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Filling The Stomach - John 6
Filling The Stomach
John 6 tells of Jesus feeding 'the 5000'. The people respond by speaking of Jesus as 'the prophet who is to come" (referring to the promise of Moses back in Deut. 18:15-22 ). There was also the prophet of a coming king to sit on David's throne. What a king Jesus would make! He could provide free food, provide protection from storms, and keep everyone well and alive!
Such is the view point of the kingdom of God when people set their sights on the 'signs' and not upon what the signs signified and pointed to. Jesus COULD have provided such a kingdom but He did not. He withdrew from such an 'offer' (vs. 15).
The people search for him. They will not give up so easily! When they found Him he was rather blunt: You seek me NOT because you saw the signs (understand and appreciate what they signified) BUT because you are your fill of the loaves" (vs. 26).
As Paul would write later: "… the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). Jesus emphasizes this spiritual aspect of the kingdom by pointing out that some of the foundational concepts of the kingdom of God include:
Such eating of the bread of life is not partaking of physical bread but of 'ingesting His word', of living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Hence Jesus explains that "the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (vs. 63).
- You must Eat of the true bread of life that God gives John 6:54,56,57,58
- Jesus IS that bread of life - John 6:33, 41,48, 50, 51
- One must eat HIS flesh and drink HIS blood to have eternal life - John 6:53,54,55,56
- One must 'feed on him' - John 6:57
- The other aspect of this is that it is NOT a 'one time meal' but a continual feast. The KJV tried to show the ongoing nature of the present tense verbs by adding 'eth' endings. Hence it translates 'eateth' this bread (John 6:54, 56, 57, 58), "cometh to me" (John 6:35, 45), and "believeth" (John 6:35, 40, 47). He that 'cometh', 'eateth', and 'believeth' thus 'hath' eternal life. They are parallel in thought. This is a lifelong discipleship. This is a call to be faithful unto death. As the Hebrew writer would state: "you have need of endurance that AFTER you have done the will of God, you shall receive what is promised" (Heb. 10:36 ).
Jesus thus left the great commission: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:18-20) The 'observing all things whatsoever I have commanded" is the eating and drinking of His body and blood. Such is the very nature of discipleship and the kingdom of God.
