Learn from Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:41-58)

(43-21a)


For this week’s study:

  1. Any time you read or study the Bible, always start with prayer, asking God to guide you, so you understand God’s message and learn His methods for living.
  2. Read John 6:41-58 several times using your Bible, and the two translations provided below, to understand the boundaries, content and flow of the study passage. (Reading the passage once a day from any of those translations is recommended.)
  3. Read and respond to the “Study Guide” and use the “Study Resources” provided below to learn more from this study passage.

Read the Passage

Berean Standard Bible
(BSB)

<41>At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” <42>They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’ ”

<43>“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. <44>“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. <45>It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’1 Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— <46>not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.

<47>Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. <48>I am the bread of life. <49>Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. <50>This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. <51>I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”

<52>At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

<53>So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. <54>Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. <55>For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.

<56>Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. <57>Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. <58>This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Word Come Alive
(WCA)

(An extended translation)*

<41>Some of the Jews started to mutter about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that has come down from heaven.’ <42>They sneered, ‘Isn’t he Jesus, Joseph’s son? Why, we even know his mum and dad! So how on earth can he now come up with the wild claim, “I’ve come down from heaven”? We’ve never heard of such a thing!

<43>Jesus knew about their grumbling and responded, ‘Stop muttering to one another. <44>No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up on the day of judgment. <45>As the prophets wrote, “They will all be taught by God.” They wrote this because every person who has really listened to the Father and has learnt from him will come to me.2 <46>No one has seen the Father except the One who has come from God; only he has truly seen the Father. <47>I am telling you the truth, the person who trusts in me already has eternal life. <48>I repeat, I am the bread that gives life.

<49>‘Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. <50>In contrast, here is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat it and never die. <51>I, the Son of Man, am the living bread that has come down from heaven. Everyone who eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is the flesh of my body, which I will give up in my death for the life of the world. You need to take me into your lives spiritually, just as you take bread into your lives physically.’

<52>The Jews strongly disagreed with what Jesus had said. They argued among themselves, ‘How can this man give us the flesh of his body to eat?’

<53>So Jesus answered them, ‘I am telling you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will have no life in you. Unless you take me into your life, trusting in the sacrifice of my life, you will remain spiritually dead. <54>Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them up on the day of judgment. <55>My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. <56>Everyone who spiritually eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I remain in them. We will then be in the closest possible friendship.

<57>‘Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so the person who feeds on me spiritually will have life because of me. <58>This then is the real bread that came down from heaven. As I have said, your ancestors ate manna and died, but everyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

* Words in italics are not translated from the original Greek text.  They have been added to explain and at times apply the text, much as a preacher does on a Sunday or notes do at the foot of the page in a study Bible. These additions are integrated with the text itself, and are in italics, so readers can see what has been explained, changed or added.


Study the Passage

Study Guide

Read each of the passages listed below (one at a time), and then write down your answer to the question associated with that passage.

John 6:41-42. Why are the Jews talking about Jesus’ family?

John 6:43-47. What is the Father’s role in our salvation?

John 6:48-51. What is the Son’s role in our salvation?

John 6:52-58. What is our role in our salvation?

Study Resources

To learn more about this study passage, go to
https://www.bibleref.com/John/6/John-6-41.html. Read the commentary of each verse in the study passage.  (Also read the Context Summary and the Chapter Summary.)

If you have any questions about this passage, type the verse reference or your question in the search box at the top of
https://www.gotquestions.org/ and explore the results.

If you have a study Bible, read the footnotes and study notes and see how they help you understand this passage. Also check out any maps, charts and articles related to the study passage.


Footnotes:

  1. 6:45 Isaiah 54:13 ↩︎
  2. For example, Isaiah 54:13. ↩︎