John 6:49

Are dead. The Jews had proudly claimed that Moses had given their fathers manna from heaven to eat (see vs. 30, 31), and they had challenged Jesus to demonstrate His Messiahship by working an even greater miracle. He did not meet their demand with a miracle, but pointed them rather to the spiritual significance of Messiahship, the fact that He offered them sustenance for eternal life. Now, He aptly reminded them that their fathers, of whom they were so proud, who had eaten the manna, nevertheless were dead. In proof of His claim to being greater than Moses, Jesus declared that He, Himself the bread from heaven, could give eternal life (see on v. 50).