John 6:42 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) they were saying (elegon), “Is (estin) this one (houtos) absolutely not (ou) Jesus (Iēsous), the (ho) son (huios) of Joseph (Iōsēph), of whom (hou) we (hēmeis) have seen (oidamen) the (ton) father (patera) and (kai) the (tēn) mother (mētera)!? 

Now (nun) how (pōs) does he say (legei) that (hoti), ‘Out (ek) of the (tou) heaven (ouranou) I have stepped down (katabebēka)?’”

John 6:43 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make a decision (apekrithē), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to them (autois), “Do not (mē) murmur (gonguzete) with (met’) one another (allēlōn).

"Do not murmur with one another." - The insinuated lie of the antichrists as to Jesus' true identity, through raising the question as to how Jesus came down from heaven, caused those in the crowd who were ignorant of God's Word, who saw the signs which Jesus had been doing, but who were spiritually unable to understand what Jesus was enunciating to them, to argue with those who could understand what Jesus was enunciating.  The insinuated lie (a cowardly method of communication) of the antichrists initiated immediate division and unrest within the crowd, in their attempt to deny who Jesus was, the son of God in the flesh. 

Jesus continues now to take them to God's Word, and now gives them, and the others standing and sitting around listening, no choice but to hear the accuracy of God's Word or walk away.  Now Jesus states who he is, why he's here, and how believers can become believing disciples of him, which truth shall dispel the darkness of the lie and error which the antichrists have introduced.  They don't need to murmur with one another, because now Jesus is going to lay out the truth for them in more detail.  

The spiritual setting I see here is fantastic.  The adversary, the devil, is present standing before Jesus, being represented through his ambassadors, the antichrists, who are posing as believers searching for Jesus, but are there only to feed their own bellies.  In this record it is not revealed to us exactly how many antichrists addressed Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum, but they're referred to as a crowd in verse 24.  But what Jesus does next is tantamount to lowering his attention toward them and raising it toward his disciples and others in the synagogue who are legitimately searching for Jesus. 

 John 6:44 (LIT/UBS4) Absolutely not one (oudeis) can inherently power himself (dunatai) to come (elthein) to (pros) me (me) if perhaps (ean) not (mē) the (ho) Father (patēr), the (ho) [Father] having sent (pempsas) me (me), may draw (helkusē) him (auton)!

"can inherently power himself to come toward me" - Sin nature-based mortalkind does not have the inclination to be righteous according to God's standards, since sin and disobedience to God to fulfill the desires of the flesh, is natural to mortalkind since its fall, as recorded in the book of Genesis.  The natural man (KJV) (1 Cor. 2:14, psuchikos anthrōpos, i.e. soul-based mortal) as apostle Paul describes him, doesn't have God's Spirit working within him to "sense", "see" and understand spiritual things.  The soul-based mortal of only five senses doesn't have the required equipment, the Spirit of God in or upon him, which is necessary to "sense" spiritual things.  Mortalkind has only five senses.  To soul-based mortalkind, if it can't see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it, it can't possibly exist.  Soul-based mortalkind can't possibly turn its attention to something that it can't "sense" or detect.

To fallen mortalkind now, in the physical body of its' humbling (Phil. 3:21), everything is about it's own physical body it lives in; bath it, scratch it, feed it, sleep it, get its sexual needs and desires fulfilled; the body, the body, the body is the subject is the underlying subject of every minute, of every hour, of every day.  Everything a soul-based mortal does is done to support the physical, fleshly body in which it lives.  A soul-based mortal, without any spiritual "equipment" or ability, can't "sense" why he would need or desire to come toward Jesus, or God, for anything.

Everything mortalkind thinks, says, and does is all confined into the physical realm, the only realm in which its five senses can function to "sense" and detect anything.  And thereby every mortal has been trained from birth to focus its attention on only those things it can sense.  The things of the Spirit of God can't be "sensed" through the five senses, and so thereby mortalkind's highest goal is not about spiritual things but about physical thing, and especially the preservation of its' own physical body in which it lives.  The way of soul-based mortalkind is to lie, cheat, steal, and kill its way through life in order to consume its' way into on-going existence (Rom. 3:10-19; Titus 3:3; James 4:1-2).  This is the summary conclusion of the estate of fallen mortalkind, which is now somewhat depraved through the lack of God's Spirit.  Every decision the soul-based mortal makes, every minute of every day, is based upon acquiring something it can detect through its five senses, that it concludes it needs, or desires; and the boundary of excess, which is law, is respected only on account of penalty.

"if not the Father may draw him" - As I showed before out of God's Word, the benevolence of God leads a mortal to repentance (Rom. 2:3-4, 11:22; Eph. 2:6-8; Titus 3:3-7).  God the heavenly Father tries to draw mortals out to believe in him.  God the heavenly Father will perform acts of benevolence from time to time in the lives of mortals, when they become desperate, to give them the opportunity to recognize him and believe.  But if mortals repeatedly refuse to acknowledge that it is God working for them, then God the heavenly Father has no choice but to withdraw his hand, and allow the "foul weather" of devil to deluge them.  The God can do nothing more for them because they have demonstrated they do not want him active in their lives, and he will not go against their free will.  Mortals must believe and recognize who it is working for them on their behalf, and likewise, who it is working against them, the devil.  This can be ascertained through studying God's Word.  Mortals who do nothing, and maintain the default of staying ignorant as every mortal came into this world, guarantee for themselves they shall go out as they came in to the world, ignorant, without God and without hope, never to be heard from again for all eternity.

John 6:45 (LIT/UBS4) It is (estin) having been written (gegrammenon) in (en) the (tois) prophets (prophētais), ‘And (kai) they shall cause themselves to be (esontai) all (pantes) ones taught (didaktoi) of God (theou).’

Everyone (pas), the one (ho) having heard (akousas) alongside (para) of the (tou) Father (patros) and (kai) having learned (mathōn), he causes himself to come (erchetai) to (pros) me (eme).

(For believers in Jesus’ name being taught of God, see Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:31-34; John 6:45; Heb. 8:8-12, 10:16-17)

"And they shall cause themselves to be all ones taught of God" - Please notice the middle voice of the verb esontai.  ALL those starting to do the works of the God, the ones starting to work at studying God's Word to "eat" the true "bread" which came down from heaven which abides unto eternal life, the ones working at helping themselves to believe in God the heavenly Father and the one he sent to give life to the cosmos, they shall cause themselves to be all ones taught of God!  If believers desire it, and believe to receive it, God shall cause their minds to know and understand his spiritual things, his Word, especially all of those great and precious promises of him under his new covenant with mortalkind in Jesus' shed blood (2 Pet. 1:4), with precious belief if we've got any (2 Pet. 1:1; Rom. 10:16-17). 

Now days mortals at religious institutions like to take the credit for anyone knowing and understanding anything about God; and if someone hasn't graduated at their institution then that person can't possibly know anything about God, or at least know it "correctly".  "Christianity" has tried to bury the truth of God's Word that disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ can and indeed shall be taught directly from God the heavenly Father, through his Spirit working within them.  What part of, "And they shall cause themselves to be all ones taught ones of God" can't be understood?  Jesus says all those who believe upon him shall be taught the meaning of God's Word by his heavenly Father, God himself!  We either believe what Jesus said, or we don't!  If you believe it you receive it; if you don't you don't!  Take your pick. 

What Jesus said in John 6:45 is a great and precious promise of God, IMO   Unless we and God have actual fellowship together over his great and precious promises, then we can have no discipleship to Christ Jesus, because we're not cooperating through following God's rule book, his Word!  Then all we can do is "claim" to be a Christian, and reach out to the abundance of mortal-made/devil-made theological theories, which are empty confusion.  And which belief in them produces no power of God in our lives, but produces only frustration and anger toward God.  We can't blame YHWH Elohim, the God almighty, for our own failures to know, believe and follow his rule book? 

I believe seminary schools and other like institutions can teach you God's Word, but only if God's Spirit is working in them to first teach the teachers.  From my own experience, I've sat in classes in which the instructors must not have been visited by God in years, if ever.  A formal theological education in and of itself is no guarantee that the person attending shall be taught by God's Spirit.  God himself decides who he shall teach, depending on whether he can find any precious belief (2 Pet. 1:1) in a person's heart.  Certificates of attendance and degrees of advancement in a theological institution of some kind really mean nothing to God, and to a true believer and disciple of Jesus Christ, since it is distasteful for true disciples of Christ Jesus to boast about worldly accomplishments according to mortal-made worldly wisdom. 

The manifested power of God's Spirit working in and through a believer's life is the "certificate of authenticity" bestowed by God upon his sons and daughters.  This is God's way, and the only way believing disciples can stand approved before God the heavenly Father, and his son Christ Jesus.  If a "Christian" or a "disciple" manifests no power, and therefore produces no good fruit, then they are a false believer or worse, and they are absolutely not ones taught of God.

"Everyone, the ones having heard alongside the Father" - Belief of God comes through hearing God's Word (Rom. 10:17).  Believers must avail themselves, cause themselves to hear and subsequently believe.  Having heard (akousas) in this verse, or any verse in God's Word, can be meant either objectively, that the one has literally heard God's Word with his physical ears while being alongside God, or subjectively, that while fellowshipping with God's Word in his mind that the one learned and understood God's Word with his mind.  I believe both meanings are indicated is the meaning of having heard in this verse.  Hearing or having heard is used in God's Word mostly both objectively and subjectively, as I believe it is used here.  The whole process of hearing must be followed.

It is obvious that one must hear objectively before one can "hear" subjectively.  If one desires to hear and then "hear", then one must start to be taught by God before one can ever begin to start learning and believing in his son Christ Jesus.  Antichrists don't experience this at all because they can't "hear", and because they are simply actors, and ones hoping not to get caught at it.  The God, the Father initiates the process of learning and belief in a believer of God before they come toward Christ Jesus to begin discipleship to him, which subsequent belief in Jesus leads to their receipt of a new birth above in God's Spirit, and they becoming a new creature.

"and having learned" - Most all the talk about God's Word is about what mortals think it says, or what they've heard it says, or, what certain passages in God's Word could mean.  Very few mortals, from personal in-depth word studies and extended, thorough, in-depth subject matter studies, know exactly what God's Word says or doesn't say about a given subject, to be able to separate truth from lies. 

But notice the word in the Greek text for learned, in this verse.  It is the word mathōn, from its root matheo, a verb meaning to learn.  The word in the Greek text for disciple is mathētēs, which means a learner, because it has matheo as its root also.  Therefore, according to God's Word, the essence of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ is learning about God's Word and about Jesus Christ.  From my studies of discipleship, we're to gorge ourselves with God's Word, especially about Christ Jesus.  Jesus said we are to "eat" his flesh, and "drink" his blood (John 6:53).  We are to gorge ourselves on God's Word about both the Father, and especially his son, Christ Jesus, who has made known the Father's Word and will!

When we gather up other verses in God's Word, supplemental to what Jesus is teaching us here in John 6, to go along with the idea of discipleship as a learning process, such as in 2 Tim 2:15, Rom. 12:2 and 2 Cor. 10:5, we begin to discover more scope of what discipleship is all about, concerning learning to control our own thoughts, words and actions to be according to God's Word and Jesus' injunctions.  Apostle Paul describes the proper method of learning God's Word as straightly cutting it (2 Tim. 2:15), which at the least means paying close attention to exactly what God the heavenly Father says, where he says it, when he says it, why he says it, to whom he says it, and how he says it, as mortals from God, being brought under holy Spirit, spoke it (2 Pet. 1:20-21).  

"he causes himself to come toward me" - Mortals must first believe that there is a God, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently search for him (Heb. 11:6), before they could have a clue as to why they would want to believe in the name of God's son, Jesus Christ.  This is why John the Baptist came preceding Jesus Christ's coming, so John could help the children of Israel to turn and repent toward God (Mark 1:4; Mat. 3:11; Acts 5:31; Acts 19:4; 2 Cor. 7:9-10), so their hearts would be ready (John 1:23), already repentant toward God and ready to receive the knowledge, understanding and new birth above from his son Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist's purpose was to preach about God the heavenly Father to the children of Israel.  Malachi was their last prophet before John the Baptist came.  They had been without a prophet for at least 400 years before God gave them John the Baptist.  They had spent the last four hundred years in another "wilderness".

According to God's Word, repentance is never toward Jesus Christ, Gods son, but toward God himself, before mortals can come toward and receive his son Jesus Christ.  A mortal must first believe and repent toward God the heavenly Father. If they do, then God the heavenly Father shall give them the opportunity to believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ; God shall give them the ability to hear and understand the knowledge about his son Jesus the Christ, who shall graciously bring to them the new birth above.

QUALITY OF DISCIPLESHIP

The intrinsic nature and indispensable quality of discipleship to Christ Jesus is not simply having belief in God's Word, but having an abundance of belief in God's Word, and in his son Christ Jesus.  An abundance of belief in a believer's/disciple's heart comes from an abundance of the knowledge of God's Word.  I said "God's Word" not mortal-made theological theories!  Belief in God's Word apprehends great and precious promises coming to pass in a believer's life.  Belief in mortal-made theological theories apprehends nothing but frustration, and leaves one to become only a false believer, and actor, which is the only option remaining if one wishes to go along to get along as a "Christian". 

Apostle Paul, in his advice to Timothy about his spiritual growth, describes a disciple of Jesus Christ who goes hard after the knowledge of God's Word as "standing himself up alongside of God"!  This was apostle Paul's knowledge and thinking of how to "stand" with God.  Do you wish to be taught by God?  Then stand yourself up alongside of God, get your head seriously and deeply into his Word, and get ready for it to come, because the knowledge of God's Word and your subsequent belief in it shall come to you if you, "ask, search and knock" for it (Mat. 7:7).  But how hard must a disciple of Christ Jesus work for it?

2 Tim. 2:15 (LIT/UBS4) Make haste (spoudason) to stand yourself alongside (parastēsai seauton) to the (tō) God (theō) approved (dokimon), [a] worker (ergatēn) unashamed (anepaischunton), cutting sharply straight³⁷¹⁸ (orthotomounta) the (ton) Word (logon) of the (tēs) Truth (alētheias).

Apostle Paul's use of the idea of making haste, and being a worker, give some framework around the answer to the question of how hard to work to cause yourself to stand alongside of God, approved and unashamed of one's work in God's Word of truth.  Apostle Paul charged Timothy to keep sharply straight the Word of truth in his head, and when he spoke.  Belief in false Truth, in anything but the straight Truth of God's Word, produces nothing.  First we must find the straight truth of God's Word. Then we need to build that into our minds (Rom. 10:17; Heb. 11:6).  How much belief in our hearts of God's Word do we desire to build?  No belief, little belief, so much belief, or great belief?  We saw that no belief and little belief apprehended nothing from Jesus Christ, when he went around healing people as recorded in the gospel records.  But those with so much and great belief obtained healing, and received answers to prayers!

We work full time, forty hours a week, for a paycheck from mortalkind, right?  Are we expecting to work only part-time for the knowledge of and precious belief in God's Word; to make God take a back seat while we work harder and longer doing something we perceive to be more valuable to us?  If we work harder and longer to receive a paycheck than the amount of time and hard work we put into obtaining the knowledge and subsequent belief in God's Word, then of the two rewards which one are we demonstrating is more important to us?  How do you suppose God's feels about that, the one who said we are to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?  This point is at the heart of the issue of whether we grow spiritually, and then how fast do we grow in sonship to our heavenly father, and in our discipleship to Christ Jesus!

Rom. 12:2 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) do not be schematized together with (mē suschēmatizesthe) the (tō) age (aiōni), this (toutō) [age, RE]!

BUT (alla), be metamorphosed (metamorphousthe) [through, v1, RE] the (tē) freshening up (anakainōsei) of the (tou) mind (noos) of you (humas), into (eis) the (to) [mind, RE] to prove (dokimazein) what (ti) [is] the (to) good (agathon), and (kai) well agreeable (euareston), and (kai) complete (teleion) desire (thelēma) of the (tou) God (theou)!

When a home is designed and built there are three main sets of schematic drawings used in the design of a home:  the design and associated drawings for the building of the frame of the house, the design and associated drawings for the electrical system in the house, and the design and associated drawings for the plumbing system of the home.  A fourth set of drawings may be those for the landscaping of the home, for the drainage, for the location of driveways and walkways, and for planting trees, shrubs and grass.

Now, how about the schematic for the design of the knowledge and belief of the things in our own heads and hearts?  Who or what are we going to allow to design what we know and believe, and subsequently what we think, say, and do?  Are we going to allow the unbelieving and God-rejecting people of the world, or the doctrines of the devil and demon spirits, to design for us what we know and believe, or God's Word?  If we're not taking this subject matter as the most serious issues in our lives then we can't REALLY be engaged in sonship to our heavenly Father, and discipleship to his son, our Lord, Christ Jesus!  You know you can't pass a math class without knowing the concepts behind the formulas, and how to solve those equations.  Do you think getting the required in-depth knowledge of God's Word to build so much belief, or great belief in your heart in the in-depth knowledge of  God's Word takes any less time and intense study, hard work, than learning anything else?  God's Word requires more work!  People work for what they determine is most valuable to them.

2 Cor. 10:4 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) the (ta) weapons (hopla) of the (tēs) armament (strateias) of us (hēmōn) [are] absolutely not (ou) flesh-based things (sarkika):

BUT (alla), [we are] inherently powered ones (dunata) for the (tō) God (theō), toward (pros) [the] downthrow (kathairesin) of strongholds (ochurōmatōn);

Jesus Christ taught his twelve disciples 1) discerning of spirits, and 2) how to cast demon spirits out of people, before he sent them out the first time to preach and minister.  Besides teaching his twelve a great knowledge of old testament prophecies about himself and other things related to the new covenant of God, Jesus believed his disciples should know how and be able to do at least these two things.  Jesus must have believed they were prerequisites and foundational to discipleship to him.

we seizing down (kathairountes) reasoning’s (logismous),  

"reasonings" - Mortal-made wisdom, philosophies, and theological theories; worldly wisdom and doctrines of the devil and demon spirits.

2 Cor. 10:5 (LIT/UBS4) and (kai) every (pan) high body (hupsōma) causing itself to lift itself up (epairomenon) down against (kata) the (tēs) knowledge (gnōseōs) of the (tou) God (theou);

and (kai) we taking captive at spear point (aichmalōtizontes) every (pan) perception (noēma) into (eis) the (tēn) attentive hearing (hupakoēn) of the (tou) Christ (Christou);

How is any disciple of Jesus Christ going to be able to seize down mortal-made reasonings and theological theories if he or she doesn't first have a vast and in-depth knowledge of exactly what God's Word says, and then be able to lead someone through it while pointing out with the finger exactly what God's Word says, to show how those reasonings and theories contradict God's Word?

Let's use Phil. 2:5-6 for a practical example:

Phil. 2:5 (LIT/UBS4) Think (phroneite) of this (touto) in (en) you (humin), which (ho) [thought of humility, v3, RE] [was] in (en) Christ (Christō) Jesus (Iēsou) also (kai);

Phil. 2:6 (LIT/UBS4) who (hos), being one under control (huparchōn) in (en) [a] form (morphē) of [a] god (theou), he absolutely did not lead himself (ouch hēgēsato) of the (to) [thinking, v2, RE] to equally be (einai isa) [a] god (theō), something stolen (harpagmon)!

"something stolen" - Jesus Christ didn't give it a thought, not even one time, to snatch/steal equality with his heavenly Father!

First of all, to find a translation of these verses in any Trinitarian-based "translation" is nearly impossible, because this verse, in virtually all of them, has been and still is fudged to hide apostle Paul's emphatic statement that Jesus Christ was absolutely not, and still is not, equal in anything to his heavenly Father, the God.

About this theoretically supposed equality with his heavenly Father, Jesus Christ himself states emphatically that he is absolutely not equal to his heavenly Father (Mark 6:5; Luke 5:17; John 3:2, 5:19-20, 8:16, *29, 9:33, *10:38, *14:10-11, 28; Acts 2:22, 10:38; *2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 3:16-19, 4:6; *Col. 1:19-20, 2:9; 1 John 5:20), about which truth apostle Paul emphatically agrees as well (Phil. 2:6).  In all of these verses I've highlighted in this paragraph, Jesus states that he is absolutely not equal to his heavenly Father.  So someone is lying, and I don't believe it is our heavenly Father or his son Christ Jesus.

The Trinitarian sponsors of virtually all English Bibles have fudged their "translations" of this verse to make the ancient writer, apostle Paul, appear to agree with the 4th century mortal-made theory that Jesus Christ is equal to his heaven Father.  They're lying in their "translation" while supposedly being truthful in showing you what the ancient writers actually wrote?  They make themselves into sincere liars.  From what Jesus Christ taught about good and bad "trees" producing good and bad "fruit", I would say that lying in a translation, especially given the fact that it is God's Word, and the size of the audience which will be reading their lie, that this is most definitely bad "fruit" from a bad "tree" (Mat. 3:10, 7:15-20, 12:33).

Back to John 6:46...

According to these verses in John 6, of Jesus preaching, we can see that the essence of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ is about learning about him; but more specifically, as apostle Paul points out, about learning to control our thinking to think like Jesus Christ thought, thinking the things of God's Word which he thought.  Discipleship is about taking the bridle of our minds and controlling our thinking to learn to think God's Word like Jesus Christ thought it, which is the bridle which subsequently controls our words we speak, to speak God's Word like Jesus spoke it, and controls our actions to act on God's Word like Jesus acted upon it.  

As we can begin to see, discipleship to our Lord Jesus Christ is much more than simply accessorizing ourselves with icons of crosses, fishes, and the coolest new fudged translations, which, by the way, are all sold to make a profit with the exception of an Oxford "translation" (which production and sales of it may be done under a non-profit status simply to escape taxes on revenues).  Scriptural evidence shows us that the foundational prerequisite of discipleship is a serious desire and attitude toward gorging ourselves with, devouring, and learning God's Word with our minds, not gorging on mortal-made reasoning's and theories, so that we can begin our discipleship toward growing up into the fullness of the maturity of Christ (Eph. 4:13).  We're to make haste to work hard at it, and not to be schematized down with worldly reasoning's, philosophies and theories, but the exact truth of God's Word as we have in the holy scriptures, such as this one of John.

There are some who can't learn the things of God, and never shall be able to learn them, because those ones are not given the ability, are not given holy Spirit, God in them, teaching them spiritual things.  These mortals shall forever more guess about it, and argue about it, but they shall never come into the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7).  These are the ones who hold up mortal-made theological theories and certificates to try to legitimatize themselves to others.  These mortals are unbelievers at best, and antichrists at worst, who use God's Word and Christian paraphernalia as stage props to produce a false pretense for their false identity.

John 6:46 (LIT/UBS4) Because (hoti) absolutely not (ouch) anyone (tis) has gazed at (heōraken) the (ton) Father (patera), if (ei) not (mē) the one (ho) being (ōn) alongside (para) of the (tou) God (theou)! 

This one (houtos) has gazed at (heōraken) the (ton) Father (patera).

"Because absolutely not anyone has gazed at the Father" – Some may say that God's Word, from the recorded words of Jesus himself, presents us with an apparent contradiction.  Here in John 6:46, Jesus made this statement using the emphatic particle of negation (Gk. ouch) to emphasize the truth that absolutely not anyone has seen the Father, at no time, no way, and no how (with the exception of Jesus himself)!  But in John 14:9, Jesus stated that, "The one having seen me has seen the Father." 

The reconciliation of this apparent contradiction comes with Jesus' explanation in the following verses, in John 14:10-11.  The God is not a soul-based being of flesh and blood, but a spirit-based being (John 4:24; 1 Cor. 15:35-49).  Spirit cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched, or ascertained in any way through mortalkind's' five senses, microscopes, etc., unless spirit desires to manifest itself into an appearance of some kind which can be sensed and detected.

Jesus Christ was a man of flesh and blood (1 John 4:1-4).  The God, Jesus' heavenly Father, and by the way, Jesus' God as well (Mat. 27:46; Mark 15:34; John 20:17; Mat. 6:9; Luke 11:2), is Spirit (John 4:24).  Spirit, at its own will, can come and go in and out of beings of flesh and blood.  The greatest example of this is the fact that mortalkind can receive the new birth above in God's gift of holy Spirit, i.e. of himself (Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5)!  The God moved into and began homing-down in Jesus as his permanent domicile, his prophesied true "tent", immediately after Jesus' water baptism by John (Mat. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32).

This is what Thomas finally came to know and understand (John 20:28).  It was prophesied that some out of mortalkind would become the true "tent" of God, the "tent" he made with his own hand (Amos 9:11-12), the raising up again of the "tent" of David.  This is the prophesied "tent" which James witnessed about in Acts 15:13-18, quoting the prophet Amos.  Stephen was trying to witness about this same "tent" to the children of Israel, about "the advent of the holy one" just before the devil and his demon spirits, who were working in and through some of the children of Israel, stoned Stephen to death for bringing up the subject of this great prophetic truth (Acts 7:42-50), accusing their fathers of killing all of the prophets who spoke of this, and they killing Christ Jesus to try and stop the advent from occurring.  They failed.  The great day of Pentecost occurred in spite of the devil's and their efforts to stop t.

Jesus Christ was the first one, the firstborn among many brothers, to become the prophesied true "tent" of God.  We have been cleansed spiritually through God’s Spirit dwelling in us, through his Word dwelling in us, making us his domed-roof house, his prophesied desired new "tent" (1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22).  Please see my study, God's Desired True "Tent", his "Domed-roof House"!

In John 14:9-11, they didn't see the Father per se, by they saw the results of him homing-down in, and working in and through his son, his prophesied true "tent", Jesus Christ, the raised up "tent" of David (Heb. 8:1-2), which God pegged and raised up with his own hand.

"the one being alongside of the God!" - Jesus was not referring to only himself, but to any disciple who is being taught by the God, because the God must, by necessity, "come alongside" a disciple to teach them.  In John 14:23 Jesus explains to a disciple named Judas (not the one of  Iscariot) why God the heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ come alongside a disciple.

John 14:23 (LIT/UBS4) Jesus (Iēsous) was caused to make a decision (apekrithē), and (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), “If perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may love (agapa) me (me), and (kai) shall watchfully keep (tērēsei) the (ton) Word (logon) of me (mou), the (ho) Father (patēr) of me (mou) shall love (agapēsei) him (auton).  

And (kai) we shall cause ourselves to come (eleusometha) to (pros) him (auton), and (kai) we shall cause ourselves to make (poiēsometha) a place to stay (monēn) alongside (par’) him (autō).

Note that before a disciple of Jesus Christ receives the new birth above, baptism in the gift of holy Spirit from Christ Jesus, that God the heavenly Father and Jesus Christ make a "place to stay" beside (par') the disciple.  After a disciple has received the new birth above, the place where God the heavenly Father and his son stays is within the believing disciple (Mark 14:58; John 2:19; John 14:17; Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19, 14:25; 2 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 4:6; Phil. 2:13; Col. 1:27; 1 John 2:27; 1 John 4:4), which is why the disciple becomes a new creature/creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15)! 

This is a fabulous truth which most all of "Christianity" ignores in teaching and practice.  It's talked about very seldom, and taken very lightly, if at all.  But this truth is the essence of the very reason why God sent his son Jesus.  It’s our heavenly Father building his prophesied true “tent”, the one he builds with his own hand!

"If perhaps anyone may keep on loving me" - To the extent a disciple loves Jesus Christ, a disciple disciples himself to Jesus Christ.  How valuable is spiritual growth?

"and shall watch the word of me" - Watch is an idiom meaning to pay close attention, as it is used in our modern English speaking culture as well; watch it; you better watch out; watch yourself in/out there.  Jesus' disciples are to pay close attention to thinking, saying and doing what Jesus says to think, say and do.  The purpose of discipleship is for one to learn to imitate, to think, say, and do the things of the one to whom one disciples himself.

Then, then, then...

• "the Father of me shall love him",

• "we shall come toward him",

• "we shall make a place to stay beside him."

THE ONE BELIEVING AND EATING THE BREAD OF LIFE HOLDS AGELESS LIFE

John 6:47 (LIT/UBS4) Truly (amēn), truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (humin), the one (ho) believing (pisteuōn) holds (echei) ageless (aiōnion) life (zōēn)!

"Truly, truly" - Jesus uses this double positive idiom before every important point upon which he wishes the hearers to pay special attention, and to introduce each section of his teaching as he develops it.  Jesus states this double positive idiom in verses 26, 32, 47, 53.

"the one believing holds ageless life" - The believer, one who believes to receive the new birth above which Jesus taught Nicodemus (John 3), holds ageless life within him, because the one believing receives the source of life, God the heavenly Father's holy Spirit, within him.  This is the power which shall make alive (zōopoiēsei) all those who believe, and raise them from the grave at Jesus Christ's return (Rom. 8:11).  You see, it is God's holy Spirit which gives life to all things, even those things which are as dead (Acts 26:8; 1 Cor. 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14).

John 6:48 (LIT/UBS4) I (ego) am (eimi) the (ho) bread (artos) of the (tēs) life (zōēs).

Jesus begins to repeat to the false believers, the antichrists, what he enunciated to them beginning back in verse 32, that, he is the bread of life.  This is the figure of speech Repititio, or Repetition, as you may have guessed (see Dr. Bullinger's Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Baker, 1968, pg. 263).  Jesus' repetition of his teaching about the true manna, is not to go lightly noticed.  Not only what Jesus says, but how he says it, using repetition, is the divine working of the Spirit of the Father within Jesus, delivering truth, perfectly, to their and our ears. 

Both in the Gematria of God's Word, and according to the ancient culture, whenever something was repeated, said twice, the repetition was to signify to the hearers that the speaker was emphasizing the point, and the point being emphasized was the main point to be considered.   And so we see the often use of the negative particles ou and mē together in the texts.  

In the writings of apostle John you may have noticed that Jesus sometimes prefaces what he says with, "Truly, truly", a double positive.  Yes, double positives, they work very well at announcing good news also!  Notice the repetition; he says the same thing twice? 

According to the mathematics of God's Word called Gematria, something anyone would notice who gives God's Word more than a drive by glance reading, whenever God says or does something twice, two times, or in 2s, it emphatically establishes the truth of the thing being said or done as being immutable, unable to be undone, as being a law, a boundary, a framework of communication through which mortalkind must either get the truth into their heads and renew their minds, or cope with the consequences.

Here in verse 48 Jesus doesn't say, "Truly, truly", before he restates that, "I am the bread of life", does he?  Why?  Because he said, "Truly, truly" back in verse 32 and 47, and the hearers, especially the antichrists, should still be paying close attention to him as the bread of life, speaking!

John 6:49 (LIT/UBS4) The (hoi) fathers (pateres) of you (humōn) ate (ephagon) the (to) manna (manna) in (en) the (tē) desolate place (erēmō), and (kai) died away (apethanon).

"the manna in the desolate place" - Jesus begins to run through it again with these false believers, antichrists, to explain the points to them about the "manna" the children of Israel ate in the wilderness, while on their way to the promised land.  Coincidentally, at the time God the heavenly Father began to give them the manna from heaven, they were in the wilderness of Sin (KJV; Heb. ciyn, pronounced like seen) (Ex. 16:1).  Jesus points out again to the antichrists (to me it appears as though Jesus is giving these antichrists an opportunity to repent), that they ate the physical bread which he gave to them through the sign of the breads and the fishes, only to fill their bellies.  And so they, like their unbelieving forefathers which came out of the slavery and bondage of Egypt and ate the "manna" and died, they shall eat the bread and die.  Not only that, Jesus implies that the current conditions in which those antichrists now live their lives is in a "wilderness" of unbelief and sin!  The children of Israel were to eat manna in the morning until they were full, and in the evening God would give them flesh to eat (Ex. 16:8), quails (Ex. 16:13).

John 6:50 (LIT/UBS4) This (houtos) [manna, v49, RE] is (estin) the (ho) bread (artos), the (ho) [son, v42, RE] stepping down (katabainōn) out (ek) of the (tou) heaven (ouranou);

in order that (hina) anyone (tis) may eat (phagē) out (ex) of him (autou) and (kai) may not die away (mē apothanē).

In both the context here in John 6, and in the context of Luke 22 of the so-called "last supper", Jesus speaks of his physical body as being metaphorical "bread", which must be "eaten" by those who follow him.  This common subject matter link between these records and others makes the understanding of each record vitally important to the proper depth of understanding of the others.

"may eat" - The word in the text is in the subjunctive mood, meaning anyone may desire to "eat", or desire not to "eat"; it’s one’s own choice.  The antichrists have already determined not to recognize the prophecy in God's Word about how the messiah would be born in the flesh, and so now Jesus is recognizing the antichrist's desire not to "eat", and reminding them of their eternal death, which they choose. 

“Eat” here is an ancient metaphoric Hebraism meaning to work at gaining the knowledge and understanding into your mind of a subject matter in God's Word.  Do you begin to see the stubborn, egotistical, arrogance of these false believers, these antichrists, who would rather die than admit they are wrong and repent?  This is the devilish sin nature within all mortalkind since the fall of Adam and Eve.  This is the sin nature which is constantly at war with the Spirit of God. 

According to the holy scriptures, when we "eat" the true "manna" from heaven, which Jesus refers to as his "flesh", it is actually "eating" (a Hebraism, Jer. 15:16; Gen. 3:12-13) the in-depth knowledge of the prophecies in God's Word about his son, Christ Jesus, and what God sent him to do for mortalkind, for each one individually.

Jer. 15:16 (YLT) Thy words have been found, and I eat them, And Thy word is to me for a joy, And for the rejoicing of my heart, For Thy name is called on me, O Jehovah, God of Hosts.

As defined scripturally, "eating" Jesus' "flesh", is simply learning and meditating upon God's Word about Jesus' broken body, and remembering, honoring, thanking, and fellowshipping with the Father and his son Jesus whenever we sit down to eat or drink anything at any time, which is at least on a daily basis. 

At the time of Jesus' earthly ministry the "New Testament" of the Bible was not yet in existence, but only the "old Testament" books.  Evidently, the "eating" of Jesus "flesh" specifically meant reading and learning all of the ancient prophecies about the promised coming redeemer, and the new covenant he would bring with his prophesied death and resurrection.

John 6:51 (LIT/UBS4) I (egō) am (eimi) the (ho) bread (artos), the (ho) living (zōn) [manna, v49, RE], the (ho) [son, v42, RE] having stepped down (katabas) out (ek) of the (tou) heaven (ouranou).

If perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may eat (phagē) out (ek) of the (tou) bread (artou) of this (toutou), he shall live (zēsei) into (eis) the (ton) age (aiōna).

And (kai) the (ho) bread (artos), but (de) the (hē) flesh (sarx) of me (mou) which (hon) I shall give (dōsō), is (estin) over (huper) [the sake] of the (tēs) life (zōēs) of the (tou) cosmos (kosmou).”

"I am the bread, the living [bread, RE]" - The manna of the exodus, the "bread" God gave to the children of Israel while they stumbled around in the wilderness for forty years due to their own unbelief of God’s Word, provided to them only temporary life-sustaining physical nourishment.  God sent his Word, which became flesh, that whosoever may "eat" it may have ageless life.

I would like to digress for a few minutes to be a little more thorough about the scriptural concept of "eating" the true "manna", the true "bread of life", the "living bread"  which Jesus refers to as the "flesh" of him' and about "drinking" his "blood". 

I'm not going to get deep into details of old covenant feasts here and now, but I wish to point out a somewhat huge misunderstanding of the Christian church, in both teaching and practice, which is related to the first two feasts which were celebrated together, the Feast of Unleavened Bread celebrated immediately subsequent to the celebration of the Feast of Passover.  The holy scriptures abundantly indicate that the unleavened bread, and the manna from heaven, and Jesus' flesh, his broken body, are all symbolic of one another in the holy scriptures, which all are types of the knowledge in God's Word of the Word himself, the Word was which became flesh and tented among us, Christ Jesus.

The "cup", i.e., what's in the cup, which Jesus says is symbolic of his shed blood, is the knowledge in God's Word related specifically to the Feast of Passover, the first of the annual feasts.  The "bread" in the holy scriptures, which Jesus says is symbolic of his own flesh, of his broken body, is the knowledge in God's Word related specifically to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was celebrated immediately subsequent to the Passover feast, because unleavened bread was eaten for the next seven days immediately following the day of Passover.  The Passover/Unleavened Bread feasts were the first two of the annual feasts which had to be kept under the old covenant of the works of the law.  The first two feasts were about Jesus' shed blood, the Feast of Passover, and about Jesus' broken body, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  This gives us a little more vital context which helps us to understand the depth of what Jesus started to preach and teach in John 6:48- to these antichrists, but mostly to the other ones who followed him to Capernaum.

"EATING" GOD'S WORD, "MANNA", DAILY

In John 6:49 Jesus introduced the subject of the manna which God gave to the children of Israel in the wilderness of their exodus from Egypt, as being symbolic of him being the "bread of life" now.  The manna itself didn't last very long.  When the children of Israel went out in the morning and gathered more manna than they could eat, the remainder spoiled overnight.  God made the manna to remain fresh and edible for about 24 hours, which required them to gather it daily if they wished to receive the proper nourishment from it (Ex. 16:19-21). 

This is how we should “eat” God’s Word, specifically the knowledge of the meaning of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood and of the new covenant, daily.  The children of Israel needed to gather it daily, every morning.  I believe this is the example of how often (1 Cor. 11:26) we should eat the true “manna”, the true and living bread which has come down from heaven.  And since this subject matter is about feasting upon God’s Word, therefore it is an indicator of the cycle of fellowship between us and our heavenly Father and his son Christ Jesus (1 John 1:3), which fellowship cycle is scripturally shown to be daily.

Apostle Peter tells us about some of this specific knowledge about Jesus, the true "manna", which we should be "eating" daily.  In 1 Pet. 2:24 Peter recalls the prophecy of Isaiah in Isa. 53:5, "of which for the bruising of him you were healed!"  I consider the prophecy in Isa. 53:5 as a great and precious promise (2 Pet. 1:4) of God for our physical healing, which healing is now available to those who are now under the new covenant in Jesus' shed blood, through belief upon his name.  If you have received a new birth above in God's paternal gift of his holy Spirit, then since you've believed upon the name of Jesus you are in and under God's new covenant; and you are eligible to receive this great and precious promise for your own healing. 

Apostle Paul's understanding, through quoting Christ Jesus himself (1 Cor. 11:23-30), of how often disciples of Christ Jesus are to remember what Christ Jesus did for us on his Father's behalf, through his broken body and shed blood to deliver us out of our bondage and slavery to sin and death, says we should have a remembrance of their meanings as often as (Gk., hosakis) we eat or drink anything (1 Cor. 11:25).  How often do we eat or drink anything throughout the day?  Jesus' broken body was for our healing (Isa. 53:5; 1 Pet.1:24), and his shed blood was to put through his heavenly Father's new covenant for us (1 Cor. 11:25). 

If any of us need and want healing of any kind, maybe it would be bright of us to actually follow exactly what the holy scriptures say about how to obtain it (James 5:14-16; Mat. 13:14-15; John 12:37-40; Acts 28:27; 1 Cor. 11:28-30), instead of listening to and following mortal-made theosophizing and opinionated "paraphrases" of what some suppose God's Word to mean.  Through the use of theological conceptual inventions which the devil plants in mortal's minds, and then those ignorant mortals blurt it out of their mouths, is exactly how he turns the truth of God's Word into lies and confusion, of which Christian oral tradition is chucked full.

"EATING" THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PASSOVER FEAST

In Mat. 26:18, Luke 22:15 Jesus defines the meal he was sharing with his disciples as the "Passover".  In Mark 14:12 Jesus' disciples refer to the meal they shall eat together as the "Passover".  InJohn 13:1-2 apostle John defines the meal Jesus and his disciples ate together as a "Passover supper".  In 1 Cor. 11:20 apostle Paul refers to the meal they ate together as the "Lord's supper".  Nowhere in the holy scriptures is the Passover supper referred to or called "the last supper".  The mortal-made idea of "last", through the word "last" being tacked onto the word "supper" connotes something coming to an end, to a completion.  And something did, or should have, the Israelites keeping of the Passover feast, which passed into history along with the Mosaic law with the coming of the new covenant in Jesus' shed blood.  But that fact was absolutely was not the point Jesus made at that supper when he shared it with his apostles.  Jesus' point was drawing attention to exactly what his broken body meant, and exactly what his shed blood meant to the entire cosmos from the staking he was about to go through, and from which he would die.

Jesus instituted a new form of that old Passover feast, a form of it which was to be kept by any and all who believe upon his name, as often as they ate or drank anything at all; at least daily, if not multiple times a day!  Through one's, anyone's, belief to keep this new form of the old Passover feast is where Jesus indicated one's, anyone's, healing would come!  The point Jesus made was not about the end of the old Passover feast per se, the last Passover feast under the old covenant of the works of the law, but about the beginning of a new form of the Passover feast to be practiced under a new covenant of God, by those who have received a new birth above in God's gift of his paternal Spirit, making all those who believe in Jesus a new creation, having a new life, ageless life!  His point was about a new beginning for the entire cosmos, about an "origination again" as Jesus spoke about in Mat. 19:28, and about which apostle Paul spoke in his letter to Titus, in Titus 3:4-7! 

Jesus' point in his celebration of the Passover feast with his disciples is that in our remembrance of what our heavenly Father has done for us through his son Christ Jesus' broken body and shed blood, that our remembrance of all of that scriptural Passover subject matter truth would cause us to have joy and rejoicing in our hearts; over both our physical healing now, and ageless life forever with our heavenly Father and Christ Jesus!  Modern "Christianity" has turned it into a perpetual funeral service ritual, a perpetual ritual of heavy sorrow, of perpetual sorrow, over Jesus' death, and over our our sin, instead of a perpetual, as often as we eat and drink, celebration of Jesus' resurrection and new life, ageless life, and thereby ours along with him! 

The devil has done this, to both blot out the truth of God's Word over exactly what God has done for the entire cosmos through his son Christ Jesus, and to keep all mortalkind in a perpetual state of sin consciousness and defeat in our belief toward God's Word. 

"EATING" THE MANNA IS MEANT TO BE A PERSONAL REMEMBERANCE

According to the holy scriptures, it's not the responsibility of others to determine for me when and how I keep the remembrance of Jesus' broken body and shed blood, but it is up to the examples in the holy scriptures to determine for everyone when and how they should keep the remembrance of Jesus' broken body and shed blood.   In Exod. 13:3 Moses said, "You are to remember this, the day, the day in which you have gone out of Egypt...".  God instructed the children of Israel to keep a Passover feast (Exod. 12:1-28) as a ceremony to facilitate a perpetual a remembrance of this special day, the day marking the deliverance of them from bondage and slavery into freedom, into a new beginning, into a new life, into a life filled with promise and hope for health and wholeness, abundance, prosperity and peace.  That day was a physical type to the spiritual reality which occurred on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) in about 30 A.D. 

The children of Israel kept the Passover through eating their food in their own homes, with their own family members.  They were to paint the blood of their slain lamb on the lintel over the two door posts of the door into their homes (Exod. 12:7).  The Passover was absolutely not a public ceremony or ritual, but a private one.  Each family was to celebrate it privately in their own homes.  At the Passover supper Jesus asked his disciples, for each one, from this day forward to remember what he has done, and especially is about to do, and the spiritual meaning and significance of it (Isa. 53:5; 1 Pet. 1:24; and many more), remembering it in their own minds .

The Passover feast which Jesus and his disciples kept was a feast which the children of Israel were to keep through an injunction of God which became incorporated into the Mosaic law. 

"The first of three annual festivals was the Passover.  It commemorated the final plague on Egypt when the firstborn of the Egyptians died and the Israelites were spared because of the blood smeared on their doorposts (Exod. 12:11, 21, 27, 43, 48).  Passover took place on the 14th day (at evening) of the first month (Lev. 23:5).  The animal (lamb or kid) to be slain was selected on the 10th day of the month (Exod. 12:3) and slaughtered on the 14th day and then eaten (Deut. 16:7).  None of the animal was to be left over on the following morning (Exod. 34:25).  The uncircumcised and the hired servant were not permitted to eat the sacrifice (Exod. 12:45-49).

The Passover was also called the feast of unleavened bread (Exod. 23:15; Deut. 16:16) because only unleavened bread was eaten during the seven days immediately following Passover (Exod. 12:15-20; 13:6-8; Deut. 16:3-8).  Unleavened bread reflected the fact that the people had no time to put leaven in their bread before their hasty departure from Egypt.  It was also apparently connected to the barley harvest (Lev. 23:4-14)." - "Passover." Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nashville: Holman, 2003

The Passover supper was a joyous occasion on account of it celebrated God's deliverance of the Israelites from bondage and slavery to the Egyptians, into a new beginning, a new life of freedom, in a promised land of abundance.  That deliverance of the Israelites was a type to the deliverance of all mortalkind from slavery and bondage to sin and death, and from slavery and bondage to the devil and all of the little demon spirits (Heb. 2:14, 11:28), beginning on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of God's gracious gift of his Spirit; which gives all those who receive it a new birth above, they becoming a new creation, with ageless life.  Modern Christianity, with the devil's help, steers people's attention away from the true meaning of the Passover supper Jesus ate with his disciples, renaming it a "last supper" instead of a "Passover supper", to disconnect it and divorce it from the vital scriptural context in which it was intended to be understood, which context is Exod. chapters 12 and 13. 

"Christianity" continually mischaracterizes the Passover supper in Luke 22 turning it into a ritual to remember agonizing dying and death, the death of Jesus; instead of characterizing it as a celebration of his and our resurrections and new eternal life, freedom from slavery to bondage and sin, which focus on death totally misses the scriptural point!  Jesus desired the Passover supper to be about the Father's deliverance of Jesus' twelve disciples, the Father's deliverance of us, the Father's deliverance of all mortalkind from bondage to sin and death into eternal life, not about him!  Jesus desired his disciples to remember their deliverance from bondage to sin and death and new life into eternal life, which he was about to give them on the Father's behalf, and absolutely not turn the occasion into a funeral ritual going forward. 

IS EATING ANY KIND OF BREAD, AND DRINKING ANY KIND OF DRINK, A CAUSE FOR REMEMBRANCE?

What God fed to the followers of his son Jesus, in John 6, may have been unleavened bread, but this is not substantiated in the text.   The holy scriptures do not specifically tell us that the five barley loaves, or the manna, were leavened.  But they do associate barley as food for those who were poor (Lev. 23:22; Ruth 3:15, 17; 2 Sam. 17:28; 2 Kings 4:42, 7:1, 16, 18; 2 Chron. 2:10, 15, 27:5; Jer. 41:8), and as feed for horses, mules, and donkeys (1 Kings 4:28).  Whether or not the poor can afford leaven is a consideration.  An it seems doubtful that barley would be baked into leavened loaves of bread to feed livestock, which likely ate the raw grain.

But what about the manna God provided to the children of Israel in the wilderness?  Was it leavened or unleavened?  It was an entirely different kind of "bread" altogether, since the Hebrew word "manna" means, "What is it?".  According to the holy scriptures, Jesus is a type of both the unleavened bread of remembrance, and of the daily life-giving manna with which God fed the Israelites in the wilderness.  But what is indicated in John 6 is that God, working in and through Jesus instrumentally, made due with what was available at that time, which were five barley loaves and two little fish, which a child there happened to have with him (John 6:8). 

In the Passover supper record in Luke 22, the old covenant of law was still in force.  And in keeping with doing the works of the law Jesus and his disciples were required to eat unleavened bread for seven days, in place of leavened bread which was the normal staple of that culture.  But on account of the unique timing of God's plan of redemption of mortalkind, the timing of the death of the final and true sacrificial lamb, the old covenant, the covenant of keeping the works of the mosaic law, was now at the point of quickly passing away (Heb. 8:8-13), and God's promised new covenant, under which includes "the promise of the Father", was near to becoming a reality in about fifty days from that Passover supper night.  Under that new covenant there is no injunction that unleavened bread must be eaten at a certain time of year, at a certain Passover feast which no longer must be kept. 

Jesus, with his broken body and shed blood and death, literally changed the old covenant of Law of Works for the Passover supper requirement of eating unleavened bread as a remembrance of the Israelites deliverance from slavery and bondage to Egypt, into a new covenant Law of belief (Rom. 3:27), requesting that as they eat any kind of bread that they eat it in remembrance of what our heavenly Father has done for us through him, Christ Jesus; to deliver all mortalkind from sickness and disease with his broken body, and from slavery and bondage to sin and death with his shed blood. 

On that Passover night recorded In Luke 22, what I believe Jesus taught to his disciples for them to do, going forward, which if practiced would bring healing to them, was for them to carry and keep the knowledge of all of the things which were prophesied for Jesus to do and accomplish, in their minds daily, whether or not they ate any kind of bread, or drank any kind of drink, but especially when they did.  It wasn't what kind of bread or drink that was important, but that it served as a reminder for them to "eat" and "drink" God's Word in their own minds, to rethink about the associated knowledge in God's Word, all the prophecies of Jesus' coming and work he would do, and the records in Exod. chapters 12-13 and Isa. 53, and many others, for not only our healing, health and wholeness, but our deliverance from death itself, into eternal life.

EATING WITH UNWASHED HANDS!

The religious leaders of the children of Israel were particularly critical of Jesus and his disciples eating with unwashed hands (Mat. 15:2, 20; Mark 7:2-5; Luke 3:3-6).  There's no record of Jesus, his disciples, or any of the about five thousand followers washing their hands before they ate their bread.  God is searching for spiritually clean and believing hearts, not physically clean hands! 

In John 6, the heavenly Father, through his son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh (John 1:14), was feeding his Word to those following Jesus.  The God, working in and through Jesus Christ (Mark 6:5; Luke 5:17; John 3:2, 5:19-20, 8:16, *29, 9:33, *10:38, *14:10-11, 28; Acts 2:22, 10:38; *2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 3:16-19, 4:6; *Col. 1:19-20, 2:9; 1 John 5:20) to physically feed the about five thousand people following Jesus, performed a miraculous sign through Jesus, which sign was a metaphor for God himself feeding his Word to the entire cosmos, to his entire creation; his Word being the true manna, the true bread out of heaven; which Word of God, the knowledge of it, if they would "eat" and "drink" it, would give to them ageless life.

DID JESUS MEAN A PERSONAL REMEMBRANCE, OR A PUBLIC LAW-LIKE RITUAL?

According to holy scripture examples, when eating together we all can personally remember, together, our heavenly Father's new covenant, and Jesus' sacrifice, and be thankful together.  But going beyond that into prescribing lock-step motions for eating a specially provided wafer or cracker of some kind, and for drinking a specially provided drink of some kind, other than the regular food and drink we would normally eat, whenever we may eat it, is absolutely not scriptural!  I'll bet that in the feeding of the about five thousand people recorded in John 6, that when the baskets were passed and the people helped themselves, that the time span was only a moment from getting it into their hands to getting it into their mouths.  And from paying close attention to the record in Luke 22 of the Passover supper, I see no indication that Jesus and his disciples all lifted food to their mouths simultaneously in lock-step motion, or drank in lock-step motion. 

Our healing comes through our BELIEF in God's Word in our own hearts of his great and precious promises over what Christ Jesus accomplished for us (Isa. 53:5; 2 Pet. 1:4), and absolutely not in what kind of food we are eating, and absolutely not in what kind of drink we are drinking, and absolutely not in whether we all do "it" together in lock-step motion!  It's what we do in our heads, in our thoughts, in what we think and believe about God's Word, what God did for us through Christ Jesus, which determines whether we receive healing; regardless of whether we are standing on our heads, crawling through broken glass, or swinging in the bell tower on a high trapeze!  The promise for our healing is about our remembrance and belief of it, and absolutely not about our geographic location when we remember it, and absolutely not about what acrobatics we may or may not perform when remembering God's great and precious promises! 

Being prodded to remember something and then give thanks to God for it, the prodding being done through the keeping of a public ritual, does not indicate to God one's own self-motivation to know, remember and believe any of his promises.  One's own personal motivations shouldn't be artificially induced from an outside source, but should come from within a person's own heart, out of one's own love in his heart for God and his Word, and thereby belief and anticipation in one's own heart to receive form God.  Our personal giving of thanks and eulogies to God, which are well-acceptable and well-received sacrifices of our own lips (Heb. 13:15), are not to come forth through prodding but though our own volition, and as one purposes in his own heart (2 Cor. 9:6-11). 

In 2 Cor. 9:6-12 apostle Paul teaches that whatever sized offering we may bring toward God, in good works or in thankfulness of the fruit of our lips (Heb. 13:15), it should be whatever we have pre-sized (Gk., proērētai) in our own hearts (2 Cor. 9:7).  Whatever size offering we may bring before our heavenly Father, of the fruit of our lips thanking him, must be pre-sized in our own heart; because it will be directly linked to, and an outcome of, whatever size BELIEF in his Word which we have in our heart to receive any of his great and precious promises in his Word.  Whatever size that belief in our heart may be, no belief, little belief, so much belief, or great belief, can absolutely not possibly be dictated, or legislated, of forced, through any law-like rituals.

The old covenant Mosaic Law of Works has been replaced with the new covenant Law of Belief (Rom. 3:27).  The healing comes through personal remembrance of those personally special passages of God's Word, and subsequently BELIEF in their truthfulness, their veracity, not through following a specific mortal-made law-like public ritual in lock-step motion. 

Jesus Christ meant for any kind of food, food in general, and any kind of drink, drink in general, and the temporary life we may gain from their nourishment, for them to be simple reminders of the eternal life we have been promised, and we have gained in him, through his broken body and shed blood!  The point is not to keep and do a ritual of some kind, BUT to remember and then especially to believe God's promise for our present healing and ageless life!

OUR OWN MOTIVATION TO REMEMBER GOD'S DELIVERANCE THROUGH JESUS' SACRIFICE, IS OUR OWN FREE WILL "SACRIFICIAL OFFERING" TO GOD, WELL ACCEPTED BY HIM!

Modern Christianity has replaced what the Father and his son Jesus intended to be a free will sacrifice of praise, the produce of our lips confessing Jesus' name (Heb. 13:15), into an old covenant law-like public ritual offering.  A pre-determined time to keep a periodic public ritual trains people out of they causing themselves to remember God's deliverance whenever they eat or drink anything, as often as they may eat or drink!  Moreover, A free will offering which is turned into a ritual, like the ones under the old covenant of law, implies that the ritual is commanded through some injunction of some law; which implies that non-compliance with that implied law is sin; which implied sin implies a penalty for that sin; which implied penalty implies death!  Establishing and developing a chain of false implications is the exact definition of the kind of stealth the devil uses to twist the truth of God's Word into lies, and to persuade people to follow those "almost truth" lies. 

The presence, or lack thereof, of one's own personal thoughts and remembrances of Christ's sacrifice, and what it may mean to him, was not meant to be put on public display, in which one's attendance and participation in a public ritual can instigate and/or ignite fiery judgment of others as to one's state of sin or righteousness.  This is the condemnation into which those who command and do rituals condemn others who don't keep pace with them in doing those rituals. 

Rituals, which under the new covenant can now be nothing more mortal-made and mortal-mandated perfunctory genuflections, create and begin a spiral out of new covenant freedom in Christ, back into the bondage of doing works.  Therefore, rituals lead people back into the bondage of the old covenant Law of Works, just like the old covenant law put people into bondage to do the works of that law; which works, or of any works, could not then and absolutely still can't now make anyone righteous in God's eyes!  God desires us to personally, by our own free will, absolutely not by coercion to keep a public ritual, "circumcise" the "foreskin" of our heart, not our penis!

Jesus' request to his disciples, under God's new covenant, for them to remember his personal sacrifice for them, I believe was to help them in their development of their own renewed mind (Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 2:15-16; Eph. 4:23), into the renewed mind of the new man (Mat. 9:17; Eph. 2:15, 4:24; Tit. 3:4-7), the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15).  There remembrance of Jesus and thankfulness to God was intended to be a simple daily habitual practice of a pious and joyous lifestyle.  God doesn't want to see showbiz!  He desires to see a deep level of knowledge and BELIEF of his Word in a person's HEART, about he and his son Christ Jesus!  That's exactly WHAT he is looking for, and that is exactly WHERE he is looking for it.  He's looking for belief in a person's heart, not for rituals.  This is the one and only way anyone can ever please God, and thereby the only way anyone can receive anything from him under his new covenant! 

If you're a disciple of Christ who is already following the examples in the holy scriptures of remembering Christ's broken body and God's associated promise to heal us on account of it (Isa. 53:5; 1 Pet. 2:24), and Christ's shed blood and God's associated promise to deliverance us from slavery and bondage to the devil and all of the little demon spirits (Heb. 2:14, 11:28) as the children of Israel were delivered that night of the Passover (Exod. 12), remembering at least daily, if not three, four, or five times a day already, as often as we may eat or drink, whether alone or together with the assembly, then what more can keeping a weekly, monthly, or annual public ritual over it mean to God and his son, or to you? 

Jesus' institution of a new form of the Passover supper, was not meant for it to be turned into a perpetual funeral service ritual of sorrow, and of wailing, and of beating of the breast. 

In 1 Thes. 4:13-18 apostle Paul says he absolutely does not desire (please note Paul's use of the emphatic particle of negation, ou) the believers in the area of Thessalonica to be ignorant about the believers who have died and who are 'being caused to rest", in order that they may not grieve over them as unbelievers grieve over their dead ones; because as Jesus died away and then stood up out of death, the God shall lead the dead believes to stand up out of death to be together with Jesus, at his return!  This is the renewed mindset believers should have over the Passover supper Jesus ate with his disciples! 

Here again, apostle Paul indicates that the Passover supper was intended to be a happy and joyful occasion, not only about the deliverance from the slavery and bondage to the Egyptians back then, but for deliverance from the bondage to sin and sickness now, and moreover, deliverance from the bondage to death itself in the future!  That's what the Passover supper remembrance is supposed to be all about, joy and rejoicing in God's name for his new covenant of total deliverance, and rejoicing in the name of Christ Jesus, for his sacrifice to put that new covenant through, and joy and rejoicing about ourselves, the believers in Jesus' name, for our own deliverances in so many ways under that new covenant, now and in the future!

In Luke 9:57-60 Jesus speaks of this believing mindset again, in a comparative example, that it is more important for one to preach and teach about deliverance from death, than to participate in ritualistic social customs around death, and the burial rituals practiced over those who have died.  With all the abundance of this scriptural evidence, how can the so-called Christian church miss the mark by so far on this subject matter?  Is it because the church "leaders" are leading the followers away from this truth in God's Word? 

For example: special communion services are held wherein the people come in and go through the ritual somehow, and hardly a word is spoken, and the atmosphere is so heavy, dark and sorrowful, and no mention whatsoever is made of the remembrance of God's deliverance of the children of Israel from their bondage and slavery to the Egyptians, which was a type to God's deliverance of all time, of the rescue of all mortalkind from its bondage and slavery to sin and death, into healing, wholeness, and eternal life!  They just want to ignorantly practice a sorrowful funeral ritual over and over and over, while the Father and his son Christ Jesus sit in heaven shaking their heads over it, about their on-going ignorance and stupidity.

Why not celebrate the "Passover supper" instead of the "Last supper", believing in our hearts about the Isa. 53:5 promise for our physical healing through Jesus' broken body; and believing in our hearts about the Exod. 12 record, of our deliverance from death through the blood of Christ smeared upon the upper door posts of our hearts, and our deliverance from bondage to the devil and all of the little demon spirits on account of Jesus' shed blood (Heb. 2:14, 11:28)!  The Passover supper celebrates absolutely not death and sorrow, BUT, deliverance, freedom, new life, eternal life, peace, and all of the associated joy and happiness we should have over these things!

Back to John 6:51

"If perhaps anyone may eat out of the bread of this" – The “bread of this” is the knowledge of God’s Word about the Feast of Unleavened bread for one thing, of which some of it Jesus is preaching and teaching right here in this very passage in John 6, and in other parts of God's Word! 

"And the bread, but the flesh of me" – Jesus Christ refers to the entire revealed Word of God as his “flesh”.  What do you suppose that means?  I believe that means that the entire revealed Word of God can be learned, understood and believed, after becoming a disciple of Christ Jesus; and then "eating" and "hearing" what God's Word says, beginning with the recorded prophecies of Christ, and then the records of Jesus' fulfillment of those prophecies.