Mark

continuing on…

Joh 6:34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Here the crowd directly asks Jesus to give them the ‘bread’. Clearly though, they are still misunderstanding. They are thinking in physical terms. Like Cheryl pointed out, they are looking for physical nourishment in order that they can ‘work’ for their salvation.

Joh 6:35 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.

Here is the first of the great ‘I am’ statements. Jesus now clearly reveals the meaning of his teaching. The bread that the ‘Father’ gives (a gift) is his only Son- Jesus. This ‘bread’ gives ‘life’. The spiritual and eternal nature of Jesus teaching is the main focus (juxtaposed against the temporary manna in the desert). We will not hunger or thirst spiritually- that is, we recieve eternal life. This verse should not be taken physically. (see 6:63 when Jesus declares that his words are spiritual not from the flesh)

Note- ‘comes’ is synonymous for ‘believes’. So the first clause is saying identically the same as the second, just using different terms (comes/believes, thirst/hunger). This becomes important throughout the rest of the chapter when we begin to see that no one can ‘come’ (believe) unless God enables them/draws them/ grants them. The terms ‘comes/believes’ are used interchangeably (37,40,44, 47,65) in this chapter.

I’ve only done these two verse because i don’t want to push through to quickly incase there is disagreement.