John Six

One of the favorite passages that Roman Catholics like to use to try and prove the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is John 6:53-58. However, such an interpretation completely removes this passage from its context. In reality, John 6 is about the necessity of believing in Christ in order to receive salvation, and the only way that this comes about is through the sovereign act of God. So, the following is an exegesis of John 6:26-65.

Context:

In John 6:1-14, Jesus had just fed five thousand people with five pieces of bread and two pieces of fish. A great act which no man in his right mind could deny was a miracle. As a result of this, the crowd wanted to make Jesus the earthly King of Israel and start a war of independence against the Romans. Of course, Jesus does not want this, and instead, He withdrew himself to the mountain to escape them (v.15). In verses 16-21, Jesus’ disciples set out to sea and are caught in a storm. Jesus walks out to them on the water, calms the storm, and by this action, proves himself to be Lord of Heaven and Earth. Thus, Jesus and his disciples safely arrive at Capernaum on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (v.21). Many of those that were fed the day before were seeking Him and found Him in Capernaum (v.22-24), and Jesus goes to the synagogue and begins a dialogue with those that followed him.

All Scripture quotes are from the NASB:

“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 His seal.” -John 6:26-27

They did not seek Jesus out of love for His Word, but, rather, they sought Him to get free food. He tells them not to seek earthly food but to seek food which grants eternal life (i.e. the heavenly). They immediately want to know how to “work the works of God” in order to receive this food (v.28). He answers them in a very simple way:

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” -John 6:29

So, He says that in order to gain this “food” that gives someone eternal life, all one must do is to believe in Him. They then ask Him for a sign so that they can believe in Him. Of course, He just fed 5,000 people that very day, and the reason that they were following Him then was because He had just healed many sick people at Bethesda (John 5:5-9, 6:2). So, obviously, no sign that Christ would give would make them believe. Christ then says:

“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 out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” -John 6:32-33

This is similar to the statement that He said in v.27, and His point is for them not to think in an earthly manner but in a spiritual or Heavenly manner (v.26; also note that they had wanted to make Him an earthly king in verse 15). Their reply is similar to verse 28: “Lord, always give us this bread” (v.34). His response is very important to the entire passage:

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” -John 6:35

Thus, He explains to them that to come to Him will satisfy their spiritual hunger, and to believe in Him will satisfy their spiritual thirst. We will come back to this later. He goes on:

“But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe” -John 6:36

Thus, He is now going to explain WHY THEY DON’T BELIEVE:

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 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.” -John 6:37-40

So, the Messiah gives us the purpose of His being here on earth, to do the will of God the Father. What is the will of God the Father? It is that the Son should be the object of faith for all those that were given to the Son, and that the Son would resurrect them on the Day of Judgment unto eternal life in Heaven (v.40). Who are those that the Father has given to the Son? They are the ones that will believe in the Son and will be resurrected unto eternal life (i.e. the elect). How did they believe in the Son? It is because they were given to the Son by the Father, and all those whom the Father has given to the Son will come (i.e. believe-v.40) to the Son (v.37). So, we see that the coming to the Son is dependent upon the Father drawing that person and not the actions or will-power of man (notice that the giving to the Son precedes the Son coming down from Heaven). Those hearing this are confused about these statements, and they say in verse 42, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?"

Christ then brings his points together in verses 44 and 45 in concluding WHY THEY DID NOT BELIEVE:

“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 ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” -John 6:44-45

It is here that the Lord Jesus informs us why the crowd did not believe. It is because they had not been drawn by the Father. Only those who had been drawn by the Father will truly come to Him and be raised up on the last day unto eternal life (v.44). This is similar to the dialogue in John 8:43. While speaking to the Pharisees who rejected Him, Christ says (emphasis mine):

“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.” -John 8:43

Apart from the sovereign grace of God, the unbelievers were incapable of responding positively to the Gospel message (“total depravity”). In the book of Romans (8:7-8), while speaking upon the nature of the unregenerate man, Paul says (emphasis mine):

“…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” -Romans 8:7-8

The point is that the only way for a man to truly subject himself to God and truly repent of his sins is for God to first choose to save that man as an individual and regenerate him (the “effectual calling”). As a result of that regeneration, man will freely but infallibly choose his Creator as Lord and Redeemer (“irresistible grace”). A chapter later, Paul writes:

“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” -Romans 9:16

So, now we can see that the election of individuals is not dependent upon the will-power (“the man who wills”) or actions (“the man who runs”) of men but upon God’s sovereign power to save His elect people whom He has individually chosen for His glory from eternity past (Romans 9:21-23, Ephesians 1:4-13). This is why Paul says that the entirety of salvation (including faith) is a gift which is not dependent on the actions of men (Ephesians 2:8-9; “unconditional election”).

Also, notice in John 6:44, that all that are drawn will be raised up on the last day. Thus, God only draws His elect people (“particular atonement”), and those whom are drawn shall never fall away (v.39) but be raised up on the last day unto eternal life (“the perseverance of the saints”). Therefore, the reason why the crowd (in John 6) did not believe was because they were not Christ’s sheep (i.e. God did not choose to draw them unto salvation). So, from knowing this, we move on. Christ then says:

“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.” -John 6:47-51

While playing off of the bread theme that started back at the beginning of the chapter, Jesus tells them not to seek out earthly bread but heavenly bread, Himself. Jesus is not telling them to eat his actual flesh, but rather, He is telling them to believe in Him in a metaphorical way. The bread that he gives to the world is the flesh that was to be crucified for the atonement of our sins. Let us parallel verses 47 and 51:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” v.47

“…if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever…” v.51

Thus, anyone who is honest with themselves can see that these two verses are similar verses. Verse 47 says that those that believe in Him will have eternal life, and verse 51 says that those that eat this bread will have eternal life. Therefore, verse 51 is a metaphor, and to ‘eat this bread’ equals to ‘believe’ in Christ. Next, His so-called “followers” (i.e. the crowd) start grumbling about what He said, and He continues on with His speech:

“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 My 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, he 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.” -John 6:53-58

If one were to read this passage in isolation, then perhaps one might think that Jesus is talking about the Roman Catholic Mass. However, this passage is preceded by 27 verses that give it a context, and there is a parallel between this passage and those 27 preceding verses. Let us look at the parallel (emphasis mine):

Verse 40- “…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.”

Verse 54- “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

I have placed in bold where the two differ and italicized what they have in common. If context has any meaning, then it is obvious that ‘beholds the Son and believes in Him’ is equal to ‘eats My flesh and drinks My blood’. There is also a parallel between this passage and another passage in John (emphasis mine):

Verse 56- “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

John 15:6- “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Are we to conclude that Jesus is a plant? Of course not! It is obvious that Jesus is speaking metaphorically in both passages. Next, his so-called “disciples” start complaining that His sayings were too harsh and begin to leave. Jesus responds:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” -John 6:63

Here, He clarifies His statements to His surface-level “followers”. He explains to them that His actual, physical flesh will not benefit them, but He was speaking in a spiritual sense that one must believe in Him to receive eternal life.

Last, Roman Catholics usually ask, “If Jesus was not talking about His literal flesh in verses 53-58, then why did he not correct his disciples’ misinterpretation of his statement when they started to leave?” The next two verses answer this question (emphasis mine):

“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” -John 6:64-65

Why did they not understand Him? It is because they could not come to Christ. Why could they not come to Christ? It is because it had not been granted to them by the Father (verse 65). They could not hear His word (10:26), and only the elect of God can hear His word (8:47, 10:27). They did not believe because they had not been appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48), and belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah cannot come from oneself, but it must be revealed by God (Matthew 16:17).

So, the evidence that He was speaking metaphorically when He said, “Eat the flesh of the Son of Man,” (v.53) is:

1. In verse 35, the Messiah states that to come to Him will satisfy their hunger, and to believe in Him will satisfy their thirst.

2. Verse 51 parallels verse 47. To eat “of this bread” will impart eternal life (v.51), and to believe will impart eternal life (v.47).

3. Verse 54 parallels verse 40. To eat His flesh and drink His blood will give eternal life, and that person will be resurrected on the last day (v.54). Likewise, to believe in Him will give eternal life, and that person will be raised up on the last day (v.40).

4. The people were following Him because they desired actual bread (v.26). He is using the metaphor of bread (i.e. “bread of life”) as a way of telling them not to seek earthly things that will temporarily sustain one’s life, but He is telling them to seek faith in Him which will impart eternal life.

Now, let us discuss the Catholic doctrine of the Mass as it relates to this section of John 6, especially verse 54. Is it the sacrament of the Eucharist that one must have in order to be saved? No, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that baptism remits Original Sin. Thus, Roman Catholics believe that one can be baptized, and then, five minutes later, without receiving communion, be run over by a car, killed, and still eventually go to heaven. However, Jesus says that one must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have eternal life (v.54). Let’s set up another scenario: A man is a Roman Catholic from birth, he receives baptism as an infant, and he goes to Mass every day. However, he commits a mortal sin, enjoys it, does not even desire Penance, and two minutes later, he has a heart attack, dies, and goes to hell. Even though he partook of “the body and blood of Christ”, he still went to hell. However, Christ says that if you partake of His flesh and blood, then you will have eternal life and be raised up on the last day. Christ excludes the possibility of falling away (also see v.39), but that person will be raised unto eternal life. Thus, John 6:53-58 could not possibly be speaking of the Roman Catholic Mass because the passage is doctrinally contrary to the Mass.

For a rebuttal of the ways that Roman Catholics try to get around John 6, go here:

http://aomin.org/WinSunRep.html

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Also, some helpful audio on this topic can be found at:

http://www.straitgate.com/aom/dl/01.htm (January 13)

Some helpful online reading can be found here:

http://aomin.org/johnchapter6.html

http://members.aol.com/jasonte2/john666.htm

http://www.ntrmin.org/images/questions/John6Eucharist.html