Believe in Jesus and Have Eternal Life

A Study of John 6:35-40

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

John 6:35–40 (ESV)

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Jesus: “Ἰησοῦς”, “Iēsous”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | proper name – Jesus, Jehoshua; Jesus = “Yahweh is salvation”; the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, God incarnate.

-[The Bread] Of Life: “ζωῆς”, “zōēs”; noun, genitive, singular, feminine | descriptive genitive – Jesus is the Bread of Life; He gives life real and genuine; a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever.

-Shall [not] Hunger: “πεινάσῃ”, “peinasē”; verb, aorist, active, subjunctive, third person, singular | finite verb – metaphorically: to crave eagerly, to seek with eager desire.

-Believes: “πιστεύων”, “pisteuōn”; verb, present, active, participle, singular, nominative, masculine | substantival participle – a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah — the divinely appointed author of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God, conjoined with obedience to Christ; to have a faith directed unto, believing or in faith to give oneself up to, Jesus.

-Shall [never] Thirst: “διψήσει”, “dipsēsei”; verb, future, active, indicative, third person, singular | finite verb – figuratively: those are said to thirst who painfully feel their want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, strengthened.

-Never: “πώποτε”, “pōpote”; adverb | temporal adverb – at any time, ever, at no time, never.

-Father: “πατήρ”, “patēr”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | subject of the dependent clause – God is called the Father; the Father of Jesus Christ, as one whom God has united to himself in the closest bond of love and intimacy, made acquainted with his purposes, appointed to explain and carry out among men the plan of salvation, and made to share also in his own divine nature. Also, of Christians who have been born again as children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

-[I Will] Cast: “ἐκβάλω”, “ekbalō”; verb, aorist, active, subjunctive, first person, singular | finite verb – expel, drive out.

-Out: “ἔξω”, “exō”; adverb, place | adverb of location – outside, away, out of.

-I Have Come Down: “καταβέβηκα”, “katabebēka”; verb, perfect, active, indicative, first person, singular | finite verb – to come down, as from the temple at Jerusalem, from the city of Jerusalem; also of celestial beings coming down to earth.

-Heaven: “οὐρανοῦ”, “ouranou”; noun, genitive, singular, masculine | prepositional object – the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of an order of things eternal and consummately perfect, where God dwells and the other heavenly beings.

-Will: “θέλημα”, “thelēma”; noun, accusative, singular, neuter | direct object of the dependent clause – commands, precepts; what one wishes or has determined shall be done.

-Sent: “πέμψαντός”, “pempsantos”; verb, aorist, active, participle, singular, genitive, masculine | substantival participle – to send; Teachers who come forward by God’s command and with his authority are said to be (or to have been) sent by God: as, John the Baptist (John 1:33); Jesus (John 4:34; John 5:23f, 30, 37; John 6:38-40, 44; John 7:16, 28, etc).

-Raise [It] Up: “ἀναστήσω”, “anastēsō”; verb, future, active, indicative, first person, singular | finite verb – to raise up from death.

-Who Looks On: “θεωρῶν”, “theōrōn”; verb, present, active, participle, singular, nominative, masculine | substantival participle – look at, behold; used especially of persons and things looked upon as in some respect noteworthy.

-The Son: “τὸν υἱὸν”, “ton huion”; noun, accusative, singular, masculine | direct object of the dependent clause – term used preeminently of Jesus Christ, as enjoying the supreme love of God, united to him in affectionate intimacy, privy to his saving councils, obedient to the Father’s will in all his acts.

-Eternal: “αἰώνιον”, “aiōnion”; adjective, accusative, singular, feminine | attributive adjective – eternal, without end, never to cease, everlasting.

-Life: “ζωὴν”, “zōēn”; noun, accusative, singular, feminine | direct object of the dependent clause – life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last forever.

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

In this passage, Jesus tells the people of Capernaum that He is the Bread of Life, and that whoever comes to Him will never be thirsty or hungry. However, He also tells the people that even though they have seen Him, and the miraculous signs that prove He was sent by God the Father, they still do not believe, but also, that all the people God the Father has given to Him will come to Him, and He will never cast them away. Jesus says to them that He did not come to do His own will, but the will of God the Father, and the will of God the Father is that He lose none of the people given to Him, but rather, that He hold on to them and raise them up on the last day. Jesus also added that the will of God the Father is that everyone who sees and hears of Jesus, and believes in Him and His words, will have eternal life.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

This discourse of Jesus takes place in the synagogue of Capernaum. The day before this, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men plus thousands more women and children with only 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. After feeding and teaching the people, He sent them away, and commanded His disciples to get in their boat, and cross the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum while He went up on a nearby mountain to pray. That evening, a strong wind arose, and His disciples struggled for hours as they rowed into the wind and made little progress while Jesus prayed and watched from the hilltop. At around 3 am, the disciples had only traveled a few miles, and were firmly in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, still struggling and rowing against the wind. At this time, Jesus came to them walking on the water, got into the boat with them, and then they immediately arrived at the shore they were traveling to. When Jesus got out of the boat, many people came out from the city and were miraculously healed by Him before He went to the synagogue to teach.

The crowd that came to hear Him teach consisted of many people who were fed by Him the previous day, as well as people from Capernaum and other Jewish, religious leaders. While Jesus spoke to them He told them of how He had been sent by God the Father from heaven, similar to the manna provided centuries earlier (Exodus 16). However, the major difference was that while the bread from heaven in Exodus spoiled like regular food does, Jesus is the true bread from heaven that endures to and gives eternal life. But even though the people had already witnessed and experienced many miraculous signs that confirmed Jesus was sent by the Father, they still did not believe. They failed to understand that their need for eternal, spiritual provision far outweighed their need for temporary, physical provision. So, in these verses Jesus continued to explain their true need, and that He is the One sent by God to meet that need.

In verse 35 Jesus tells the people, “I am the bread of life”. This statement is the first of seven “I am” statements in John’s gospel account. In the original Greek this appears as “egō eimi”. The other six “I am” statements appear later on as follows: “I am the light of the world (8:12)”, “I am the gate (10:7, 9)”, “I am the good shepherd (10:11, 14)”, “I am the resurrection and the life (11:25)”, “I am the way, the truth, and the life (14:6)”, and “I am the true vine (15:1, 5).” All of these metaphorical statements are used by Jesus to help explain that He is the Messiah; God incarnate and the Savior of the world sent by God the Father. And here of course, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” The problem at this point is the people are still both misunderstanding that Jesus was referring to Himself as the “true bread from heaven”, and also that they are still only concerned with whether or not He will give them more physical bread, and be a king for them who overthrows the Romans (John 6:15). So, here Jesus speaks more directly to help the people understand what He is saying, and much of what follows after this, through verse 48, provides further explanation of what He means.

As this verse continues, Jesus goes on to correct their misunderstanding seen in verse 34 where the people said, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus is not referring to physical food that needs to be obtained again and again to satiate physical appetite. We know Jesus is concerned with their temporary, physical needs; that is at least part of the reason why He fed them the previous day, and healed many people when He arrived in Capernaum earlier that morning (Matthew 14:34-36). But Jesus is far more concerned with their eternal, spiritual need. For this reason, after saying He is the bread of life, Jesus goes on to say those who come to Him shall not hunger, and those who believe in Him shall never thirst.

In the physical sense this is true. Ultimately, in the new heavens and new earth, we will never lack for food or water, but Jesus is talking about spiritual hunger and thirst here. We all have a deep need for spiritual satisfaction that can only be met by the God who made us to live with Him and enjoy a close personal, fulfilling relationship with Him. But we have been separated from Him by our sin. In this world, we all try to satisfy our deep seated spiritual thirst and hunger with any number of things, activities, or human relationships, but true and lasting satisfaction can only be found in Jesus Christ; the one we were made to crave. As the North African, Augustine of Hippo said (4th-5th century AD), “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in God, because He made us for Himself.”

To restore this relationship with God, we must come to Jesus, the Son of God. To “come” to Jesus means to believe that He is the one true God of the universe, who died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sin. And the one who comes to Him in this way in faith, will have their spiritual hunger and thirst satisfied for eternity. Coming to Jesus does not require any great deed on our part. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Jesus has done it all as only He can. All that is required of us is to come to Him and believe. But in verse 36 we read that the people in Capernaum, like the people of Jerusalem (John 5:36-38), did not believe Jesus in spite of all He showed and taught them. The people closest to Jesus from His home region of Galilee, persisted in their unbelief. They recognized He had power from God, but they wanted a Messiah of their own making. They wanted an earthly king who would establish a sovereign Jewish nation in their day, and give them bread from heaven. But Jesus came to accomplish something far greater.

However stubborn they may have been in their unbelief, in verse 37, Jesus declared that He will accomplish His mission by saying, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” This means that Jesus will never turn away or get rid of anyone who believes in Him. He will never reject anybody, no matter who they are, where they are from, or what they have done. Jesus’ firm confidence in this is based on the power of God the Father. All that the Father gives to Jesus will come to Him, and they will be saved. It is the will of the Father to redeem people to Himself, and He will accomplish His good and loving plan. Now, I would not classify myself as a Calvinist by any means, but there is an undeniable shade of predestination here. Passages like 2 Timothy 2:24-26 support this idea too by saying that we must show love and grace to people so that God “may perhaps grant” them repentance so that they can come to a knowledge of the truth and be freed from the snare of the devil. But if we stop there and deny any element of choice or freewill given to us as image bearers of God then we do His Word a disservice, because we are also clearly told to make the choice to repent and believe.

Without writing an exhaustive list of verses here, consider, for a start, Romans 10:9-10 as an example of an invitation/command to choose to repent and confess Jesus as Lord. I think what this tells us is that God is the first mover in all things. He came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And He must open our eyes and enlighten our darkened hearts to see the truth, but then it is we who must choose to believe and receive Him. He pursues us, but He does not force us to love Him. Love that is coerced is not love. This is the complex, beautiful, and mysterious combination of predestination and freewill. To those who would disagree, I humbly and respectfully say that I believe this is a case of “both/and,” not “either/or.” To cling to only one of these two and reject the other, is to accept one part of God’s Word and reject the other. But Christians can of course disagree on this and still love and follow Jesus together! While we must not sacrifice truth for the sake of unity, let us also be careful not to separate and divide over non-essential doctrines (doctrines pertaining to salvation).

Next, in verses 38-40, Jesus gives the reason why He will not reject anyone who comes to Him and believes. The reason is that He came down from heaven to do the will of God the Father who sent Him. And the will of God the Father is that Jesus should lose none of those He has given to Him, and that everyone who looks on Jesus and believes will receive eternal life and be bodily resurrected on the last day.

Jesus did not come to earth with any plan contrary to the will of the Father. His will and intentions are perfectly unified with the Father’s, just as Jesus is perfectly unified to the Father as they are separate Persons, but one Being. The Most High God is one Being who exists as three perfectly unified Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Remember, “being” is what you are and “person” is who you are. You and I are human beings and we exist as one person. God in heaven is one Being who exists as three perfectly unified Persons who are co-equal in every respect, but in their individual person-hoods fulfill different roles. This is the Trinity. It is complex but not illogical. We should not be surprised to find out that there are certain aspects of the infinitely majestic God of the universe that are difficult for us to understand. But what is most important to know about Him is simple and understandable. Jesus is the God of the universe, and all who believe in Him will be saved.

For this reason we can have total confidence that it is safe to come to Jesus. Everyone that the Father has given to Him will come to Him and Jesus will never cast them out, but rather, hold onto and protect for eternity. And everyone who looks on Jesus, or in other words, believes in Him, will have eternal life. This use of the phrase “looks on” is reminiscent of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in chapter 3 where Jesus compared Himself to the bronze serpent in Exodus that God had Moses make and command everyone who had been bitten by poisonous serpents to look on in faith and be healed. All that is required to receive eternal life from Jesus is to look on Him and believe in Him alone as Lord and Savior.

And this life Jesus offers is not only spiritual, but physical as well. God will redeem both the spiritual and the physical from sin. Just as Jesus was resurrected in body and spirit, everyone who believes in Him will be immediately resurrected in spirit, and then on the final day of this fallen world, they will be resurrected bodily as well. And the eternal life that Jesus offers in the new heavens and the new earth will be life where we who have believed in Him will continue to enjoy the ultimate spiritual satisfaction we all hunger and thirst for. This is the satisfaction that can only come from a restored relationship with our Creator. This is the ultimate satisfaction and pure, unending joy that can only come by feasting on the Bread of Life sent from heaven; the Lord Jesus Christ.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage should cause us to think about our deep seated hunger and thirst for ultimate satisfaction. We need to realize that while physical provision is important, we have an infinitely greater need, and nothing on this earth can satisfy that need. No amount of money, human relationships, or physical security and health can satisfy us. It doesn’t matter what or how much we obtain in these areas because we will always want more. There’s always a better job, a nicer house, or another level of fame or beauty to ascend to. We need the Bread that endures to eternal life. We need Jesus. We will never be satisfied until we seek satisfaction in the God who made us to be eternally and infinitely satisfied in Him.

The good news is Jesus loves us, and He came to earth to bridge the gap of separation between us that we caused by our sin and rebellion. He is perfectly just, so the penalty for sin has to be paid. He is too good and loving to ignore it. So, He came from heaven as fully God and human to live the perfect life we never could, and pay the debt we never could pay. Our response to these words of Jesus must be to accept His free gift of salvation. We can do this with total confidence in His ability to save us and rejoice in the fact that He will eternally satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst for eternity. And all who come to Him and believe will have eternal life and be raised up bodily on the last day. This is the good and loving will of our heavenly Father.

Self Reflection:

1. What am I trying to satisfy the hunger and thirst of my soul with?

2. As a follower of Jesus, am I still trying to satisfy this craving with earthly pursuits?
3. How can I grow in relationship with Jesus and feast on the Bread of Life here and now?