John 6 - NKJV Study Bible

6:1 After these things: About six months elapsed between 5:47 and this verse. Herod Antipas had killed John the Baptist and was seeking Jesus. The disciples had preached throughout Galilee, and many people were curious about Jesus (v. 5). John further identifies the Sea of Galilee as the Sea of Tiberias, an indication that his Gospel was written for those outside of Palestine. The Jewish people called this body of water the Lake of Genessaret. The Romans called it Tiberias, after the city built on its western shore by Herod Antipas and named for the Emperor Tiberius.

6:7 One denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer or field hand (see Matt. 20:2). Two hundred denarii would have been almost two-thirds of a year’s wages.

6:9 Barley loaves were an inexpensive food of the common people and the poor.

6:11 The miraculous multiplication of the food demonstrated Jesus’ deity, because only God can create. This is the only miracle of Jesus that is recounted in all four Gospels.

6:14 The Prophet is a reference to Deut. 18:15. The men’s statement does not necessarily indicate that they believed Jesus was the Messiah. Some made a distinction between the Prophet and the Messiah (compare 1:20,21). The bread (v. 11) may have reminded them of Moses and manna. Thus they concluded that Jesus was the Prophet that Moses had foretold.

6:15 make Him king: Moses had not only miraculously provided food for the Israelites, he had also led them out of bondage in Egypt. Perhaps these men felt that Jesus could lead them out of bondage to the Romans. Christ was at the zenith of His popularity, and the temptation to take the kingdom without the Cross must have been great (see Matt. 4:8–10). The parallel passages say that He went to the mountain by Himself to pray (see Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:46). Here is our greatest resource in times of testing.

6:16–18 His disciples went down to the sea: In Mark 6:45 we discover that the disciples went to the sea because Jesus compelled them to do so. It was already dark by the time the disciples got out on the lake. The wind began to pick up, setting the stage for Jesus to provide another revelation of Himself.

6:19–21 This miracle, the fifth sign recorded by John, pointed to Jesus’ deity. Only God could walk on water, calm the sea, and supernaturally transport the disciples to their destination.

6:22–24 The multitude had seen that there was only one boat and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples. They assumed that Jesus was still there and were looking for Him.

6:27 Do not labor for the food: The impression that one must work for eternal life is quickly corrected when Jesus adds which the Son of Man will give you. The Son provides life as a gift (4:10). Set His seal on Him means that the Father has authorized and authenticated the Son as the Giver of life.

6:30 When Jesus said “believe in Him whom He sent,” (v. 29), the people must have understood that He was claiming to be the Messiah. Therefore, they asked for a sign—despite the fact that they had just witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes.

6:31 There was a tradition that said the Messiah would cause manna to fall from heaven as Moses did (see Ex. 16:4,15). The people probably also saw this “miracle worker” as the perpetual provider of physical needs rather than spiritual ones.

6:32 The crowd misrepresented the truth, so Jesus corrected them. The manna had not come from Moses; it had been provided by God. Moreover, God still gives true bread—that is, eternal life (v. 33).

6:34 Lord can mean “sir,” which is no doubt the meaning here (4:11,15).

6:35 Bread of life means “bread which supplies life.” Manna satisfied physical needs for a while; Christ satisfies spiritual need forever (4:13,14).

6:36 seen . . . not believe: Seeing does not necessarily mean believing (v. 30; 11:46–57), although sometimes it does (11:45; 20:29). On the other hand, Christ blesses those who believe without having seen (20:29).

6:38 For indicates an explanation of the previous statement. Christ will not cast out any who come to Him because He came to do the Father’s will.

6:39,40 The will of the Father is twofold: (1) that all who come to the Son will be received and not lost; (2) that all who see and believe on the Son will have everlasting life.

6:41 The Jews referred to representatives of the council. They complained that Jesus said He was the bread which came down from heaven. Although this exact phrase is not found in Jesus’ statements, it is a fair summary of what He said (vv. 33,35,38). Jesus did claim that He was from heaven.

6:42 the son of Joseph: The religious leaders’ proof that Jesus was not from heaven was that they knew His parents. To them, there was nothing supernatural about Jesus’ origin.

6:45 God draws people by teaching them. Everyone, then, who hears and learns from the Father will come to Christ.

6:46,47 Hearing and learning (v. 45) fall short of seeing the Father. John declares, “No one has seen God at any time” (1:18; 5:37). Here Jesus adds that only the Son has seen the Father. Though a person has not seen the Father, he or she can believe in Christ and have everlasting life.

6:48,49 Christ is the bread of life. Those who believe in Him have life (v. 47). The manna in the wilderness did not ultimately sustain life. Those who ate it eventually died because it could not provide everlasting life.

6:51 Eats of this bread is a synonym for faith (vv. 35, 48–50).

6:52 His flesh to eat: Jesus was speaking figuratively, but the Jewish leaders took Him literally.

6:53–58 Eats My flesh and drinks My blood: Jesus had made it abundantly clear in this context that eternal life is gained by believing (vv. 29,35,40,47). These verses teach that the benefits of Jesus’ death must be appropriated, by faith, by each individual.

6:60 Disciple literally means “learner” and is used in a variety of ways in the NT. It can include unbelievers (see v. 64), believers who go beyond initial faith to baptism and obedience (8:31), or it can mean the apostles in particular (see 2:11). The context determines what meaning is intended. Here it simply means learner. Some of the crowd were students; they came to learn. Not all of these had believed in Christ. It was hard for the Jewish learners to accept the idea of eating flesh and drinking blood. Jews were forbidden to even taste blood.

6:62 Jesus was asking, “If the thought of eating flesh and drinking blood offends you, would you be further offended at the idea of My ascension?”

6:63,64 Jesus was trying to get the religious leaders to see beyond the physical aspects of His teaching to the real issue—namely, that if they believed on Him they would have everlasting life. Because they did not believe, many of these disciples did not follow Jesus any longer (v. 66).

6:65 The people did not believe (v. 64) because it was not granted to them by the Father. There is a balance in this chapter between God’s initiative and human response. The multitude is told about the election of the Father (v. 37), and yet all are invited to believe (v. 40). The same is true of the Jewish leaders (vv. 44,47) and those called disciples (v. 63).

6:68,69 John wrote so that people might believe “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20:31). The similarity between the confession of Peter and the purpose statement of John is inescapable.

6:70,71 Judas Iscariot never made Peter’s confession of faith in Christ. Though he was a disciple and even one of the twelve, it is never said that he believed.