For the second day of Easter (Easter Monday) I will be discussing the second of three passages in the Gospel of John where Jesus is associated with the power of resurrection. The previous note for Easter Sunday dealt with John 5:19-29; today’s note will look at one specific area of the Bread of Life discourse in Jn 6:35-58. For some background on this passage, I would recommend reading the earlier note I posted during Holy Week. There I demonstrated something of the parallelism that exists between verses 35-50 and 51-58. Today the focus will be upon one key phrase where Jesus states “…and I will stand {him} up in the last day”. This phrase appear four times in vv. 35-58, but they can be consolidated into two main sayings:
John 6:39-40:
tou=to de/ e)stin to\ qe/lhma tou= pe/myanto/$ me, i%na pa=n o^ de/dwke/n moi mh\ a)pole/sw e)c au)tou=, a)lla\ a)nasth/sw au)to\ [e)n] th=| e)sxa/th| h(me/ra|
tou=to ga/r e)stin to\ qe/lhma tou= patro/$ mou, i%na pa=$ o( qewrw=n to\n ui(o\n kai\ pisteu/wn ei)$ au)to\n e&xh| zwh\n ai)w/nion, kai\ a)nasth/sw au)to\n e)gw\ [e)n] th=| e)sxa/th| h(me/ra|
“This is the will of the (one who) sent me: that all which he has given me, I should not have perish (anything) out of it, but I will stand it up in the last day.
“This is the will of my Father: that every (one) th(at) observes the Son and trusts into him should have life of-the-Age, and I will stand him up in the last day.”
Several points should be noted in this pair of closely related sayings:
-
- The ultimate fate of believers—that of being raised—is expressed as the will or wish (qe/lhma) of God.
- God is referred to with the parallel expressions most commonly used by Jesus in John: (a) “the one who sent me”, and (b) “my Father”.
- Here there is the important theological idea, expressed on numerous occasions in the Gospel of John, of the Son receiving from the Father, i.e., the Father has given (dedwken, from didwmi); the Son, in turn, gives (what he received from the Father) to believers. In this instance, believers as a collective, are what was given to the Son.
- The connection between salvation (that is, “life of the Age[s]”, i.e. “eternal life”) and not “perishing” (a)po/llumi) occurs elsewhere in the Gospel (Jn 3:16; 10:28; 17:12; cf. also 6:12; 12:25).
- The motif of “seeing/beholding” the Son (and thereby seeing the Father) is a frequent and most important one in the Gospel—here using the verb qewre/w (Jn 2:23; 6:2, 62; 12:45; 14:17, 19; 16:10, 16-19; 17:24).
- “Seeing” is intimately connected (being virtually synonymous) with “trusting/believing”, with the usual expression, lit. “trusting into (the Son)”
The theme of trusting/believing in Jesus is primary to the section 6:35-50, as is indicated in the main “Bread of Life” saying in verse 35:
“I Am the bread of life: the (one) coming toward me, no he should not hunger; and the (one) trusting into me, no he should not thirst ever.”
Coming to(ward) Jesus is described in terms of eating, while trusting/believing in Jesus is described in terms of drinking. If we add the statement of verse 44 to that in vv. 39-40, then the motif of coming to Jesus is connected with trusting in Jesus there as well.
“No one is powered [i.e. is able] to come toward me if the Father (who) sent me does not draw/drag him, and I will stand him up in the last day“
And, again in verse 44, the will (implied) of the Father is emphasized as the source cause. If we arrange the central actions of vv. 39-40, 44 in order, one sees the thematic thread of vv. 35-50 spelled out:
-
- Given (by the Father) to the Son, v. 39
- Trusts in the Son (as a result of seeing/beholding), v. 40
- Comes to the Son (drawn by the Father), 44
John 6:54:
o( trw/gwn mou th\n sa/rka kai\ pi/nwn mou to\ ai!ma e&xei zwh\n ai)w/nion, ka)gw\ a)nasth/sw au)to\n th=| e)sxa/th| h(me/ra|
“The (one) chewing [i.e. eating] my flesh and drinking my blood has life of-the-Age [i.e. eternal life], and I will stand him up in the last day“
Just as vv. 39-40 (+ 44) connect with the theme of the main Bread of Life saying in v. 35, so here verse 54 connects with the main saying in v. 51:
” I Am the living bread th(at) came down out of Heaven: if (any) one should eat out of this bread he will live into the Age; and the bread which I will give is my flesh over [i.e. on behalf of] the life of the world”
Instead of coming and trusting (the theme of vv. 35-50) we have eating [and drinking] (the theme of vv. 51-58 [but also implicit in the saying of v. 35]). Note the use of the verb trw/gw (“grind, crunch”, i.e. “chew/gnaw”) in v. 54 rather than the more general verbs (fa/gw/e)sqi/w) signifying eating. This seems intended to bring out the concrete sense of eating Jesus’ flesh in rather graphic fashion; whether this also is meant to stress the physical eating of the sacrament (Eucharist) is difficult to say. In any event, the image of eating/drinking Jesus is closely related to that of coming to him and believing in him. Verses 60-65 tie together both themes under the presence and life-giving power of the Spirit (v. 63).
The common expression “and I will stand him up in the last day” reflects a standard Jewish belief in resurrection, as would have been prevalent at the time. The only difference is that the Jewish belief would be stated as “and God will stand him up in the last day”. Here Jesus is claiming the power of resurrection (that is, of giving life [to the dead]). In Jn 5:21, 26 this power comes to Jesus by way of his relationship to the Father. Jn 6:63 indicates that the same power belongs to the Spirit as well—note the use of the verb zwopoie/w (“make alive”) in both 6:63 and 5:21. In the case of the resurrection power of Jesus, however, the formula “and I will stand him up in the last day” in chapter 6 is clearly eschatological—that is, it relates to the future (even if understood as the imminent future), to the Judgment and the end of the age. In this respect it differs from the resurrection power of Jesus in chapter 11, which I will discuss in the next Easter note.