Explanation Of John 1:1-3 And John 6:63
Peter Porter
John's 6:62 is a verse which is more or less rooted in an idea that's similar to what Jesus says at John 3:13 and some other passages as well. He's not talking about exactly the same thing but they're bothJohn 3:13 in John 6:62 kind of come from the same concept. They're rooted in the same idea so let's just have a look at this verse and then we'll look at what Jesus is talking about in context. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before John 6:62. If you have a Trinitarian mindset you will probably imagine your doctrines into the text here and imagine that Jesus is talking about where He was before He descended out of heaven down to Planet Earth and into the Virgin Mary and you kind of imagine that into the text. I've noticed that people tend not to realize just how much they imagined into the text of the Bible they don't really seem to realize in general how much exegesis they're practicing, and how much they imagine their preconceived notions into the Bible. And it goes to such an extent that you know it's almost as if they're expressing the notion, how could you see it any other way, and they're kind of just stuck into what they imagined in their minds and their own reality, that is truth to them. It doesn't occur to them that illusions are reality to lies. People could just imagining something that is not related to what Jesus is saying or the Bible is saying.
This happens in verses like Joh 6:62 and other. Generally when people are trying to figure out what Jesus is talking about here, a couple of other verses will come to mind like John 3:13 or John 20:17 where Jesus says I have not yet ascended after his resurrection. Let's read this in context starting at Joh 6:59, now Jesus in this chapter is described as the Prophet coming into the world, and at the beginning of the chapter there was the division of the loaves of bread to many people and He fed everyone with a couple of loaves of bread. Then Jesus teaches, the bread of life discourse, as it's commonly called and after that teaching Jesus speaks to his disciples and starting in verse 59, He says this, these things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of his disciples when they heard this said. This is a difficult word, who can hear it. But Jesus conscious that his disciples grumbled at this said to them, does this cause you to stumble. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before. It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.
In verse 60 they says “this is a difficult word who can hear it”, this is an interesting verse because there are two words here that are also used in John 1:1-3 “This is a difficult logos” In the beginning was the logos, and the word “this” is a difficult word” that word is translated as he in most major translations in verse 2 of Joh 1:2. And where it says “who can hear it” Joh 6:60, that word translated as him in verse 3 of Joh 1:3 in most major translations. If you're thinking about the translation of Joh 1:1-3 this is a good verse to keep in mind. Those two words “(hoûtos | hoo'-tos)” and “(autós | ow-tos')” in verses 2 and 3 of Joh 1:1-3 don't really mean he and him they're just words that refer back to the subject in question which is the word or the logos. These words themselves don't tell you whether you're talking about a person, or not talking about a person, they operate like the English word “this”.I can say “this” is my friend and I'd be using the word “this” to refer to a person, or I could say “this” is a rock, I can use the word this to refer to an inanimate object. That's how these words in Greek “(hoûtos | hoo'-tos)” and “(autós | ow-tos')”function. They don't tell you whether you're talking about a person or not, in English when we use the words he or she we know we're talking about a person. If we use the word it, we know we're probably not talking about a person because we would say he or she instead of it. These Greek words in verses 2 & 3 of John chapter 1, they don't do either, they don't tell you whether you're talking about a person or not.
It's important to know about this in Joh 6:60 will help you understand that. When Jesus is done the bread of life discourse his disciples express, “you know that this is a really hard teaching to understand” If you read Joh 3:13 Jesus says to Nicodemus, you're not going to be able to understand heavenly things unless you're born of the Spirit, the Spirit was not yet given to the disciples because Jesus was not yet glorified, they had difficulty understanding what Jesus was talking about. This is a difficult word, what's a difficult word? that message that Jesus just gave them about the bread of life, they're having a hard time understanding that. We can see that the other Jews were really His disciples and some not, some left him at this point. They couldn't understand what He was talking about now. In the Bible, the bread of life is the Word of God that is our spiritual food as Jesus said in Joh 4:34 my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and finish His work. Jesus is saying, this is my spiritual food, this is what gives me my spiritual life, and it's the same thing when He was tempted by the devil, man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And because Jesus kept God's Word He was the fleshly embodiment of God's Word. The disciples have a really difficult time understanding what Jesus was talking about, then Jesus says to them, and He's going to explain himself to them, does this cause you to stumble, what then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before, it is the spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing.
Jesus was the prophet coming into the world, we read about that in this chapter Joh 6:14. The bread of God is the word of God John 4:34 The bread of God is the word of God , how did the Word of God come to the prophets of old in the Bible? in the spirit. The word of God, in Greek and Hebrew you're breath of your mouth is like the spirit of your mouth and so when you speak your word or your words are carried along in the spirit of your mouth, it comes out of your spirit, your thinking and whats in your mind. Psalm 33:6-9 will help you see that idea that when God speaks His word, it goes out in the Spirit or breath of His mouth. We find the Word of God in the Spirit of God so notice what Jesus had said at John 6:38 I have descended out of heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Remember what Jesus said in John 4:34 my food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work, and that's why He says I live because of the Father in Joh 6:57 (because the Father is in me). Jesus said “I have descended out of heaven” and then He says “what if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before”. If you have the Trinitarian paradigm and you start with those preconceived notions, or the watchtower notions as well very similar you have this notion of a pre-incarnate divine being floating from out of heaven to planet Earth into the womb of Mary.
In John 6 Jesus tells us that the bread of life is whatever comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. What gives life to the world is whatever comes down from heaven and then He tells us that the bread of life which gives life to the world is his flesh, but his flesh is not whatever came down from heaven because it literally didn't do that, That creates a real problem if you start with this Trinitarian preconception you're not going to be able to reconcile that even by quoting John 1:14 it's not going to work in the end. “I have descended out of heaven” the bread of God it has to send it out of heaven right in the Spirit of God, the bread of God is the Word of God, it comes out of Himself. God has a name and His name is Yahweh so the Spirit/bread of life comes out of Him. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? When we looked at Joh 3:13 there's a connection here about being born of the Spirit from above, if you're born of the Spirit and you're born from above, where is your origin? for this new life and the Spirit where is it? “heaven” I have seen the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and remained upon him remained upon Jesus, this is where your life originates Joh 1:33.
If you're a new creation in Christ heaven is open for you as Jesus explains at John 1:51. Here's the answer to what Jesus was talking about in verse Joh 6:62 and again for those who have never been filled with the Spirit of God they're gonna have difficulty comprehending what Jesus is talking about here, just as the disciples have difficulty understanding what Jesus is talking about. Even after He explains it to them. Jesus was talking to Nicodemus in Joh 3:3 you can't understand heavenly things unless you're born of the Spirit of God. He says what then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before, so if he's ascending to where He was before, that means before He was in a place where He must have descended in order to be ascending to where He was before, right and here He gives the answer to what he's talking about. It is the Spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing, Spirit begets spirit, born from above. The Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. Jesus talks about the spirit qualitatively here so you can put a small “s” or a big “S” in this case it really doesn't matter. The same thing at Joh 4 where it says God is spirit small “s” big “S” not going to matter He's talking about the Holy Spirit in a qualitative manner. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit. What Jesus is saying in the bread of life discourse, the words that I spoke to you are spiritual, these are spiritual words and as He explained to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 you aren't going to get it unless you're born of the Spirit. You're not gonna be able to relate to this even if you could cognitively understand this in sort of a technical kind of way, you're not going to fully get it, you're not going to really perceive what I'm getting at here.
John's 6:62 is a verse which is more or less rooted in an idea that's similar to what Jesus says at John 3:13 and some other passages as well. He's not talking about exactly the same thing but they're bothJohn 3:13 in John 6:62 kind of come from the same concept. They're rooted in the same idea so let's just have a look at this verse and then we'll look at what Jesus is talking about in context. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before John 6:62. If you have a Trinitarian mindset you will probably imagine your doctrines into the text here and imagine that Jesus is talking about where He was before He descended out of heaven down to Planet Earth and into the Virgin Mary and you kind of imagine that into the text. I've noticed that people tend not to realize just how much they imagined into the text of the Bible they don't really seem to realize in general how much exegesis they're practicing, and how much they imagine their preconceived notions into the Bible. And it goes to such an extent that you know it's almost as if they're expressing the notion, how could you see it any other way, and they're kind of just stuck into what they imagined in their minds and their own reality, that is truth to them. It doesn't occur to them that illusions are reality to lies. People could just imagining something that is not related to what Jesus is saying or the Bible is saying.
This happens in verses like Joh 6:62 and other. Generally when people are trying to figure out what Jesus is talking about here, a couple of other verses will come to mind like John 3:13 or John 20:17 where Jesus says I have not yet ascended after his resurrection. Let's read this in context starting at Joh 6:59, now Jesus in this chapter is described as the Prophet coming into the world, and at the beginning of the chapter there was the division of the loaves of bread to many people and He fed everyone with a couple of loaves of bread. Then Jesus teaches, the bread of life discourse, as it's commonly called and after that teaching Jesus speaks to his disciples and starting in verse 59, He says this, these things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of his disciples when they heard this said. This is a difficult word, who can hear it. But Jesus conscious that his disciples grumbled at this said to them, does this cause you to stumble. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before. It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.
In verse 60 they says “this is a difficult word who can hear it”, this is an interesting verse because there are two words here that are also used in John 1:1-3 “This is a difficult logos” In the beginning was the logos, and the word “this” is a difficult word” that word is translated as he in most major translations in verse 2 of Joh 1:2. And where it says “who can hear it” Joh 6:60, that word translated as him in verse 3 of Joh 1:3 in most major translations. If you're thinking about the translation of Joh 1:1-3 this is a good verse to keep in mind. Those two words “(hoûtos | hoo'-tos)” and “(autós | ow-tos')” in verses 2 and 3 of Joh 1:1-3 don't really mean he and him they're just words that refer back to the subject in question which is the word or the logos. These words themselves don't tell you whether you're talking about a person, or not talking about a person, they operate like the English word “this”.I can say “this” is my friend and I'd be using the word “this” to refer to a person, or I could say “this” is a rock, I can use the word this to refer to an inanimate object. That's how these words in Greek “(hoûtos | hoo'-tos)” and “(autós | ow-tos')”function. They don't tell you whether you're talking about a person or not, in English when we use the words he or she we know we're talking about a person. If we use the word it, we know we're probably not talking about a person because we would say he or she instead of it. These Greek words in verses 2 & 3 of John chapter 1, they don't do either, they don't tell you whether you're talking about a person or not.
It's important to know about this in Joh 6:60 will help you understand that. When Jesus is done the bread of life discourse his disciples express, “you know that this is a really hard teaching to understand” If you read Joh 3:13 Jesus says to Nicodemus, you're not going to be able to understand heavenly things unless you're born of the Spirit, the Spirit was not yet given to the disciples because Jesus was not yet glorified, they had difficulty understanding what Jesus was talking about. This is a difficult word, what's a difficult word? that message that Jesus just gave them about the bread of life, they're having a hard time understanding that. We can see that the other Jews were really His disciples and some not, some left him at this point. They couldn't understand what He was talking about now. In the Bible, the bread of life is the Word of God that is our spiritual food as Jesus said in Joh 4:34 my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and finish His work. Jesus is saying, this is my spiritual food, this is what gives me my spiritual life, and it's the same thing when He was tempted by the devil, man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And because Jesus kept God's Word He was the fleshly embodiment of God's Word. The disciples have a really difficult time understanding what Jesus was talking about, then Jesus says to them, and He's going to explain himself to them, does this cause you to stumble, what then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before, it is the spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing.
Jesus was the prophet coming into the world, we read about that in this chapter Joh 6:14. The bread of God is the word of God John 4:34 The bread of God is the word of God , how did the Word of God come to the prophets of old in the Bible? in the spirit. The word of God, in Greek and Hebrew you're breath of your mouth is like the spirit of your mouth and so when you speak your word or your words are carried along in the spirit of your mouth, it comes out of your spirit, your thinking and whats in your mind. Psalm 33:6-9 will help you see that idea that when God speaks His word, it goes out in the Spirit or breath of His mouth. We find the Word of God in the Spirit of God so notice what Jesus had said at John 6:38 I have descended out of heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. Remember what Jesus said in John 4:34 my food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work, and that's why He says I live because of the Father in Joh 6:57 (because the Father is in me). Jesus said “I have descended out of heaven” and then He says “what if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before”. If you have the Trinitarian paradigm and you start with those preconceived notions, or the watchtower notions as well very similar you have this notion of a pre-incarnate divine being floating from out of heaven to planet Earth into the womb of Mary.
In John 6 Jesus tells us that the bread of life is whatever comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. What gives life to the world is whatever comes down from heaven and then He tells us that the bread of life which gives life to the world is his flesh, but his flesh is not whatever came down from heaven because it literally didn't do that, That creates a real problem if you start with this Trinitarian preconception you're not going to be able to reconcile that even by quoting John 1:14 it's not going to work in the end. “I have descended out of heaven” the bread of God it has to send it out of heaven right in the Spirit of God, the bread of God is the Word of God, it comes out of Himself. God has a name and His name is Yahweh so the Spirit/bread of life comes out of Him. What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? When we looked at Joh 3:13 there's a connection here about being born of the Spirit from above, if you're born of the Spirit and you're born from above, where is your origin? for this new life and the Spirit where is it? “heaven” I have seen the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and remained upon him remained upon Jesus, this is where your life originates Joh 1:33.
If you're a new creation in Christ heaven is open for you as Jesus explains at John 1:51. Here's the answer to what Jesus was talking about in verse Joh 6:62 and again for those who have never been filled with the Spirit of God they're gonna have difficulty comprehending what Jesus is talking about here, just as the disciples have difficulty understanding what Jesus is talking about. Even after He explains it to them. Jesus was talking to Nicodemus in Joh 3:3 you can't understand heavenly things unless you're born of the Spirit of God. He says what then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before, so if he's ascending to where He was before, that means before He was in a place where He must have descended in order to be ascending to where He was before, right and here He gives the answer to what he's talking about. It is the Spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing, Spirit begets spirit, born from above. The Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. Jesus talks about the spirit qualitatively here so you can put a small “s” or a big “S” in this case it really doesn't matter. The same thing at Joh 4 where it says God is spirit small “s” big “S” not going to matter He's talking about the Holy Spirit in a qualitative manner. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit. What Jesus is saying in the bread of life discourse, the words that I spoke to you are spiritual, these are spiritual words and as He explained to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 you aren't going to get it unless you're born of the Spirit. You're not gonna be able to relate to this even if you could cognitively understand this in sort of a technical kind of way, you're not going to fully get it, you're not going to really perceive what I'm getting at here.
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