JESUS' QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (John 6:51-67)

JESUS' QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

John 6:51-67

The fourth Sunday of Lent is called "Laetare Sunday", which means "Rejoice". While we tend to think of Lent as a time for sadness and reflection on Jesus' suffering and the cross, our Christian predecessors celebrated a day of joy during this period. Why did they do this? It was because they heard Jesus' words in the scripture that God sends us to Jesus, and that he promises to feed us with the bread of life so that none of us will be driven away. They assigned a day of joy during Lent so that we could hear this good news before Lent was over.

Even if five loaves of bread feed five thousand people, those who eat the bread cannot have eternal life. We need to eat the bread of life, but it is beyond human ability, no matter how great our lineage, heritage, or willpower is. Jesus promises to lead everyone to himself and feed them with the bread of life, and he will not drive anyone away. Although Jesus' question and people's answer never match, Jesus' question is the ultimate question that gives life and the answer that people must obtain. The Bible tells us that the dialogue between God and people progressed in this way.

God's Question: The Bread of Life and Light

There are many ways to read the Bible. One way that I want to introduce is reading it as a "conversation." It's like putting on a pair of glasses that lets us see the Bible as a dialogue between God and humans, with questions and answers exchanged between them.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus asks the Jews and his disciples, "I am the bread of life and the light that came down from heaven." At first glance, it may seem like Jesus is answering the question, "Who are you?" But if we look at this question in the context of the entire Gospel of John (or the Bible as a whole), it becomes clear that Jesus is actually asking us a question.

In John chapter 1, it says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This is God's question to the world. Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" He asks them first, not the other way around. Peter gives a brief but essential answer: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Similarly, in John chapter 1, it says, "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The world did not ask God to shine his light upon it. If the world had asked for the Word of life and light, would the world have rejected it?

So when Jesus asks his disciples, "I am the bread of life and the light that came down from heaven," he is posing a question to all of us.

The Flesh and the Final Response

The Gospel of John says, "The world did not know him. The world did not receive him." The world rejected the Word of Life. When Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. You must eat my flesh and drink my blood to have eternal life," people murmured and even some who had been following him turned away. Just a few verses earlier, it says that the people were grumbling, "We know his parents, so how can he say he came down from heaven?" This was their response to Jesus' question.

Whether then or now, people have not changed. When God asks a question, people still murmur and do not give a proper answer. The response of the people who received Jesus' question in the passage was, "We cannot believe in you." "We cannot accept you.”

Jesus summarizes the people's response to him as "fleshly-mindedness," saying "We cannot accept you or even believe what you say!" Jesus explains that people who are bound to the flesh, or in other words, those who are born of the flesh, cannot understand or accept that he is the bread of life that has come down from heaven. An example of this is seen in the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, where Nicodemus could not understand how a person can be born again. Jesus explains that being born again is a spiritual act that the Holy Spirit performs. People are essentially on the same level as Nicodemus, bound to fleshly thinking and unable to escape it. 

The people's final response to Jesus was the cross. Their conclusion was to crucify him, which was an ignorant, merciless, and fleshly-minded response. In response to Jesus' question, "I am the bread of life that has come down from heaven to give you life," the people (we) said, "Do not crucify this Jesus who is talking nonsense!" This was the point where further conversation could no longer take place.

Jesus' Spiritual Questions and Answers

Jesus asks us to listen to the answers he gives us. "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life" (John 6:63). In this statement, Jesus gives the answer to those who, like Nicodemus, are skeptical about how a person can be born again. "The words I have spoken to you," in other words, "the question I have asked you," is the question of life that gives life. It is a question that contains the intention to give life. Although people, trapped in their physical bodies, may be unable to give good answers, Jesus asked a question that was meant to give life. To put it more vividly, although you may not understand the statement "I am the bread of life that came down from heaven" right now, it is a spiritual statement that expresses my intention to save you, and it is both a question and an answer.

The reason why Jesus' question is not a deadly one but instead gives life to people is explained in John 6:65, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them." A few verses earlier, Jesus also said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day" (John 6:44). Even earlier, he said, "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37). These verses provide the answer that Jesus gives to those who give bad answers.

As stated in the passage, how can people eat and drink Jesus' flesh and blood? People must eat physical bread from birth. No one can eat spiritual bread with their own ability. However, the gospel of the Bible tells us that God will give spiritual bread to every single person through Jesus Christ, and in doing so, give us life.