The Trinitarian Claim
Trinitarians claim the pre-existent Son descended from heaven down to earth and incarnated into the womb of Mary.
The Claim vs. The Facts
The Scriptural facts show us that Jesus is referring to himself, human flesh, as the Word of God which descended upon him in the Spirit out of heaven when he was baptized at the Jordan river. Since he kept his Father's Word, that Word which descended out of heaven in the Spirit became this flesh named Jesus.
The Problems with the Claim
1. His flesh did not descend out of heaven
It is very important to carefully regard everything Jesus said. He said that the Bread of God is "that which descends out of heaven and gives life to the world." So by definition the Bread of God must be two things: (1) whatever descended out of heaven, and (2) it gives life to the world. So the Bread of God is necessarily something which descended out of heaven. But now notice what Jesus also said.
the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.... He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.6:51-58.
The Bread of God is that which descends out of heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus then identified the Bread of God which descends out of heaven and gives life to the world as his flesh. However, his flesh did not literally come down out heaven. This is the turning point in a proper understanding of Jesus and a correct interpretation of his words. Let the reader understand that the Bread of God which gives life to the world is necessarily that which descends out of heaven. The Trinitarian interpretation of this verse does not account for this problem and insisting that the pre-existent Word/Logos (God the Son) became flesh does not solve the problem. His flesh did not come down out of heaven and the Bread of Life is necessarily that which descends out of heaven. But he tells us that his flesh is indeed that Bread of God which descends out of heaven and gives life to the world. So how can this be? The Gospel of John provides the answers.
It is the Spirit that gives Life; the flesh profits nothing;
the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life. John 6:63.
2. I am the Living Bread which descends out of Heaven
"Flesh and blood" refers to humanity. Because it is his flesh which gives life to the world, we therefore know that when Jesus says he is the Bread of Life, that he is referring to his humanity, his flesh.
I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 6:51
Truly, 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 who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever. 6:53-58
It is also for this reason Jesus says the following:
Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give to you. 6:27
Truly, 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. 6:53
What then if you see the son of man ascending to where he was before? 6:62. See also 3:13.
The food/bread which this human gave them were the words of God, "they shall all be taught by God" (6:45). When Jesus uses the word "I" as in "I am the bread" it is a reference to himself as a human being of flesh, the son of man.
The Trinitarian claim does not solve his own dilemma. The Bread which (1) comes down from heaven and (2) gives life to the world is his flesh and blood.
Analysis of the Facts
1. The Bread of God, Bread of Life
In the Scriptures, the Bread of God, or the Bread of Life, is God's Word. For example, when Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread, he responded by saying:
Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
There is life in God's Word. We consume this bread by doing it, that is, we consume God's word by doing His word. Jesus consumed the Bread of God by doing it and it was his food for eternal life (4:34; 12:49-50). In a similar manner, he is telling these Jews they must "eat" his flesh. He is telling them they must do the word of God which he embodies; they must become like Jesus and follow him because following him is obeying God the Father's word.
At Matthew 4:4, Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy. Notice what it says in Deuteronomy as compared to his teaching in John 6:
You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commands or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:2-3.
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread out of heaven to eat." Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." 6:31-34.
The Bread of God is the Word of God and we "eat" or consume this bread by doing it. Jesus kept His Father's Word (8:55) and consumed the Bread of God in this manner. And this is the reason he says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and finish His work (4:34) and "Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, he who eats me will live because of me" (6:57).
Jesus had just taught them to work for the bread which abides to eternal life (6:27). Doing the will of God, His Word, is what gives us eternal life (Matthew 7:21-27; 1 John 2:17). When the disciples were inquiring about bread to eat, Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work" (4:34) and for the very same reason he said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also will live because of me. (6:56-57). We must eat to live, to have life, so we eat bread which gives us life. But if we want eternal life we must eat God's bread and that Bread is doing the Father's will (see 6:27). Jesus' food was to do the Father's will. For that reason, he said, "I live because of the Father." Jesus later told his disciples, "Just as the Father sent me, I also send you" (20:21) and then he sent them by breathing the Spirit into them. The Spirit had descended upon Jesus and the Father was abiding in him (14:10. So just as the Father had sent Jesus, and his food was to do the will of the Father, and he lived because of the Father, Jesus then sent his disciples and they live because of Jesus who abides in them, he who is God's Word become flesh.
In [the Word] was life and the life was the light of men. 1:4
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us. 1 John 1:1-2.
2. The Bread is His Flesh
During this teaching, Jesus referred to eating his flesh. He even said that his flesh was true food and if you don't eat his flesh, you have no life in you. But let us understand that the Word of God which gives us life became flesh. Hence, God's Word had become Jesus' flesh. To eat Jesus' flesh would be to consume God's Word. How do we consume God's Word? By doing it. What Jesus is really talking about here is similar to what Paul says about being conformed to the image of God's son (Romans 8:29; Php 3:10-11; cf. 2 Cor 3:17-18). Notice how Jesus explains himself to his disciples:
It is the Spirit which is life-giving; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 6:63.
The words he spoke were Spirit and life-giving. Jesus reminds us many times in the Gospel of John that he spoke the words of God the Father. Notice what he had said in this teaching, "they shall all be taught by God." These Jews were being taught God the Father at this very moment. But the Word of God which we must do is what gives us life; this is the Bread of God by which man has life eternal. Jesus' language about eating his flesh is reminding us that we must consume God's Bread, His Word, by actually doing it. The Word became that flesh named Jesus because he kept his Father's Word and became the embodiment of God's Word, the Bread of God. Since Jesus is the fleshly embodiment of God's Word (because he obeyed it), we consume God's Word by following Jesus and becoming like him.
3. The Prophet
In Hebrew and Greek thought, "breath" and "spirit" are nearly synonymous ideas. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word which proceeds out of the mouth of God. When we speak, our word is borne along in the spirit of our mouth, our breath. In the same way, God's Word is borne along in the Holy Spirit which descends upon his prophets. The Word of God came to Jesus when the Spirit of God descended upon him once he had been baptized by John at the Jordan. Be reminded now how Jesus clarified himself by saying it is the Spirit which gives us this life which he is talking about in John 6,
In John 6, Jesus had multiplied the loaves. And then the people declare that he is the Prophet who was coming into the world (6:14). A prophet was someone who spoke God's Word and delivered that message to God's people. He spoke God's Word when the Spirit came upon him and communicated that Word to him. In the same way, the Word of God came to Jesus when the Spirit came down out of heaven upon him at his baptism. And he kept his Father's Word (8:55).
Jesus is the promised Prophet (1:45; 6:14; Deut 18:15-19). He was the promised Messiah. In this respect, Jesus was different than all other prophets who preceded him. The great prophets of old simply delivered a message about something else. But Jesus WAS the message. He had to become that promised prophet which had been prophesied. God's Word had already been spoken when He made the promise. Now Jesus had to become the manifestation of the promise. He was not just a prophet who spoke out about other things as the other prophets had done. Jesus had to be the manifestation of God's previous promises; he had to become a manifestation of that Word of God. He was the Prophet who was "coming into the world." He was expected to become God's Word of promise.
4. You are what you eat
When we eat a slice of bread, it becomes us, and we become it. Jesus, a man of flesh, became the Father's Word and the Word became him, a man of flesh. This Word descended out of heaven in the Spirit which is what gives life. Being led by the Spirit to do God's Word, His Bread, is where eternal life is found. Since Jesus became the fleshly embodiment of that Word, and that Word became embodied in that flesh known as Jesus, the human being Jesus could say two things: (1) I descended out of heaven, and (2) the Bread which gives life to the world is my flesh. He, this flesh, now was that Word which descended out of heaven upon him in the Spirit.
That Word which descended to Jesus became him, flesh. It became him because he always did his Father's will (let the reader see what 6:38 says about God's will). God's Word communicates his will. Because this flesh named Jesus always did his Father's will, that Word became him. He was the manifestation of God's will in everything he said and did. He was the manifestation of God's Word in word and deed. Because he always obeyed, he bodily exemplified and portrayed the Word of God perfectly. In this way, the Word became flesh and that is why Jesus is referring to his flesh in the Bread of Life teaching. The flesh Jesus IS what that Word called him to be and for that reason he could say, "I came down out of heaven." The Word which descended out of heaven in the Spirit became this flesh Jesus because he said and did everything this Word called him to do and be. Because of this, he WAS the Father's Word which descended upon Jesus from out of heaven in the Spirit.
Conclusion
The contextual facts in the Gospel of John tell us that the Bread of God is the words which this fleshly human spoke and which give life, the word of God he received in the Spirit and embodied by obeying. Consuming this bread by doing it is what gives life. Jesus' food was to do the Father's will and for that reason he also said he lives because of the Father. He kept his Father's Word and for that reason he became the fleshly embodiment of God's Word which came down out of heaven in the Spirit. He had consumed God's Word and that Bread became him and he became it. For this reason, Jesus could identify the Bread which descends out of heaven as his flesh. So when he says, "I have descended out of heaven," he is referring to human flesh which had become one with God's Word just as he later says with respect to his human flesh, "THIS is the bread which descended out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." He is referring to himself as a human being of flesh, flesh which had become the embodiment of God's Word having come down upon him in the Spirit at the Jordan, the Bread of God which was his food, that is, to finish his Father's work.
Note: Let the reader also understand that John wants us to know these things so that we do not fall into the antichrist error of 1 John 4:2.
Created: March 11, 2016
Last Revision/Update: November 6, 2017
