56. Sermon on the Bread of Life (continued)

        ³⁸“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.^{b 39}And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. ⁴⁰And this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes him should have eternal life.”
        ⁴¹The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴²And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?”
        ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”
        ⁴⁸“I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and never die. ⁵¹I am this living bread, and if any man eats of this bread, he shall live for ever.”^{c
        59}This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.^{d
        60}Many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying, who can understand it?”
        (Jn. 6:38–43, 45–51, 59–60)

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b   “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”—Jesus' life on earth was devoted to one great purpose—doing the Father's will. His life of faith submission to God's will is our ideal example; it inspires us to ever seek to know and do the Father's will.

c   “I am this living bread and if any man eats of this bread, he shall live for ever.”—Jesus is the Word of God; his life in the flesh and the word he spoke is the bread of life.

d   “as he taught at Capernaum"—This sermon in the synagogue marks the turning point in Jesus' relations with the Jerusalem religious leaders. Before this time there had existed an increasingly uneasy peace. After this sermon, in which Jesus proclaimed himself to be the “bread of life,” there existed open hostility between the established religious leaders and Jesus.

Jn. 6:39  me. / me, but raise it up at the last day (RSV)
Jn. 6:40  And this (KJV) / For this (RSV) • believes him / believes in him (RSV)
Jn. 6:45   Isaiah 54:13
Jn. 6:51   am this living / am the living (RSV) • bread and if / bread which came down from heaven; if • any man eats (KJV) / any one eats (RSV) • he shall live (KJV) / he will live (RSV)
Jn. 6:69  heard this, said / heard it, said (RSV) • can understand it? / can listen to it? (RSV)   (153:2–3/1711–2)

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