Treasures from God’s Word and Digging for Spiritual Gems – “Following Jesus with the right motive” (John 5-6)
John 6:25-69
“Because the people had the wrong motive for associating with Jesus and his disciples, they stumbled at his words (…. “feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood” study note on John 6:54, nwtsty; w05 9/1 21 ¶13-14)”
The study note on John 6:54 states “Jesus made this statement in 32 C.E., so he was not discussing the Lord’s Evening Meal, which he would institute a year later. He made this declaration just prior to “the Passover, the festival of the Jews” (John 6:4), so his listeners would likely have been reminded of the impending festival and the significance of the lamb’s blood in saving lives on the night that Israel left Egypt (Exodus 12:24-27)”.
This study note exemplifies how making such definite claims when there is not sufficient evidence leaves one open to criticism. We have to be careful about going beyond what is written. (1 Corinthians 4:6)
It is true he wasn’t specifically discussing the Lord’s Evening Meal as he didn’t specifically mention it and it had not yet occurred. Nonetheless he was discussing the principles and importance of that meal. After all Jesus likely knew (by means of Holy Spirit) that he would be instituting this memorial observance. He also ensured that the important things he wanted to teach his disciples were emphasised many times, often with extra details, such as his return. This meant that when he needed to pass on an important point about one of these subjects, it was easier and quicker for his disciples to grasp. (E.g. Luke 17:20-37, repeated later in Matthew 24:23-31)
When the disciples were at the Lord’s Evening Meal a year later, perhaps they remembered what Jesus said on this occasion and they understood better why the occasion. If they did not then, certainly they would later upon reflection.
The really important point though, is not when he spoke these words, but the import of the message he gave.
John 6:26 says “26 Jesus answered them and said: “Most truly I say to YOU, YOU are looking for me, not because YOU saw signs, but because YOU ate from the loaves and were satisfied.”
Many of his disciples at that time had a very fleshly view of anything. They went and did things to satisfy themselves, without thought of others and without thought of God. How they responded to Jesus sayings helped separate out those true disciples who after his death formed the nucleus of the early Christians.
How could we fall in the same trap today as some of the first Century disciples? There are a few ways.
- We could be ‘rice Christian’s’ literally. Many have joined Christianity because of the physical benefits, in getting food aid, or medical treatment, or the help of others in times of need. These ones are like the first Century Jews, desiring physical things to satisfy themselves without any other thought.
- We could be “spiritual rice Christians”. How so? By desiring to be spoon fed all the time and not being prepared to obtain our own spiritual food by researching in the Scriptures for ourselves. Attitudes like ‘I prefer someone to tell me what’s right and wrong’, ‘I live in a nice box, and I am not comfortable outside my box’, and a very common excuse, ‘the truth or Organization may have flaws, but it’s the best way of living and I am happy’.
All of these viewpoints reveal a selfish point of view. That of ‘Satisfy oneself and don’t worry about others or what God wants of us. I’m happy, that’s all that matters.’ It is an easy trap to fall into, so we need to be on our guard against it.
- There is another vitally important message in this passage of scripture. John 5:24 and John 6:27,29,35,40,44,47,51,53,54,57,58,67,68 all contain the phrase or equivalent “exercises faith” in Jesus and many add “will have everlasting life”. Jesus could hardly have emphasised it more.
- John 6:27 “Work, not for the food that perishes, but for the food that remains for life everlasting, which the Son of man will give YOU”
- John 6:29 “This is the work of God, that YOU exercise faith in him whom that One sent forth.”
- John 6:35 “Jesus said to them: “I am the bread of life. He that comes to me will not get hungry at all, and he that exercises faith in me will never get thirsty at all”
- John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I will resurrect him at the last day.”
- John 6:44 “No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him; and I will resurrect him in the last day.”
- John 6:47 “Most truly I say to YOU, He that believes has everlasting life.”
- John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever;”
- John 6:53 “Accordingly Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, Unless YOU eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, YOU have no life in yourselves.”
- John 6:54 “He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day”
- John 6:57 “he also that feeds on me, even that one will live because of me”
- John 6:58 “He that feeds on this bread will live forever.””
- John 6:67-68 “YOU do not want to go also, do YOU?” 68 Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life””
This passage of scripture recording Jesus teaching to his disciples and the crowds listening, made it absolutely clear that without exercising faith in Jesus Christ, everlasting life would not be possible. He is the means Jehovah has provided for us to gain everlasting life. It is therefore very wrong to minimise his role and point all our attention to Jehovah. Yes, Jehovah is God Almighty and the Creator, but we should never pay just lip service to the importance of his son and appointed king.
John 5:22-24 contains a cautionary message about having the right attitude to Jesus and his position when it says “For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son, 23 in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Most truly I say to YOU, He that hears my word and believes him that sent me has everlasting life, and he does not come into judgment but has passed over from death to life.”
The problem today within the Organization is that as Jesus warned “YOU are searching the Scriptures, because YOU think that by means of them YOU will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me.” The Organization is so fixated on getting us preaching and attending meetings that it has forgotten Jesus primary commandment, to love Jehovah and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40, 1 John 5:1-3). After having faith in Jesus, it is to have love for others just as Jesus had. It is necessary to show this love in many, many ways. If we have love for others, all other important things follow as they are demonstrations of showing love. A focus on solely on preaching and meeting attendance as requisites for everlasting life leads to missing the entire point of Jesus message. They should be the natural result of love for others, rather than the object of one’s means to show love, so as to save oneself.
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Comment by Rufus on 2018-09-18 08:04:30
The NWT chooses to translate the critical verb here as “exercise faith”, which naturally puts the emphasis on works.
But the basic meaning of the Greek is “believe” or “trust in.” Without a full measure of repentance, petition for forgiveness, baptism and re-birth as a child of God, declared righteous in faith and accepting the new covenant of blood poured out in our behalf as Christian disciples and brothers of Christ, these works become useless.
Therefore, to have insight into these words of Jesus, we must first open ourselves to Christian discipleship.
Baptism into an organizational standing as a “friend of God” condemns persons to a life of works inadequate to assure salvation. Membership in the new covenant is open to All who believe and follow the Christ. But it begins with belief and trust in the provisions for individual, not organizational, salvation.Reply by Leonardo Josephus on 2018-09-18 14:55:39
Well spotted Rufus. John 6 40 translates the Greek word as "exercises faith", but in John 5:24 the same word is translated as "believe ". The old NWT was known for its consistency in translation. It cannot even claim that anymore.
Interestingly, Vines explains the meaning as "be persuaded of" and hence "to place confidence in, to trust". As you have stated, using the expression "exercises faith" allows an application which was not intended.
Comment by Bernardbooks on 2018-09-18 12:12:38
These words of Jesus mean so much to me.
John 6:39,40
“This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none out of all those whom he has given me, but that I should resurrect them on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who recognizes the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I will resurrect him on the last day.”
I was looking at the JW online library in the scripture reference and was very saddened to see no references to these verses since 1978 and 1965. No others in the last 40 years.
Comparing that with Matthew 24:45 and they have listed about 122 references from 1950 to the present.
Comment by kyaecker on 2018-09-18 23:02:21
So the Governing Body wanted us to see this video tonight on how wisely they use our donated funds in building the Warwick facility. If this isn’t the height of hypocrisy! What would the brothers and sisters think if they knew the truth and how they have actually squandered our donations in paying off child sex abuse law suites, court cases etc. it’s truly astounding.
Reply by Justin Michesloff on 2018-09-20 20:12:50
One must ask, with the end imminent, in reality, coming any moment now, why would the ridiculous amount of money (the sum total of course being hidden from the donators) be spent on a eco-green construction style which will save millions over the life of the building if the end is really......
Hey wait a minute, which story is correct now???
Comment by Bernardbooks on 2018-09-19 16:58:54
The organization has a knack for taking something rather simple and straightforward in scripture and interpreting it in a complicated, complex, hard to follow way just to try at all cost to make it fit into their existing teachings.
One example of this is their interpretation of the resurrection on “the last day” Jesus promised to all who are drawn to him, given to him by the Father and who have faith in him.
The Watchtower 1979 6/15 has three articles which go into detail regarding the way they interpret this resurrection on the last day.
To my knowledge, this interpretation still holds as I have not found a more recent one that changed what they taught in these articles.
In a nutshell, they teach that there are two “last day” periods. These two time periods which they are calling each a “last day” are separate and different in time period, in duration, and in who is resurrected according to their interpretation.
1st “last day”: A period of time starting sometime shortly after 1914 and completed when the last individual of the so called heavenly class or division dies and is resurrected to heaven before the end of the great tribulation and thus before the start of the thousand year reign of Christ.
2nd “last day”: A thousand year period of time otherwise known as the thousand year reign of Christ or millennial reign where all those of the so called earthly class or division will be resurrected sometime during that time period.
When reading Jesus words regarding a resurrection on the “last day” and the promise Daniel was given of being resurrected at the “end of the days” I can’t help but figure from the clear and simple words that this is referring to the same time when all the faithful and righteous ones in God’s book of life and remembrance are resurrected.
I guess the organization would view my conclusion as way too simple but to me “the last day” of any time period or age could also be described as the “end of the days” or the end of the time period or age. The Bible calls the time from the 1st century forward as “the last days”, so to me, when Jesus spoke of a resurrection on the last day it leads me to the simple idea that the last day would mean the very end of the last days of this current age which will be followed by the coming Messianic age.
When I read the way the organization interprets these types of things it really does comfort me to think of when Jesus said the truth will set you free. It is a wonderful
freedom to not be tied up in knots with the
organizations twisted interpretation of scripture.
Comment by Jerome on 2018-09-21 15:58:30
The Watchtower of June 15, 1987, noted that the previous year, in 1986, "It was appreciated that both the remnant and the “great crowd” must figuratively partake of Jesus’ flesh and blood by accepting his sacrifice in order to be in harmony with him.—John 6:53-56." (The Watchtower June 15, 1987 p. 19 par. 13) How do both, the remnant and the great crowd, figuratively partake of Jesus' flesh and blood?
Here’s what the Watchtower says:
10 Consequently, it was for “the life of the world”—the entire world of redeemable mankind—that Jesus gave his flesh. And “anyone” of the world of mankind who eats symbolically of that “bread,” by showing faith in the redeeming power of Jesus’ sacrifice, may enter onto the way to everlasting life. Here, the “vast mixed company” that shared with the Israelites in eating the manna in the wilderness foreshadow the great crowd of Jesus’ “other sheep” who, along with the anointed remnant of “the Israel of God,” are now eating Jesus’ flesh in a figurative sense. This they do by exercising faith in his sacrifice.—Galatians 6:16; Romans 10:9, 10.
11 Back in Galilee, many of Jesus’ listeners are shocked by his talk. So while still on the topic of his flesh, he even goes a step further, telling them: “Most truly I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day; for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (John 6:53-55) Shocking indeed! Not only is the idea of cannibalism repulsive to those Jews but the Law at Leviticus 17:14 positively forbade eating “the blood of any sort of flesh.”
12 Of course, Jesus is here emphasizing that anyone who is to attain to everlasting life must do so on the basis of exercising faith in the sacrifice that Jesus later made in offering up his perfect human body and pouring out his lifeblood. (Hebrews 10:5, 10; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 2:24) This provision is not restricted to Jesus’ joint heirs. It must also include the “great crowd,” who survive “the great tribulation,” for these “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Their having faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, as demonstrated also by their rendering God “sacred service,” results in their preservation through earth’s greatest time of distress. Similarly, Rahab was declared righteous and survived when Joshua devoted Jericho to destruction.—Revelation 7:9, 10, 14, 15; Joshua 6:16, 17; James 2:25. (The Watchtower February 15, 1986 pg.18 pars. 10-12)
In the same year, the newly released book, Worldwide Security Under the “Prince of Peace,” explained how those who are in the new covenant partake at the Lord's evening meal merely in a figurative way, saying:
"The sacrificial death of the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus Christ, is remembered every year by Jehovah’s Witnesses on the anniversary of 'the Lord’s evening meal.' The unleavened bread partaken of by those in the new covenant during that 'evening meal' symbolizes the perfect flesh of the Mediator, and the wine symbolizes the pure, uncontaminated blood that, according to the Scriptures, contained the very life value of the Mediator. (1 Corinthians 11:20-26; Leviticus 17:11) When those in the new covenant partake of the Memorial cup of wine at 'the Lord’s evening meal,' it is only in a figurative way that they are drinking blood, that of the Mediator of the new covenant. It is also in a symbolic way that they eat his flesh when they partake of the Memorial loaf of unleavened bread. By doing this, symbolically speaking, they demonstrate their faith in the ransom sacrifice of the Son of God, the Redeemer of all mankind."(Worldwide Security [ws] chap. 12 p. 104, pars. 13-14)
Since it was acknowledged that both the remnant and the great crowd "must figuratively partake of Jesus' flesh and blood" why is the great crowd not encouraged to "demonstrate their faith in the ransom sacrifice of the Son of God" by "figuratively partaking of Jesus' symbolic flesh and blood each year at the Lord's evening meal?