Guest commentary by the Rev. James Lambert
In the Bible, bread stands for life, and breaking bread stands for fellowship. The message in today’s reading is that Jesus is the source of true life, and the way to receive that true life is to trust Jesus. He is God’s provision for everything that humanity needs, and that provision never runs out, just as with the spring of living water Jesus mentions in 4:14. “The living bread that came down from heaven” in v. 51 references the manna God provided for Israel in the Exodus. “Looking on the Son and believing in him” in v. 40 is an echo of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in chapter 3 and the story of the plague of snakes in Numbers 21. Jesus is the one who has conquered death, represented by the snake and later by the cross, and so He is the trustworthy source of true life and healing.
This passage is often used to support the Calvinist / Reformed doctrines of “unconditional election” and “perseverance of the saints,” and/or the popular doctrine of “once saved always saved.” Those who hold these teachings point to the idea of the Father “giving” people to the Son in vv. 37 and 39, the Son not turning any of those away, and the Son not losing anything given to Him, as well as the idea of the Father’s “drawing” in v. 44, which must happen before anyone comes to Jesus. These verses certainly teach us about the trustworthiness and compassion of the Son, the way the Father and Son work together in salvation, and the way salvation starts with God’s action, God’s initiative.
However, those ideas must be balanced with other Biblical teachings, including those found in John’s gospel itself; and we must focus on the actual words of the text rather than ideas imported onto them from elsewhere.
For example, in John 12:32 Jesus proclaims: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Very interesting. So ultimately all people will be drawn, not just a few. Comparison with chapter 12 causes problems for the Calvinist reading of chapter 6, because the “all” here is not consistent with the idea that only certain individuals chosen beforehand are drawn to Jesus and given eternal life.
So, if all people are drawn, does that mean all people will be saved? No. Only those who believe will be saved. We know that those who do not believe “are condemned already,” as Jesus said in John 3:18. (We also know from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:41–48 that there will be “goats” sent away into eternal fire; more on that below.)
Jesus is telling us here that the “drawing” of God must happen before anyone can believe. It is about chronology and initiative and doesn’t actually mention the idea of choice or election at all. Then John 12 tells us that all people will be drawn. If we hold these two teachings together, the logical conclusion is that all people are somehow “drawn,” but not all people actually “come” to Jesus. In chapter 6 it is crystal clear that the criterion for receiving true life is faith—believing in Jesus the Son. In chapter 12 Jesus gives different criteria—those who “hate their lives,” those who “serve me,” and those who “follow me” are the ones who receive eternal life (12:25–26).
So taken together, John 6 and 12 teach us that God offers salvation and true life to all people through Jesus. Those who look on Him with faith will follow through with faithfulness, laying down their lives in faithful service to Jesus and receiving honor from the Father. Why do some come to Him and others do not? Why do some respond positively to the drawing which all receive? We cannot say for sure. It is not a question of merit, but there is choice involved. Otherwise, it makes no sense for God to expend so much effort throughout Scripture telling us to choose and calling us to repent. If we are not careful, our desire to know why can lead us to read more into certain Scriptures than is actually there, with the tragic result of missing the force of other plain Scripture teaching—reading right past it as if it’s not even there.
Another text we must compare in order to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions is John 15:6—“If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” This verse is from an extended speech that begins in 15:1–2 with “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me…” Therefore, the branches in question in 15:6 were at some point connected to Jesus, the true source of life. They were truly alive, but they end up dead. The metaphor of spiritual life is crystal clear: you can be in the Vine now, spiritually alive, and later out of it, spiritually dead. We should not read in any artificial distinctions here between true and false believers. Certainly, it is true that there are false believers, people who claim Christ but know Him not. However, Jesus would never refer to those people as “in me.” We see the same thing in Romans 11:22, where the Apostle Paul addresses Gentile believers who are clearly in Christ and warns them that they must “remain in his kindness” or else be cut off. It is an identical message to that of Jesus in John 15: “Remain in Me.” The Son will not “cast you out” for any flaw in you or any lack of love and patience on His part. But you must abide in Him. You must continue in the relationship of faithful, obedient love which He graciously makes available to you.
The other Biblical teachings we must consider here is God’s universal desire for all people to be saved. John affirms this famously in 3:16—“God so loved the world.” 2 Peter 3:9 is more explicit: “The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” And in 1 Timothy 2:3–4 Paul declares that “God our Savior desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.”
John 6:37–40 cannot be referring to individuals who were unconditionally chosen by God before the world began being unalterably saved, with no future possibility of being lost, while everyone else is hopelessly damned; otherwise it would contradict other Scriptural revelation. The true meaning of those verses is grand and wonderful, but it cannot be that rigid. To find a better interpretation here we must ask questions of the text and answer them from Scripture:
What has the Father given the Son?
(And what will the Son most assuredly not lose?)
We learned that in John 3:35–36—“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
The Father has given the Son “all things,” and this makes the Son Himself the plumb line, the ultimate determiner of who is in and who is out of God’s kingdom.
What the Father has given the Son is authority. Kingship. “You are my Son; today I have begotten You.” (Psalm 2:7) “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:37, KJV) “Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” (Rev. 1:5)
The purpose of the Father giving the Son all things is redemption of the world and salvation of sinners. “For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19–20)
So, what the Father gives the Son in John 6:39 is the same thing the Father gives the Son elsewhere in Scripture: everything! Full authority which will be fully revealed “on the last day.” Those who trust in the Son will be included in the “all things” which will be raised up on the last day. Those who do not will perish when the world is cleansed and re-made. The Son of God, the great King of the universe, will judge all people according to the criteria He has laid out for us in His own teaching and that of His apostles.
In all the talk of predestination and perseverance we may be tempted to skip the last part of verse 51: “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” How shocking! We will unpack the shock more in Monday’s reading. But today we need to end where we began: bread stands for life. That life in Jesus is full and rich, disciplined but free, lived in the company of other believers who are united in an imperfect fellowship (the church) which lifts up earthly signs (bread and wine) of heavenly reality (salvation in Christ).
Will we receive this heavenly bread? Will we accept Jesus as the only way to life?
