But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
Though they had seen Him with their eyes, witnessed His miracles and divine power plainly displayed, and heard His testimony and instruction, they did not believe on Him. They followed Him for temporal benefit because they ate the loaves and were filled, wanting continued physical food as Israel had manna in the wilderness rather than spiritual life and understanding of the miracle. Their understanding was convinced by the evidence of His identity, yet their proud, stubborn, self-righteous hearts refused to acknowledge Him, and no further marvelous works would have changed unbelief that reasons away even the clearest proof. Mere outward connection with Him and mere theoretical knowledge will not save, for salvation comes only by personal faith in a personal Saviour that brings spiritual union with Him, with self crucified and Christ abiding within. He is the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, so that whoever comes to Him never hungers and whoever believes on Him never thirsts, and eating His flesh and drinking His blood means earnestly receiving Him and His Word by faith and obeying it as spirit and life.
Setting After Feeding Multitude
The words were spoken at Capernaum to the multitude and to the Jews who had followed Jesus there after He fed five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes, and after He walked on the water. They had seen Him and His miracle, they had seen His compassion and divine power plainly displayed, yet they did not believe on Him as the Son of God. He spoke them as part of His repeated lesson that He Himself is the Bread of Life, the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, whom God the Father hath sealed, and that he that cometh to Him shall never hunger and he that believeth on Him shall never thirst, for His words are spirit and life.
They sought Him not because they saw the miracles but because they did eat of the loaves and were filled, desiring Him to continue providing palatable physical food as Israel was given manna in the wilderness. Their interest was driven by hope of food and other temporal benefits and by hopes of an earthly kingdom, rather than by belief in who He was or by desire for spiritual life. Though He taught them to bestow not their chief labor and anxiety on meat which perisheth but on that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of man shall give, and that this is the work of God, that they believe on Him whom He hath sent, they still asked what sign He would show. Like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, when they asked for the bread that gives life to the world their minds were on temporal food, not on Christ come down from heaven to satisfy forever all hunger and thirst in those who come to Him and believe on Him, and they had not understood the spiritual meaning of the miracle of the loaves as pointing to everlasting life.
When He used the miracle as the occasion for His sermon on the bread of life, setting forth the conditions of eternal life and entrance into the kingdom of God, which require dying to self and practicing self-denial, they were displeased and offended. Many who had followed Him for temporal advantages, and even some who professed to be His disciples, went back and walked no more with Him when He taught that His kingdom was spiritual rather than a temporal reign, while the Twelve did not then turn away and Peter declared loyalty for his brethren. He spoke these truths to bring His hearers to decide for or against Him and to reveal what they truly felt, exposing that seeing Him and hearing His words did not by itself mean genuine faith, and that those not wholly with Him would take a position against Him at His trial.
Seeing Without Truly Believing
To see Jesus with the eyes is not to believe in Him, for witnessing His miracles, works, compassion and divine power plainly displayed does not by itself produce faith. Receiving clear light and hearing His testimony and precious instruction still leave men unbelieving when the heart does not trust Him rightly. The people had the evidence before them, yet their interest was drawn by hope of temporal benefit rather than by belief in who He was or desire for spiritual life. He is the bread of life come down from heaven to give life to the world, and men may see Him without recognizing Him. To receive Him is to keep His Word and truth before the mind, to study and practice the Word, to look to Jesus by faith rather than by sight, and to live by faith in God's Word through the Spirit and Christ's words which are spirit and life, not through the flesh.
Mere outward connection with Christ or with His church will not save any man. Mere theoretical knowledge of Him will not save, for what saves is personal faith in a personal Saviour bringing the soul into spiritual union with Christ. Those who see and yet believe not lack that union, while all whom the Father gives come to Him, are never cast out, do the Father's will, feed on Christ as the bread of life and living bread from heaven, receive everlasting life, and are raised up at the last day. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to have tasted that the Lord is gracious as part of actual experience, as newborn babes desiring the sincere milk of the word that growth may follow. This requires being truly converted and born again in order to discern and enter the spiritual kingdom, by opening the mind to God's word with determination to practice it so that light comes, the frivolous life is changed, and Christ is revealed in spirit, words and actions step by step heavenward. Where faith has not laid hold upon Him, the soul does not know Him whom to know aright is life and peace, because self has not been expelled from the soul and crucified and Christ is not abiding within.
The same warning reaches those today who witness God's work through His Word yet do not truly believe or appreciate His blessings. Though they have seen God working on hearts and strengthening men and women to come out from the world and receive Christ as personal Saviour, many think they believe yet do not have His light and life because they do not believe as they should. Therefore they do not receive the blessings God has in store, for belief in God's Word brings a marked experience of His salvation. Failing to thank God, to recount His blessings and praise Him with gratitude, and being unmindful of His mercies, grieves the heavenly Father. They are like a desert shrub that does not know when good comes.
Reasons For Persistent Unbelief
Their understanding had been convinced by the evidence of His identity and divine power, yet their proud, stubborn, self-righteous hearts refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah. They kept asking for more signs despite the works already done among them, and their demand for another sign came from caviling unbelief, not from lack of evidence. Even more marvelous works would not have overcome their refusal to yield prejudice, for unbelief finds reasons to doubt and reasons away even the strongest and clearest proof. Those who reject the evidence already given, clinging to prejudice, pride, and self-righteousness rather than admitting need of a teacher, had repeatedly witnessed living evidence through the Holy Spirit's witness and God's revelation yet still did not believe.
They did not understand His instruction because their minds were fixed on temporal food. They had seen Him and the miracle of feeding five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes, yet they followed Him to Capernaum not because they saw the miracles but because they ate of the loaves and were filled, desiring Him to continue providing palatable physical food as Israel was given manna in the wilderness. While He taught them not to bestow chief labor on meat which perishes but on that meat which endures unto everlasting life which the Son of man, whom God the Father hath sealed, shall give, and that the work of God is to believe on Him whom He hath sent, and that His Father gives the true bread from heaven which gives life to the world, they still asked what sign He would show. They were like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, asking for the bread that gives life to the world while seeking loaves rather than miracles pointing to everlasting life. When He used the miracle as occasion for His sermon on the bread of life, setting forth the conditions of eternal life and entrance into the kingdom requiring dying to self and self-denial, they were displeased because they had not understood its spiritual meaning and hoped for an earthly kingdom.
They rejected His plain words when those words reproved them, closed their hearts to correction, and chose human praise over God's admonition, and their refusal to reform led them away. Those who take offense at reproof and trust in their own knowledge and self-sufficiency act in the same way, and the test of His teaching exposed whether their faith was genuine when some turned away. Hearing does not profit unless it is mixed with faith that appropriates truth to the soul as the bread and water of life. Without that appropriating faith they do not prize the opportunity, make no sacrifice to obtain the light God desires to shed on their pathway, fail to bring themselves into the channel of light and rich blessings, and fail to receive the precious blessings they might have grasped, leaving them without excuse for neglected opportunities.
Those who saw and believed not did not feel their need of prayer for the Holy Spirit to enlighten reason, nor place themselves where they could receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness and be sanctified in soul and spirit. They did not appreciate that the provision of the gospel feast is nothing less than Christ Himself with unsearchable, inexhaustible resources prepared at infinite cost through His death, from whom flow the streams of salvation. To be invited to that supper is the greatest honor that can be conferred, so heaven looks with amazement and grief on refusal, for only eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood by faith gives life and eternal life with resurrection at the last day.
Christ the Bread of Life
The chapter teaches that Jesus came down from heaven as the bread of God and the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, whom God the Father sealed, and that all whom the Father gives come to Him and none who come are cast out, with whoever comes to Him never hungering and whoever believes on Him never thirsting. He spoke this as a repeated lesson on Himself as the bread of life to hearers who had seen Him yet did not believe, while they were thinking only of the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, seeking to lead their minds to higher truth that to have eternal life they must receive Him, believe in Him, and become one with Him by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. They did not understand His instruction because their minds were on temporal food, like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, asking for life-giving bread yet missing Christ come down to satisfy forever all hunger and thirst in those who come and believe.
Bread is a figure for the vitalizing power of His Spirit, for as physical bread sustains physical life so His Spirit gives life, satisfies the heart, and strengthens the moral powers. Spiritual union with Him ends hunger for higher enjoyment and feverish thirst for wealth and honor, removes uncertainty, and brings continual refreshment to the weary soul, so that He is in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
The work God requires is to believe on Him whom He sent, the only begotten Son who came down from heaven and clothed divinity with humanity to reveal Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, with the price of heaven being the Son of God and the way to heaven being by faith in Jesus which must be understood or heaven will be missed. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood in figure means earnestly receiving Christ and His Word by faith, receiving His words as spirit and life, keeping His Word and truth before the mind, and studying and obeying Scripture as observers and doers of the Word rather than depending on human guides. Believing comes first and then working, for all true receivers never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.
That eating and drinking must become daily practical experience, for spiritual life is built by eating His flesh and drinking His blood day by day just as physical life is built from daily food, with the glory of God as the end. It means receiving truth and practicing the principles of the Word in daily life, taking hold by faith on light beyond satanic deceptions to come into connection with Christ, bringing His requirements into practical life, making continual growth in grace, being taught daily in the school of Christ, and praying for this blessing as for daily bread. This life is expressed in Christlikeness, with love for God and others, Christ's Spirit, holy desires toward God, truth that works by love and purifies the soul, advancing righteousness and restraining unrighteousness, tasting that the Lord is gracious, and bearing good fruit through seeing self as it is, thorough conversion, and humility.
Those who so feed on Him receive everlasting life and have His life hid with Christ in God, have life more abundantly, are made one with Christ in this present life to be one with Him through eternity, do the Father's will, and though they may die as He died will be raised up at the last day. Mere outward connection with Him or with His church will not save, for salvation comes only by personal faith in a personal Saviour bringing spiritual union, which those who see and yet believe not lack. Accepting the righteousness of Christ defined in this chapter puts on the wedding garment and makes one a fit guest at the wedding, which is the marriage of humanity with divinity and the standard of character each must reach, requiring a firm stand, surrendering to God what is already His, and bringing the witness of the Spirit, the joy of Christ, and full assurance of hope so the law no longer condemns the course.
The living oracles are His flesh and blood, representing the body and blood of the Son of God and addressing heart and will, not understanding alone, calling for obedience, and the living words of Scripture as the bread of life must be received and lived. His work as substitute for sin was the hope of ancient Israel even before the crucifixion. The Old Testament Scriptures are sufficient, and those who truly believed them would also believe the New, with its directions remaining spiritually nourishing and calling for practical obedience while the New Testament sheds light on them rather than replacing them.
Call to Receive and Follow
The rebuke is a call to stop depending on human guides and to put actual living faith directly in Jesus himself. Seeing him and witnessing his works does not by itself make a believer, for he alone is the Bread of life and the only hope. In a time when events of great importance are coming, men are to come straight to him as the bread of life, trust his word, and depend on him rather than on human beings for strength and guidance. When received by faith he becomes sanctification and righteousness and reward. His representatives are to give spiritual food to the hungry, but they must first seek that food from God rather than hoard grace, feeding most on Christ by reading and studying his Word, drinking in the inspiration of his Spirit, and receiving his grace to give to others. Teachers themselves must first be learners, joining active service like Martha's with learning at his feet like Mary's.
The sixth chapter holds most precious and important lessons for all being educated in schools, giving an education that endures through time and eternity when brought into practical life. It is very instructive yet only faintly understood, and students are to take in these words to understand their privileges and what Christ is to each person individually and what advantage comes from eating his words, for he himself is the great center of life and his words are spirit and life. It is part of the education by which children, youth, and men and women become workers together with God, showing the importance of feeding upon his words as his very flesh and blood. As newborn babes they are to learn to desire the sincere milk of the word so growth may follow, opening the mind to God's word with determination to practice it so that light comes, the frivolous life is changed, and Christ is revealed step by step heavenward in spirit, words, and actions. This requires tasting that the Lord is gracious as actual experience and not merely seeing without believing, being truly converted and born again in order to discern and enter the spiritual kingdom. Of all matters of importance youth are to be educated in the law of Jehovah and the penalty of transgression, and to understand that God accepts the Saviour's ransom in their behalf if they are obedient to that law.
The unbelief exposed is the position of many today who claim to be Christians and children of God yet do not understand receiving Christ as a personal Saviour. They have only a theoretical knowledge without experimental knowledge through belief in him as a personal Saviour, because self has never been crucified, self has not been expelled from the soul, and Christ is not abiding within, so faith has not laid hold upon him whom to know aright is life and peace. They have seen God working on hearts and strengthening men and women to come out from the world and receive Christ, yet they do not believe as they should and therefore do not have his light and life nor receive the blessings he has in store, and by failing to thank him, recount his blessings, and be mindful of his mercies they grieve the heavenly Father. Judas had abundant opportunity to feed on the living bread, take Christ's words into his nature, grow in him, and become in character what he professed to be, but did not inwardly receive. Spiritual life is built day by day by eating his flesh and drinking his blood just as physical life is built from daily food, with the glory of God as the end, and all whom the Father gives will come and none who come will be cast out, for coming ends hunger and believing ends thirst. Christian worth does not depend on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers, but on a clean, purified, refined heart that does not exalt self but by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity.
The fifth and sixth chapters contain the mystery of godliness and the divine antidote, and what is necessary for salvation has been revealed so human suppositions must not replace God's Word. Studying those chapters, receiving and assimilating Christ's words so they become part of life, following revealed truths in daily life, and bringing their teachings into daily experience gives the knowledge that enables distinguishing the true from the false in days of peril. Even the world's Redeemer was insulted and mocked by a multitude that had seen him and still did not believe. He spoke these truths to bring hearers to decide for or against him and to reveal what they truly felt, and those not wholly with him would take a position against him at his trial. Rejection by men who refuse to believe is therefore to be expected by those who lead men to put whole trust in him who gave his life to save souls, for true belief is earnest receiving of Christ under the similitude of heavenly bread, eating his flesh and drinking his blood in figure by receiving his Word, and all true receivers never hunger and never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.
Though they had seen Him with their eyes, witnessed His miracles and divine power plainly displayed, and heard His testimony and instruction, they did not believe on Him. They followed Him for temporal benefit because they ate the loaves and were filled, wanting continued physical food as Israel had manna in the wilderness rather than spiritual life and understanding of the miracle. Their understanding was convinced by the evidence of His identity, yet their proud, stubborn, self-righteous hearts refused to acknowledge Him, and no further marvelous works would have changed unbelief that reasons away even the clearest proof. Mere outward connection with Him and mere theoretical knowledge will not save, for salvation comes only by personal faith in a personal Saviour that brings spiritual union with Him, with self crucified and Christ abiding within. He is the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, so that whoever comes to Him never hungers and whoever believes on Him never thirsts, and eating His flesh and drinking His blood means earnestly receiving Him and His Word by faith and obeying it as spirit and life.
Setting After Feeding Multitude
The words were spoken at Capernaum to the multitude and to the Jews who had followed Jesus there after He fed five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes, and after He walked on the water. They had seen Him and His miracle, they had seen His compassion and divine power plainly displayed, yet they did not believe on Him as the Son of God. He spoke them as part of His repeated lesson that He Himself is the Bread of Life, the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, whom God the Father hath sealed, and that he that cometh to Him shall never hunger and he that believeth on Him shall never thirst, for His words are spirit and life.
They sought Him not because they saw the miracles but because they did eat of the loaves and were filled, desiring Him to continue providing palatable physical food as Israel was given manna in the wilderness. Their interest was driven by hope of food and other temporal benefits and by hopes of an earthly kingdom, rather than by belief in who He was or by desire for spiritual life. Though He taught them to bestow not their chief labor and anxiety on meat which perisheth but on that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of man shall give, and that this is the work of God, that they believe on Him whom He hath sent, they still asked what sign He would show. Like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, when they asked for the bread that gives life to the world their minds were on temporal food, not on Christ come down from heaven to satisfy forever all hunger and thirst in those who come to Him and believe on Him, and they had not understood the spiritual meaning of the miracle of the loaves as pointing to everlasting life.
When He used the miracle as the occasion for His sermon on the bread of life, setting forth the conditions of eternal life and entrance into the kingdom of God, which require dying to self and practicing self-denial, they were displeased and offended. Many who had followed Him for temporal advantages, and even some who professed to be His disciples, went back and walked no more with Him when He taught that His kingdom was spiritual rather than a temporal reign, while the Twelve did not then turn away and Peter declared loyalty for his brethren. He spoke these truths to bring His hearers to decide for or against Him and to reveal what they truly felt, exposing that seeing Him and hearing His words did not by itself mean genuine faith, and that those not wholly with Him would take a position against Him at His trial.
Seeing Without Truly Believing
To see Jesus with the eyes is not to believe in Him, for witnessing His miracles, works, compassion and divine power plainly displayed does not by itself produce faith. Receiving clear light and hearing His testimony and precious instruction still leave men unbelieving when the heart does not trust Him rightly. The people had the evidence before them, yet their interest was drawn by hope of temporal benefit rather than by belief in who He was or desire for spiritual life. He is the bread of life come down from heaven to give life to the world, and men may see Him without recognizing Him. To receive Him is to keep His Word and truth before the mind, to study and practice the Word, to look to Jesus by faith rather than by sight, and to live by faith in God's Word through the Spirit and Christ's words which are spirit and life, not through the flesh.
Mere outward connection with Christ or with His church will not save any man. Mere theoretical knowledge of Him will not save, for what saves is personal faith in a personal Saviour bringing the soul into spiritual union with Christ. Those who see and yet believe not lack that union, while all whom the Father gives come to Him, are never cast out, do the Father's will, feed on Christ as the bread of life and living bread from heaven, receive everlasting life, and are raised up at the last day. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to have tasted that the Lord is gracious as part of actual experience, as newborn babes desiring the sincere milk of the word that growth may follow. This requires being truly converted and born again in order to discern and enter the spiritual kingdom, by opening the mind to God's word with determination to practice it so that light comes, the frivolous life is changed, and Christ is revealed in spirit, words and actions step by step heavenward. Where faith has not laid hold upon Him, the soul does not know Him whom to know aright is life and peace, because self has not been expelled from the soul and crucified and Christ is not abiding within.
The same warning reaches those today who witness God's work through His Word yet do not truly believe or appreciate His blessings. Though they have seen God working on hearts and strengthening men and women to come out from the world and receive Christ as personal Saviour, many think they believe yet do not have His light and life because they do not believe as they should. Therefore they do not receive the blessings God has in store, for belief in God's Word brings a marked experience of His salvation. Failing to thank God, to recount His blessings and praise Him with gratitude, and being unmindful of His mercies, grieves the heavenly Father. They are like a desert shrub that does not know when good comes.
Reasons For Persistent Unbelief
Their understanding had been convinced by the evidence of His identity and divine power, yet their proud, stubborn, self-righteous hearts refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah. They kept asking for more signs despite the works already done among them, and their demand for another sign came from caviling unbelief, not from lack of evidence. Even more marvelous works would not have overcome their refusal to yield prejudice, for unbelief finds reasons to doubt and reasons away even the strongest and clearest proof. Those who reject the evidence already given, clinging to prejudice, pride, and self-righteousness rather than admitting need of a teacher, had repeatedly witnessed living evidence through the Holy Spirit's witness and God's revelation yet still did not believe.
They did not understand His instruction because their minds were fixed on temporal food. They had seen Him and the miracle of feeding five thousand men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes, yet they followed Him to Capernaum not because they saw the miracles but because they ate of the loaves and were filled, desiring Him to continue providing palatable physical food as Israel was given manna in the wilderness. While He taught them not to bestow chief labor on meat which perishes but on that meat which endures unto everlasting life which the Son of man, whom God the Father hath sealed, shall give, and that the work of God is to believe on Him whom He hath sent, and that His Father gives the true bread from heaven which gives life to the world, they still asked what sign He would show. They were like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, asking for the bread that gives life to the world while seeking loaves rather than miracles pointing to everlasting life. When He used the miracle as occasion for His sermon on the bread of life, setting forth the conditions of eternal life and entrance into the kingdom requiring dying to self and self-denial, they were displeased because they had not understood its spiritual meaning and hoped for an earthly kingdom.
They rejected His plain words when those words reproved them, closed their hearts to correction, and chose human praise over God's admonition, and their refusal to reform led them away. Those who take offense at reproof and trust in their own knowledge and self-sufficiency act in the same way, and the test of His teaching exposed whether their faith was genuine when some turned away. Hearing does not profit unless it is mixed with faith that appropriates truth to the soul as the bread and water of life. Without that appropriating faith they do not prize the opportunity, make no sacrifice to obtain the light God desires to shed on their pathway, fail to bring themselves into the channel of light and rich blessings, and fail to receive the precious blessings they might have grasped, leaving them without excuse for neglected opportunities.
Those who saw and believed not did not feel their need of prayer for the Holy Spirit to enlighten reason, nor place themselves where they could receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness and be sanctified in soul and spirit. They did not appreciate that the provision of the gospel feast is nothing less than Christ Himself with unsearchable, inexhaustible resources prepared at infinite cost through His death, from whom flow the streams of salvation. To be invited to that supper is the greatest honor that can be conferred, so heaven looks with amazement and grief on refusal, for only eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood by faith gives life and eternal life with resurrection at the last day.
Christ the Bread of Life
The chapter teaches that Jesus came down from heaven as the bread of God and the true bread from heaven which the Father gives to give life to the world, whom God the Father sealed, and that all whom the Father gives come to Him and none who come are cast out, with whoever comes to Him never hungering and whoever believes on Him never thirsting. He spoke this as a repeated lesson on Himself as the bread of life to hearers who had seen Him yet did not believe, while they were thinking only of the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, seeking to lead their minds to higher truth that to have eternal life they must receive Him, believe in Him, and become one with Him by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. They did not understand His instruction because their minds were on temporal food, like a starving world perishing of hunger without realizing it while the tree of life stood before them, asking for life-giving bread yet missing Christ come down to satisfy forever all hunger and thirst in those who come and believe.
Bread is a figure for the vitalizing power of His Spirit, for as physical bread sustains physical life so His Spirit gives life, satisfies the heart, and strengthens the moral powers. Spiritual union with Him ends hunger for higher enjoyment and feverish thirst for wealth and honor, removes uncertainty, and brings continual refreshment to the weary soul, so that He is in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
The work God requires is to believe on Him whom He sent, the only begotten Son who came down from heaven and clothed divinity with humanity to reveal Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, with the price of heaven being the Son of God and the way to heaven being by faith in Jesus which must be understood or heaven will be missed. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood in figure means earnestly receiving Christ and His Word by faith, receiving His words as spirit and life, keeping His Word and truth before the mind, and studying and obeying Scripture as observers and doers of the Word rather than depending on human guides. Believing comes first and then working, for all true receivers never hunger and all who believe never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.
That eating and drinking must become daily practical experience, for spiritual life is built by eating His flesh and drinking His blood day by day just as physical life is built from daily food, with the glory of God as the end. It means receiving truth and practicing the principles of the Word in daily life, taking hold by faith on light beyond satanic deceptions to come into connection with Christ, bringing His requirements into practical life, making continual growth in grace, being taught daily in the school of Christ, and praying for this blessing as for daily bread. This life is expressed in Christlikeness, with love for God and others, Christ's Spirit, holy desires toward God, truth that works by love and purifies the soul, advancing righteousness and restraining unrighteousness, tasting that the Lord is gracious, and bearing good fruit through seeing self as it is, thorough conversion, and humility.
Those who so feed on Him receive everlasting life and have His life hid with Christ in God, have life more abundantly, are made one with Christ in this present life to be one with Him through eternity, do the Father's will, and though they may die as He died will be raised up at the last day. Mere outward connection with Him or with His church will not save, for salvation comes only by personal faith in a personal Saviour bringing spiritual union, which those who see and yet believe not lack. Accepting the righteousness of Christ defined in this chapter puts on the wedding garment and makes one a fit guest at the wedding, which is the marriage of humanity with divinity and the standard of character each must reach, requiring a firm stand, surrendering to God what is already His, and bringing the witness of the Spirit, the joy of Christ, and full assurance of hope so the law no longer condemns the course.
The living oracles are His flesh and blood, representing the body and blood of the Son of God and addressing heart and will, not understanding alone, calling for obedience, and the living words of Scripture as the bread of life must be received and lived. His work as substitute for sin was the hope of ancient Israel even before the crucifixion. The Old Testament Scriptures are sufficient, and those who truly believed them would also believe the New, with its directions remaining spiritually nourishing and calling for practical obedience while the New Testament sheds light on them rather than replacing them.
Call to Receive and Follow
The rebuke is a call to stop depending on human guides and to put actual living faith directly in Jesus himself. Seeing him and witnessing his works does not by itself make a believer, for he alone is the Bread of life and the only hope. In a time when events of great importance are coming, men are to come straight to him as the bread of life, trust his word, and depend on him rather than on human beings for strength and guidance. When received by faith he becomes sanctification and righteousness and reward. His representatives are to give spiritual food to the hungry, but they must first seek that food from God rather than hoard grace, feeding most on Christ by reading and studying his Word, drinking in the inspiration of his Spirit, and receiving his grace to give to others. Teachers themselves must first be learners, joining active service like Martha's with learning at his feet like Mary's.
The sixth chapter holds most precious and important lessons for all being educated in schools, giving an education that endures through time and eternity when brought into practical life. It is very instructive yet only faintly understood, and students are to take in these words to understand their privileges and what Christ is to each person individually and what advantage comes from eating his words, for he himself is the great center of life and his words are spirit and life. It is part of the education by which children, youth, and men and women become workers together with God, showing the importance of feeding upon his words as his very flesh and blood. As newborn babes they are to learn to desire the sincere milk of the word so growth may follow, opening the mind to God's word with determination to practice it so that light comes, the frivolous life is changed, and Christ is revealed step by step heavenward in spirit, words, and actions. This requires tasting that the Lord is gracious as actual experience and not merely seeing without believing, being truly converted and born again in order to discern and enter the spiritual kingdom. Of all matters of importance youth are to be educated in the law of Jehovah and the penalty of transgression, and to understand that God accepts the Saviour's ransom in their behalf if they are obedient to that law.
The unbelief exposed is the position of many today who claim to be Christians and children of God yet do not understand receiving Christ as a personal Saviour. They have only a theoretical knowledge without experimental knowledge through belief in him as a personal Saviour, because self has never been crucified, self has not been expelled from the soul, and Christ is not abiding within, so faith has not laid hold upon him whom to know aright is life and peace. They have seen God working on hearts and strengthening men and women to come out from the world and receive Christ, yet they do not believe as they should and therefore do not have his light and life nor receive the blessings he has in store, and by failing to thank him, recount his blessings, and be mindful of his mercies they grieve the heavenly Father. Judas had abundant opportunity to feed on the living bread, take Christ's words into his nature, grow in him, and become in character what he professed to be, but did not inwardly receive. Spiritual life is built day by day by eating his flesh and drinking his blood just as physical life is built from daily food, with the glory of God as the end, and all whom the Father gives will come and none who come will be cast out, for coming ends hunger and believing ends thirst. Christian worth does not depend on brilliant talents, lofty birth, or wonderful powers, but on a clean, purified, refined heart that does not exalt self but by beholding Christ reflects the long-lost image of divinity.
The fifth and sixth chapters contain the mystery of godliness and the divine antidote, and what is necessary for salvation has been revealed so human suppositions must not replace God's Word. Studying those chapters, receiving and assimilating Christ's words so they become part of life, following revealed truths in daily life, and bringing their teachings into daily experience gives the knowledge that enables distinguishing the true from the false in days of peril. Even the world's Redeemer was insulted and mocked by a multitude that had seen him and still did not believe. He spoke these truths to bring hearers to decide for or against him and to reveal what they truly felt, and those not wholly with him would take a position against him at his trial. Rejection by men who refuse to believe is therefore to be expected by those who lead men to put whole trust in him who gave his life to save souls, for true belief is earnest receiving of Christ under the similitude of heavenly bread, eating his flesh and drinking his blood in figure by receiving his Word, and all true receivers never hunger and never thirst for higher or more satisfying food.