The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #4480

My highlighted verses: John 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven

John 6:48  I am that bread of life.
49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

[48] I am that bread of life.
So Christ is saying that to believe on Him (vs. 47) is to eat of that Bread of Life (vs. 48)! How often should eat of that bread?
Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.
Every day! Not just a few crumbs on Sunday mornings.
John 6:49
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Not only did they die in the flesh, but when Jesus spoke these words He hadn't yet paid the price on the cross.
[50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
There are two deaths, one of your flesh and one of your soul. Bread and fish will feed your flesh and keep it alive (for awhile), but only the Bread which came down from heaven can feed your soul and keep it alive (forever).  Which one should you be concerned about, the body or the soul? Which one is Christ concern about for you? Which one has He been talking about feeding for umpteen verses? Here are His own words:
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Man can only kill your flesh body, which is going to die anyway, sooner or later, one way or another. (Except for those alive in the flesh at the moment Christ returns at the 7th Trump, the last Trump. They get to step from their flesh bodies right into their spiritual bodies, in a moment, in a heartbeat, in the twinkling of an eye (I love figures of speech), i.e. instantly. Paul calls it a mystery, and it is to those who only see bread and fish as belly food.)
John 6:51
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Having come this far in this chapter it should be obvious that Jesus is not talking about His "literal" flesh body. In other words, He is not advocating cannibalism, is He?

If you read God's Word and cannot "see" anything other than flesh, that which is physical, then you will never understand the Bible.  By the way, you should see the mess many preachers and so-called ministers have made of the Book of Revelation for this very reason. The warfare in the final generation is for the souls of men and is spiritual warfare, i.e. it is about the second death. That is why you must have the seal of God in your forehead! That is why you put on the Gospel Armor (Eph. 6) to take a stand against the fiery darts of Satan. The darts aren't actually darts like you throw at a dartboard. It's a shame to have to say Duh!

Let see how the Jews are doing understanding the Word of God.

[52] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?


 Jesus has so far provided bread for the 5,000 who followed after Him, miraculously rescued His true disciples from the midst of the violent storm in the night, and is now trying to explain the New Covenant to the crowd of miracle seekers, who are hungry only for fish fillets on barley buns.

He just told these followers that He is the Living Bread which came down from heaven and that if they eat of this bread they will live eternally. So while they are murmuring among themselves, scratching their heads trying to figure out what this all means, He lays this next verse on 'em:

John 6:53
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoops! Hold it! Whaaaat! Drink His blood? Yeeeech!

Jesus, the Lamb of God, will soon give His badly beaten body and shed His blood to be the sacrifice once and for all for each of us sinners, that we might have eternal life, through Him, IF we accept that sacrifice. Now the fact that Jesus speaks of the betrayal of Judas at the end of this chapter shows that He was thinking about those sacraments of the New Covenant which are symbolic of His BODY and His BLOOD! Let's read from I Corinthians.

1 Cor. 11:23
... That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

[24] And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

[25] After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
And so when we take communion and partake of those sacraments, we do it remembrance of Him. That should make these next verses easy to understand. He is speaking spiritually, not physically!
John 6:54
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
[55] For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

[56] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

[57] As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Remember, we have already learned and will so again in this study, that the living Bread is the Word of God. Though we don't take communion daily [for we partake of the sacraments during the feasts, several times a year], we do commune with Him daily BY EATING that living bread each day, IF we believe on Him. "Give us this day our DAILY bread". If not, we are just groupies and will be easily led astray by the one who comes claiming to be Jesus and performs miracles in the sight of men! He'll not only provide fish fillet sandwiches for everyone, he'll provide chick fillets too! (You don't suppose that fast food chain is part of prophecy, do you? Nah!)
John 6:58
This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Under the Old Covenant they ate manna, bread which came down from heaven from God, but under the New Covenant, we eat the true bread of life, even Jesus Christ, that bread which came down from heaven from God. Do you "see"?
[59] These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
It is significant that this verse is written here. You see, this was not a private teaching to the 12 disciples, nor to the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus taught this openly for all, for the bread which came down from heaven under the New Covenant would be for ALL [everyone of all nations] to eat.

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.


This "American Wisdom Series" pamphlet

is.

Published by:

Rhine Publishing Co.
E-mail address:americanwisdomseries@verizon.net

If you would like to have your essay published
as part of the American Wisdom Series
submit your manuscript to Rhine Publishing Co
at the address above for consideration.

Click Here to Return to "The American Wisdom Series" home page.