Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six  

    Verses 60-66

When Jesus became certain that the multitude had rejected Him, He turned to preach to some who considered themselves to be His disciples. Some were His true disciples, and some were not. But the pretended disciples could not grasp the spiritual truths that Jesus preached because they too had allowed their material natures to dominate their spiritual natures.

Jesus asked these unbelievers if they were offended, and then in order to try to get them to connect with His Spirit, He asked what they would do if they saw Him ascend back to Heaven. By saying this, Jesus implied that if He were not with them in physical form, then they would need His Spirit.

Jesus then plainly told them that He preached spiritual truths. Jesus told them that if they had only received His words by faith, the Holy Spirit would have caused their spirits to come alive in a new way. God considers all living human spirits that He created to be alive, but all living humans who allow their evil, sinful natures to dominate their lives, God considers to be temporarily dead. Genesis 3:20; Luke 20:38; John 8:23-24. But the Holy Spirit holds the power to cleanse believers still in the flesh from all their sins and evil with the blood and water that flowed from Christ on the cross and recreate their souls and spirits by giving them the very Life of Christ Himself. II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:20; Colossains 3:3-4; John 17:23-24.

But God will not forget the unbelievers whom He must consign to one of the regions of death after their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27. If the Devil were able to hold these unbelievers within the regions of death forever, then he would succeed in completely destroying a part of God's creation. But God can never lose anything He has ever created and loves. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Psalm 111:7-8; Psalm 36:6; I Corinthians 13:8. Christ suffered the eternal deaths of all living humans on the cross, and He will appear to all living humans within the regions of death near the end of the world and by His Love and His Majesty that they will see, He will cause them all to repent and believe in Him, the Lamb, and He will raise them all back to life and recreate them with the same righteousness that He gave to Adam and Eve for them to live forever on His new earth. Hebrews 2:9; I Corinthians 15:22; John 5:28-29; II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 5:11-14. God will recreate them with free will, but they will not be able to sin because God will have purged all sin and evil from His new creation of Heaven and earth. II Peter 3:9-13.

Jesus suffered the eternal deaths of all living humans on His cross, but He is alive, and He will return to eternal life all living humans in danger of eternal death, some by His grace and all others with a lesser form of salvation. Hebrews 2:9; I Corinthians 15:20-26. God created Hell for the Devil and His angels which means He created it for evil and spiritual death only, not for living humans. This means that God will use His fiery wrath against evil, which could be Hell itself, to dissolve all human systems within the regions of death in the end of the world in order to separate their repentant, living natures from their dead, evil natures. Deuteronomy 32:22; II Peter 3:9-13; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Psalm 75:3. In His final judgment, Christ will recreate all separated living humans to a new life on His recreated earth, and He will cast their dead, spiritual natures into the eternal lake of fire. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                               Verses 52-59 continued

The Old Testament sin offering, which was a blood offering, symbolized salvation by grace. The Old Testament burnt offering, which burned the flesh of the sin offering, symbolized God's salvation of the rest of humanity by His use of His fiery wrath against evil, and only evil itself, not living humans. Leviticus 5:7-10. God initiated the burnt offering in His command to Noah following the flood. God promised through the symbolism of the burnt offering that He would bring all living humans out of the cursed ground, meaning all of the regions of death, and that He would provide a lesser form of salvation for them by purging all sin and evil from their souls and spirits by the use of His fiery wrath and that He would never again kill all living humans with no provision for their salvation as He had done in the flood. Genesis 8:20-21. The burnt offering symbolized Jesus' release of His Spirit upon His death on the cross to descend into Hell to leave behind there all of the sins and evil of all living humans that Jesus bore on the cross who do not become saved by grace. Psalm 16:9-11; Acts 2:25-31. But the burnt offering, like the sin offering, cannot become active for all living humans confined to the regions of death until they all repent and believe in the Lamb of God. All of this means that Christ will appear to all living humans confined to the regions of death, and He will cause them all to repent and believe of their own free will that His death on the cross, the descent of His Spirit into the regions of death, His purging of their sins and evil by His fiery wrath against evil, and His resurrection will save them with a lesser form of salvation than that of grace. They will all choose to spiritually partake of His flesh. They will not drink His blood except indirectly because the blood offering has to be made before the burnt offering. Revelation 5:11-14; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Romans 10:9.

The burnt offering cannot save without the blood offering. The blood must be shed before the flesh can be burnt. Jesus had to shed His blood and water on the cross to save by His grace before He could send His Spirit into Hell to save the rest of humanity. For this reason, Jesus spoke about eating His flesh for the lesser salvation of all humanity, but He spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood for His salvation by grace. John 6:27: John 6:33; John 6:51; John 6:58; John 6:53-57; John 5:24.

When Jesus had His last supper with His disciples, He gave them bread to eat which symbolized His spiritual body, but He did not say that it was for the remission of sins. Jesus also gave them wine to drink which symbolized His spiritual blood and water, and He told them that it was for the remission of sins. Jesus gave them the bread to symbolize that He would give to them, like all other living humans including Judas Iscariot, a basic form of salvation by partaking of His spiritual flesh. But He gave them the wine to symbolize that they, except for Judas Iscariot, had already received a special form of salvation by partaking of His spiritual blood. Judas Iscariot had no faith in the spiritual blood of Jesus. Jesus suffered and died on the cross in the place of every human to provide a lesser form of salvation for all living humans whom He loves, but He shed His blood and water on the cross to provide a special form of salvation by His grace for some living humans. Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; Hebrews 2:9-18; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Revelation 5:11-14; Isaiah 45:20-25; I Corinthians 15:22; John 6:51; John 6:58; John 6:53-57; Luke 20:38; Genesis 3:20-21.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                               Verses 52-59 continued

Jesus continued to preach about salvation by His grace when He told these unbelievers that if they would eat His flesh and drink His blood, they would live in Him, and He would live in them. Jesus tried mightily to get these materialist Jews to receive His spiritual food by faith so that He could immediately give them His everlasting life right where they stood. But these unbelievers refused to open their spiritual natures to receive the spiritual truths that Jesus preached.

Even though Jesus tried mightily to get these unbelievers to receive His spiritual truths, at the same time, He knew they would not believe. God does nothing half way. Jesus had to try as hard as He could to get them to believe, even though He knew they would not. Jesus evidently preached past these unbelievers to all humans in the future who would read or hear the Gospel of John who would be able to open their spiritual natures to receive His Word by faith and become saved by grace. Jesus deliberately preached a materialist message with a spiritual meaning to these unbelievers in order to get them to walk away which they all did except for Judas Iscariot. John 6:66. Jesus desired to keep His Church as clean as possible. Jesus preached as hard as he could as long as they listened, but when they made their final rejection, He wanted them to walk away. Jesus also knew that He would save all of these unbelievers with a lesser form of salvation when He would appear to them in the regions of death near the end of the world. Revelation 5:11-14; John 6:27; John 6:58.

In His last statement to these unbelievers, Jesus contrasted physical life with eternal, spiritual life. Jesus told them that God had given their fathers manna in the wilderness to save their physical lives, but they all had died. By contrast, Jesus told them that just as God had given manna to all their fathers to save their physical lives, He would eventually give them all His spiritual bread for them to eat and receive everlasting life. When Jesus told them that they would all live forever by eating His spiritual bread, He did not mean salvation by grace because He did not mention drinking His spiritual blood to them. John 6:58; Hebrews 2:9.

When Jesus spoke about eating "living bread" which is His spiritual flesh, and He did not mention His blood, He meant the lesser salvation that He would provide for the entire human race. John 6:27; John 6:51; John 6:58; Hebrews 2:9; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 5:11-14; John 6:33. When Jesus spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He meant the immediate, spiritual salvation by His grace that He would give to all who would believe in Him while they were still alive in the flesh. John 5:24; John 6:53-58; Matthew 26:26-28.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                              Verses 52-59 continued

Satan believed that he would eventually defeat God and take His place when he caused Adam and Eve to sin. Because the Devil brought sin into God's world, he gained the power to inject spiritual death into every living human that God would ever create. "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23. That spiritual death, in turn, would cause all humans to sin, and eventually, as the Devil believed, some humans would become so corrupt and evil that the Devil would be able to annul their spiritual lives and completely destroy a part of God's creation and thereby prove that God's Love is not real and not Almighty. This was the Devil's plan to eventually destroy God Himself. But the Devil did not count on God's Love being so mighty that He would sacrifice Himself on a cross to take the spiritual deaths and sins away from all living humans so that He could give them all His eternal life through His resurrection from the dead. Genesis 3:15. God told the Devil that he would be able to wound Him, but that He would crush the Devil's head. God would completely destroy the Devil and all evil, not living humans. II Peter 3:9-13. Although the Devil had injected the curse into all living humans, God promised Adam and Eve, and all future living humans, that He would take that curse away. Genesis 3:20-21; Luke 20:38. God gave the sin offering to Adam and Eve to symbolize salvation by His grace through the shed blood of the Lamb on the cross. God gave the burnt offering to Noah to symbolize the salvation of the rest of humanity by the descent of the Holy Spirit into the regions of death to leave all of the sins and evil of the rest of humanity behind there so that God could use His fiery wrath against evil to dissolve all human systems there to separate their repentant living souls and spirits for Him to save forever from their evil natures that He will cast into the lake of fire. Genesis 8:20-21; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Psalm 75:3; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 16:10; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15. The Holy Spirit had to have borne all of the sins and evil of all humans not saved by grace when He descended into Hell, and He had to be absolutely immaculate when He reanimated the perfect body of Jesus to raise Him from the dead victorious over all sin and evil. Revelation 1:17-18. Because of God's prophecy, the Devil knew the reason why Jesus came to the world, so he actually tried to defeat God by tempting Jesus to sin, but Jesus prevailed. Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.

When Jesus told these unbelievers that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood or they would have no life, He did not mean that they would lose the image of God that He had put into them, and they would become totally evil and lost from God's Love forever. God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14. Jesus meant that they could have no immediate salvation by grace. In the next verse 54, and also verse 27, Jesus assured all who read or hear His Word that they all will eat His flesh and drink His blood, and He will raise them all "in the last day." Jesus had a double meaning when He said, "I will raise him up at the last day." He meant the last days of the resurrections of His firstfruits: His Old Testament saints, His New Testament saints, and His Tribulation saints. I Corinthians 15:20-23. But Jesus also meant that "in the last day," which will be His final judgment, He will raise all living humans that He created and loves from their graves because He will cause them all to repent and believe of their own free will. Revelation 5:11-14; John 5:28-29. God will allow all living humans saved by His grace to live with Him in Heaven because He will give them the perfect life of Christ Himself. Romans 8:14-17; II Corinthians 5:21. God will recreate all living humans whom He will raise from the dead with eternal, earthly lives to live on His new earth, and He will protect them from sin and evil forever because He will have purged all sin and evil from His entire recreation forever. II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5; John 5:28-29.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                                  Verses 52-59

These materialist Jews were not able to open their spiritual natures to hear the spiritual truths that Jesus preached. They were so far from spiritual understanding that they thought that Jesus spoke about some sort of cannibalism. Had they only considered the fact that Jesus had shown tremendous love and compassion toward humanity, they would have realized that Jesus preached about a deeper, spiritual truth.

Jesus still did not give up on them. Jesus returned to preaching about salvation by grace. Jesus boldly preached to them that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood, or they could have no permanent life in them. Jesus meant that they would not be able to receive that immediate, eternal life that only He could give them.

The good, spiritual life that God puts into every human when He creates them happens to be only a limited copy of the image of God. In itself, it cannot be powerful enough to withstand the wiles of the Devil. Adam and Eve sinned because of this. The free will that God gave them weakened them, but God planned to save the entire human race by the means of this very weakness. Sooner or later, God will cause every living human to return to faith in His Son of their own free will and either become saved by His grace or with a lesser form of salvation. Because of the weakness of free will, no human can ever make themselves good enough to save themselves. Romans 5:6. But God took care of that when He came to earth as His Son to sacrifice Himself so that through His death, burial, and resurrection He would take the eternal, spiritual deaths of all humans, and the sin that causes it, upon Himself to destroy all the works of the Devil so that He could cause all living humans that He created to return to the faith of their own free will that He put into them, some by His grace and all others with a lesser form of salvation. God will prove that His Love is real and eternal and that it can never fail and that He can never lose anything He has ever created. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14. God has proven that even the weakness that He provides for every living human happens to be far more powerful than the evil that the Devil injects into living humans. I Corinthians 1:25; I Corinthians 15:42-43; II Corinthians 12:9; II Corinthians 13:3-4. Through the gift of free will, God provided for the fall of mankind, but God will also use free will to cause every living human to return to the faith in His Son that He put into them when He created them. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:31. Christ has gained the victory over the Devil to prove that His Love for His creations can never be destroyed no matter the worst that the Devil can do. Revelation 1:17-18.

When Jesus told these unbelievers, "ye have no life in you," He meant that He could not give them His eternal life immediately and save them by His grace unless they believed His spiritual truth that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Christ could not have meant that they had no spiritual life that He gives to all humans whom He creates in His image. If humans had no innate, spiritual life, then all humans would be demonic; that is, totally evil and incapable of doing any good whatsoever. But even the most evil people have done some good in life which proves that they still retain a small image of God within them. Jesus told some unbelieving Pharisees that, "the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21. Jesus also quoted Psalm 82:6 when He told some unbelieving Jews that, "Ye are gods?" John 10:34-35.

When Adam and Eve bit the apple, God also caused the Devil to bite the apple. In other words, God caused the Devil to fall into the trap that God had set for him. God's Love cannot be destroyed because His Love happens to be an Almighty self-sacrificial Love. John 15:13; Matthew 26:50.

                                                                                                                                                  

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                                Verses 45-51 continued

Many other scriptures attest to the fact that Christ will save all His living humans from spiritual death. II Timothy 4:1 relates that at a specific time and place, which can only be Christ's final judgment, He will "judge the quick and the dead," which can only mean that He will dissolve the systems of all humans confined to the regions of the dead in order to separate the living natures of all humans there that He created and loves from their dead and evil natures. Psalm 75:3; II Peter 3:9-13. I Timothy 4:10 specifically states that God "is the Savior of all men," especially of those who believe while still in the flesh which means they will obtain a special form of salvation. I Timothy 6:13 states that God "quickeneth all things" which can only be a prophecy that He will restore all living humans in danger of eternal death to eternal life again. Everything God creates can only be eternal, and He can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Hebrews 2:9; Psalm 36:6. Hebrews 2:9 relates that on the cross Christ removed the spiritual deaths of all humans. Many other scriptures attest to the fact that God will save the entire living human race: I Corinthians 15:20-28; Matthew 13:36-43; Matthew 13:47-50; John 5:28-29; Romans 8:18-23; Colossians 1:15-23; Revelation 21:1-5 to name but a few. Some of the art in the early Church depicted Christ raising all living humans from the regions of the dead.

In addition, the Bible (KJB) teaches that Christ came to destroy only the evil works of the Devil, never living humans whom He creates and loves. I John 3:8. The evil works of the Devil include all of the spiritual deaths that he has injected into all living humans that Christ will separate from all living humans in the end of the world by the use of His fiery wrath against evil in order to save their living natures for Him to recreate from their evil natures that He will cast into the eternal lake of fire. God created Hell and the lake of fire for the Devil and his angels which means only evil belongs there. God will cast only the "cursed" into the lake of fire, not living humans whom He never cursed. Matthew 25:41; Genesis 3:15-21. God told the Devil from the beginning of human history that He would destroy him, not living humans. Genesis 3:15; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; John 12:31-32; Hebrews 2:14-17; I John 3:8; Revelation 1:17-18; Revelation 22:11-12. In the end of the world, God will dissolve all human systems confined to the regions of death, and by the use of His fiery wrath against evil, He will separate their repentant, living natures from their evil, dead natures. I Corinthians 3:11-15; Luke 3:16-17; II Peter 3:9-13; Psalm 75:3.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 45-51 continued

God is a Spirit, but He holds the power to change from Spirit to a physical body and from a physical body back to a Spirit. John 4:24; Luke 24:36-43. Jesus preached to these unbelievers, who knew that God is a Spirit, that He is the "living bread," which is also His flesh, that He would "give for the life of the world," which can only mean all mankind. Jesus tried to awaken their spiritual natures to realize that He is God who came from Heaven to become flesh, but since He is also Spirit, then they could partake of His "living bread," which is spiritual food, by faith and receive everlasting life while still alive in the flesh. John 5:24.

Since Jesus preached that He would "give His flesh for the life of the world," then He must eventually cause all living humans to return to faith in Him, partake of His spiritual food and become rescued from eternal, spiritual death. Jesus never preached that He would give His life to save only by His grace. Jesus specifically preached that He would give His flesh to save the lives of all mankind. God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8. Since God's Love cannot fail, then He must save His entire creation that He created and loves. Romans 8:18-23; Romans 11:36.

Jesus will fulfill His prophecy near the end of the world when He appears to all living humans confined to the regions of death, and in a tremendous worship service, He will cause all living humans to return to the faith that He put into them when He created them, and He will cause them all to repent of their own free will so that He can resurrect them all from their graves and recreate them all to have righteous lives on His new earth. Revelation 5:11-14; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Isaiah 45:20-25; II Peter 3:9-13.

When Jesus said that He would "give His flesh for the life of the world," He meant to do exactly that which He said He would do. No one should ever read into this scripture, or any similar scripture, that Christ will save only by His grace, and He will cast all living unbelievers into an eternal lake of fire. Jesus never said that nor does any other scripture in the entire Bible (KJB) teach that. In fact, Numbers 23:19 teaches that God must make His Word good. Jesus will cast the unbelievers, who are the spiritual dead, into the lake of fire after He has dissolved all human systems within the regions of the dead in order to separate their living natures that He created and loves from their dead natures. Psalm 75:3; II Peter 3:9-13; I Corinthians 3:11-15.  Jesus taught that He will cast human "worms," symbolic of spiritual death, into the lake of fire. Mark 9:44, 46, 48. Isaiah prophesied that all living humans raised in the general resurrection will be able to see their "worms" in the lake of fire. Isaiah 66:22-24. Isaiah also prophesied that God will save the entire living human race. Isaiah 45:20-25. Is it reasonable to assume that God's Love and compassion will only be extended to those who repent and believe while still alive in the flesh, and He will ignore those living humans who repent and believe while confined to the regions of death? God's Love and compassion cannot fail. I Corinthians 13:8; Luke 23:34.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 45-51 continued

Jesus returned to preaching about Himself as being the "bread of life." Jesus tried again to awaken the spiritual faith that He had put into these unbelievers so that they would come to faith that if they would spiritually eat the spiritual food that was His body, they would obtain everlasting life while they were still alive in the flesh. John 5:24. Jesus made quite a distinction between physical death and spiritual death. Jesus told them that God had given their fathers physical food in the wilderness, but they all had physically died. By contrast, Jesus preached to them that if they would partake of His spiritual food, which was His body from Heaven, then they would never die, by which He meant that they would never suffer an eternal spiritual death.

But Jesus never preached to them that if they persisted in unbelief until their physical deaths, then they would suffer an eternal spiritual death. God has a plan to save all humans not saved by grace with a lesser form of salvation after their physical deaths. Luke 3:6; Luke 20:38; I Corinthians 15:22. Jesus had previously prophesied that "every man" will be "taught of God" and that every man so taught will come to Him in faith. Jesus could only have meant that He would have to make "every man" alive again in order for them all to be "taught of God." Since Jesus also prophesied about the end of the world, "Behold, I make all things new," then He must bring all living humans confined to the regions of death back to faith in Him so that He can resurrect them and recreate them to enjoy everlasting life on His new earth. Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5; John 5:28-29; Numbers 23:19.

When any living human not saved by grace physically dies, their souls and spirits become subject to a potential, eternal spiritual death within the lake of fire. The Devil has put this claim on them because of the spiritual death that he has injected into them and the sins that spiritual death causes. Romans 5:12. The Devil desires to utterly destroy a part of God's creations to prove that God's Love cannot be Almighty. Satan believed that if he could succeed in this attempt, then he could prove that God has a weakness which would give him an opportunity to find a way to murder God and take His place. Job 2:9; Isaiah 14:12-15.

When Jesus died on the cross, He commended His Spirit to His Father. Luke 23:46. By doing this, Jesus meant that His Spirit would finish His work that He had begun by His suffering and death on the cross. His Father sent His Spirit to the regions of death to leave behind there all of the evil and sins of all living humans not saved by grace whose evil and sins Jesus had borne on the cross. Hebrews 2:9. Having accomplished His task, the Holy Spirit reanimated the perfect body of Jesus and raised Him from the dead triumphant over all sins and evil. Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:25-28; Acts 13:30-35; Revelation 1:17-18. Just as God does not wash believers saved by grace with the spiritual blood of Christ until they repent and believe while still alive in the flesh, so God does not dissolve the systems of all living humans confined to the regions of death to separate their living natures from their evil, dead natures until they all repent and believe in the Lamb in a great worship service near the end of the world. Revelation 5:11-14; Psalm 75:3; I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Peter 3:9-13; Matthew 13:36-43. All of the Old Testament burnt offerings symbolized this work of the Holy Spirit to save all living humans confined to the regions of death with a lesser form of salvation. Genesis 8:20-21.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Six                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                      Verses 45-51

As Jesus continued His preaching, He quoted the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 54:13. Taken in context, Isaiah prophesied about God's lesser form of salvation for all faithful Jews. Isaiah 54:11-13. God will restore the nation of Israel on the earth forever, and He will allow all faithful Jews to be the citizens of eternal Israel. God will make Jerusalem the capitol of the world, and Israel will govern the world. Isaiah prophesied that God will directly teach His Word to all these Israelites, and they will find great peace. Isaiah 54:13. In the final and general resurrection, God will raise all faithful Israelites from the regions of the dead to be citizens of this special state of Israel. Daniel 12:1-3; Deuteronomy 4:40.

Jesus expanded Isaiah's prophecy to include the rest of the human race. Being God, Jesus had the right to expand Isaiah's prophecy. Since in the future all living humans will be taught by God, then God must resurrect all living humans in His final judgment. Revelation 20:5. Jesus had to have meant the entire human race when He used the word "all" because He defined that word when He used the phrase "every man." Jesus further prophesied that every living human will hear God's Word, will learn it from His Father, and will come to Him in faith for salvation by grace or for resurrection and recreation to eternal life on His new earth. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5; John 5:28-29; I Corinthians 15:22.

Jesus further taught that He was the only person who ever came from God, and He was the only person who had ever seen God face to face. Jesus again reinforced His claim that He is God. Moses saw the shape of God, and he had a veil on his face when he talked with God, but only Jesus has ever seen His Father face to face. Jesus tried again to get these unbelievers to open their hearts to hear God's Word with their spiritual natures.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 41-44

The Jews became confused, and they complained because they did not understand how Jesus could claim to be bread from Heaven. They knew that Jesus was an earthly son of an earthly mother and father, so they could not understand how He could claim to be from Heaven. They ignored all the great miracles that Jesus had done. They did consider that Jesus could be a prophet, but they failed to consider that no prophet ever claimed to be directly from Heaven. They continued to think solely in material ways.

Jesus did not become exasperated with them. Jesus told them not to murmur. He was patient with them. Jesus taught them that no person can come to faith in Him except by a direct spiritual awakening that could only come from His Father. Jesus realized that they could not open their spiritual natures to hear His word. One would think that this would be a critical moment in Jesus' message to them. One would think that at this point in Jesus' message to these unbelievers that He would warn them that if they persisted in unbelief until their physical deaths, then He would have to cast them into an eternal lake of fire. But Jesus continued to be patient with them because He knew that that would not be their fate.

Jesus knew that near the end of the world, He would appear to them in whatever region of death that they happened to be, and He would effect a tremendous worship service of all that He had ever created, and when these unbelievers would see Him in all of His Majesty and Glory with His Infinite Love for them, then He would be able to awaken their souls and spirits to repent and believe in Him, the Lamb of God, of their own free will so that He will be able to resurrect all of their living souls and spirits and recreate them all with new bodies to live forever on His recreated earth. Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12; John 5:28-29.

God told the Devil in the beginning of the history of the human race that He would destroy him only and not the living human race. Genesis 3:15. God initiated the burnt offering to symbolize His lesser form of salvation for all living humans who do not obtain salvation by His grace. Genesis 8:20-21. God gave several prophecies in the Old Testament that He would effect a general resurrection in the end of the world that would save all living humans still in their graves. Psalm 36:6; Isaiah 45:20-25; Isaiah 66:22-24; Daniel 12:2-3.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                 Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 34-40 continued

When Jesus also said in verse 37 that those who come to Him, "I will in no wise cast out," He meant that He will eventually cause all living humans to return to faith in Him of their own free will and that He can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Luke 20:38. Jesus preached in verse 40 that everyone who sees Him and believes in Him will obtain everlasting life. In Revelation 5:11-14, all living humans within the regions of death see the Son, and they worship Him, and they recognize Him as the Lamb of God. This event can only be conversion through faith obtained by free choice.

Jesus further preached that He came from Heaven to do His Father's Will which was that He would "lose nothing." Since Jesus can "lose nothing," then He must recover all things that He ever created from the power of evil. Romans 11:36. In this statement, Jesus clearly promised that He will raise all living humans still in their graves in a final and general resurrection in the end of the world. John 5:28-29.  Jesus further taught that His Father's Will was that all who see the Son and believe in Him will be saved. All those who see the Son with spiritual faith while still alive in the flesh will be saved by grace. John 5:24. All who see the Son in a great worship service near the end of the world will all repent and believe in the Lamb, and Christ will give them all a lesser form of salvation. Revelation 5:11-14; John 5:28-29.

Jesus' phrase "I will raise him up at the last day" has a double meaning. Jesus meant that He will raise all humans saved by His grace on the last day of the Church Age which will be the Rapture of the Church. I Thessalonians 4:13-18. Jesus also meant that He will raise back to life the rest of humanity who did not become saved by grace in a final and general resurrection in the end of the world. Revelation 20:5; John 5:28-29.

Parenthetically, Jesus preached about His Judgment in the end of the world. Matthew 13:49-50. But actually, the world never ends. Only the evil in the world ends. Ephesians 3:21. Everything that God creates is eternal. Ecclesiastes 3:14. When Jesus spoke about the end of the world, He meant that He will end the Age in which evil infected His world. Christ will recreate the Heaven and the earth after the end of the world. II Peter 3:13. In light of Jesus' statement about the end of the world, "Behold, I make all things new," Jesus could only have meant that He will burn up this present world to purge it of all evil that causes sin. Christ will recover all that He ever created, and He will recreate it all to be wholly righteous. II Peter 3:9-13. God wills that no one should perish but that all will come to repentance, and since no one can thwart the will of God, then He will bring all living humans to repentance and a higher and a lesser form of salvation. II Peter 3:9. God initiated the Old Testament burnt offerings to symbolize the way He would save all living humans who do not become saved by grace. Genesis 8:20-21; Leviticus 5:10. Christ will also cleanse and recreate Heaven because it has been tainted by the rebellion of Lucifer. God will use His fiery wrath against evil to cleanse and purge His entire creation of all evil and the sins it causes. II Peter 3:9-13; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Luke 3:16-17.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 34-40

The crowd then asked Jesus to give them the bread that Jesus said would give them life, but they apparently only meant an eternal, physical life on the present earth. But they also called Jesus "Lord" which demonstrated that they all still had that latent faith that Christ had put into them when He created them. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:31; Romans 12:3.

Jesus tried again to awaken their spiritual natures when He told them that He was "the bread of life" and that those who believe in Him will never have physical hunger or thirst. Jesus tried to get them to depart from material ways of thinking and begin to think in spiritual ways. Had they listened to Jesus with their spiritual ears, they would have realized that their spiritual natures would never need physical food or water. They should have allowed themselves to be inspired to believe that Jesus, "the bread of life," could give them an eternal, spiritual life.

Jesus knew that these people would not open their spiritual natures to His preaching. Jesus actually preached past these people to those in the future who would read the Gospel of John, and who would open their hearts to spiritual faith in Him. Jesus illustrated to His Church that in the future most people would not be able to be spiritual believers. These people saw Jesus' miracles, and they heard His preaching, and yet they refused to open their hearts to faith in Him.

But Jesus did not give up on them. God never gives up on any living human. God never gives up because He always succeeds in whatever He does. Jesus preached that His Father had given Him all that would come to Him in faith. When Jesus said this, He knew fully well that He, being God, had created all things and that all living humans belonged to Him and that He could never lose anything He had ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Psalm 111:7-8; Luke 20:38.

Jesus also knew that just as His Father had all authority in the Old Testament, and the Holy Spirit would have all authority over the Church in the New Testament, so His Father would give Him all authority over His recreated Heaven and earth when He would raise all living humans from the regions of the dead because He will cause them all to repent and believe in Him of their own free will. I Corinthians 15:20-28; Romans 8:18-23; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 21:1-5. Jesus also knew that His Father will "reconcile all things unto Himself" in Heaven and on earth. Colossians 1:15-23. The "firstfruits" means all living humans saved by grace whom God will raise from the dead prior to the final and general resurrection of all living humans still left in their graves. Matthew 27:51-53; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:5; I Corinthians 15:20-23; John 5:28-29. Jesus also knew that He will "make all things new," and since He created all things, He knew that in the end of the world He would need to use His fiery wrath against evil to cleanse and purge all sin and evil from all repentant, living humans still in their graves, and from the rest of His creations, so that He will be able to recreate it all to be righteous. He will use His fiery wrath against sin and evil to dissolve every human system still in their graves to cleanse and separate every repentant, living human from their dead, evil natures so that He can recreate their living natures to live forever on His recreated earth, and He will cast their evil natures into the eternal lake of fire. I Corinthians 3:11-15; Psalm 75:3; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5; II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5. Jesus told the Devil from the beginning that He would destroy him, not living humans. Genesis 3:15. Jesus came to destroy all of the evil works of the Devil, not living humans whom He creates and loves. Genesis 1:31; Genesis 1:27; I John 3:8; John 12:31-32.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 30-33

The people then demanded that Jesus perform some kind of sign to prove to them that He was their God and Savior. They ignored all of the miracles that Jesus had already done. God does not respond to human demands that He prove that He is God. God responds to human needs. He does not put on a show for anyone. God desires that humans come to faith in Him. That preserves God's dignity and man's humility before Him. All through the Bible (KJB), God provides evidence that He is God, but He never proves it. Should God ever provide proof that He is God in an absolute way, that would abolish free will in humans and give them no choice but to know that He exists. Such a condition would leave God's Love unproven and doubt about it would persist throughout eternity. The Devil very cleverly devised his rebellion to effect that very possibility because he wants evil to persist forever. Matthew 4:1-11. But God has devised a plan that will cause every human who ever lived to return to faith in Him as their Savior of their own free will which will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's Love is Almighty and real. God will prove that His Love is real and not that He exists because every living human will choose to love God and not be made to do it.

The people then demonstrated that they still clung to their material way of thinking when they told Jesus that God, because of Moses, had given their ancestors manna from Heaven in the desert as if physical food was all they needed. Jesus replied that God had given them bread from Heaven and not because of Moses. Jesus told them that His Father would give them "the true bread" from Heaven by which He meant the spiritual food that would supply them with everlasting life.

Jesus then preached to them that He was that "true bread" from Heaven that gives life to the whole human race. Christ cannot lie. He must do whatever He says He will do. Titus 1:2; Numbers 23:19. Jesus had already told these unbelievers in verse 27 that He would give them everlasting life which He will do in the end of the world when He brings them back to the faith in Him that He put into them when He created them. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:31; Romans 12:3; Revelation 5:11-14. Nowhere in John chapter six or anywhere else in God's Word does He teach that physical death prevents God from saving lost humans forever. Jesus contradicted that doctrine in John 5:28-29.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                  Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 28-29

The material minded multitude completely missed Jesus' message that the material food that He had given them represented spiritual food that Jesus would give them for their everlasting life. They then asked Jesus what kind of good works they could do to please God. They ignored the fact that they had no way of getting any food in the wilderness and that Jesus had given them food and that Jesus had also told them that He would give them spiritual food. Any person who becomes saved by grace must first realize that they are completely helpless to save themselves, and they can only trust in Christ who alone has the power, through His sacrifice for them, to save them forever. Romans 5:6-8.

Jesus replied that the only good work that they could do would be to have faith in God. Everything that humans need for physical and spiritual life comes from God. James 1:17. In effect, Jesus told them that just as they were helpless in the desert, and He supplied them with food, so they were helpless to do anything to please God to the extent that they could save themselves in any spiritual way. Jesus informed them that only God had the power to save them and feed them spiritual food, and all they needed was faith that He had that power. Romans 5:6-8. Jesus tried to awaken their spiritual natures so that they could come to faith in Him as their God and Savior so that He could immediately give them the spiritual food that they needed to obtain everlasting life, but the people still adhered to their material way of thinking. John 5:24.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 22-27

The multitude saw Jesus command His disciples to depart in a boat while He walked away toward a mountain. The next day evidently the multitude expected Jesus to return from the mountain and preach to them again, but they soon discovered that Jesus was not there. They also discovered that while boats had come across the sea to where they were, no other boat had departed from where they were except the one that held Jesus' disciples. They then reasoned that somehow Jesus had followed His disciples. So some of them got into boats and went over the sea to find Jesus. When they found Jesus, they asked Him how He had gotten there.

Jesus ignored their question perhaps simply because He wanted them to wonder how He got there. Jesus sometimes taught in a way that tested people's spiritual intelligence. A person can reason in a spiritual way just as a person can reason in a material way. Jesus often tried to get people to adhere to their spiritual natures and think in spiritual ways. Jesus tried to get the rich young ruler to think in spiritual ways, but he clung to his material nature. Matthew 19:16-22. If those who sought Jesus had only allowed themselves to think in spiritual ways, they would have realized that Jesus, being a miracle worker, would be able to go anywhere He desired to go.

Jesus simply replied by preaching to them again. Jesus rebuked them because they sought for Him only because He could multiply food to feed their material natures. They ignored the fact that Jesus had worked a miracle to do that. They should have thought about why Jesus could do such miracles and not just about the food.

Jesus continued to preach to them in such a way as to try to get them to think in spiritual ways. As He did so often in His ministry, Jesus used a material object to represent a spiritual truth. Jesus told them that physical food would perish, but the spiritual food that He could give them would supply them with everlasting life. These people represented that part of the human race who would not believe in Jesus while they were still alive in the flesh, and yet, Jesus told them that He would give them everlasting life. Jesus could only have meant that a day will come when He will give them everlasting life despite their present unbelief. Jesus said that He could do that which He said because He had been "sealed" by His Father. Jesus could only have meant that He possessed the entire Holy Spirit with the power to preserve and protect all who come to Him in faith. John 3:34. Jesus told them that He was God, and He gave them an obscure prophecy that a day will come when He will give them the faith that they will need for Him to raise them from the dead to everlasting life. Revelation 5:11-14; John 5:28-29; Philippians 2:9-11; Genesis 8:20-21; Psalm 36:6. The multitude that Jesus fed represented the entire human race, and the food they ate represented the everlasting life that Jesus will eventually give to all humans, some by His grace and all others in a great worship service near the end of the world. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.

Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 1-14

When Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fishes and fed the multitude, He fed believers and unbelievers alike. Jesus actually fed far more than five thousand because only the men were counted. Matthew wrote that Jesus fed the whole multitude, not just the men. Matthew 14:13-21.

Jesus prayed over the food, and He had His disciples distribute the food to the multitude. His disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, were believers. Although Jesus' disciples had not come to full faith that He was their Messiah and Savior, Jesus nevertheless considered them to already be believers because He knew that they all, except for Judas Iscariot, would eventually come to full faith that He was the Son of God and their Savior.

Verse four states that the feast of the Passover was near to this date. Since the Passover celebrated the Israelites' liberation from slavery, then Jesus' feeding of the multitude should represent the liberation of the entire human race from slavery to sin and evil and that is why God mentioned the Passover. In addition, the future Church would preach God's Word to the whole world. This fact should mean that eventually the whole human race will partake of the spiritual food from God to either become saved by grace or with a lesser form of salvation. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.

After the multitude had eaten, Jesus had His disciples take up twelve baskets of leftovers. Jesus told His disciples that He wanted none of the food to be lost. By His instructions, Jesus symbolically demonstrated that God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Psalm 111:7-8.

The multitude, being comprised of believers and unbelievers alike, symbolically represented the entire human race. Jesus demonstrated that God alone could supply the food necessary to keep humans physically alive. But in His next sermon to some of these same people, Jesus preached that physical food could also represent spiritual food. But even after Jesus had miraculously fed them, the unbelievers still believed that Jesus was only a prophet.

                                                                                                                                   Verses 15-21

Jesus performed His next miracle for His disciples alone, even for the unbeliever Judas Iscariot. Jesus' disciples represented His future Church. When Jesus walked on the water to save His disciples who were about to be destroyed by a storm, He demonstrated that He will always rescue His Church whenever it gets into trouble, even the unbelievers who adhere to His Church. Christ will allow His Church to suffer and be persecuted in order to test its faith, but He will never allow His Church to be destroyed. Christ will bring His Church through every storm, and He will cause His Church to arrive safely to its destination which is Heaven. But whenever Christ protects His Church, He will often also protect the unbelievers who adhere to His Church, but only in their earthly lives.