6:35 Jesus now identified Himself as the bread about which He had been speaking (cf. v. 47; Isa. 55:1). He did not say He hadthe bread of life but that He wasthat bread. He claimed to be able to satisfy completely as bread and water satisfy physically. His hearers did not need to return to Him repeatedly as they had assumed (v. 34) since He would also satisfy permanently (cf. 13:9-10). The "nevers"are emphatic in the Greek text. Coming to Jesus and believing are synonymous concepts just as bread and water together represent total human need. Jesus did not mean that continual dependence on Him was unimportant (cf. 15:4-5). He meant that believing on Him would satisfy the basic human need and desire for life. Again Jesus linked life with Himself. He is what sustains and nourishes spiritual life. It is by feeding on Him that we obtain life initially and continue to flourish spiritually.
Jesus' claim to be the Bread of Life, three times in this discourse (vv. 35, 48, 51), is the first of seven such claims that John recorded Jesus making in his Gospel. Jesus used the same expression (Gr. ego eimi, "I am,"plus a predicate) in each case.253Each one expresses Jesus' relationship to humankind's basic spiritual needs metaphorically.
"Jesus is the one who bears the divine name (cf. Ex. 3:14). For John, this story takes on the character of a theophany, not unlike the Transfiguration recorded by the Synoptics."254
6:36 Jesus charged these Galileans with unbelief as He had formerly charged the Judean residents of Jerusalem with it (5:36-38). They had seen Him physically, and on the physical level they had concluded that He might be the predicted Prophet. However, they had not seen who He was spiritually. They did not believe that He was the divine Messiah. Physical sight and spiritual insight are two different things.
6:37 These people's lack of faith did not indicate that Jesus or God's plan had failed, however. The ability to believe on Jesus requires divine enablement. It is only those whom the Father enables to believe that come to Jesus in faith. These are the people whom the Father has given to the Son as gifts. Jesus viewed the ultimate cause of faith as God's electing grace, not man's choice.
Jesus promised not to turn away anyone who came to Him in faith. He used a figure of speech (litotes) to stress strongly the positive fact that all who believe in Him find acceptance and security.255In the first part of this verse Jesus spoke of the elect as a group, and in the second part He referred to every individual in the group. Jesus had confidence in the Father's drawing the elect to Him, and the believer may have confidence too in the Son's receiving and retaining him or her. How can a person know if he or she is one of the elect? Let him or her come to Jesus in faith.
6:38-40 Jesus next explained why He would accept all who come to Him and will preserve them. The purpose of the Incarnation was that the Son would fulfill the Father's will. The Father's will was that the Son should lose no individual of all whom the Father gave Him. Preserving them includes raising them from the dead to eternal life. The distant purpose of the Father is the eternal life of those whom He gives to the Son, namely those who believe on the Son. Jesus Himself will raise believers. This is an added proof of our security.
"This thought is of the greatest comfort to believers. Their assurance is based not on their feeble hold on Christ, but on his sure grip on them (cf. 10:28f.)."256
Beholding the Son equals believing in Him here. Jesus meant beholding with the eyes of faith. The last day is the day of the resurrection of believers whenever it may occur. It is last in the sense that it will be the last day that we experience mortality.
"John 6:37-40 contains Jesus' explanation of the process of personal salvation. These are among the most profound words He ever spoke, and we cannot hope to plumb their depths completely. He explained that salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility."257
The fact of divine election did not embarrass Jesus or John. Even though God has chosen the elect for salvation, they must believe on Jesus. Jesus balanced these truths beautifully in this discourse (cf. 17:1, 6, 9, 24). He likewise affirmed the eternal security of the believer (cf. 17:11-12). If one believer failed to reach heaven, it would be a disgrace for the Son since it would indicate His inability or unwillingness to fulfill the Father's will. Judas Iscariot may appear at first to be an exception, but God did not choose Him for salvation (vv. 70-71; 17:12) even though Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve.
