LeGrand L. Baker

When Jesus identified himself as the bread of life, he was calling on a very ancient symbol that equated Jehovah/Jesus with the tree of life, his body as the fruit of that tree, and his blood as the waters of life. The Jews who listened to him would have understood that this was another assurance from him that he was the Jehovah of the Old Testament. But most did not listen.

During the ancient Israelite Temple drama, Psalm 45 was sung as part of the ceremony that represented their experiences at the Council in Heaven. That psalm gives the foreordination blessings of both the earthly king (think: King David or King Benjamin) with all the men who participated in the congregation, and his queen and all the women. After the king received his blessing, he did obeisance to Elohim, who had spoken the words of the blessing, and then turned to Jehovah and said,

7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad (Psalm 45:7-8).

The reference to Jehovah’s fragrant smell is very important. In ancient Israel, kings and priests were anointed with perfumed oil. Even though the Old Testament editors do not describe the oil with which the kings of Israel were anointed, the record does give an explicit recipe for perfuming the oil with which the High Priests were anointed. The formula is given along with the command that this sacred oil may be used for no other purpose except that anointing (Exodus ch. 30 & 40).

We see a similar situation in Psalm 45:8, where the king acknowledges that Jehovah’s garments still hold the fragrant smell of the anointing oil. In doing so, he also gives us the formula by which the sacred oil was perfumed: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.” The oil was, of course, olive oil, the product of the fruit of the olive tree, which in ancient Israel represented the Tree of Life. Myrrh is a perfume made from the sap of a small tree. Aloes is a perfume made from the heartwood of another tree, and cassia is a perfume made from the bark of still a different tree. So, on the stage of the ancient Israelite temple rites, the one who played the role of Jehovah had just been anointed with a sacred oil whose fragrance were a composite of all the parts of a tree—either an acknowledgment or a declaration that Jehovah is the Tree of Life. {1}

Nephi reiterates that belief when he tells us that the angel described the fruit of the tree and the waters of life as the love of God

8 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.
9 And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all.
10 And he said unto me: What desirest thou?
11 And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof—for I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.
………………
20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.
21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?
22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.
23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.
24 And after he had said these words, he said unto me: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him.
25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
26 And the angel said unto me again: Look and behold the condescension of God!
……………………
31 And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.
32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.
33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world (1 Nephi 11:7 – 36).

Alma uses its imagery to teach us how our faith may mature from only a desire to know the Savior, through a sequence of growth experiences until we can taste the light, pluck the fruit of the tree of life, and then become an expression of the tree itself (Alma 32:35-43).

In the sacrament prayers, those concepts become very real. The blessing on the bread is a covenant and the blessing on the water is an assertion that one is keeping that covenant.

In John 6 the Savior uses the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness as an example of the fruit of the tree, then identifies himself as that manna, saying he is the bread sent from heaven.

Reverences to the tree of life are found throughout the scriptures and other ancient writings. The tree was at the center of the Garden of Eden. Adam’s royal scepter was said to have been a branch of the tree of life. The menorah in the Tabernacle, and then in the Temple, was a lampstand that burned olive oil and gave light to the building. It is said to have represented the tree of life and it is also a symbol of prayer. {2}

There are many kinds of trees and other plants that have been used to represent the tree of life. Anything that nourishes might be appropriate as that symbol. For example, the 23rd Psalm begins in a Garden of Eden-like setting where the sheep represent the people, the “green pastures” are the fruit of the tree and the “still waters” are the waters of life.{3}

The Savior also identified himself with a symbol of the tree of life when he described himself as the “true vine.” The vine is the tree, the grape is the fruit of the tree of life, and the wine is the waters of life.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another (John 15:1-17).

The name/title the Savior uses here, “I am the true vine,” is not found in the Old Testament, but was apparently a part of the ancient Israelite religious tradition. It was probably on the brass plates, for it is cited by both Nephi and Alma.

15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God? (1 Nephi 15:15).

17 That they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God (Alma 16:17).

In ancient Israel, as in most of the ancient Near East, the olive tree was most frequently used as a symbol of the tree of life. The olive represented the fruit of the tree and olive oil represented the waters of life. Olive oil was very precious. It was used for cooking, as a lotion to sooth and heal the skin, as a lamp fuel that gave light to the house. In early Christian times it was used to anoint the sick with a prayer that they might be healed (James 5:14).

Jesus is “the Christ.” That name is equivalent to the Hebrew word Messiah. Both mean “The Anointed One.” Jehovah was anointed with perfumed oil in the Heavenly Councils, as depicted in th Israelite temple drama, but the only mention in the New Testament of Jesus actually being anointed during his life in this world is this statement by Peter.

37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judæa, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him (Acts 10:37-38)

Early Christians also apparently received a ritual anointing, for they were reminded by John the Beloved, “But ye have an unction [that word is “anointing”] from the Holy One, and ye know all things (1 John 2:20).”

Olive oil was used to anoint kings and priests, and was, therefore, symbolic of their kingship and priesthood authority.

All three—the olive tree, the bread, and the wine— came together at the culmination of the Savior’s earthly mission.

The olive tree was also symbolic of the Savior’s Atonement. The cross was made of olive wood. Some early Christians thought of the cross as the tree of life, with the Savior’s body was the fruit of that tree, and his blood was the waters of life. {4}

At the Last Supper the Savior used the same language he had used in his “bread of life sermon.” He taught how his body is the bread of life and his blood is the waters of life. Thereby, he explained what he meant in the John 6 sermon when he said one must eat his body and drink his blood. At the Last Supper he said:

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:26-28, see Mark 14:22-24. For Paul’s explanation see 1 Corinthians 11:23-34).

An even better explanation is found in 3 Nephi. In his account of Jesus coming to the Nephites, Mormon made a point of telling us that Jesus himself provided the food and drink for the entire multitude.

4 And when they had eaten he commanded them that they should break bread, and give unto the multitude.
5 And when they had given unto the multitude he also gave them wine to drink, and commanded them that they should give unto the multitude.
6 Now, there had been no bread, neither wine, brought by the disciples, neither by the multitude;
7 But he truly gave unto them bread to eat, and also wine to drink.
8 And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled (3 Nephi 20:4-8).

The meaning was unmistakable. The Savior had symbolically—and literally—reintroduced the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve back into their paradisiacal Garden home, where they could be in God’s presence and eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink from the river of the waters of life.

We also get a sense of that at the beginning of Revelation where John writes,

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).

In the last chapters of John’s Revelation, those who reside in the Holy City (celestial kingdom) have the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life and drink freely of the waters of life.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son (Revelation 21:6-7).

1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
….
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
….
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:1-2,14-17).

Now, having discussed the meaning of the bread of life and of Jesus’s saying, “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him,” here is the context of those teachings in John 6.

24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day [JST: “and I will raise him up in the resurrection of the just at the last day”].
41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

[JST John 6:44 No man can come unto me, except he doeth the will of my Father who hath sent me. And this is the will of him who hath sent me, that ye receive the Son; for the Father beareth record of him; and he who receiveth the testimony, and doeth the will of him who sent me, I will raise up in the resurrection of the just.]

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him (John 6:24-66 – emphases added).

——————–
FOOTNOTES

{1}Psalm 45 is a three act play. It is discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. These two paragaraphs are taken largely from that book, first edition, 292-93; 207-08, second (paperback) edition, the one on this website. The full psalm is discussed on pages 255-305 and 181-217 respectively.
For discussions of these trees and their perfumes, see the articles about myrrh, aloes, and cassia in The Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible.

{2}The Savior referenced it in the Sermon on the Mount when he said,

14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;
16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi 12:14-16)

{3}Psalm 23 is also a three act play. It is discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 619-41 second (paperback) edition, the one on this website, 441-57.

{4} See C. Wilfred. Griggs, “The Tree of Life in Ancient Cultures.” Ensign 18, 6 (June, 1988): 27-38.
The Gospel of Philip says the cross was made of olive wood, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, ed. James M. Robinson,153.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

If God already knows everything from the beginning to the end, then the question is, “Do we really have free agency or are we just acting out a script that is already written?”

The Savior’s sermon on the Bread of Life poses that question. Its context also provides the answer.

Our knowing that God already knows changes nothing. The conditions of salvation are still the same. The promise, replete in the scriptures, is that God will enable us to keep our covenants, but only if we choose to keep them. That help is there because the covenants are in place. That could not be so if God had not known what or who might seek to prevent us from keeping our covenants and what arrangements must be made in advance to counter those challenges. Nephi’s writing the Small Plates to offset Lucy Harris’s taking the 116 page manuscript of the Book of Mormon is a good example. God did not take away her agency by preventing Mrs. Harris from stealing the pages, but 2,500 years earlier he gave Nephi instructions that would make her duplicity irrelevant. {1}

We came into this life with three things: our agency, our personality, and our integrity. We have been working on our personality for eons, so that is not going to change much. It is our integrity that is challenged by this world’s environment and the experiences we have here.

We could have no integrity if we did not also have agency. Our agency is an integral part of what we are. Without it we would not exist.

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light (D&C 93:29-31).

We are not puppets who abandon our will to God and let him pull the strings. We would have no value if we were. We can not give our agency to God because without it we would become a nothing. We came to this world to develop our Self in the full power of our individual personalities. As intelligent entities we not only have the power to distinguish good from evil, but we have the power to chose good or to chose evil. That power enables us to keep our premortal covenants and aline our present will with God’s wisdom. The more perfectly we aline our will and actions with his, the greater our power to be our Self. When we were children we were are taught to obey, not because we are expected to forfeit our agency, but so we could learn the advantage of doing things that are compatible with God’s purposes. After we have learned that lesson, then it is love, not compulsion, that drives our decisions. It was our “obedience,” powered by our own self-will and unfailing reciprocal love that generated those covenants in the first place. Ultimately, our keeping those covenants will give us full power to be all that we are capable of being. It gives us the insight to know our Selves and our relationship with eternity. That opens the way whereby we may come to know all truth, and knowing all gives one absolute freedom to BE. This is the promise:

26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;
27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things (D&C 93:26-28).

9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell (Alma 12:8-11).

A covenant is based on the mutual ascent of two parties. In our eternal covenants, God is one party, we are the other. Just as God had to know the conditions of our this-world experience, we had to know and therefore agree to what those conditions would be. The difference is that we have forgotten the terms of our premortal covenants and must rely on the Holy Ghost to teach us how and when to fulfill them. Our greatest assurance is that God remembers. He knows our situation. Our purpose is to listen to the Spirit, follow its instructions, and act in the full power of our own integrity.

The question we came here to answer is the one Job’s wife asked,

9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips (Job 2:9-10).

If we read in John 6:22-71 only those parts that show the Savior’s foreknowledge of whether his listeners would believe him, then this is what we get. (Italics added)

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
————————-
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
————————-
64 But there are some of you that believe not. [For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. – JST]
————————-
70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

So why can’t God just put us in heaven, if he already knows. The answer is, he knows, but it is left to us to find out. In that regard, the end of this story is as important as the beginning.

64 But there are some of you that believe not.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus already knew which of his apostles would betray him and which would stay faithful. So why did he ask, “Will ye also go away?” Jesus was not seeking information or affirmation—he already knew the answer. He asked because it was important that they answer that question for themselves. They had the right to be asked that question just as we have a right to be asked similar questions when we sit in a temple recommend interview. The account says that Peter answered for all of them, but he spoke with the authority of their individual integrity.

—————–
FOOTNOTE

{1}For Mrs. Harris’s story see Joseph and Moroni under “published books” on this website.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

There is a clear pattern in John’s gospel. It begins with the testimony that Jesus is Jehovah; then teaches about John the Baptist’s premortal call and Jesus’s calling of the Twelve based on his foreknowledge of who they were (Nathanael: “in whom there is no guile” – John 1:47 – is an example).

Then, in this world, John’s message is that Jesus is still God. He controls the elements turning the water to wine. He teaches Nicodemus that he is the eternal and present author of the gospel. By teaching the woman at the well and her Samaritan neighbors he shows his authority to save everyone who will be saved. By feeding the 5,000 he shows he is the creator who can bring things into being. By walking on the water he shows that his power is greater than the forces of nature. Then, at the end of chapter 6, he announces his Messiahship and explains that his body and blood are as the fruit of the tree of life and the waters of life.

This story of feeding the 5,000 comes early in John’s account, thereby setting an immediate comparison between those who look to Jesus as a Messiah who is a potential military leader and, in contrast, those who look to him as the Anointed Savior. Both are well represented in this story.

Notwithstanding the boast with which the Jews challenged Jesus [“We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man (John 8:33)”], the Jews had not had their own king for 600 years. In fact, they were in bondage. They were an occupied Roman territory that was ruled by a hated, non-Jewish king.

Jesus was “son of David,” and would have been the heir to the now defunct Jewish throne. There was a strong belief among the Jews that a descendent of David would come as a military leader who would free them from Roman rule and reestablish the kingdom of David. If Jesus were that general, what a general he would be! Just think what Jesus’s army could accomplish if he would heal their wounded and feed them without concern for food supplied by ambling supply wagons.

During the events surrounding his feeding the 5,000, Jesus identified himself as the Messiah – but not as a military Messiah. Still, some were more eager to eat than to listen.

This is one of the stories about Jesus that is told in detail in all four gospels. My original intent was to combine them as my own study tool to glean information for this short essay. As I worked to that end, it became apparent that I had the wrong goal. There would not be much value in my presenting you with a recreated and abridged account when the primary sources are so readily available. So here are the interlocked accounts.

As you read them, do not think of them as simply repetitious. There are details in some that are not in others. It takes all of them together to make a complete whole. One of those interesting details is the relationship between Jesus and Philip as Jesus teaches his apostle the power of priesthood authority.

Another is the special relationship between Jesus and John. When writing about the Last Supper, John identified himself as “one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). When Jesus was on the cross John again identified himself as the disciple “whom he loved.” He did so again when he was at the tomb after Jesus resurrection; and in Galilee when John was the first to recognize the resurrected Lord. All of those are at the end of Jesus life or after his resurrection. But in this story of Jesus’s feeding the 5000 we get an early glance of their special relationship. As a sidenote to Jesus’s conversation with Philip, John writes, “And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.” There is only one way John could have known Jesus’s intent, and that is if Jesus told him.

Another insight comes from Matthew. Normally in that culture only men were usually considered and therefore only men were counted. So it was typical that John reported, “And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” Luke tells us the same thing. “For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.” However, Matthew adds an important bit of information. “And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children (Matthew 14). {1}

If men, their wives, and an average of just two children per family, were all there, then Jesus did not feed only 5,000 men, but as many as 20,000 people. That is an enormous croud, and what happened there most certainly would have caught the attention of the Jewish and Roman rulers.

—————————
In the following, John’s words are in bold, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s are indented. The scriptures cited are Matthew 14:14-21, Mark 6:33-44, Luke 9:11-17, and John 6:10-14

—————————
1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him,

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick (Matthew 14).

34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things (Mark 6).

11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing (Luke 9).

15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat (Matthew 14).

12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place (Luke 9).

36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat (Mark 6).

he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?(Mark 6)

6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me (Matthew 14).

38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes (Mark 6).

13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people (Luke 9).

10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude (Matthew 14).

39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all (Mark 6).

14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets (Luke 9:14 – 17).

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

42 And they did all eat, and were filled.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people (Mark 6:42-44).

20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children (Matthew 14:20-21).

——————————

FOOTNOTE

{1} As an interesting contrast, men, women, and children were counted in 3 Nephi.

23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children (3 Nephi 17:23-25).

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The Gospel of John is a testimony rather than a history. The Book of Mormon is the same. Their authors selected sermons that taught principles, then stories that reinforced the messages of the sermons. Both follow the encoded pattern of the ancient Israelite temple drama. However, both also follow a chronological order that creates an internal structure like a history. Both begin in the Council in Heaven. John is more obvious: “In the beginning ….” Nephi began by telling about his father’s sode experience “He thought he saw God sitting on his throne….” Then Mormon followed the same formula, using Nephi’s temple drama sequence as an introduction to his own. {1}

John tells the story of Jesus healing the impotent man who sat by the pool on the sabbath day, and then telling the man to “take up thy bed, and walk.” Thereby he broke all the taboos of what the Jews were then attributing to the Law of Moses. They challenged, first the man, and then Jesus. After telling that story, John gives us a very long speech that Jesus delivered to the Jews. At the beginning of the speech we are told,

16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:16-18).

Given their twice expressed determination to kill him, it seems unlikely that they stood around long enough to hear the long speech that follows. But given the purpose and pattern of John’s gospel, this story of Jesus’s defying the irrationality of the Jewish distortions of the Law of the Sabbath is the perfect setting for John’s declaration that Jesus has the authority to do exactly what he has just done.

So what follows is John’s brilliant, virtually comprehensive analysis of the Savior’s eternal relationship/heirship with his Heavenly Father. It does not matter if Jesus said these things at one time to an angry mob, or if this is John’s compilation of what Jesus said on several occasions. John has made his point: Jesus is the Son of God, and his Father has put all authority into his hands.

This is one of those places in the scriptures where breaking it into verses can easily distort the intent of the writer. For that reason I am going to quote it here without the verse interruptions. Where the Joseph Smith Inspired Version is substantially different I will put those in italics and use them instead.

As is true with most scriptures, the key to understand them is to pay attention to the relationships of the ideas as established by in the verbs and conjunctions. I will structure this to emphasize those relationships and bold most conjunctions and some verbs.
———————-
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

     For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
     For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
     For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
     That [so that] all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

     For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
     and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

     and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [JST: resurrection of the unjust.]
     And shall all be judged of the Son of man. For as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just;
     For I can of mine own self do nothing; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.
     Therefore if I bear witness of myself, yet my witness is true.
     For I am not alone, there is another who beareth witness of me, and I know that the testimony which he giveth of me is true.

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

     And he received not his testimony of man, but of God, and ye yourselves say that he is a prophet,                      therefore ye ought to receive his testimony. These things I say that ye might be saved.

He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

     But I have a greater witness than the testimony of John; For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
     And the Father himself who sent me, hath borne witness of me. And verily I testify unto you, that ye have never heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape;
     For ye have not his word abiding in you; and him whom he hath sent, ye believe not.

Search the scriptures; For in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

     And ye will not come to me that ye might have life, lest ye should honor me.

I receive not honour from men.
     But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe, who seek honor one of another, and seek not the honor which cometh from God only?

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

     For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: For he wrote of me.
     But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

———————————

FOOTNOTE

{1} In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord we examined Nephi’s very closely and only showed Mormon’s outline. In the first edition the chapters are: “Nephi’s Review of the Festival Temple Drama,” 651-63; “Mormon’s Outline of the Book of Mormon,” 655-69. In the second edition (the one on this website), the same chapters are on pages 464-72 and 473-75.

<><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The Savior said to the woman at the well,

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

That can be a very confusing scripture. It sounds like John is saying God is a spirit, and we must worship with our spirit. That might sound reasonable for people who believe that their “faith” is all that is necessary for salvation because the way they live their lives has no bearing on the matter. The renowned Bible scholar David Noel Freedman characterized that kind of faith this way.

Faith is a peculiarly Christian concept. While other religious traditions have aspects of what the churches have come to name “faith,” none has the specific quality of intellectual assent that distinguishes faith from fidelity. The problem of faith and the central discussion of it arises in the context of the medieval attempts to codify and integrate the Christian experience into the emerging philosophical language of the scholastics. {1}

As Latter-day Saints, we know that God is more than just a spirit and that worshiping him requires much more than a “spiritual” adherence to what one supposes is the truth. So the question is, “How do we deal with this strange passage of scripture?”

The word “spirit” (Strong # 4151) is used three times in those verses, but even the definition of the Greek word from which they are translated does not help us understand what the sentence means.

My old copy of Strong defines # 4151, pneûma, as:

a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy Spirit:–ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind.

We came across that word not long ago when we were discussing Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. There the word is used five times, and one of them is translated as “wind.”

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit [# 4151], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit [# 4151] is spirit [# 4151].
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind [# 4151] bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit [# 4151].
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? (John 3:5-9). {2}

In the account of Jesus’s baptism, it may represent the shechinah. {3}

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit [# 4151] descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him (John 1:32).

It has an even richer meaning in Luke 23:46.

44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit [# 4151]: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. [#1606 breathed his last]
47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man (Luke 23:44-47).

An online version of Strong’s Concordance, breaks down its uses this way:

The KJV translates Strongs G4151 in the following manner: Spirit (111x), Holy Ghost (89x), Spirit (of God) (13x), Spirit (of the Lord) (5x), (My) Spirit (3x), Spirit (of truth) (3x), Spirit (of Christ) (2x), human (spirit) (49x), (evil) spirit (47x), spirit (general) (26x), spirit (8x), (Jesus’ own) spirit (6x), (Jesus’ own) ghost (2x), misc (21x). {4}

So by simply analyzing the meanings of the word, we really have no clue what is meant by “God is a Spirit.”

Fortunately, the Prophet Joseph has done the job for us. In place of the KJV’s “God is a Spirit,” the Inspired Version has, “For unto such hath God promised his Spirit.” So the sentence reads,

25 And the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
26 For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth (JST John 4:25-26). {5}
——————————-

A really important line is, “The Father seeketh such to worship him.” We can passively read that as being about missionary work, but there is nothing passive about the verb “seeketh,” especially when Jesus uses it to describe his Father’s involvement in our salvation. A fascinating scripture that suggests what that may mean is this one:

11 Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe?
A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn (D&C 77:11).

Another is at the conclusion of the Beatitudes. I have described the Beatitudes as saying everything we need to know during this entire lifetime, but it takes a lifetime to know what the Beatitudes say. In that light, it is interesting and important to note that they are followed immediately by a charge to teach the gospel.

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men (3 Nephi 12:13).

Some time ago I wrote a short article that appeared in the Ensign called, “What does it Mean to be the ‘Salt of the Earth?’” It is not very long, and I would like to quote it here.

——————————

The scriptural phrase “salt of the earth” has come to mean many things. In likening the scriptures unto ourselves (see 1 Ne. 19:23), we may sometimes overlook the author’s primary intent and the key points of comparison in his use of metaphor. A full understanding and appreciation of a given passage of scripture may thus elude us.

That sometimes appears to be the case with the metaphor of salt. Perhaps we have observed that just as salt enhances the taste of certain foods, so we must be as salt, living our lives to bless and enhance the lives of others and make the gospel palatable to them. We may have also noted that salt is a preservative not unlike the preserving influence of righteous Saints who uphold gospel ideals in a world of shifting values.

While such applications are relevant and meaningful to Latter-day Saints worldwide, to the ancients the central figurative meaning of salt had to do not with taste but with smell.

When sacrifices were offered upon the altars of ancient Israel, the Israelites did not give the Lord the flesh of the animal, the fruit of the ground, or the ashes or smoke of such sacrifices. The acceptable part of the offering presented to the Lord was the smell, “a sweet savour unto the Lord” (Leviticus 1:17).

In the Bible, the word savour most often refers to the pleasant smell of burning sacrifice in the Temple. To ensure that the smell would be sweet, the Mosaic law required that the offering be liberally sprinkled with salt.

The scent of an unsalted burnt offering would be the stench of scorched flesh. But if the meat were generously salted, the odor would be quite different, due to the reaction of the salt upon the cells that compose animal flesh. Under high-salt conditions, cellular fluid rapidly escapes the cells to dilute the salts outside cell membranes. When accentuated by heat, these fluids cause a sweet savor to emanate.

The Lord’s requirements concerning their offerings was clear. Referring to “the salt of the covenant,” the Lord instructed ancient Israel, “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Lev. 2:13). Flavius Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, explained how that was done. He wrote that the priests “cleanse the bodies [of the sacrificial animals], and divide them into parts, and salt them with salt, and lay them upon the altar, while the pieces of wood are piled one upon another and the fire is burning. … This is the way of offering a burnt offering” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, trans. Whiston, 1876, 3:9:1).

The purpose of the law of performances and ordinances given to the children of Israel through Moses was to point their souls to Christ and to bear witness of His gospel.
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses and ended blood sacrifice. The resurrected Lord explained the new law of sacrifice to His followers on the American continent: “Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away.

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost” (3 Ne. 9:19-20).

In this context the charge to be the “salt of the earth” takes on marvelous significance. The Lord said, “I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted?” (3 Ne. 12:13). The Savior’s audience no doubt understood the law of Moses and the close connection between salt and acceptable sacrifice.

It is clear that under the new covenant the followers of Christ, as “salt,” are responsible for extending gospel blessings to the whole earth. “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant,” the Lord explains, “they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men” (D&C 101:39). It is our privilege and blessing to lovingly lead our brothers and sisters to Christ, helping them receive their covenant blessings. As we do so, we become the figurative salt that makes it possible for them to offer the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In addition, our own covenant sacrifice of time, talents, and means is pleasing to the Lord.

This tremendous responsibility of helping bring salvation to others is coupled with caution: “But if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men” (3 Ne. 12:13). Salt used anciently for sacrifice could easily lose its savor, and always for the same reason—impurity. If such impure salt was heated, the combination of impurities and salt can result in an unpleasant odor. It was therefore discarded, lest its use desecrate the sacrifice and offend the Lord.

Likewise, we are displeasing to the Lord to the degree that we are impure and ineffective “not the saviors of men,” but instead “as salt that has lost its savor” (D&C 103:10).

So how do we become the salt of the earth? The Apostle Paul points out that charity is a key to this process: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:1-2). We must seek to love others purely, as the Savior loves us. It is through this love that we can help bring souls to Him, that they and we might be found acceptable “unto God a sweet savour of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15). {6}
——————————

FOOTNOTES

{1} David Noel Freedman, “Faith,”The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, New York, 1992, vol. 2 p. 744-745

{2} For a discussion of this passage use the search engine to find “John 3:8-12 — The Breath of Life (Nicodemus, part 3).”

{3} Use search engine to find, “Ether 2 & 3 — veil of light, of fire, of cloud, shechinah.”

{4} The online version of Strong’s Concordance is www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html

{5} John 4:23-24 are verses 25-26 in JST.

{6}LeGrand L. Baker, “What does it mean to be the ‘salt of the earth’?” Ensign 29, (4 April 1999): 53-54

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>