Gospel of John, 6:59-71

We are zooming through Lesson 11. I apologize for Mike for being so slow, but it was a great class last week. I had a great time. It was good discussions and I appreciate that. Hopefully we will continue with that. I think, did we get through five? Is that about, did we finish five? I think the one thing I wanted, and I don't know if I got to it at the very end. One that was kind of in the, John translation, I don't think it was in the other Gospels. In verse 21, if you look in verse 21, It was kind of interesting.

He puts in that little thing that immediately... So remember, this is when Jesus is walking and the water comes up. Peter is at the beginning of faith and he looks away from him and starts sinking. So he gets in and says, don't be afraid, I'm He. So it comforts him. But the interesting part, look at the John one. What happens immediately after that? What does it say in your translation? The very end of, I think, John 21. They're immediately at the land. I haven't seen that. None of the other Gospels have that. So, he gets on the boat and boom. We're at the land. None of the other translations say that.

So, I thought, well, does that speak of the deliverance to the disciples? I think of it as, once they realize it's Him and He says, I'm Him, He steps on the boat. Once you're focused on Him, guess what? You're immediately on land. What about when we focus on Him through circumstances? I just think of that. If we're focused on Him, man, I'm through that circumstance. I'm done. If you're focused on Him, I don't think the time issue of a lot of these circumstances become great and long.

I may be dragging a lot more out of this than the verse, but I thought that's kind of odd that once He got on and they were calmed, they're at the shore. I think for us, if we keep focused on Christ, through any circumstance, is time an issue? No. I think that was very comforting for them. After all, you remember they're rowing hard against the wind and all this, and they're frightened with Him. But as soon as they realize who it is and He steps on the boat, they're there.

I thought that was an interesting one that only John had in the Gospels. All right, we'll go on to verse 22 through 40. So, and we're in chapter 6 of John. It's interesting to note in the verses 20 through 25 that the crowds that were trying to follow Jesus were wondering how Jesus got to Capernaum when they knew he did not get on the boat.

So they were also figuring this out too, that hey, wait a minute, we saw the disciples take off in the boat and Jesus wasn't, we didn't see another boat, Lee. How did you get there? So they knew something had happened because he'd gone up to the mountain, remember, and they said disciples go off. So they knew the disciples had left and now Jesus suddenly was with them there and had to get there. So again, they were kind of wondering how this happened too. So, in question six, what were the people who followed the disciples and Jesus to Capernaum looking for?

So it. Exactly. He gives the answer in here in verses 26 and 27. Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him the Father God has set a seal.

So were they coming to look for more signs because they'd seen all these signs? Is that what they were looking for? No! You know, you think, oh, the throngs are following. The Jews want the signs. They want this. What do they want? They want their bellies filled up. They wanted the ultimate buffet, the 24-7 buffet.

They didn't even care about the signs as much as they wanted their bellies filled, which is amazing to me. Usually, when we talk about the Jews, they always want the sign. Well, in here, Jesus knows their heart and what they want, and he's saying, you don't even care about the signs. You just want the never-ending buffet. You want the ultimate lunch cart.

And I thought that's kind of interesting that here is the Son of God. He's done all these miracles and the only thing that they can think of is, man, they fed those. If I get in that line, can I get fed every day? I just think it's kind of ironic. Again, we've kind of talked about that, too, with the Passover and some of the feasts that they're talking about. And here is the Lamb of God. We talked about that in the first questions. Here's the Lamb of God sitting before them, and they're kind of looking around Him, and He's the Lamb of God when they're trying to get to the Passover.

And it's kind of ironic about what they're looking for and who is standing right before them. Alright, in question 7, read verses 28 and 29, and what is shown in the crowd's question in Jesus' response. First, what was the crowd's response in verse 28? Somebody want to read that one?

Then they said to him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? So, what was the response? What did they want to do? What was their response? Work! Just give me the ABCs. Give me the work list, the punch list, so I can do this. So what does that fall back under? Why would they do that? Law. Cause and effect. I do something and I get this effect. So, kind of a response that they would feel comfortable with, you know, under the law. They want to know what they can do.

Also, I guess, this goes also back to the first Corinthians 2.14. This is totally They can't comprehend what he's saying. And it's only going to get worse. And I think he'll drill down into them with their heart's attitude and then what he's trying to tell them. And it's just, they're itching higher and higher over their head. They haven't got a clue.

And he knows, which is another thing which we're seeing here too. A lot of times in these verses, he knew what they were going to say. He knew they're grumbling. He knew what Peter was going to say. Isn't that kind of a comforting feeling? Comforting in another reason too. We were going into this and had some discussions this week. We talked with George actually.

A few weeks ago, actually when I taught on John 3, the thing about reckoning, knowing, but there's two kinds of knowing. You have to know to believe. But there's the knowing and there's the knowing. And like I said, that's maybe the hardest 12 inches to go, between knowing and knowing which is believing. And there are a lot of things, and as I go through with identification truths and grace, as teachers, And I feel I'm this far along in a lot of these topics, and one of the things is believing.

Can you fake believing? You can fake it to other people, but can you fake believing? You really can't. And as I was going through this week and I was talking to some people about this and just relaying on my own, and I thought, you know, Fake to people, oh, I believe, you know, whatever, the identification of grace. But I cannot do that to God. God knows my heart. And in all these verses I was going through this week, I mean, he knew Peter, he knew grumbling, he knew any point.

Can you get by with, I truly believe that Lord, yes. No. And there's so many things. When we went through the identification and the 34 things, I kept challenging Mike, if you really believe that, you've got to be changed. I mean, I just focused on like one of them, and I'm this far along the road on that, and just really understanding and truly deep down in my heart believing that. And so, like I said, I'm comforted by the fact that God knows my heart, but then He also knows, yes, I believe, Lord.

A lot of times I think he'll take us through things and see if we do believe it. Sorry, tangent there. I just noticed that his answer is that this is the work of God that you believe in him and he has sent. Does that mean that God's work is to get you to believe? We will go on that actually.

There are several different things that come up. We'll see him as we get into later verses where what the Father's work is. And we'll get into that, because a lot of times you'll see in some of the later verses where it says, no man can come unless the Father allows it, and those. But one of the other verses, I believe it's 44, is I think the key verse.

He draws them. That's the purpose. That's what the Father does. He draws them. We'll get into that. I'm giving away answers here. So it does. The Father is actively involved in this and we'll see how. So we have the crowd's response of what can we do under the law.

So what was Jesus' response in verse 29? So you were just starting on that one, I think. Do you want to read the whole one, Mike? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him who sent whom he sent. Now leave it at that one. So what was Jesus' response based on? What was his? The people wanted works. What was Jesus' response based on?

Faith. When you read this, that's what it is. And what is that basic underlying principle? Is grace unmerited, unlimited? Basically what I'm saying is on the unmerited side of grace, all you have to do is believe. That's all he says, is believe. The people's response was work, law, Jesus' response was, believe in Him who has sent me. That's all.

So, is there any salvation through works or law? No. Is there any possibility of earning eternal life by anyone's efforts? What was that? No? Definitely not. Thank you. Is there any merit in our faith or believing in Jesus? Is there any merit in that? No. I just marvel at this with the consistency of the message.

Again, all he says, he doesn't say, alright you hungry people, give up the lunch wagon, give this up, forget all that stuff. He doesn't do that to them. He doesn't say change about getting hungry or asking for the lunch wagon. All He asks him to do is believe. He didn't say change. He didn't say anything else.

And again, the consistency as we go through this in John 3.16 and all the 1's, He never puts a requirement on it. He doesn't say you have to give up all this stuff to have eternal life. All you have to do is believe. And again, when we do it, as I pointed to people, I'm not saying, you have to give up the anger, you have to give up the alcohol, you have to give up the... before you ever come to the Lord.

Is that consistent with the message here? Not at all. And that's why a lot of... I think Mike had said it on one, that somebody who was down at the rescue mission said he wasn't worthy enough to come and do all this. And I was always struck by that. You have to polish yourself up to get to where you believe? Is that consistent with this message?

Not at all. And I think, how much do we put on that impression that you have to change before you come to believe? You don't have to change any activity, anything to come. None of the requirements, any other requirement other than just believe. Then, I think the Lord will start working on conforming you to the image, The new man will start to come out in time as you grow in conformity to the Lord.

Again, I went back to Ephesians 2.8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Simple. By grace you have been saved. And what is that? Unmerited, unmerited. Nothing that we can do.

It's just believe. And again, the consistency of the message that I've been going through this, it kind of escaped me until you really get down and study all this. It's like, wow, it's the same message all the way through. Everywhere it is, it's always just believe. Nothing else.

Any questions, concerns about that? Is that something that's fairly new? Well, I think, I think people, you know, I go through, and I don't mean this like a motorcycle biker or somebody comes in like a, you know, comes in all tattooed, pierced and, you know, wearing motorcycle gear or something like that, you know. That guy's got to clean up a little bit before he, you know, he's obviously a wild, wild guy.

We'll scoot down the bench a little bit from him until he cleans up. How many times do we give that impression that you've got to give up things? You know, the alcoholic. How can you come until you give up being an alcoholic? And it may not be direct, it may be somewhat... you know, shielded or something just by our mannerisms, by how we treat or do. You know, it may not be, you have to do that, but it's like, you know, why don't you work on that alcoholism thing and then, you know, you can come here.

I think it's not a real overt thing that we do, but it's kind of in the way we handle people and do things that we kind of put these conditions on. As I say, I kind of feel like the modern day Pharisee when that happens. You have to do this before you come here. And I don't think it's, like I said, it's preached that you have to change things, although sometimes maybe it is, I don't know. But I think it's more how we handle people and that we kind of put that condition on them.

You know, I had some friends, very good friends of ours that led me to the Lord. And I think what they did, they accepted me as I was at the time. Because I liked drinking. I was active in the Playboy Club. And they just accepted me the way I was. And then over time, all that changed. It wasn't important anymore, so I wasn't involved in that stuff. See, and that's the thing. That's the whole key. Once you do that, you suddenly realize the Lord will start working on you. That's not who I am in Christ. That's not who I am. And we'll take that out of you, but it was not a requirement before.

You know, I always think of this too. Wow, Playboy Club and drinking. Man! Whoa! great before I came to know the Lord. What is this? We kind of rate a sin. I only sped a little bit, kind of a little crazy in my high school. Not like that. That's absolutely wrong. Absolutely wrong. So again, that's a perfect example. They accepted you for who you are, not requiring the change.

And that, I think, is the message that Christ wants to get out here, is, I want you. When I indwell you, there's going to be changes, but I want you. And as we see, the Father will draw him. There'll be things that the Father's working on you and drawing you, but he's not making a lot of requirements other than you believe.

And like I said, I just think we do that a lot of times. We make these prejudgments, or like I said, rate of sin. Jack was great. He was a Boy Scout. He did all that. You can come right now. You wait. You wait until you clean up your act. So I mean, I just, the consistency of the message I really like as I see it. And you know, Marilyn, I don't think it's preached that you make these changes. I think it's just by how we react and how we do these things. We do those type of additional requirements than just come. So, read verses 30 and 34, question 8.

Were the people interested in the work of God, verse 29, and how does their response sound familiar today? By the response of the people, what were they interested in? They were still looking for the lunch cart. They were still hungry. They couldn't understand His work, even though He just told them about believing in Him.

Again, I think this is the 1 Corinthians 2.14 syndrome. They just wanted out of their situation of being hungry. Somebody want to read 30-34? Actually, we started last week. 30-34. So they said to him, what then do you do for science we may see and believe you. What work do you perform?

Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He who 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 of heaven. For the bread of God is that that which comes out of heaven and gives life to the world. Then he said to them, Lord, always give us this bread.

So again, they just wanted food. They wanted the lunch card going. He just told them that all you've got to do is believe, but they still just wanted to have their bellies filled. So, my question was, should we get cranky on these people before looking at ourselves?

And what I say on that one is, you know they were still hungry you know believe I'm still hungry what about us what about Lord get me out of my this operation Lord my business what you know boy it's tough this week you know Lord whatever chemo whatever the situation Lord get me outta here You know, sometimes He will.

Sometimes He won't. Does He love you still the same? You know, a lot of times, you don't love me, Lord. You don't know what I'm going through. What did we just say about He knows everything about you? But you just don't know this that I'm going through.

Oh, really? Really? You know, so I, you know, you know something, What strikes me about this is that the Jews demonstrate by their request that they're unbelievers. Yep. And so when we go to God and beg Him for stuff, we demonstrate the same thing. We're always asking Him for something less than He's already given us. For the peace that passes understanding, not that He wouldn't do But He always has the better thing for us, rather than the lesser thing. And we demonstrate our unbelief by not trusting Him. Absolutely. And that's why I say, getting cranky on these people, well, you know, our unbelief too. Lord, you just don't know my situation, you know?

Or, this is what I get into. Lord, it would be better if this. You know, every time I do that, almost the boomerang shot that comes back to me is God's dissertations to Job. And if you see the last speech of God to Job, boy, I tell you, OK, Job, you think you know it better? Where were you when I created this? Did I ask for your opinion? Did I need your... And I think about that every time. I think, God, I know better.

It's better for me to do this. The scary part is sometimes He lets me do it, and I figure out right away that that was not the better thing. but he lovingly lets me go through that. It's kind of like when Israel and the kings say, we want our king. Okay. Get ready for the ride. I just think it does show their unbelief. I guess the better response, I think, whatever your will is, Father, let it be done. I trust and believe in your care for whatever the situation. Had they come and said, okay, We trust you. For them, for us, it's the same thing.

I trust you, Lord. Lord, I don't know why you've got my ear rattling like this right now. I have no clue, but I trust you. I have no clue, but that's your will and that's what you want. Amen. Let me learn the lessons you want. Let me be conformed to your image. Amen. And have peace. Again, immediately on the shore. You know, you're focused on Him and you're with Him. Wow. I'm here.

You know, we're dealing quite a bit here with Moses' fetish, you know, and you have a fetish. And I just think it's very unique the way the Word, how Jesus is leading them to believe earthly food or food is not what they need in spiritual food. Well, I think in these verses, in these I believe, we want the manna. We want the manna from heaven. What is Jesus' response?

Okay. What about all the ones that were fed the manna? Well, what are they now? Dead. You want the manna? Guess what the end result of the manna is? You're dead! You know, not real, you know, veiled thing. He says, you know, you want the manna? Guess what? Your father's. Your father's are dead. This is the bread of life.

Which do you want? You want your belly full with some manna that I can bring it out of heaven, but eventually you're dead. So, I mean, he does deal with that. It's okay, you want the manna, you want the belly full. End result, dead. Question nine. Read verses 35 through 40. Somebody want to do that real quick again?

Sorry, I usually read them, but if somebody's got 35 through 40. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger. And he who believes in me will never thirst. comes to me I will certainly not cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do OK, and I. One of the Luke 2.30 passages. I'll read that one. I have it here.

Luke 2.25. I'll start at verse 25. And again, this was just in relation to this question. When Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life, what does this indicate about salvation and what does it demand from its hearers? This is really on what does it indicate about salvation.

Let me read Luke 2.25-32.

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, then he took him into his arms and blessed God and said, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel."

So, when Jesus reveals that he is the bread of life, combined with the Luke passage, what do we know about salvation or eternal life? Think about Simeon and think of what he's saying, that he is the bread of life. What does it say about salvation? It may be a little tough, but I think if you think, what did Simeon see?

You're all miffed. It's one of those ones where I know the question is so easy for me. He's salvation. Which is? What is Christ? Life. I've got a baby. It is a person. Salvation is in a person. I tried to lead you guys all the way there, and you're just nipping around the side. Salvation is in a person. It's not in a religion. It's not in anything else. Salvation is in a person. My eyes have seen thy salvation. What did he see? A person. And so when he's saying, I am the bread of life, I, a person, am life. So salvation is in a person.

Which verse is that in? Thirty-five. Yeah. Or maybe, Craig, you got the Greek up, Craig? I'm completely lost. Yeah, just take me a second to get to that verse. Whether it's the I am, the... Oh, whether it's the I am. Yeah, in forty, in which... Thirty-five. Thirty-five. Yeah, it is. It is. So, it is I am.

So, these verses, what does salvation require? What does he say in those verses? And what do you do? Believe. Believe. Simple faith. It does not work for anything else. It is faith. And the object of our faith is the person of Christ. Again, I think what Mike says a lot of times, is the faith the important thing or the object of our faith the important thing? I guess I think about that too. I guess both are important if you don't have faith. The gift is out there, so both are important, but the object of faith is the key, and that's Christ.

Alright, from verses 37 through 40, what comforts and truth can we derive from Jesus' word? I guess, what do we understand when Jesus says in verse 37, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. Acceptance and security. Acceptance, security?

All. What? All. All. Yes. All. Prerequisites there? Qualifiers on that? Nada. Okay. Yeah. If the AGO-ME is in there and he's claiming come to me, there's no way you could lose the salvation I'm going to offer you, is a pretty strong guarantee, ultimately strong guarantee as to what he's offering. The problem is that he's offering it on the basis of faith alone, and that is too easy. We want to complicate things. We definitely do. The first is, it's the Father who draws them. Look at verse 44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. So, it's the Father who draws them. Secondly, it states, all who come.

Again, no qualifiers. All we need to do is believe. No changing, no nothing. Believe. Consistent message all the way through. The other one was, is there any way to thwart God's plans? Kind of what Mike was touching upon. You know, in no way shall I cast you out. Rock solid.

You know, I go back to my, which we'll get to later, John 10, 28. That was one of my, early on, you know, When I was a believer, any doubts or anything come up, John 10, 28 was always the one I went to. If I'm in God's hands, I can't climb out, nobody can snatch me out of His hands. That was always, if there was ever a doubt, now through the identification I have no doubts. I'm co-crucified, I'm a new creature in Christ. There's no way that Christ is going to climb back on the cross, go back down, and reverse the trajectory there. So I am in Christ. There's nothing.

Satan can try all the doubting and everything. My old man can do everything, but no. But these are rock-solid verses that say, you can't thwart God's plans. He will not cast you out. In John 10, 20, I'm in His hands. I can't climb out, and nobody can get me out of His hands. Pretty much a guarantee. Who's stronger than God? And I can't climb out? Nobody can grab me out.

You can't thwart God's plans is another comfort that we get from these verses. Verses, question 11, we're going through 41 through 58. Looking at those verses, I don't know. Somebody want to read that or is that too long? Can somebody whip through those fast? 41 through 58. Fast reader.

Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from out of heaven. They were saying, isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? whose father and mother we know, how does he now say, I have come down out of heaven? Jesus answered and said to them, do not grumble among yourselves.

No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For the flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me also will live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.

Thank you, Winnie. That was great. A lot in this section. A lot in this section. the Lord knows where they're at and he just keeps drilling down, drilling down, drilling down and getting to where they're at and what they want. So, first of all, why were the people grumbling and what does that show? What was the very first thing they were grumbling about? This kind of touched on what Mike said a little bit ago. Joseph, Mary, we know the neighborhood you came from.

You know, we know that. What is this coming down out of heaven? What? We know. Mary, Joseph, we had them over for dinner. You know, they knew. And he's saying he's come down from heaven. You know, he had come down out of heaven and was talking about God as his father. Well, no, it's Joseph. We know your father. We know where he lives.

So what does this show about them? One, they didn't understand what he was talking about, for number one. What else does it show? They don't believe he is who he says he is. They don't believe? And were they interested in knowing more? Again, they can't hear over the grumbling of their stomach. He just told them he came down out of heaven and talking about God as his Father. And they really weren't interested.

If they did, they might have approached him in a fashion like, we don't understand these truths you're speaking of, but we long to understand. an inquisitive heart, one that is seeking, one that is hungry. Jesus knew this by His responses and knowledge of their grumblings. He knew them. Again, He knows them. He knows what's going on. He knows their heart. It wasn't, but we want to understand this. You just said you came out of heaven. Wow! I want to know more. No. Where's the lunch ticket? It's interesting that he says in 45, it is written in the Prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. Therefore, anyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

Does that say that unless I know the information and it has to be given to me by God, then I don't have the object for the faith to believe in. I don't have the object for my faith. Because you can't have faith in something you don't know. And that's the big problem these people have. They don't have any understanding about what he's saying. And he seems to be saying to them, the only way you're going to get this information is if my father gives it to you. Is that what he's saying?

Well, but he's also said through the prophets and all this, he's given them all this information. Yeah, he's given them two. He's given them two witnesses, himself and the prophets. Right. So he's given them the information, and it's again the Father drawing them there. And I think it's them rejecting that drawing. It is. You know, that's the point. Because if you go to 44, it's my Father who draws them. So, you know, the Father works and draws you to Christ. You have the information, they had the information, they had the prophets, they had all this.

And we'll see later that it gets to the point where they go, phew, I'm out of here. They shall all be taught. All. The ubiquitous all. You know, all. So, again, it just shows that their response was they weren't seeking Him, and He knows it. And that's why I say it keeps just drilling down, drilling down, drilling down. And then we get to the point where a lot of them just leave. I'm working too hard to get this meal, and it doesn't look like the hamburger is showing up at 12 o'clock. I'm out of here." Again, the comfort by the fact that God is intimately involved with each and every one of us. He knows us. It's not a mystery to Him. Alright, in question 12, what is the consistent message that is now being told to the Jews in verse 47?

And I go back to John 3.15 and 16, and if you have on there, it is John 5.24. I revised that. It should be instead of 5.27. So, if you have an older one, it should be 524 and then 640.

So, in verse 47 it says, "...truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life." From John 524, "...truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life." John 640, "...for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day."

Again, the consistency. What is it? All. No prerequisites. This also with the Jews. Now it's an open door policy. Not just the Jews. Gentiles too? All you Jews. Is that what he says? No. All. So it's really just coming down to the consistency in this Gospel. All who come. No prerequisites. Not Jewish. Not anything. All who come. So, again, no prerequisites. Not being Jewish. Do we need to change or do several spiritual activities before coming? No. Three questions in five minutes.

Also it says, all these verses say, that have or will have eternal life. All these verses in the Greek are in the present tense, which is a continuing incomplete action. That means once we believe, we immediately have life and it will be continued eternally. It's kind of a cool thing. That life is continuous. It's eternal, never ending, incomplete, present action. Okay, we'll get quickly through this if we can.

Verse 13, what does it mean when Jesus says to eat my flesh? You know, when Winnie's reading these verses, you're a Jew sitting there or whoever listening to this message, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood. You think they're all going, oh yeah, I understand. So what did he mean by eat my flesh?

It's associated with this life is a person, which is Christ. So this flesh, this person, this life is in his flesh. Continue on. Others? Other thoughts? Because this is kind of a hard one. If you're a Jew, you're thinking, what about us? What does it mean? Eat my flesh. What was he talking about? Feed on his word, I suppose. Feed on, yeah. Any others?

He's the eternal manna. Yeah, I mean, as opposed to the manna that he gave now, this is the bread of life, which gives us continuous life. First, let's review some of the previous verses in which the selfish crowds were only looking to fill their stomachs. They refer to how God provided for their forefathers by providing manna from heaven. Jesus rightly states that even though they ate the manna, they are all dead now. In verses 48 through 51, Jesus tells them that he is the bread of life, in which there is eternal life by believing or eating of this bread. He then tells them in verse 51 that this bread is his flesh.

So now what has he been telling him? In believing in him, the bread of life, his flesh, there is eternal life. Therefore, to eat his flesh is to have faith in him. So you kind of walk down how he gets him to that point. But eating flesh is believing in him. Because he's told him, you have to believe in me. I'm the bread of life. So to eat his flesh or the bread, Connect the dots. Believe. Flesh, bread, eat. So, believe in me. Believe in Him. So, to eat His flesh means to believe in Him. You have the question?

I don't have a question. I like the word consume better than eat. And the reason I do is because the believer, really, the pursuit of the believer is to consume Christ. The pursuit of the non-believer is to consume Christ as Savior. I understand. It is the believing part. For salvation. And we feed on Him by faith. By faith, right. The only thing we can do in grace is faith, believe.

I was saying that the Jews did not have life just because they were Jews. Life is only in believing in Him. So I was thinking, have you ever heard that statement, you are what you eat? Guess what? You are what you eat. Think about that when you are eating the bread of life. What is it that you eat? What is it that you consume? What is it? You are what you eat. OK,

14. How did the Jews respond to the words, eat my flesh and drink my blood? And what was the basis for their response? What are you talking about?

If eating his flesh wasn't enough for him, he now floors them by telling them to drink his blood. This is particularly hard since the custom of the Jews when eating was to drain all the blood from any meat before eating. So now I eat my flesh bread and drink my blood. Left and right hooks.

From Genesis 9.4 only and this kind of goes to what they already knew.

Genesis 9.4 Ouch! Came this close, this close.

I'll finish this up next week and then we'll go through some of these verses where it really shows this was very offensive to them and why their response. Because eating flesh was, huh? But drinking his blood was, you're out of your mind. I'll get to all these verses. I've got about four or five verses that shows why they were horrified by this statement and why they did that. Because this was totally against what they'd learned. Alright, let's close.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this time. Father, we thank You just for Your Word. We thank You for the indwelling in the Spirit. We just thank You for who You are. And Father, we just are comforted by the intimacy that we have with You. that you know everything about us, you're sovereignly in control, and we rest in that fact. Father, that no matter what's going on, you know everything about us, you know what's best for us, and we have the peace that surpasses all understanding, just resting in that fact. So Father, we just thank you for all that's going on in our lives, and we just thank you now, and pray for Vern as he gives us the message. Father, he'll speak clearly through your word, and prepare our hearts to receive that. So Father, we just commit this day to you, in Jesus' name. Amen.