To understand the dialog in John 6, I must first describe the meaning of a parable and a bit of history where it is used in the Scriptures.
John 6 follows on the heels of parabolic teachings or what we know as a parable. A parable contains more than a wise truth. A parable in the Hebrew language is mashal. A mashal can be translated as a discourse, parable, parables, proverb, proverbs, taunt, taunt-song or a byword.
Parallel to these are the times that prophets are told to lift a proverb, a mashal against the Nations;
Isaiah 14:3-4 against the King of Babylon- And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt (mashal) against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased!
Micah took up a proverb against his own people-
Micah 2:4; “On that day they will take up against you a taunt (mashal) And utter a bitter lamentation and say, ‘We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the portion of my people; How He removes it from me! To the apostate He apportions our fields.
As you will see in a moment, it is used in a way that encompasses many types of comparisons. Yet, it is also (as I showed above) used for sarcastic taunts and judgments. Parables were used to put people in their place.
For example, remember the story of David when Saul was pursuing him in the hopes of killing him? How many remember David quoted a proverb/parable against him?
1 Samuel 24:12-16; “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. “As the proverb (mashal) of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? “The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
We also have Peter quoting from Proverbs when he addresses those false teachers who played Christian’s, only for a time, to deceive others;
He says in 2 Peter 2:21-22; It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. The proverb/parable is true that describes what has happened to them: “A dog returns to its vomit “and” A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud.“
Obviously, Peter is quoting the proverb from chapter 26:11; Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.
Now, let’s look at John 6 with John 4 in the background and then we will understand what the passage means when it says;.
John 6:63; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
Note that the dialog started out speaking of “material” food that fed and nourished the body. The Messiah then uses this to go into a lesson of “spiritual” food. If they eat this spiritual food they will never eat again. John 6 is used to take an example from the history in the desert, and use it to build a spiritual truth for those who were listening. He is doing a comparison which is from the use of a parable.
Think of it this way (using the parallel passage in John 4.) When the Messiah was in dialog with the woman at the well, he promised her that if she took of the water the Messiah gave, she would never thirst again right? The Messiah tells the crowd; The one who comes to me will never become hungry, and the one who believes in me will never become thirsty.
Let’s look first at the similarities;
Physical sustenance – the bait used to get their attention;
John 4:7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.
Compared to;
John 6:5; When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”
The Messiah takes the conversation from physical to spiritual;
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”
Compared to;
John 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
Drink this physical water and you will thirst again–Eat this physical food and you will still die. Vs. Drink this water I give and you will never thirst again—Eat this bread from heaven and you will not die
John 4:13-14; Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again.
But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Compared to;
John 6:49-50; Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
What was the result of this spiritual bread and water? A request for this sustenance; Give me “this” water—give me “this” bread.
John 4:15; The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I won’t get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.“
John 6:34; Then they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.“
Flesh verses spirit.
Note how material/physical water would not satisfy her and she would thirst again. But, the “spiritual” water would satisfy her soul forever. Do you see how the same manner of speech is used with the manna in John 6? The Messiah uses the physical food to make the point that they will hunger again. But, if they eat of him spiritually that is, to take him as spiritual food and look to him as the sustenance for eternal life, they will never hunger again.
How do we know these are spiritual teachings? Very simply; we see this answered as I posted already above.
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life
The words the Messiah spoke are spiritual. They are used as a spiritual teaching. The reason people walked away is they misunderstood this to be cannibalism and this was not the case, especially in light of the Law of Moses.
Take your friend to the passage in John 4 and ask him or her if this was a spiritual teaching or a physical teaching? Ask him or her if the woman at the well ever sipped on physical water again after that meeting. Living in the desert I am sure the woman at the well drank water after that encounter to satisfy her fleshly thirst. But, the Messiah satisfies the spiritual thirst and so, there will never be a need to seek for spiritual nourishment elsewhere.
Ask the Roman Catholic if they have drank water after they say they believe in the Lord? He said; “But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Does the Roman Catholic have a physical well springing up inside of them or is it a spiritual well? Is their well as deep as the passage describes? Do they need to grab a bucket every day?
Secondly, the Mass is a fraud because we are told in John 6 that if we eat his flesh we will never die right? Then why are Roman Catholic’s physically dying? Was the bread moldy or expired? Or, maybe they took a spiritual teaching and made it “physical?” If that is the case then this is why they believe the Messiah is the “happy meal” of life.
Because of ignorance and the false teaching of Rome, they have only trusted in Him for “physical” food. And in turn, they have made Him a carnival act to be mocked before the whole world because of their perverted and twisted thinking. They have done injustice to the passage and taken it literally when it is spiritual. They do not see the parallel spiritual teaching found in John 4.
If you would take it as it was intended, it to be a spiritual teaching and you could say “I feast on the Messiah for spiritual sustenance in order to see my life live forever spiritually. THAT makes sense.
In brief, take it physically and you will die! Take it spiritually and you will live!
Think also of the other examples used from the Scriptures. I am the door. I am the bread of life. Was he wood and hinges or was he the only spiritual door to life? Was he a literal loaf of wonder bread? Or was he spiritual food to feast on? We know the answer.
If all of the above does not explain enough to the defiant, unregenerate Roman Catholic or one of his denominational pals, then focus in on Verse 63 of John 6 to see the difficult passage explained in one sentence.
The words I speak to you are spiritual. The flesh profits nothing.
Again, the contrast stares at you right in the face!
Spirit=good—Flesh=bad!
Spirit=life—Flesh =death!
Get it? Got it? GOOD!
This is what I would call “parabolic language”. (Hey, I just taught on this)
As in Matthew 13, the parable is used to make a comparison. The physical is compared to the spiritual.
Mashal is a more general Hebrew term for an action or saying that draws a comparison. A mashal might be a proverbial saying, byword, prophetic figurative oracle, song of derision or taunting, or a teaching poem.
When the translators completed the Septuagint they took the word ma shal and used the Greek word parabole. In the Greek language para and bole are put together. παρά = beside, and βάλλω = to throw.
A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison. The Book of Proverbs can be called the Book of mashal.
David Gowler said; “The rabbis commonly used parables to deliver sermons in synagogues and study the Torah in the academies.” “In fact, they became convinced that the parable form itself was created for studying the Torah.”
It is said that there are about 4000 parables still around today from rabbinical sources. It was a part of the culture for the Messiah to use parabolic language to teach spiritual truths and he blended right in.
I can think of John 15 when he uses the vine and the branches.
Every time a Roman Catholic thinks they are eating Jesus they are taking this intent of the passage and dismissing it. The flesh profits nothing! Make him read it back to you. Eating Jesus profits nothing! It is a devilish way to mock the Savior and teach spiritual cannibalism.
The reason why they have distorted this teaching is because they failed to understand that it must be the Spirit of God who draws them to the Messiah. Jesus says this twice. No one can come to me unless the Father draws them. Why did they not believe or understand his words is answered in verse 65.
John 6:65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
When men do not walk away from a difficult teaching they may just stick around and create a new teaching. This is what Rome did. This is why we have so many denominations and false religions in the world. They have made God a Mr. Potato head that they can alter and change according to their liking.
Ask your friend this question too. If Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, does he get up and come to earth every four minutes at the beckoning of a Priest so he can be eaten in the mass? If they are honest Roman Catholic’s, then who is mediating on behalf of the people he has saved? Are eternal High Priests union and do they use their breaks to rest or keep on working?
There is a mass around the globe every four minutes. Talk about a tired Messiah….Is “their” messiah the prince of jazzercise or what! Whew, what a workout!
John 6:63
To understand the dialog in John 6, I must first describe the meaning of a parable and a bit of history where it is used in the Scriptures.
John 6 follows on the heels of a parabolic teaching or what we know as a parable. A parable contains more than a wise truth. A parable in the Hebrew language is mashal. A mashal can be translated as a discourse, parable, parables, proverb, proverbs, taunt, taunt-song or a byword.
Parallel to these are the times that prophets are told to lift a proverb, a mashal against the Nations;
Isaiah 14:3-4 against the King of Babylon- And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt (mashal) against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased!
Micah took up a proverb against his own people-
Micah 2:4; “On that day they will take up against you a taunt (mashal) And utter a bitter lamentation and say, ‘We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the portion of my people; How He removes it from me! To the apostate He apportions our fields.
As you will see in a moment, it is used in a way that encompasses many types of comparisons. Yet, it is also (as I showed above) used for sarcastic taunts and judgments. Parables were used to put people in their place.
For example, remember the story of David when Saul was pursuing him in the hopes of killing him? How many remember David quoted a proverb/parable against him?
1 Samuel 24:12-16; “May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. “As the proverb (mashal) of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a single flea? “The LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
We also have Peter quoting from Proverbs when he addresses those false teachers who played Christian’s, only for a time, to deceive others;
He says in 2 Peter 2:21-22; It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. The proverb/parable is true that describes what has happened to them: “A dog returns to its vomit “and” A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud.“
Obviously, Peter is quoting the proverb from chapter 26:11; Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.
Now, let’s look at John 6 with John 4 in the background and then we will understand what the passage means when it says;.
John 6:63; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
Note that the dialog started out speaking of “material” food that fed and nourished the body. The Messiah then uses this to go into a lesson of “spiritual” food. If they eat this spiritual food they will never eat again. John 6 is used to take an example from the history in the desert, and use it to build a spiritual truth for those who were listening. He is doing a comparison which is from the use of a parable.
Think of it this way (using the parallel passage in John 4.) When the Messiah was in dialog with the woman at the well, he promised her that if she took of the water the Messiah gave, she would never thirst again right? The Messiah tells the crowd; The one who comes to me will never become hungry, and the one who believes in me will never become thirsty.
Let’s look first at the similarities;
Physical sustenance – the bait used to get their attention;
John 4:7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.
Compared to;
John 6:5; When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”
The Messiah takes the conversation from physical to spiritual;
John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Please give me a drink,’ you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water.”
Compared to;
John 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
Drink this physical water and you will thirst again–Eat this physical food and you will still die. Vs. Drink this water I give and you will never thirst again—Eat this bread from heaven and you will not die
John 4:13-14; Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again.
But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Compared to;
John 6:49-50; Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die.
John 6:33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
What was the result of this spiritual bread and water? A request for this sustenance; Give me “this” water—give me “this” bread.
John 4:15; The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I won’t get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.“
John 6:34; Then they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.“
Flesh verses spirit.
Note how material/physical water would not satisfy her and she would thirst again. But, the “spiritual” water would satisfy her soul forever. Do you see how the same manner of speech is used with the manna in John 6? The Messiah uses the physical food to make the point that they will hunger again. But, if they eat of him spiritually that is, to take him as spiritual food and look to him as the sustenance for eternal life, they will never hunger again.
How do we know these are spiritual teachings? Very simply; we see this answered as I posted already above.
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life
The words the Messiah spoke are spiritual. They are used as a spiritual teaching. The reason people walked away is they misunderstood this to be cannibalism and this was not the case, especially in light of the Law of Moses.
Take your friend to the passage in John 4 and ask him or her if this was a spiritual teaching or a physical teaching? Ask him or her if the woman at the well ever sipped on physical water again after that meeting. Living in the desert I am sure the woman at the well drank water after that encounter to satisfy her fleshly thirst. But, the Messiah satisfies the spiritual thirst and so, there will never be a need to seek for spiritual nourishment elsewhere.
Ask the Roman Catholic if they have drank water after they say they believe in the Lord? He said; “But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Does the Roman Catholic have a physical well springing up inside of them or is it a spiritual well? Is their well as deep as the passage describes? Do they need to grab a bucket every day?
Secondly, the Mass is a fraud because we are told in John 6 that if we eat his flesh we will never die right? Then why are Roman Catholic’s physically dying? Was the bread moldy or expired? Or, maybe they took a spiritual teaching and made it “physical?” If that is the case then this is why they believe the Messiah is the “happy meal” of life.
Because of ignorance and the false teaching of Rome, they have only trusted in Him for “physical” food. And in turn, they have made Him a carnival act to be mocked before the whole world because of their perverted and twisted thinking. They have done injustice to the passage and taken it literally when it is spiritual. They do not see the parallel spiritual teaching found in John 4.
If you would take it as it was intended, it to be a spiritual teaching and you could say “I feast on the Messiah for spiritual sustenance in order to see my life live forever spiritually. THAT makes sense.
In brief, take it physically and you will die! Take it spiritually and you will live!
Think also of the other examples used from the Scriptures. I am the door. I am the bread of life. Was he wood and hinges or was he the only spiritual door to life? Was he a literal loaf of wonder bread? Or was he spiritual food to feast on? We know the answer.
If all of the above does not explain enough to the defiant, unregenerate Roman Catholic or one of his denominational pals, then focus in on Verse 63 of John 6 to see the difficult passage explained in one sentence.
The words I speak to you are spiritual. The flesh profits nothing.
Again, the contrast stares at you right in the face!
Spirit=good—Flesh=bad!
Spirit=life—Flesh =death!
Get it? Got it? GOOD!
This is what I would call “parabolic language”. (Hey, I just taught on this)
As in Matthew 13, the parable is used to make a comparison. The physical is compared to the spiritual.
Mashal is a more general Hebrew term for an action or saying that draws a comparison. A mashal might be a proverbial saying, byword, prophetic figurative oracle, song of derision or taunting, or a teaching poem.
When the translators completed the Septuagint they took the word ma shal and used the Greek word parabole. In the Greek language para and bole are put together. παρά = beside, and βάλλω = to throw.
A parable is a form of teaching in which one thing is thrown beside another. The word is used with a wide range in scripture, but always involves the idea of comparison. The Book of Proverbs can be called the Book of mashal.
David Gowler said; “The rabbis commonly used parables to deliver sermons in synagogues and study the Torah in the academies.” “In fact, they became convinced that the parable form itself was created for studying the Torah.”
It is said that there are about 4000 parables still around today from rabbinical sources. It was a part of the culture for the Messiah to use parabolic language to teach spiritual truths and he blended right in.
I can think of John 15 when he uses the vine and the branches.
Every time a Roman Catholic thinks they are eating Jesus they are taking this intent of the passage and dismissing it. The flesh profits nothing! Make him read it back to you. Eating Jesus profits nothing! It is a devilish way to mock the Savior and teach spiritual cannibalism.
The reason why they have distorted this teaching is because they failed to understand that it must be the Spirit of God who draws them to the Messiah. Jesus says this twice. No one can come to me unless the Father draws them. Why did they not believe or understand his words is answered in verse 65.
John 6:65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
When men do not walk away from a difficult teaching they may just stick around and create a new teaching. This is what Rome did. This is why we have so many denominations and false religions in the world. They have made God a Mr. Potato head that they can alter and change according to their liking.
Ask your friend this question too. If Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, does he get up and come to earth every four minutes at the beckoning of a Priest so he can be eaten in the mass? If they are honest Roman Catholic’s, then who is mediating on behalf of the people he has saved? Are eternal High Priests union and do they use their breaks to rest or keep on working?
There is a mass around the globe every four minutes. Talk about a tired Messiah….Is “their” messiah the prince of jazzercise or what! Whew, what a workout!
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