John 6:50 Meaning and Explanation

'This is the bread which cometh down from heaven.' The 'this' is Jesus himself, standing before them. Not a doctrine, not a teaching, but a person. The bread comes down: each moment he speaks, each moment his life and presence are available to the listener. 'That a man may eat thereof, and not die.' To eat is to receive, to consume, to make this bread a part of yourself. And in doing so, the eater enters a state that death cannot end.

The movement from the manna to Jesus is complete. The manna was bread from heaven, but limited. Jesus is bread from heaven that breaks the boundary of death. To partake of him is to move out of the realm where death rules into the realm where life rules. This invitation is to every person, without qualification or exception. A man, any man, any person who eats of this bread will not die.