“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body …’”(Luke 22:14, NKJV)
With this teaching we are already embarking on a detour – we want to come to a better understanding of the symbolic meaning of the concept table in Scripture, and of communion as an important part of the Christian church. We looked at this within the wider typology of the wine/blood of the New Covenant. In this teaching we would like to make a few important remarks about the meaning of the communion bread.
In Matt. 26:26 the following is said about the communion meal: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’”
The importance of this event alas often reverts to mere Christian ritual and habit, without a deeper understanding of what is really at stake.
What Jesus demonstrated and said cannot be understood in the absence of the extended teaching that Jesus presents in John 6.
John offers an intertwined narrative consisting of various stories, and for the sake of illustrating how these stories communicate to one another, and the way the juxtaposition has certain meanings attached to it, we present the following structure of the chapter:
| JOHN 6 | SUMMARY | |
| I | verse 1 –
verse 15 |
The miracle of the multiplication of the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fish – more than 5000 people are fed. |
| II | verse 16 –
verse 21 |
The disciples in a storm at sea, and the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. |
| III | verse 22 –
verse 58 |
Jesus speaks to his followers about the bread of life and the fact that He is the bread of life. He likens it to the manna present during the time of Moses. |
| IV | verse 59 –
verse 71 |
Jesus speaks to his followers about the bread that descended from heaven, and about their inability to believe this. Many stop following Him, and He asks His disciples if they, too, want to leave. |
In this chapter various narratives are bound together in a seamless manner. After the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fish, Jesus realises that His followers are dependent on miracles in order for them to believe. Elsewhere He notes it as such: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.’” (John 4:48). In John 12:37 it is presented as fact: “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.” Throughout the gospels we read of how the Jews demanded signs and wonders (Matt. 12:38-39; 16:1, 3 & 4; 24:3 & 24; Mark 8:11-12; 13:4; Luke 11:16, 29-30; 21:7; 23:8; John 2:18 & 23; 3;2; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18; 20:30). Paul explicitly notes it later, in 1 Cor. 1:22: “For Jews request a sign …”. Jesus also notes the following, mincing no words: “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it …” (Luke 11:29).
Therefore the crux of the chapter’s argument sounds strange, as is seen in verse 26: “Jesus answered them and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.’” When one looks at this closely, it seems as if Jesus said it (as Jon Courson’s Application Commentary – NT remarks): “You came here not because you saw the meaning of the miracle, but because you wanted another free lunch.” (The Message also inaccurately translates it as such.) In fact, Jesus means the exact opposite here – you realised one cannot just live from bread alone; you are here because you have tasted the Bread of Life, and you want more.
This entire chapter is concerned with establishing a new concept Jesus is explaining to his followers – the amazing mystery of the rhema-word. Everything presented in chapter 6, which John has woven together in a strong literary manner, guides the reader in recognizing this.
It is important to consider the context in illustrating this point, and we will do so by looking at the four parts of the chapter that are delineated above.
Firstly, in what we may call Part 1, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish takes place. From the beginning of John 6 up until verse 15 we read of how Jesus went to Tiberias, a great multitude following Him, “because they saw His signs”. John looked at the multitude and asks Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Needless to say, Philip is concerned with the financial implications of feeding this many people. We know the rest of the story – Simon Peter finds a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish, and Jesus goes on to feed 5000 people with the original meagre supplies, now greatly multiplied. The immediate reaction was obviously amazement, and thus John 6:14 notes: “Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’” But when Jesus saw that they were trying to force Him to be king, He left for the mountains, alone.
Everything that happens after this is seen in the light of the dramatic miracle that occurred, therefore the place is henceforth explicitly referred to as “the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks”, as is seen in verse 23! This miracle was etched into the memories and imaginations of His followers.
We will look at Part 2 a bit later. For now, Part 3.
The following narrative frame we would like to point out, Part 3, starts from verse 22. The new narrative frame is created by an explicit reference to time: “the following day …”, as well as a change in space. From verse 22 to 25 the space references are prominent, for where Jesus finds himself does not correspond with where His followers expect Him to be (they don’t know that He walked across the water to get there), therefore they then also ask in verse 25: “when did You come here?” This uncertainty is important, because it is as if the followers cannot pin down his spatial positioning. (We will later return to this important point.)
In verse 27 He leads the discussion of spiritual growth within the context of bread, and interestingly enough no longer refers to it as bread, but as meat. Within a different typology one could explain the food of the three dimensions within the tabernacle typology as follows:
- first dimension: milk ( 1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:2)
- second dimension: bread (Luke 14:15; to eat from the table of showbread, symbolic of the will of God)
- third dimension: meat (1 Cor. 3:2; 10:3; Heb. 5:12 & 14).
When Jesus spells out in verse 26: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him,” then HE is the “meat” which needs to be consumed in the third dimension (in other words, the meat which is the Bread of Life)! He is however sealed, in other words, hidden (Strong). At that stage it was not yet known what would happen if Jesus was to be increased as to become Christ, as this mystery was still hidden, and as was also the case with the Bride (“it has not yet been revealed what we shall be” –1 John 3:2; also see Col. 3:3).
This is followed by an extended conversation between Jesus and all His followers, and the golden thread throughout the conversation is what “the true bread” (John 6:32) is. Jesus brings a clear contrast between the bread which He offers, and the Old Testament bread which they are familiar with from the time of Moses in the desert: “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.’” (John 6:31-32).
WHAT this bread from heaven is, is absolutely integral to their identity, as the word manna comes from the phrase “What is it?” (BDB). WE DO NOT YET KNOW WHAT WE ARE GOING TO BE AFTER THE APOKALUPSIS, THE REVELATION, THE UNVEILING. We are clearly still sealed. The actual sweet wafer the Israelites had to consume in the desert is a counterpart of the rhema-words of God.
From verse 32 onwards Jesus starts explaining, in quite a bit of detail, that He is the Bread of life, calling it the “true bread”, the Fullness, the Logos, the Total Utterance. But He also starts sensitising them to the fact that He is also the Christ, and consists of a manifold other pieces of manna, portions of the complete Bread (yes, twelve baskets of authority!), the rhema-words, the small utterances making up the Total Utterance!
And even if they do not understand, they ask, “Lord, give us this bread always.” (John 6:34), “at all times, always, ever” (Strong). In this light it is absolutely clear what Jesus had said in Matt. 4:4: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” And these words referred to are rhema-words. And take note – every word!
As Jesus descended from heaven (John 6:38), the rhema-words descend from the heavens, the spiritual realm, to the physical realm.
Within this conversation Jesus suddenly places great focus on another term, which might seem trivial at first: come down: “This is the bread which comes down from heaven … I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:50-51). Earlier in the conversation, in verse 38, He also used explicitly used the term: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” To emphasise the importance of “coming down”, He makes an important distinction between the physical manna of the desert, and the spiritual manna. The first was consumed by the fathers in the desert, and yet they still perished. Of this bread (= manna), Jesus says in verse 50, they should have been able to eat and NOT die. And yet they did die. What was thus lacking? In verse 51 He makes it clear: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
The term “come down” is the same term that is used in Rev. 21:2 to describe the Bride’s transitioning from the spiritual realm to the physical realm. In the next teaching we will tie all these glorious threads together.
- Selah: Explain the concept of manna to someone.
- Read: 1 Cor. 15-16; 2 Cor. 1-9.
- Memorise: 2 Cor. 5:1-2.
