Our forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

In response to their request for a sign, Jesus makes clear the Source of miraculous provisions, saying: “Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father does give you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Lord,” the people say, “always give us this bread.”

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus explains. “He that comes to me will not get hungry at all, and he that exercises faith in me will never get thirsty at all. But I have said to you, You have even seen me and yet do not believe. Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and the one that comes to me I will by no means drive away; because I have come down from heaven to do, not my will, but the will of him that sent me. This is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing out of all that he has given me but that I should resurrect it at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life.”

At this the Jews begin murmuring at Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They see in him nothing more than a son of human parents and so in the same manner as did the people of Nazareth, they object, saying: “Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it that now he says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

“Stop murmuring among yourselves,” Jesus responds. “No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him; and I will resurrect him in the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by Jehovah.’ Everyone that has heard from the Father and has learned comes to me. Not that any man has seen the Father, except he who is from God; this one has seen the Father. Most truly I say to you, He that believes has everlasting life.”

Continuing, Jesus repeats: “I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness and yet died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” Yes, by exercising faith in Jesus, the one sent forth by God, people can have everlasting life. No manna, or any other bread, can provide that!

The discussion regarding the bread from heaven apparently began shortly after the people found Jesus near Capernaum. But it continues, reaching a climax later while Jesus teaches in a synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Quit Following Jesus

JESUS is teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum concerning his part as the true bread from heaven. His talk is evidently an extension of the discussion that began with the people when they found him on their return from the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, where they had eaten from the miraculously provided loaves and fishes.

Jesus continues his remarks, saying: “The bread that I shall give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.” Just two years before, in the spring of 30 C.E., Jesus told Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that he provided his Son as a Savior. Thus, Jesus is now showing that anyone of the world of mankind who eats symbolically of his flesh, by exercising faith in the sacrifice he is soon to make, may receive everlasting life.

The people, however, stumble over Jesus’ words. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they ask. Jesus wants his listeners to understand that the eating of his flesh would be done in a figurative way. So, to emphasize this, he says something still more objectionable if taken in a literal way.

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood,” Jesus declares, “you have no life in yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day; for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I in union with him.”

True, Jesus’ teaching would sound most offensive if he were suggesting cannibalism. But, of course, Jesus is not advocating literally eating flesh or drinking blood. He is simply emphasizing that all who receive everlasting life must exercise faith in the sacrifice that he is to make when he offers up his perfect human body and pours out his lifeblood. Yet, even many of his disciples make no attempt to understand his teaching and so object: “This speech is shocking; who can listen to it?”