Lesson 65: John 6
Introduction
The day after He miraculously fed a
multitude of more than 5,000 people, Jesus taught that He is the Bread of Life.
Some of His followers rejected His teachings and turned away from Him. In
contrast, Peter testified that Jesus taught the words of eternal life and was
the Son of God.
I.
John 6:1–21
Jesus miraculously feeds more than 5,000 people and walks on the sea
---Explain that after the Savior
testified of His divinity at Jerusalem (see John 5),
He returned to Galilee, where He and His Apostles taught the gospel and healed
many people (see Matthew 5–13).
Jesus then crossed the Sea of Galilee with His disciples and miraculously fed a
multitude of more than 5,000 people (see John 6:1–13).
---Display a loaf of bread. Invite a
student to summarize the account of the Savior feeding more than 5,000 people
with five loaves of bread and two small fish.
- What might you have thought if you had been present for this miracle and learned that Jesus had the ability to miraculously provide food?
---Read John 6:14–15
aloud. Invite the class to follow along, looking for what the people wanted to
do after Jesus miraculously fed them.
- What did the people want to do?
---Explain that a tradition among
the Jews at the time of Jesus suggested that when the Messiah or King of Israel
came, He would feed people with bread from heaven.
- According to verse 15, what did Jesus do rather than allow the people to crown Him as their king?
- Why did Jesus not want to be acknowledged as the king of the Jews?
---Summarize John 6:16–21
by reminding students that the Savior sent his disciples across the Sea of
Galilee, and then late in the night as the disciples struggled to row against
the waves and wind, Jesus walked across the sea to join them. Point out that
John’s account of this event emphasizes that when the disciples “willingly”
received Jesus into their ship, they “immediately” (verse 21)
landed safely at their destination. Explain that as we willingly receive the
Savior and His teachings, He can help guide us safely through the struggles of
mortality.
---John 6:22–25
records that many of the people whom Jesus had miraculously fed travelled to
Capernaum seeking Him.
---Read John 6:26–27
aloud, including the Joseph Smith
Translation (see verse 26, footnote a). Ask the class to follow along, looking for what Jesus
said to the people. Explain that the word meat in verse 27
refers to food.
- According to the Savior, why did these people seek Him? (The Savior’s words suggest they had followed Him to obtain more food from Him.)
- What did the Savior tell them they should be seeking?
---The “meat [or food] which
endureth unto everlasting life” (verse 27)
can refer to the eternal truths of the Savior’s gospel.
- How might these verses help us understand why Jesus did not allow this group of people to crown Him as their King?
---Read John 6:28–31
aloud, and ask the class to look for what the people desired of Jesus to
further prove to them that He was the Messiah.
- What did the people want Jesus to do for them? (Explain that manna was “bread from heaven” [verse 31] that God provided for the children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.)
- Considering what the Savior did the previous day, what might this request indicate about the multitude?
- As followers of Jesus Christ today, what are some ways we might be tempted to behave like the multitude?
---Take turns reading aloud from John 6:32–35,
and ask the class to look for what the Savior taught the people in response to
their request for a sign.
- What did the Savior teach about Himself when He referred to manna, or bread from heaven?
- In what ways can we liken the Savior and His teachings to bread?
- What do you think it means that those who come to Jesus Christ “shall never hunger”? (verse 35).
- What truth can we learn from the Savior’s teachings in verse 35? (Although students may use different words, they should identify a principle similar to the following: If we come to Jesus Christ, He will nourish us spiritually. You may want to suggest that students write this principle in the margin of their scriptures next to John 6:35.)
Write the following incomplete
statements on the board:
We come to Jesus Christ by …
|
He will nourish us by …
|
---Divide students into pairs. Ask
them to work together to make a list in their class notebooks or scripture
study journals of some things we can do to come to Jesus Christ and ways He
will nourish us spiritually. Invite a few students to report their responses to
the class.
---To help the class feel the truth
and importance of the principle they identified in verse 35,
consider inviting a few students to share how they have felt when they have
received spiritual nourishment as they have come unto the Savior.
---In John 6:36–47
some people murmured against the Savior
because He taught that He was the bread that came down from heaven.
---To prepare students to identify
an additional principle the Savior taught, invite a few students to come to the
front of the class and give them each a piece of bread. Invite them to smell
the bread and imagine what it would taste like.
- How well would this bread nourish you if you only smelled it, imagined how it tasted, and carried it with you all day?
- What must you do to benefit from what the bread has to offer?
---Take turns reading aloud from John 6:49–54.
Ask the class to follow along, looking for how their classmates’ experience
with the bread can relate to what the Savior taught in these verses.
- How is the Bread of Life different from regular bread? (Unlike the bread that can satisfy us only for a short time, Jesus Christ offers us blessings that will last forever.)
---Point out the following phrase in
verse 51:
“The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world.”
- How did the Savior offer his flesh and blood for the life of the world?
- According to verses 53–54, what did the Savior teach the people to do?
---The Savior used the terms eating
and drinking symbolically. To help the class understand the Savior’s teachings,
invite the student volunteers to eat the bread. Then invite them to return to
their seats.
- What happens to the bread and its nutrients when it is eaten? (The vitamins and nutrients become part of the body, giving it strength and good health.)
- What do you think it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ? (It can mean to internalize His teachings and Atonement. It can also represent partaking of the sacrament, which the Savior would institute later.)
- According to verse 54, what blessing can we receive if we internalize, or apply, the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ? (After students respond, write the following principle on the board: If we internalize, or apply, the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive eternal life.)
---Ask students to ponder the
following question, and then invite several of them to share their responses:
- How do we internalize the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ? (Possible answers may include accepting Jesus Christ as the literal Son of God, partaking of the sacrament each week, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end in righteousness [see Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (1965–73), 1:358].)
---Eternal life is to live forever
with and become like our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
---Read John 6:56–57
aloud, and ask the class to look for how we can become like Them as we
internalize the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ. Invite students to
report what they find.
---The Savior will not physically
dwell in us, but rather His divine influence will remain with us to help us
become more like Him and Heavenly Father.
---Share your testimony of the
truths students have identified. Invite students to write in their class
notebooks or scripture study journals a goal for how they will better
internalize the Savior’s Atonement or one of His teachings.
---Write the following question on
the board: Continue or quit?
---Ask students to think of a time
when they had to choose between continuing to do something difficult or
quitting. You might ask one or two students to share their experiences.
---Read John 6:60, 66 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the
response of many of Jesus’s disciples to His teachings.
- Why did many of Jesus’s disciples choose to stop following Him? (Explain that the phrase “an hard saying” [verse 60] means they felt Jesus’s teachings were too difficult to follow.)
- Why do some people find it difficult to keep the Lord’s commandments?
---Read John 6:67
aloud, and ask the class to look for the question Jesus Christ asked His
Apostles.
- What did the Savior ask His Apostles?
---Read John 6:68–69
aloud, and ask the class to look for how Simon Peter responded to the Savior.
Ask students to report what they find.
- From Peter’s response, what truth can we learn that will help us remain faithful during times when it may be difficult to follow the Savior or live His teachings? (After students respond, write the following principle on the board: A firm testimony of Jesus Christ will help us remain faithful during times when it may be difficult to follow the Savior or live His teachings.)
- How has a firm testimony of the Savior helped you or someone you know remain faithful, even when the teachings of the gospel seemed hard to follow?
---Encourage students to rely on
their testimonies of Jesus Christ when the teachings of the gospel may be
difficult for them to live. Invite students who may feel they lack a firm
testimony of Jesus Christ to strengthen their testimony by seeking to
internalize His teachings and Atonement.
Commentary
and Background Information
John
6:33–35. The true Bread of Life
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that Jesus Christ is the
Bread of Life:
“I bear my witness of the living
reality of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and of the infinite power and reach
of His Atonement. Ultimately, it is His Atonement and His grace that is our
daily bread” (“Recognizing God’s Hand in Our Daily Blessings,” Ensign, Jan. 2012, 23).
To learn more about how Jesus Christ
used symbolism, Jewish religious history, and His listeners’ geographical
location to teach His sermon on the Bread of Life (John 6),
see Thomas R. Valetta, “The True Bread of Life,” Ensign, Mar. 1999, 6–13; see also “John 6:32–35, 48–51. ‘The True Bread from Heaven,’” in New Testament Student
Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 221–22.
Elder James E. Talmage of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
“Manna was heavenly food; whereas
the bread He had given them was of earth, and only common barley bread at that.
He must show them greater signs, and give them richer provender [or finer
food], before they would accept Him as the One whom they at first had taken Him
to be and whom He now declared Himself to be” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd. ed.
[1916], 339–40).
John
6:53. “Eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
“To eat the flesh and drink the blood
of the Son of God is, first, to accept him in the most literal and full sense,
with no reservation whatever, as the personal offspring in the flesh of the
Eternal Father; and, secondly, it is to keep the commandments of the Son by
accepting his gospel, joining his Church, and enduring in obedience and
righteousness unto the end. Those who by this course eat his flesh and drink
his blood shall have eternal life, meaning exaltation in the highest heaven of
the celestial world” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols.
[1965–73], 1:358).
John
6:56. “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in
him”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained what the phrase “dwelleth in me, and I
in him” means:
“Since those who are one think and
believe and act alike, they thus possess the same characteristics and
attributes. … Hence, in a figurative sense they are in each other, or they
dwell in each other” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73],
1:766).
Supplemental
Teaching Ideas
John
6:30–50. “I am the bread of life”
To help students understand what the
Savior taught about Himself when he referred to manna, copy the following chart
on the board and ask students to copy it in their class notebooks or scripture
study journals. Divide students into pairs. Ask them to read John 6:30–35, 47–50 aloud with their partners and to write in the column on the
right what they learn about Jesus Christ. Then ask them to discuss with their
partners how the Savior can be likened to manna.
Manna
|
Jesus
Christ
|
After sufficient time, ask students
the following question:
- What did the Savior teach about Himself when He referred to manna?
John 6:51–54. Video Presentation—“Daily Bread: Change”
To help students understand the
blessings of receiving and internalizing the Bread of Life (the Savior’s
Atonement and teachings) consider showing the video “Daily Bread: Change” (3:00), in which Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discusses how the Atonement of Jesus Christ helps
us to change. Ask students to listen for how Jesus Christ is the bread of
eternal life and how His Atonement and teachings can bless our lives. This
video is available on LDS.org.
- According to Elder Christofferson, how is Jesus Christ the bread of eternal life?
- What are the blessings of receiving and internalizing the Savior’s Atonement and teachings?
© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Right margin
extras:
Encourage
students to mark and annotate their scriptures
You can help students capture and
retain the things they learn by encouraging them to mark and annotate their
scriptures. To mark means to designate, distinguish, set apart, or bring
attention to, which can be done by underlining, shading, or outlining key words
or passages. To annotate means to add explanatory notes and commentary. Allow
students to choose how and whether they will mark and annotate their
scriptures.
Lesson 66: John 7
Introduction
Jesus attended the Feast of
Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He went to the temple and taught the people there how
they could receive a witness that His teachings were from God the Father.
Because the people were contending about who Jesus was, He used images of water
and light to testify of His divinity. He also taught them about the Holy Ghost.
---Write the following question on
the board: Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?
---Invite students to respond to the
question. If necessary, help students understand that Joseph and Mary had
children who were born after Jesus and who would have been raised in the same
household with Him. However, because Jesus Christ was the literal son of Mary and God the Father, not Joseph,
these individuals were Jesus’s half brothers and half sisters (see Mathew
13:55–56).
- What do you think it would have been like to grow up in the same home as Jesus?
- Do you think it would be easier to believe in Him if you had grown up with Him? Why or why not?
---Point out that in John 7
we learn how some of Jesus’s “brethren” (John 7:3, 5) viewed Him. The term brethren probably refers to Jesus’s
half brothers, though it might also include other close relatives.
- What do we learn from verse 5 about Jesus’s brethren?
---Invite a student to read aloud
the following statement by Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles:
“A testimony of the divinity of Christ and of the saving
power of his gospel is not bestowed automatically because of family relationship.
“… Though they were reared in the same household and
came under the benign influence of Joseph and Mary, though they were aware of
the teachings, ministry, and miracles of Jesus himself, yet these his close
relatives had not so far accepted him as the Messiah. However, all of them,
apparently, were converted later (Acts
1:14)” (Doctrinal New Testament
Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:437).
- How is it possible that some of Jesus’s own family members did not yet believe in Him, even though they were aware of His teachings and miracles?
---Point out that John 7
records events that occurred when the Feast of Tabernacles was being held in
Jerusalem (see John 7:2).
During this eight-day feast, considered to be “the greatest and most joyful of
all” (Bible
Dictionary, “Feasts”),
many Jews traveled to Jerusalem to commemorate God’s blessings upon the
children of Israel when they sojourned in the wilderness, living in makeshift booths,
or tabernacles, following their delivery from slavery in Egypt (see Leviticus 23:39–43). The Jews also celebrated and gave thanks for the yearly
harvest of fruits and grains (see Exodus 23:16).
- According to verses 3–4, what did Jesus’s brethren want Him to do?
---Summarize John 7:6–10
by explaining that Jesus decided to delay going to the feast, but He encouraged
His brethren to go. After the feast had started, Jesus then went in
secret—knowing that some of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem wanted to kill him
but that His time to die had not yet come.
- What were various people in Jerusalem saying about Jesus?
---Point out that just as in Jesus’s
day, there are varying opinions about Jesus Christ in our day. Some people know
and testify that He is the Son of God and Savior of all mankind. Others believe
in Him and hope His gospel is true. However, there are also people who doubt
the divinity of Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of His teachings. Invite
students to look as they continue to study John 7
for how we can know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that His teachings are
true.
---Read John 7:14–15
aloud. Ask students to follow along, looking for what Jesus did at the temple.
It may be helpful to explain that the temple was the focal point of the
celebrations that took place during the Feast of Tabernacles.
- What did Jesus do?
- Why did the Jews marvel?
---Read John 7:16–18
aloud. Ask students to follow along, looking for what Jesus said the people
could do in order to know whether His doctrine, or teachings, were true.
- According to verse 16, from whom did Jesus receive the doctrine He taught?
- How can someone know that the doctrine Jesus taught is truly from God?
- What principle can we learn about how we can receive a testimony of Heavenly Father’s teachings? (Using their own words, students should identify a principle such as the following: If we do Heavenly Father’s will, then we will receive a testimony of His doctrine. You may want to invite students to mark the words in verse 17 that teach this principle.)
---To help students understand how
this principle can be applied in our lives, invite a student to read aloud the
following statement by President James E. Faust of the First Presidency:
“We acquire a testimony of the principles of the gospel by
obediently trying to live them. … A testimony of the efficacy of prayer comes
through humble and sincere prayer. A testimony of tithing comes by paying tithing” (“Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2003, 22).
---Although His own brethren did not
initially believe in Him, they later gained a testimony and were converted (see
Acts 1:14).
- How would the principle identified in John 7:17 help Jesus’s brothers gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and His teachings?
---Ask students to imagine they have
a friend who is struggling with his or her testimony of the gospel.
- How might you use the principle we identified in John 7:17 to help this friend?
---To help students testify of the
principle they identified above and feel its truth and importance, display the
following statement:
I know ____________________ is true
because as I have lived it I have _______________________________________.
---Encourage students to complete
the statement in their class notebooks by writing about a gospel commandment or
principle they have come to know is true through their efforts to live it.
---Invite a few students to share
what they wrote with the class.
---Invite students to write down a
gospel truth, commandment, or teaching that they would like to receive a
stronger testimony of. Invite them to also write what they will do to receive a
greater testimony of this truth, commandment, or teaching by applying the
principle they learned in John 7:17.
---In John 7:19–36 Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders for
rejecting His teachings and miracles and seeking to kill Him. Many people
wondered if He was the Messiah, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent
officers to take Him.
---Ask for a volunteer who is
thirsty to come to the front of the class. Give the student an empty cup, and
ask him or her:
- Will this satisfy your thirst?
- What else do you need?
---Display a source of water such as
a water bottle or a pitcher full of water. Fill the cup with water, and invite
the student to drink. Then ask the student to return to his or her seat.
---Hold up the pitcher or water
bottle you used to fill the student’s cup. Explain that during each of the
eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles an appointed priest drew water from the
pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher and poured the water into the silver basin
at the base of the temple altar. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles,
when the priest had done so, Jesus stood and offered an invitation to the
people. (See Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary,
3 vols. [1965–73], 1:446.)
---Read John 7:37
aloud. Ask students to follow along, looking for what the Savior invited the
people to do after He appeared at the temple on the eighth and final day of the
feast.
- What did the Savior invite the people to do?
- Considering the drawing and pouring of water performed by the priest on this feast day, why do you think Jesus would extend this invitation at this precise time?
---Write the following incomplete
statement on the board: If we come unto Jesus Christ and
believe on Him …
---Read John 7:38–39
aloud, including the Joseph Smith
Translation of John 7:39
found in verse 39, footnote b. Invite students to look for the promise Jesus made to those
who come unto Him and believe on Him.
---Explain that the phrase “out of
his belly” suggests that the living water will be within and flow from the
believer, rather than coming from an outside source.
- According to verse 39, what did the living water the Savior spoke of represent?
---Explain that “for some reason not
fully explained in the scriptures, the Holy Ghost did not operate in the
fulness among the Jews during the years of Jesus’s mortal sojourn (John 7:39;
16:7)”
(Bible Dictionary, “Holy Ghost”).
While the gift of the Holy Ghost would not be given in that dispensation until
after the Savior was glorified by completing His mortal mission, the power of
the Holy Ghost was available to help people receive a testimony of the truths
the Savior and His disciples taught.
- Based on the Savior’s teachings in John 7:37–39, how would you complete the statement on the board? (Students may use different words but should identify the following principle: If we come unto Jesus Christ and believe on Him, then we will be filled with the Holy Ghost.)
---Explain that those filled with
the Holy Ghost are able to influence others for good. Invite students to think
of a time when they were filled with the Holy Ghost and, as a result, were able
to influence someone else for good. Invite a few students to share their
experiences.
---In John 7:40–53
the chief priests and Pharisees again
desired to have Jesus arrested. Nicodemus, the Pharisee who had come to the
Savior by night (see John 3:1–2),
came to the Savior’s defense and reminded his fellow Pharisees and the chief
priests that their own law would not allow an individual to be condemned until
he was given a chance to be heard.
Commentary
and Background Information
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered the following explanation about the
“brethren” of Jesus Christ:
“Frequent special reference is made
to the sons of Joseph and Mary as the ‘brethren’ of Jesus, though in fact they
were his half-brothers. (Matt. 12:46;
13:55;
John 2:12;
Acts 1:14;
1 Cor. 9:5.)
Though they were reared in the same household and came under the benign
influence of Joseph and Mary, though they were aware of the teachings,
ministry, and miracles of Jesus himself, yet these his close relatives had not
so far accepted him as the Messiah. However, all of them, apparently, were
converted later (Acts 1:14);
one of them, identified by Paul as ‘James the Lord’s brother’ (Gal. 1:19),
was to minister in the holy apostleship; and yet another, Judas, who calls
himself, ‘Jude, the … brother of James’ (Jude 1),
wrote the epistle of Jude” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols.
[1965–73], 1:437).
John
7:17. “If any man will do His will”
Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson of
the Young Women general presidency taught:
“Sometimes we try to do it backward.
For example, we may take this approach: I will be happy to live the law of tithing, but first I need to know that it’s
true. Maybe we even pray to gain a testimony of the law of tithing and hope the
Lord will bless us with that testimony before we have ever filled out a tithing
slip. It just doesn’t work that way. The Lord expects us to exercise faith. We
have to consistently pay a full and honest tithe in order to gain a testimony
of tithing. This same pattern applies to all the principles of the gospel,
whether it is the law of chastity, the principle of modesty, the Word of Wisdom,
or the law of the fast” (“Be Ye Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 77).
John
7:38–39. “Living water”
“In John 7:39,
we read a parenthetical comment from John, explaining that the ‘living water’
the Savior mentioned in John 7:38
refers to the Holy Ghost,
whose main mission is to testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The
Savior’s imagery of ‘living water’ drew upon a long Israelite tradition that
water represented important spiritual truths. In the arid climate of the
ancient Near East, access to water was crucial for survival, and the scarcity
of water made it both a valuable resource and a powerful symbol. The Lord saved
Israel in Horeb when Moses
miraculously brought forth water out of a rock (see Exodus 17; Numbers 20).
The Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel used water as a symbol
of the Lord’s Spirit, provident care, and healing power (see Isaiah 41:17–18;
58:11;
Jeremiah 2:13;
Ezekiel 47:1–12).
“The Savior’s promise that those who
believed in Him would at some future time have ‘living water’ within them
reflected the fact that ‘the Holy Ghost was not yet given’ (John 7:39).
‘For some reason not fully explained in the scriptures, the Holy Ghost did not
operate in the fulness among the Jews during the years of Jesus’ mortal sojourn
(John 7:39;
16:7).
Statements to the effect that the Holy Ghost did not come until after Jesus was
resurrected must of necessity refer to that particular dispensation only, for
it is abundantly clear that the Holy Ghost was operative in earlier
dispensations. Furthermore, it has reference only to the gift of the Holy Ghost
not being present, since the power of the Holy Ghost was operative during the
ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus; otherwise no one would have received
a testimony of the truths that these men taught (Matt. 16:16–17;
see also 1 Cor. 12:3)’ (Bible Dictionary, ‘Holy Ghost’)”
(New Testament Student Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 224).
© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Right margin extras:
Understanding
context and content
One fundamental of gospel teaching
and learning is to understand context and content of the scripture block.
Context includes the circumstances or background of a particular scriptural
passage, event, or story. The content is the story line, people, events,
sermons, and inspired explanations in the text. As you help your students
understand the context and content of the scriptures, they will be prepared to
recognize the messages of the inspired authors.
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