THE BREAD OF GOD
THE BREAD OF GOD
JT I do not propose to go over this chapter, but I desire to call attention to the matter of food, the subject being necessarily of very great importance spiritually, as it is physically. This chapter presents it fully, and gives us the kind of food that we require to partake of in order to live. There is food that one has to partake of in order to serve, priests’ food; but the food in John 6, is what is essential to life. The Lord, in raising Jairus’ daughter, commanded that something should be given to her to eat, without specifying what it was. He left that to those responsible, which raises a question as to those who are in any sense “stewards” of the “manifold grace of God”, 1 Peter 4: 10. The faithful and wise servant provides food for the household, and in regard to the kind of food, he would be concerned as to whether those needing it were young, middle-aged, of old, and what work they had to do. This principle is illustrated in the apostle, who said, “I have fed you with milk and not with meat”, 1 Corinthians 3: 2. Under other circumstances he would supply other food. I would further remark, in order to make the subject clear, that in this chapter the Lord, it appears, gives the food direct to “the men” who “were set down”. In the other gospels it is said to be given through the disciples, but verse 11, correctly reads; “And Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks, distributed them to those that were sat down”. The Lord provides that which is suited to His own. He gives us the Supper, and says: “Take, eat, this is my body”, Matthew 26: 26. Then, in Jerusalem, after He rose from the dead, He “ate before them”. In His eating, though food is partaken of, yet it is not in order to live; it simply states, “He ate before them”; it was evidently for them to see. He was a real Man; and as such, ate before them. It was a thing to be noted. I just mention this as preliminary, so that the subject may be clearly before us.
AF Would you go over the points again?
JT The necessity for food, spiritually as well as physically, is obvious. The subject is older than Adam, for we have a reference in Scripture to angels’ food. “Man did eat angels’ food”; Psalm 78: 25. Food becomes necessary for life. When Jairus’ daughter was raised, the Lord commanded that something should be given her to eat, without saying what it was to be, or providing for her Himself. He did provide food for the disciples. He desired to eat the passover with them, but the passover, literally, was not to be continued. There was to be a new thing: “This is my body given for you”. (Luke 22: 19) The Lord’s supper suggests food for us. At the passover, the Lord ate with the disciples; but in Jerusalem, when He rose, He ate before them. He inquired, “Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb”, Luke 24: 41, 42. Further, there was food for the priests, in connection with Jehovah’s service; and then the exercise of the faithful and wise servant is, that there should be food for the household; something to eat and something to drink.
FF Does John provide both water and bread in a special way?
JT Yes. That is the point of this gospel. You have water in the fourth chapter, and meat or bread in the sixth.
FF He speaks of living water and living bread. This [p. 160] is significant.
GFM At the end of John’s gospel you have not only life, but a good constitution Saints come out, “ruddy and of a beautiful countenance”. Gideon’s brethren appeared healthy like himself like the “children of a king”.
PL Barley loaves were food, and we read in Judges 7, that “a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian”. It terrorised the enemy.
JT The. Midianites would have destroyed the food, but Gideon threshed wheat. The barley loaves were to overthrow the enemy, and really the issue of the present war has turned on food.
FF Food is needed so that there may be a constitution for the conflict.
JT If you can establish a blockade, that settles things in the long run..
FF John hides the food like Gideon.
JT He is a reserve man. That is a military principle, but one may be free to use those similes. The Lord did not tell Peter what He intended to do with John, though Peter was largely in His confidence. Peter looked up and saw John following, and said, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” The point is, what he is doing. “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me”. (John 21: 21, 22) It is a matter of reserve, the Lord would say, My reserve. The immediate action was following. John was a reserve man, and his gospel is of this character.
FF So that although this conversation was public, the thought of food for us is hidden.
JT Yes. John 21 is a mysterious one, but we can read through it now. The Lord Himself had food for the disciples on the other side; He had the reserve, showing that the disciples had been on wrong lines. As soon as they were diverted from divine principles as led by Peter and Thomas, they had nothing. Nakedness, night, and nothing, marked their position. The Lord had food and a fire of coals.
Peter had said, “I go a-fishing”. The others went with him; but they caught nothing.
JH The children of Judah in the palace of Babylon declined the king’s meat; Daniel 1 That shows resolution. They were not to eat everything that was offered. A spiritual man has a palate, and exercises discernment in regard to what he eats. It suggests the need of being careful. The Lord in John 21 had the food, in spite of the waywardness of the disciples. John, at the end of this chapter, comes out as a reserve man; and the way he refers to Christ and the ministry of Christ, shows that there is no need of “rationing” in the divine system. “There are also many other things which Jesus did”, he tells us, “the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written”. (John 21: 25) This has a reference to food for the mind, this being largely what is needed. The heart, too, has to be met, but it is noticeable that Peter should speak of “the pure mental milk of the word”, 1 Peter 2: 2. In the end of John 20 we get John’s estimate of the ministry of Christ; it is so extensive in his eyes; it is infinite.
RD John has in view, “life in abundance”; there is plenty of sustenance.
GN There were twelve baskets over, as if each were to have one.
JT It is an administrative thought. All present were satisfied, and there was enough left for a further administration.
RD Was your thought as to John being the reserve man, that he comes in after the breakdown of what Paul takes account of, and brings in abundance of food?
JT Yes. I think that is very encouraging and helpful. There is no lack of food.
FF Does not John suggest that on our part it [p. 162] is a question of vision, as to whether we discern the food? Seeing has a large place in his gospel.
JT Yes, it is remarkable how he records things. He groups all under certain signs. The first is given us at Cana of Galilee where He “manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him”. He wrought the signs before His disciples, the point being that they should believe. “Many other signs”, we are told in chapter 20, Jesus did before them. So the whole gospel is intended to make believers of His disciples, but believers who have plenty of resource, food and drink. Then the last chapter comes in as a warning, lest one turn aside. So that the things that John records are like signposts on the way, one pointing on, and then another, and each assuring you that you are in the right direction, until you come to the last, and this is a signpost of danger. There is great encouragement in it, however, for although there was failure, the Lord appears for recovery, with food prepared by Him. There was an immense haul of fishes too, and yet the net did not break. We have here what is dispensational, but the thought of food is carried through. Chapter 21 is solemn and searching, showing that all, as in the hands of the disciples, was hopelessly lost, were it not for the Lord’s faithful watchfulness and provision.
GN How do you account for John having turned aside?
JT It was owing to the influence of Peter’s leadership. A defection originates with one or two, and others fall into it without wishing to. Peter says, “I go a-fishing”, and they go along with him.
RD Even John needed to watch the signs.
Ques What about those who turned away from the Lord?
JT A passage like that has a voice to us today. The public benefits of Christianity are very great, and many are affected, but when you come to what [p. 163] is spiritual, then they are tested. Mark had turned aside, and he wrote his gospel as one who was recovered. John turned aside as regards food, but he failed to secure any, and he shows us the incident as a signpost.
PL We see the sovereignty of God as regards the distribution of food. He indicates where it is.
RB The Lord tests Philip as to whether he is aware of His resources.
JT It is humbling to find how little one believes!
Ques . Is it not strong food in this chapter?
JT It is food for life here. “And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”. It is not priests’ food exactly, it is “flesh for the life of the world”, for the whole race of man.
JM Is there anything beyond, “he that eateth me, even he shall live by me”?
JT Not as regards life, but there is priests’ food.
RD There is the old corn of the land. I thought you might help us as to John’s way of presenting how that life is sustained, beginning at chapter 3.
JT I would specially note that the action of the Spirit in John 3 is to bring about the new birth of the individual. Not simply that something is done in him, but he is born anew, so that he is an entity to whom attaches, even before he knows redemption and gets the Spirit, responsibility to God. To such an one the love of God is presented, and provision made for his conscience in the brazen serpent. This chapter gives us the wilderness position. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up”. One is contemplated as in a desert land, as to his soul, but the brazen serpent is there, and he needs that. Now in chapter 4, that same person is met in regard to thirst in his soul, and evidently thirst comes before [p. 164] hunger spiritually, and the Lord proposes to the woman that which would be an eternal source of supply, so that she should never thirst.
FF Her desire is met. Would you say it is a question of desire?
RD In principle, as to desire, she is satisfied.
JT Quite so. The thing is there; it had to be developed.
RD It becomes a question of recognising the Spirit, in order to get all the benefit.
PL She leaves her waterpot.
JT Romans gives what is potential. It is very much akin to this. It gives the possibility, what is there, but undeveloped. The well can be exploited to any extent.
RD The princes dig the well and sing to it in Numbers 21.
JT We want to know the value of the product.
GN The gift of the Spirit involves that we shall be glorified.
JT If yon are looking for water, or oil, or anything the earth yields of commercial value, you want to know the value of the product; according to its value it will be developed.
RD So that Paul in Romans 8, gives us to know the value of the Spirit, leading up to purpose.
JT Yes, the value of the Spirit, and how it renders one independent of the flesh.
RD In John 4 you get all that lies in the Spirit meeting the desire of the soul.
JT One might become rich in finding a certain spot that yields a certain commodity; all that remains is to exploit it.
FF “The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”.
JT Yes, that is potential, the possibilities of it are stated.
RD [p. 165] It is not only the fact of having the Spirit, but the use you make of it.
FF It is “living water”.
JT The Lord might have said “the Spirit”, but He does not. He spoke to the intelligence of the woman. The desire has to be met and gratified, so the figure of living water is employed. It suits the state of soul.
Ques Has living water reference to thirst, and food, to the mind?
JT It is pretty much so. Chapter 7 says, “out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”, referring to the lower affections, so to speak, but in chapter 4 for the moment, it is simply the thought of a fountain. In chapter 5 it is a question of the Lord’s power. He says in chapter 4, “If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. He was so great and yet came so low; but in chapter 5 it is, “He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life”. It is a question of His greatness. In each chapter He brings in what He is personally. In chapter 4 He descends to inspire confidence; in the fifth, He proves His power, so there is nothing we need fear, for His voice is to be heard. “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God”. The domain of death, suggestive as it is, has to yield to Him; so that chapter 5 settles the question of what may be against us in the way of power. The sixth presents how one is sustained in life.
FF The Lord says, “he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever”.
RD So that, beginning at chapter 3, what is in view is a spiritual person, not a spiritual constitution merely.
JT [p. 166] Yes; a man.
PL So the man is born again.
JT Yes. The thought is, born from top to bottom, so to speak, not born a second time. From the very outset there has to be a spiritual foundation.
PL A new moral texture.
FF “He that comes to me shall never hunger, he that believes on me shall never thirst”, chapter 6: 35. Is that the thought of the man?
JT Yes, one asks, hears, and comes; these come out in the fourth, fifth and sixth chapters. The drink in chapter 6 is His blood, meeting man as needing life; In chapter 7 you have another thought of the Spirit. It is a question of the dignity of Christ. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink”. It is as if to say, ‘Whatever you may think of Me, any one may come to Me and drink’. He brings Himself forward on the last day of the feast as being in a position to give man drink, and such drink, that out of the inward parts of such an one living water should flow. You could hardly get a stronger statement of His greatness. “This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive”. It is not the Holy Spirit viewed as Comforter to the assembly, but as received by the believer.
WH Conditions were there to receive the Spirit.
JT It is not the objective side, but the Spirit received, and it goes on to say, “for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified”.
PL The conditions that existed were the fruit of the ministry of Christ.
JT Yes, there was progress.
RS Is the believing confirmation, and preparatory to chapter 20?
JT It gives another side. There are several lines running through the chapter. Primarily the [p. 167] disciples should believe, but the teaching goes wider than the disciples. The question of new birth is universal. The real beginning, as regards the Christian, is in chapter 3. One must be born anew. It is not exactly something in me, but I am affected throughout by this action of God, so an individual is completely changed; new sensibilities and desires are the result, and only God can meet them.
PL Is thirst the result of new birth?
JT Yes.
WW You distinguish between the receiving of the Spirit, and the giving of the Spirit?
JT Well, God seals you by the Spirit, that is His work.
RD You emphasise the point, “they that believe on him”, receive it. The saint is ready for it. The conditions necessary for the reception of the Spirit are seen in Acts 1.
JT Yes, only there it is more official. The apostles were to tarry at Jerusalem until endued with power from on high, and the power came, but at the same time it is the Spirit coming to all believers. We might note this, reception involves appreciation.
FF Such an one anticipates the great result in the feast of tabernacles.
JT You have heaven brought in in the flowing of living waters.
WW Are the activities of the Spirit more on the line of preparation before He is received?
JT It is the way things are presented. The Lord in chapter 4 says, “he would have given thee living water”. In chapter 7 it is, “Come and drink”, denoting state in the person and how he receives the Spirit.
RD A person who has been formed in the truth set out in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters realises what it is to be filled in the inward parts, and this exceeds all.
[p. 168] JT So, as our brother said, you get the glorification of the believer in chapter 7.
DG Is John 7 in advance of Ephesians 1?
JT Ephesians 1: 13 is a statement of what occurs after one believes; whereas here you get what is characteristic of state, and then the flowing out in testimony. John 7 is a development.
RB The receiving is the result of desire. Luke tells us that the Father gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.
JT The Spirit is brought in there in connection with prayer. It is more on the side of giving;
GN It is not so much the thought of a single act, as the kind of person who receives the Spirit.
JT Yes. This gospel, as it develops, builds up the spiritual man. He who thirsts.
AF The Lord tested the disciples by means of the loaves and fishes.
JT “This he said to prove them”. It is more the disciples who are in view, in John, and their education and formation. As chapter 20 puts it, “many other signs did Jesus in the presence of his disciples”, but much comes out that is universal in its bearing.
AF What would food of this kind represent?
JT The sign is, the literal loaves multiplied and increased, pointing to the second part of the chapter. It signified that there was spiritual food. The Lord said, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed”, John 6: 26 and 27. That is what the sign pointed to.
RD So the whole subject involves appropriation, and calls for exercise.