22
- John 6:42 : Jn 7:27, 28
- John 6:42 : ver 38, 62
- John 6:44 : ver 65; Jer 31:3; Jn 12:32
- John 6:45 : Isa 54:13; Jer 31:33, 34; 1Co 2:13; 1Th 4:9; Heb 8:10, 11; 10:16; 1Jn 2:27
- John 6:46 : S Jn 1:18; 5:37; 7:29
- John 6:47 : S Mt 25:46
- John 6:48 : ver 35, 51
- John 6:49 : ver 31, 58
- John 6:50 : ver 33
- John 6:51 : ver 35, 48
- John 6:51 : ver 41, 58
- John 6:51 : Heb 10:10
- John 6:52 : S Jn 1:19
- John 6:52 : Jn 7:43; 9:16; 10:19
- John 6:53 : Mt 26:26
- John 6:53 : S Mt 8:20
- John 6:53 : Mt 26:28
- John 6:54 : ver 39
- John 6:56 : Jn 15:4-7; 1Jn 2:24; 3:24; 4:15
- John 6:57 : S Jn 3:17
- John 6:58 : ver 49-51; Jn 3:36; 5:24
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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!