41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
—John 6:41–42
Very often truths can be the worst of lies. Partial truths can be twisted into whole lies. Yes indeed they know His parents. Joseph is indeed His father, but He is His adoptive earthly father. Mary is indeed His mother, but hers was a virgin conception of the Christ child. They know his parents. This is the “come down” part. It is absolutely and marvelously true, but it is gloriously true because it is not all the truth.
Jesus has come down as He who is from heaven. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is God the Son incarnate. Remaining what He was He became what He was not. He is Yahweh tabernacling among us in a tent of flesh. He is the bread that came down from heaven.
Knowing a little truth about Jesus can be dangerous. It can result in grumbling instead of gratitude. It can mean the difference between feasting with gratitude and enjoying eternal life, and grumbling about the bread of heaven to know spiritual famine eternally. Beware a little knowledge of Jesus. How often the atheist or the pagan rejects Jesus as the bread come down from heaven for a little truth about Jesus which they then regard as the whole truth. How many find out a little about Jesus, a little about Bible manuscripts, a little about creation, a little about science, a little about history, a little about the church, and then they draw big conclusions and make big decisions with big consequences all for that little knowledge.
The Lord Jesus Christ, because He is God the Son, is incomprehensible. You cannot exhaustively know Him. You cannot ever master Him. Eternity is not enough to plumb infinity. It is folly for the finite to try do so in time. But do not fail to be thoroughly acquainted either. Strive to know the Lord Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself in the word as much as you can. Do not reject Jesus for a little truth. Zealously seek out He who is the Truth.
No Other Boast 