In John 6 there are six sections related to Christ as the bread of life (vv. 32-71). In the first section we have Christ’s incarnation (vv. 32-51a); in the second, Christ’s death (vv. 51b-55); in the third, Christ’s resurrection (vv. 56-59); in the fourth, Christ’s ascension (vv. 60-62); in the fifth, Christ’s becoming the life-giving Spirit (vv. 63-65); and in the sixth, Christ’s being embodied and realized in the word of life (vv. 66-71).
We receive eternal life through Christ’s death and resurrection (vv. 51b, 53-57). Verse 51b says, “The bread which I will give is My flesh, given for the life of the world.” As we have pointed out, this refers to the Lord’s dying for us. He was slain, crucified, that we might have eternal life. In order to make Himself available to us to partake of as our food, the Lord Jesus had to die. The Lord Jesus was slain on the cross so that we could eat Him.
Resurrection is the next step by which the Lord Jesus made Himself available to us as the bread of life. Although He was slain, He is still living. He is the living One in resurrection. In verse 56 the Lord Jesus speaks of abiding in the one who eats His flesh and drinks His blood. Here Christ’s resurrection is implied. This verse indicates that He had to be resurrected that He might abide in us as our life and life supply. The Lord Jesus could not have an abode in us before His resurrection. He could abide in us only after His resurrection.
Because Christ has been resurrected, not only does He abide in us, but we may abide in Him. He who eats His flesh and drinks His blood abides in Him (v. 56).
Having received Christ as eternal life by believing in Him, we now live because of Him. Regarding this, the Lord Jesus said, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (v. 57). To eat the Lord is to receive Him into us as food to be assimilated by us organically. Then we live by Him whom we receive. It is by this that Christ lives in us as the resurrected One (14:19-20).
In 6:53-57 the Lord Jesus, the Almighty God and the Creator of the universe, exhorts us to eat Him. Apart from the divine revelation in the Word, we would never have such a thought. If this word had not been spoken by the Lord Jesus, we surely would not have the boldness to say that we must eat the Lord. But both physically and spiritually we live by eating. Just as we need to eat three meals a day in order to live, so we need to eat the Lord so that we can live by the Lord.
The most important point in the entire chapter of John 6 is that Christ is our food, the bread of life. To eat Him is not a once-for-all matter. Rather, we daily need to contact the Lord and eat Him. Because He is the bread of life, He is edible. Now we must exercise our spirit to feed on Him, receiving Him, digesting Him, experiencing Him, enjoying Him, and applying Him moment by moment. We all need to concentrate on this one thing—eating Christ and then living by what we have eaten of Him. This is the divine way of life for our daily living.
In verse 58 the Lord Jesus declared that the one who eats the bread which came down out of heaven shall live forever.
“It is the Spirit who gives life” (v. 63a). At this point the Spirit who gives life is brought in. After resurrection and through resurrection, the Lord Jesus, who had become flesh (1:14), became the Spirit who gives life, as is clearly mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:45. It is as the life-giving Spirit that Christ can be life and the life supply to us. When we receive Him as the crucified and resurrected Savior, the Spirit who gives life comes into us to impart eternal life into us. We receive the Lord Jesus, but we get the Spirit who gives life. It is as the Spirit that Christ is the redeeming and generating life to us. Today we do not need to contact the Lord physically. Since He is the Spirit, we can contact Him as the Spirit within us. Because He is the life-giving Spirit, we can feed upon Him and assimilate Him as our food.
Christ as the bread of life is embodied in the word of life. He is the Spirit embodied in the Word. In addition to the Spirit, who is wonderful, we need something solid, visible, tangible, and touchable—the word of life. Concerning this, the Lord Jesus says that the words which He has spoken to us are “spirit and are life” (v. 63b).
The Greek word for words in verse 63 and also in verse 68 is rhema, which denotes the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos (translated Word in 1:1), which denotes the constant word. In 6:63 “the words” follow “the Spirit.” The Spirit is living and real, yet He is very mysterious, intangible, and difficult for people to apprehend; the words, however, are substantial. First, the Lord Jesus indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the Spirit of life. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we get the Spirit, who is life.
At the end of John 6, in verse 68, Simon Peter said to the Lord, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” This chapter closes with the word of life, which is the means for us to receive the Lord as the bread of life. If we receive the Word, we will have the Spirit; and if we have the Spirit within, we will have Christ as the inner supply of life. May we all realize that our need is Christ as our life supply and then daily contact Him as the life-giving Spirit embodied in the Word.