Joh 6:48-58 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 48. I am that bread of life . My doctrines and the benefits of my mediation are that real support of spiritual life of which the manna in the wilderness was the faint emblem. See . (i) "I am that bread"

John 6:48-58

Verse 48. I am that bread of life. My doctrines and the benefits of my mediation are that real support of spiritual life of which the manna in the wilderness was the faint emblem. See Jn 6:32, 33.

(i) "I am that bread" Jn 6:33,35,51 Verse 49. Your fathers did eat manna. There was a real miracle wrought in their behalf; there was a perpetual interposition of God which showed that they were his chosen people.

And are dead. The bread which they ate could not save them from death. Though God interfered in their behalf, yet they died. We may learn,

1st. That that is not the most valuable of God's gifts which merely satisfies the temporal wants.

2nd. That the most distinguished temporal blessings will not save from death. Wealth, friends, food, raiment, will not preserve life.

3rd. There is need of something better than mere earthly blessings; there is need of that bread which cometh down from heaven, and which giveth life to the world.

(k) "and are dead" Zech 1:5 Verse 50.

(l) "not die" Jn 3:16 Verse 51. The bread that I will give is my flesh. That is, his body would be offered as a sacrifice for sin, agreeably to his declaration when he instituted the Supper: "This is my body which is broken for you," 1Cor 11:24.

Life of the world. That sinners might, by his atoning sacrifice, be recovered from spiritual death, and be brought to eternal life. The use of the word world here shows that the sacrifice of Christ was full, free, ample, and designed for all men, as it is said in 1Jn 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." In this verse Jesus introduces the subject of his death and atonement. It may be remarked that in the language which he used the transition from bread to his flesh would appear more easy than it does in our language. The same word which in Hebrew means bread, in the Syriac and Arabic means also flesh.

(m) "my flesh" He 10:5,10,20 (n) "the life of the world" Jn 3:16 Verse 52.

(o) "saying, How" Jn 3:9 Verses 53-55. In these verses Jesus repeats what he had in substance said before.

Except ye eat the flesh, &c. He did not mean that this should be understood literally, for it was never done, and it is absurd to suppose that it was intended to be so understood. Nothing can possibly be more absurd than to suppose that when he instituted the Supper, and gave the bread and wine to his disciples, they literally ate his flesh and drank his blood. Who can believe this? There he stood, a living man--his body yet alive, his blood flowing in his veins; and how can it be believed that this body was eaten and this blood drunk? Yet this absurdity must be held by those who hold that the bread and wine at the communion are "changed into the body, blood, and divinity of our Lord." So it is taught in the decrees of the Council of Trent; and to such absurdities are men driven when they depart from the simple meaning of the Scriptures and from common sense. It may be added that if the bread and wine used in the Lord's Supper were not changed into his literal body and blood when it was first instituted, they have never been since. The Lord Jesus would institute it just as he meant it should be observed, and there is nothing now in that ordinance which there was not when the Saviour first appointed it. His body was offered on the cross, and was raised up from the dead and received into heaven. Besides, there is no evidence that he had any reference in this passage to the Lord's Supper. That was not yet instituted, and in that there was no literal eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood. The plain meaning of the passage is, that by his bloody death--his body and his blood offered in sacrifice for sin--he would procure pardon and life for man; that they who partook of that, or had an interest in that, should obtain eternal life. He uses the figure of eating and drinking because that was the subject of discourse; because the Jews prided themselves much on the fact that their fathers had eaten manna; and because, as he had said that he was the bread of life, it was natural and easy, especially in the language which he used, to carry out the figure, and say that bread must be eaten in order to be of any avail in supporting and saving men. To eat and to drink, among the Jews, was also expressive of sharing in or partaking of the privileges of friendship. The happiness of heaven and all spiritual blessings are often represented under this image, Mt 8:11, 26:29, Lk 14:15, &c.

(p) "Except ye eat" Mt 26:26,28 Verse 54.

(q) "eateth" Jn 6:40 Verse 55. Is meat indeed. Is truly food. My doctrine is truly that which will give life to the soul.

(r) "meat indeed" Ps 4:7 Verse 56. Dwelleth in me. Is truly and intimately connected with me. To dwell or abide in him is to remain in the belief of his doctrine, and in the participation of the benefits of his death. Comp. Jn 15:1-6, 17:21-23.

I in him. Jesus dwells in believers by his Spirit and doctrine. When his Spirit is given them to sanctify them; when his temper, his meekness, his humility, and his love pervade their hearts; when his doctrine is received by them and influences their life, and when they are supported by the consolations of the gospel, it may be said that he abides or dwells in them.

(t) "dwelleth" Jn 15:4, 1Jn 3:24, 4:15,16 Verse 57. I live by the Father. Jn 5:26.

(u) "so he that eateth me" 1Cor 15:22 Verse 58. This is that bread, &c. This is the true bread that came down. The word "that" should not be in the translation.

Shall live for ever. Not on the earth, but in the enjoyments of a better world.

(v) "not as your fathers" Jn 6:49-51.