LESSON II.—SUNDAY, JULY 8, 1900.
22 "On the morrow the multitude which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save one, and that Jesus entered not with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples went away alone (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate 24 the bread after the Lord had given thanks); when the multitude therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Caper-25 naum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when camest Thou 26 hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw signs, but because 27 ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for Him the 28 Father, even God, hath sealed. They said therefore unto 29 Him, What must we do, that we may work the works of God? 30 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. They said therefore unto Him, What then doest Thou for a sign, that we may 31 see, and believe Thee? what workest Thou? Our fathers ate the 32 manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the 33 bread out of heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread 34 out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh 35 down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world. They said therefore unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Jesus 36 said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never 37 thirst. But I said unto you, that ye have seen Me, and yet be-38 lieve not. All that which the Father giveth Me shall come 39 unto Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out. 40 For I am come down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that of all that which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day." Golden Text: "Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life." John 6:35. (1) What reasonings did the multitude have among themselves on the day after they had eaten of the loaves and fishes? V. 22. (2) What explanatory statement is made in verse 23? Note 1. (3) Not finding Jesus or His disciples there, what did the multitude do? To what place did they go? For what purpose? V. 24. Note 2. (4) Whom did they find after crossing the sea? What question did they at once ask Him? V. 25. (5) Did Jesus answer their question? For what purpose did He say they had sought Him? V. 26. (6) What admonition did He give them in regard to the true aim in labor? Through whom would they receive this meat that would abide unto everlasting life? By whose authority had Christ been set apart for this work? V. 27. Note 3. (7) What question did this lead the people to ask of Jesus? V. 28. (8) In what did Jesus say the work of God consisted? V. 29. (9) What did the people demand of the Saviour? V. 30. Note 4. (10) To what did they refer in the history of their nation to show that the feeding of the five thousand was not a great work? V. 31. Note 5. (11) What did Christ say in reference to their conception of the gift of manna? From whom must the true bread out of heaven come? V. 32. (12) What was that true bread? What was that true bread to do? V. 33. Note 6. (13) What request did the people then make of Christ? V. 34. (14) What did Jesus reply to this? What would be the condition of those who came to Him and believed on Him? V. 35. (15) What statement did He reiterate to show them their real condition? V. 36. (16) How many did the Saviour say would come to Him? How many does this include? (Isa. 45:22; Matt. 11:28.) How would they be received by Him? V. 37. (17) For what purpose did Christ then declare He had left heaven? V. 38. (18) What was God's purpose concerning Christ? V. 39. (19) What is the Father's will concerning mankind? What does Christ declare that He Himself will do for those who die believing in Him? When will He do this? 1. Boats from Tiberias.—These boats were not at the place where Jesus had fed the five thousand, and from which the disciples' boat had put off for Bethsaida and Capernaum; but they were near there—near enough so that those who wished to cross the sea had little or no difficulty in reaching them. It shows that there is no inharmony between the statements, "there was none other boat there," and "they themselves got into the boats." 2. Got into the boats.—The boats that had come over from Tiberias, on the western shore of Galilee, some distance south of Capernaum. 3. The meat which abideth unto eternal life.—"The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews. Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had said, 'Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.' And the prophet Jeremiah had written, 'Thy words were found, and I did eat them.' The rabbis themselves had a saying, that the eating of bread, in its spiritual significance, was the study of the law and the practise of good works; and it was often said that at the Messiah's coming all Israel would be fed."—Desire of Ages. 4. What doest Thou for a sign?—They had witnessed, many of them, the various miracles which Christ had performed from the beginning of His ministry, had seen the sick healed, the lame and maimed restored to soundness, the eyes of the blind opened, had themselves partaken of the bread and fish which multiplied under the Saviour's hand, and knew of His crossing the sea upon the water. They had listened to His gracious words, spoken as "never man spake," and still were asking for a sign to prove that He was what He claimed to be. And yet many to-day, with all the accumulation of evidence, are doubting, questioning, asking for a sign. 5. Our fathers ate the manna.—That is to say, the supplying of manna through all the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness was a much greater miracle than what Christ had done on the preceding day. Jesus must do a greater thing than this to prove His Messiahship; but Christ shows how meager was that gift compared with the bread of life which He had come to give them. Their fathers had eaten manna, and were dead; whereas those who partook of the bread of life would live forever. But even the manna had not come through Moses. Christ had furnished that typical bread also, but they had failed to learn the spiritual lesson in that bread, and had perished. The same will be true of those who fail to partake of Christ as the bread of life. If He is nothing to us but "a good man and a great teacher," we are lost. 6. Giveth life unto the world.—"As our own physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the Word of God; and every soul is to receive life from God's Word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves to obtain nourishment, so we must receive the Word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another's mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His Word."—Desire of Ages.