This case is in contrast to the case in ch. 5. There the person was by a pool; here the people are around a sea. The scene of the foregoing case was the holy city with a sacred pool for man's healing. The scene of this case is the wilderness with a secular sea for man's livelihood. The person in the previous case was impotent and needed life's enlivening. The people in this case are hungry and need life's feeding. In typology the land signifies the earth, which was created by God for man to live on, and the sea signifies the world, which has been corrupted by Satan and in which fallen mankind lives. In this world mankind is hungry and has no satisfaction. In this world mankind is troubled and has no peace, as portrayed in v. 18.

A mountain signifies a transcendent position above the land and the sea. To enjoy Christ's feeding, people must go with Christ to the mountain.

In the Passover, people slay the redeeming lamb, sprinkle its blood, and eat its flesh. This typifies Christ as our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7). He is the redeeming Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36) slain for us that we may eat His flesh and drink His blood, taking Him in as our life supply that we may live by Him.

The denarius was the chief silver coin of the Romans; it was considered good pay for a day's labor (see Matt. 20:2).

The number five signifies responsibility, indicating here that Christ bears the responsibility to be our life supply. The number two signifies testimony, testifying here that Christ is our life supply.

Loaves are of the vegetable life and signify the generating aspect of Christ's life. Fish are of the animal life and signify the redeeming aspect of Christ's life. As the generating life, Christ grows in the land, the God-created earth; as the redeeming life, He lives in the sea, the Satan-corrupted world. In order to regenerate us, He grew on the God-created earth that He might reproduce; in order to redeem us, He lived in the satanic and sinful world. But He is not sinful, not affected by the world, just as fish live in salt water but are not salty.

In the Jewish land barley ripens earliest and is the first of the harvest; hence, it typifies the resurrected Christ (Lev. 23:10). The barley loaves represent Christ in resurrection as food to us.

Barley loaves and fish are small items, signifying Christ's smallness, through which He can be the life supply to us. Those who sought miracles considered Him the promised Prophet and would have forced Him to be King (vv. 14-15), but He would not seek to be a giant in religion; rather, He preferred to be small loaves and little fish that people might eat Him.

We need to take the Lord into our "boat" (our married life, our family, our business, etc.) and enjoy peace with Him on the journey of human life.

See note John 3:15¹; so in vv. 40, 47, 54, 68.

Fallen man's concept concerning God is that he must do something for God and work for God. This is the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Gen. 2.

The Lord's concept concerning God is that man should believe into Him, that is, receive Him as life and the life supply. This is the principle of the tree of life, which brings in life, as seen in Gen. 2. It is in contrast to the principle of the tree of knowledge, which brings in death.

See note John 1:6¹; so in v. 57.

Through incarnation.

The bread of life is the life supply in the form of food. It is like the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), which also is the life supply "good for food."

In the principle set forth in ch. 2, this also is the changing of death into life. The source of death is the tree of knowledge, and the source of life is the tree of life.

This signifies that the Lord can overrule all the troubles of human life. He can walk on the troubling waves of human life, and all the troubles are under His feet.

I.e., about three or four miles.

The churning of the sea signifies the troubles in human life.

Bread of life (v. 35) refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; living bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living.

I.e., to make Him the Messiah.

The twelve handbaskets left over signify the overflow of the riches of Christ's life supply. The five loaves, which represent this supply, not only fed one thousand times that number, that is, five thousand people, but also provided enough for something to be left over.

See note John 1:14⁵.

See note John 1:45¹.

Here flesh and blood are mentioned separately. The separation of blood and flesh indicates death. Here the Lord clearly indicated His death, that is, His being slain. He gave His body and shed His blood for us that we may have eternal life. To eat His flesh is to receive by faith all that He did in giving His body for us; and to drink His blood is to receive by faith all that He accomplished in shedding His blood for us. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to receive Him, in His redemption, as life and the life supply by believing in what He did for us on the cross. By comparing this verse with v. 47, we see that to eat the Lord's flesh and drink His blood is to believe in Him, because to believe or to believe into is to receive (John 1:12).

This indicates that the Lord had to be resurrected so that He could abide in us as our life and life supply.

To eat is to take food into us that it may be assimilated organically into our body. Hence, to eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us that He may be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life. Then we live by Him whom we have received. It is by this that He, the resurrected One, lives in us (John 14:19-20).

In v. 56 the Lord's resurrection is implied. In this verse His ascension, which followed His resurrection, is clearly mentioned. The Lord's ascension was the proof that His redemptive work had been completed (Heb. 1:3b).

At this point the Spirit who gives life is brought in. After resurrection and through resurrection, the Lord Jesus, who had become flesh (John 1:14), became the Spirit who gives life, as is clearly mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:45. It is as the life-giving Spirit that He can be life and the life supply to us. When we receive Him as the crucified and resurrected Savior, the Spirit who gives life comes into us to impart eternal life into us. We receive the Lord Jesus, but we get the Spirit who gives life.

Flesh here, according to the context, refers to the meat of the physical body. When the Lord said, "The bread which I will give is My flesh" (v. 51), the Jews thought that He would give them the meat of His physical body to eat (v. 52). They did not understand the Lord's word rightly. To them it was a hard word (v. 60). Hence, in this verse the Lord explained that what He would give them to eat was not the meat of His physical body; the meat, which is the flesh, profits nothing. What He would give, eventually, was the Spirit who gives life, who is the Lord Himself in resurrection.

The Greek word for words, here and in v. 68, is rhema, which denotes the instant and present spoken word. It differs from logos (used for Word in John 1:1), which denotes the constant word. Here the words follows the Spirit. The Spirit is living and real, yet He is very mysterious, intangible, and difficult for people to apprehend; the words, however, are substantial. First, the Lord indicated that for giving life He would become the Spirit. Then He said that the words He speaks are spirit and life. This shows that His spoken words are the embodiment of the Spirit of life. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we get the Spirit, who is life.

Lit., deliver Him up; so throughout the book.

At this point the bread becomes the flesh. Bread is of the vegetable life and is only for feeding; flesh is of the animal life and is not only for feeding but also for redeeming. Before the fall of man, the Lord was the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), which is only for feeding man. After man fell into sin, the Lord became the Lamb (John 1:29), which is not only for feeding man but also for redeeming him (Exo. 12:4, 7-8).

The Lord gave His body, that is, His flesh, dying for us that we might have life.

At this point blood is added, which is necessary for redemption (John 19:34; Heb. 9:22; Matt. 26:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rom. 3:25).

Lit., masticates; so in vv. 56, 57, 58.