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{This dialog was
originally conducted at CARM on or around August 2004. it is
representative of many dialogs on this topic, and I offer it as a case
study. It will be useful to some who
are encountering this topic.} John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but
because you ate of the loaves and were filled. In vv 26-27, Jesus is admonishing the people becasue they are following Him not for spiritual reasons
but because He filled their bellies once. V. 27 is
especially telling because Christ is saying that they should not be working
for belly-food, but for spiritual food -- food which ebdures
to eternal life. cf. John 4 when Jesus tells the apostles that He has food
which they know nothing about -- He's talking about the same thing here: not
the food you run off to the market to purchase, not the food which satisfies
you for a moment, but the food which gives eternal satisfaction. John 6:32 Jesus then said to them,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread
out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you Me, the true bread
out of heaven. When Jesus says, "I am the Bread of Life", there is
no way to say that He means, "I am the Eucharist bread and wine"
because this passage has absolutely nothing pointing to the Last Supper --
which was a Passover seder, not a re-enactment of
the Jews in the wilderness -- and nothing pointing to a future ceremony which
is related to that event. {This second part of
this shows the rebuttal and response to the initial post.} When Jesus says, "I am the Bread of
Life", there is no way to say that He means, "I am the Eucharist
bread and wine" because this passage has absolutely nothing pointing to
the Last Supper -- which was a Passover seder, not
a re-enactment of the Jews in the wilderness -- and nothing pointing to a
future ceremony which is related to that event. Given that you have not touched on the substance of the
argument at all (again – just like in the sola Scriptura debate), there’s no need to refute your claim.
You are just creating bandwidth. John 6: 35 Jesus said to them, "I am
the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in
Me will never thirst. Could He have said it any clearer? You (you Jews; you who are
clamoring for a sign; you who have just had your bellies filled and came here
for a second meal) have seen me and yet you do not believe. There is
no question for Christ that these people do not believe – He knows before
they walk away that they do not have faith. It’s not an assumption one has to
make while reading or after one reads: Christ says it clearly: you do not
believe. 37 "All that the Father gives Me will
come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” Notice first that we don’t have to jump all over the passage
to get this statement. Jesus says they have seen and not believed, but what?
All that the Father gives me will come to me. And all that come to me,
I will certainly not cast out. So what’s the contrast? There are some
which the Father gives, and those that He gives will come and Jesus will not
cast them out – but what has happened with these Jews? They do not believe.
If they do not believe, are they the ones Jesus is talking about, the ones
given by the Father? How can they be?! They don’t come – they don’t believe!
So whatever Jesus is saying, they did not get it – in the idiomatic sense
that they didn’t understand it, but in the spiritual sense that they did not
get it from the Father first. 38 "For I have come down from heaven,
not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. Again, how much more clear does Jesus
have to be? If one is not intent on seeing only the Eucharist in this
passage, the words of Christ explain themselves with specific clarity. What
has come down from Heaven? I have come down from Heaven. And what is the will
of Him who sent Me? 39 "This is the will of Him who sent
Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the
last day. The will of the Father is that Jesus loses none of those whom
He was given; they will all believe in Him, and He will raise them up on the
last day. 44 "No one can come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. So if they don’t come to Jesus, the Father has not drawn them
(no one can come unless the Father draws him); the drawing is equated with
having heard – which is to say, believing. If they have heard, they come to
Christ. John 6:61 But Jesus, conscious that His
disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to
stumble? Jesus says these things in this way to be a stumbling block to
those who do not believe. He is not speaking to the faithful here but to
those without faith, to whom the Gospel must be an offense. Why would Jesus
here be speaking in a parable or a metaphor – why would He be using veiled
language? Because these men are not supposed to believe Him. |