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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_6:26-34
26Jesus 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. 27Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal. 28Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" 29Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." 30So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'" 32Jesus 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 the true bread out of heaven. 33For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 34Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
Joh_6:26; Joh_6:32; Joh_6:53 "Truly, truly, I say to you" "Amen," "Amen." This is a Hebrew phrase that has three distinct usages.
1. In the OT the word was used for "trust." Its figurative sense meant "to be firm" and was used to describe one's faith in YHWH.
2. Jesus' usage reflects the introduction of important and significant statements. We have no other contemporary usage of "amen" in this way.
3. In the early church, like the OT, it came to be a term of affirmation or concurrence.
See hyperlink at Joh_1:51.
▣ "but because you ate of the loaves" Their motives were physical and immediate, not spiritual and eternal.
▣ "and were filled" This term meant "to gorge," it was often used of animals (especially cows).
Joh_6:27 "Do not work" This is a present middle imperative with the negative particle which usually means to stop an act already in progress. The OT background to this passage is Isaiah 5. This conversation has many similarities to the one with the woman at the well in John 4.
▣ "perishes" See Special Topic: Apollumi at10:10.
▣ "has set His seal" This is literally "sealed." This was a sign of authenticity, ownership, authority, and security (cf. NEB and Mat_28:18; Joh_17:2). TEV and NIV translate it as "approval" since it is used to assert God the Father's approval of Jesus' ministry. See hyperlink at Joh_3:33, where it may refer to the Holy Spirit.
Joh_6:28 "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God" This was the central religious question of first century Judaism (cf. Luk_18:18). The religious Jew was assumed to be right with God based on (1) his lineage and (2) his performance of the Mosaic Law as it was interpreted by the Oral Tradition (Talmud).
Joh_6:29 "that you believe in Him whom He has sent" This is a present active subjunctive followed by an aorist active indicative. The word "believe" is crucial in understanding the NT teachings about salvation. See Special Topic at Joh_2:23. The word's primary orientation was volitional trust. The Greek word group pistis can be translated as "believe," "trust" or "faith." The focus of human belief must be "in Him" (cf. Joh_1:12; Joh_3:16), not in human sincerity, commitment, nor enthusiasm. The immediate orientation of this passage is to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not orthodox theology about Him, expected religious ritual, nor even ethical living. All of these things are helpful but not primary. Notice that Jesus changes the plural "works" of their question to the singular "work."
For "sent" see Special Topic: Send (Apostellô) at Joh_5:24.
Joh_6:30-33 It must be remembered that this group had just participated in a miraculous feeding of the five thousand. They had already had their sign! Rabbinical Judaism thought the Messiah would repeat certain OT acts, such as sending of the manna (cf. II Baruch 29:8). The rabbis used Psa_72:16 as a proof text for this view of a "super-Moses" type of Messiah (cf. 1Co_1:22).
There is an important grammatical feature between the "believe in Him" of Joh_6:29 and "believe You" of Joh_6:30. The first focuses on John's usual construction of believing in/into Jesus. It is a personal focus. The second focuses on believing Jesus' words or claims which is a content focus. Remember, the Gospel is both a person and a message. See Special Topic at Joh_2:23.
Joh_6:31 "as it is written" This is a periphrastic perfect passive participle. It was the standard grammatical form to introduce Scripture quotes from the OT. It was an idiom affirming the inspiration and authority of the OT. This quote could refer to one of several OT texts or a combination: Psa_78:24; Psa_105:40; Exo_16:4; Exo_16:15, or Neh_9:15.
Joh_6:32 Jesus addresses the Jews' traditional theology. They asserted that the Messiah must perform wonder-works like Moses because of Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18. Jesus corrects their assumption at several points.
1. God, not Moses, gave the manna
2. manna was not of heavenly origin although the people thought it was (cf. Psa_78:23-25)
3. the true bread of heaven was Jesus, who was not a past act, but a present reality
Joh_6:33 "is that which comes down out of heaven" This is a recurrent theme in John (cf. Joh_3:13). It is John's vertical dualism. In this context Jesus' descent is stated seven times (cf. Joh_6:33; Joh_6:38; Joh_6:41-42; Joh_6:50-51; Joh_6:58). It shows Jesus' pre-existent, divine origin (cf. Joh_6:33; Joh_6:38; Joh_6:41-42; Joh_6:50-51; Joh_6:58; Joh_6:62). It is also a play on "manna" which came from heaven as did Jesus the true Bread, the Bread of life.
This is literally "the bread of God is the one coming down out of heaven." Here the masculine present active participle refers to (1) "bread" or (2) a man, Jesus. Often in John these ambiguities are purposeful (double entendres).
▣ "gives life to the world" This is the purpose for which Jesus came (cf. Joh_3:16; Mar_10:45; 2Co_5:21). The goal is "new life," "eternal life," "new age life," "God's kind of life" to a lost and rebellious world, not to some special group (Jew/Gentile, elect/non-elect, conservative/liberal), but to all!
Joh_6:34
NASB, NKJV "Lord"
NRSV, TEV,
NJB, NET,
NIV, REB"Sir"
These two terms both reflect different semantic usages of kurios. In this context the second option seems best. The crowd did not understand Jesus or His words. They did not perceive Him as the Messiah (also note Joh_4:11; Joh_5:7).
▣ "always give us this bread" This is similar to the statement of the woman at the well in Joh_4:15. These Jews did not understand Jesus' spiritual metaphors either. This is a recurrent theme in John.