John · Chapter 6

V. 1. After these things-The history of between ten and eleven months is to be supplied here from the other evangelists. Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:32; Luke 9:10.

Verse 1. After these things] This is a sort of indefinite expression, from which me can gather nothing relative to the time in which these things happened. It refers no doubt to transactions in the preceding year. Jesus went over the sea of Galilee] Or, as some translate the words, by the side of the sea of Galilee. From Luke, Luke 9:10, we learn that this was a desert place in the vicinity of Bethsaida. The sea of Galilee, Genesaret, and Tiberias, are the same in the New Testament with the sea of Cinnereth in the Old. Tiberias was a city in Galilee, situated on the western side of the lake. See Clarke on “John 6:22”.

Verses 1-4. After these things — The history of between ten and eleven months is to be here supplied from the other evangelists; Jesus went over the sea of Galilee — Luke tells us (Luke 9:10) he went with his disciples into a desert belonging to Bethsaida: of the reason of which, see notes on Matthew 14:13, 14; Mark 6:30-32. And a great multitude followed him — Eagerly desiring to hear so divine a teacher; because they saw his miracles, wrought on them that were diseased — And were struck with the power and goodness which he manifested in performing them. And Jesus went up into a mountain — That he might be heard and seen with the greater advantage; and there he sat with his disciples — And the multitude about him. And the passover was nigh — This circumstance, together with the observation made verse 10, that there was much grass in the place, shows that the spring was now far advanced, and therefore determines the time of the following miracle with sufficient precision.

§ 63.—FIVE THOUSAND FED, 1-14.

Matthew 14:13-22; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17. The miracle of the feeding is one of the few which are recorded by all the Evangelists. They narrate it with that variety of manner, yet agreement in fact, that evinces independence of relation with common truth at bottom. It is, therefore, a well-attested narrative. Unless it can be denied that John wrote this Gospel, the so-called mythical hypothesis (which supposes that the gospel narratives formed and grew from popular imagination) is refuted by this single instance. The sordid character of a certain portion of the multitude gives a severe tone to the entire discourse. The bread with which they are fed, and the body which was upborne upon the sea, blend to form the topic of the allegory which runs through the whole.

1. After these things—After the narrative of the last chapter. If the feast in John 5:1, was a Passover, as most commentators think, the interval of a whole year intervenes. Sea of Tiberias—The Greek name of lake Gennesaret, (see our note on Matthew 4:13,) given for the benefit of John’s Gentile readers.

Verse 2. They saw his miracles which he did] John does not mention these miracles; but Matthew details them, Matthew 12:2-14:13. John seems more intent on supplying the deficiencies of the other evangelists than in writing a connected history himself.

Verses 1-4. After these things — The history of between ten and eleven months is to be here supplied from the other evangelists; Jesus went over the sea of Galilee — Luke tells us (Luke 9:10) he went with his disciples into a desert belonging to Bethsaida: of the reason of which, see notes on Matthew 14:13, 14; Mark 6:30-32. And a great multitude followed him — Eagerly desiring to hear so divine a teacher; because they saw his miracles, wrought on them that were diseased — And were struck with the power and goodness which he manifested in performing them. And Jesus went up into a mountain — That he might be heard and seen with the greater advantage; and there he sat with his disciples — And the multitude about him. And the passover was nigh — This circumstance, together with the observation made verse 10, that there was much grass in the place, shows that the spring was now far advanced, and therefore determines the time of the following miracle with sufficient precision.

Verse 2. A great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles. But being dull of apprehension, they seemed to have no idea that the Lord could feed the hungry, as well as heal the sick. Christ rises in the eye of faith as it discovers the glory of his person.

2. Great multitude—Partly of Capernaites, and partly of passengers to the approaching Passover at Jerusalem. Saw his miracles—Mere love of wonder-working was the low motive of the great number. To perform upon their whole mass a compassionate miracle, a miracle emblematic of his mission to the world, was the bridge upon which Jesus sought to bring them up to higher views.

V. 3. Jesus went up-Before the people overtook him.

Verse 3. Went up into a mountain] This mountain must have been in the desert of Bethsaida, in the territories of Philip, tetrarch of Galilee. Our Lord withdrew to this place for a little rest; for he and his disciples had been so thronged with the multitudes, continually coming and going, that they had not time to take necessary food. See Mark 6:31.

Verses 1-4. After these things — The history of between ten and eleven months is to be here supplied from the other evangelists; Jesus went over the sea of Galilee — Luke tells us (Luke 9:10) he went with his disciples into a desert belonging to Bethsaida: of the reason of which, see notes on Matthew 14:13, 14; Mark 6:30-32. And a great multitude followed him — Eagerly desiring to hear so divine a teacher; because they saw his miracles, wrought on them that were diseased — And were struck with the power and goodness which he manifested in performing them. And Jesus went up into a mountain — That he might be heard and seen with the greater advantage; and there he sat with his disciples — And the multitude about him. And the passover was nigh — This circumstance, together with the observation made verse 10, that there was much grass in the place, shows that the spring was now far advanced, and therefore determines the time of the following miracle with sufficient precision.

§ 63.—FIVE THOUSAND FED, 1-14.

Matthew 14:13-22; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17. The miracle of the feeding is one of the few which are recorded by all the Evangelists. They narrate it with that variety of manner, yet agreement in fact, that evinces independence of relation with common truth at bottom. It is, therefore, a well-attested narrative. Unless it can be denied that John wrote this Gospel, the so-called mythical hypothesis (which supposes that the gospel narratives formed and grew from popular imagination) is refuted by this single instance. The sordid character of a certain portion of the multitude gives a severe tone to the entire discourse. The bread with which they are fed, and the body which was upborne upon the sea, blend to form the topic of the allegory which runs through the whole.

1. After these things—After the narrative of the last chapter. If the feast in John 5:1, was a Passover, as most commentators think, the interval of a whole year intervenes. Sea of Tiberias—The Greek name of lake Gennesaret, (see our note on Matthew 4:13,) given for the benefit of John’s Gentile readers.

Verse 4. And the passover-was nigh.] This happened about ten or twelve days before the third passover which Christ celebrated after his baptism. Calmet. For a particular account of our Lord’s four passovers see Clarke’s note on “John 2:13”.

For thirty days before the Passover there were great preparations made by the Jews, but especially in the last nineteen days, in order to celebrate the feast with due solemnity. Lightfoot supposes that what is here related happened within the last fifteen days. See Calmet’s opinion above.

Verses 1-4. After these things — The history of between ten and eleven months is to be here supplied from the other evangelists; Jesus went over the sea of Galilee — Luke tells us (Luke 9:10) he went with his disciples into a desert belonging to Bethsaida: of the reason of which, see notes on Matthew 14:13, 14; Mark 6:30-32. And a great multitude followed him — Eagerly desiring to hear so divine a teacher; because they saw his miracles, wrought on them that were diseased — And were struck with the power and goodness which he manifested in performing them. And Jesus went up into a mountain — That he might be heard and seen with the greater advantage; and there he sat with his disciples — And the multitude about him. And the passover was nigh — This circumstance, together with the observation made verse 10, that there was much grass in the place, shows that the spring was now far advanced, and therefore determines the time of the following miracle with sufficient precision.

4. The passover—A caravan on its way to the Passover may have furnished a large part of the concourse. These may have been specially taken with the idea of crowning Jesus as King Messiah, and bearing him in triumph to Jerusalem.

V. 5. Jesus saith to Philip-Perhaps he had the care of providing victuals for the family of the apostles.

Verse 5. Saw a great company] See this miracle explained at large on Matthew 14:13, &c.; Mark 6:31, &c.; Luke 9:10, &c. In speaking of the passovers, and various other matters, it does not appear that John follows any strict chronological order.

From John 6:15, it appears that our Lord had come down from the mountain, and fed the multitudes in a plain at the foot of it. Saith unto Philip] This, with what follows, to the end of {John 6:7} the seventh verse, is not mentioned by any of the other evangelists. Philip was probably the provider for the disciples, as Judas was the treasurer.

Whence shall we buy bread] Instead of agorasomen, shall we buy, I should read agoraswmen, may we buy, which is the reading of ABDEHLS, Mt. VB, and many others. As Philip was of Bethsaida, John 1:44; 12:21, he must have been much better acquainted with the country in which they then were than any other of the disciples.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 6. This he said to prove him] To try his faith, and to see whether he and the other apostles had paid proper attention to the miracles which they had already seen him work; and to draw their attention more particularly to that which he was now about to perform. This is an observation of the evangelist himself, who often interweaves his own judgment with the facts he relates, which St. Matthew rarely ever does. The other evangelists say that, previously to this miracle, he continued to instruct and heal the multitudes till it was near the close of the day. Matthew 14:14, 15; Mark 6:34, 35; Luke 9:11, 12.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 7. Two hundred pennyworth] This sum, rating the denarius at 7 3/4d., would amount to 6£. 9s. 2d. of our money, and appears to have been more than our Lord and all his disciples were worth of this world’s goods. See the notes on Matthew 18:28.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Ver. 7. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient. William Budæus was a native of Paris, and of very rare erudition. He has left many books in Greek and Latin, much cited by the learned. He measured the ark of Noah, the temple of Solomon, and examined all the weights, measures, and monies, of the holy scriptures. He died in 1539. This author fixes the two hundred denaries in the text at the value of thirty five livres, or f1 .. 9 .. 2, sterling.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 8. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith] The other evangelists attribute this answer to the apostles in general. See the passages referred to above.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Ver. 8. Andrew, not often named, but the Greek church claim him, as having travelled into Scythia, planted the church of Byzantium (Constantinople) and finally closed his labours in Achaia, by martyrdom at Patras. Where accredited history is not regular, the whole weight of tradition is of force.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 9. There is a lad here] paidarion, a little boy, or servant, probably one who carried the apostles’ provisions, or who came on purpose to sell his bread and fish.

Five barley loaves] Barley scarcely bore one-third of the value of wheat in the east: see Revelation 6:6. That it was a very mean fare appears from Ezekiel 13:19, where the false prophetesses are said to pollute the name of God for handfuls of barley, i.e. for the meanest reward. And Plutarch, in Apoph. p. 174, speaking concerning the flight of Artaxerxes Mnemon, says he was reduced to such distress as to be obliged to eat barley bread. See Kypke. From this and other circumstances we may plainly perceive that the self-denying doctrine preached by Christ and his apostles was fully exemplified in their own manner of living. Two small fishes] duo oyaria. The word of oyarion signifies whatever is eaten with bread, to perfect the meal, or to make it easy of deglutition, or to help the digestion. There is no word in the English language for it, which is a great defect. The inhabitants of Scotland, and of the north and north-west of Ireland, use the word kytshen, by which they express what ever is eaten with bread or potatoes, as flesh, fish, butter, milk, eggs, &c., no satisfactory etymology of which word I am able to offer. In the parallel places in the other three evangelists, instead of oyaria, icquav is used; so that the word evidently means fish in the text of St. John: see Clarke on “John 21:5”.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Ver. 9. A lad with five barley loaves and two small fishes. Elisha in time of famine had twenty loaves sent him as a present to the prophets’ school, accompanied with ears of parched corn, which he divided among two thousand men. But here the Saviour made one loaf feed a thousand. Barley on the hills of Syria was the bread of the common people. It requires less culture than wheat, and on the higher grounds is more productive than the former; yet in point of nourishment, it is not quite equal to oats and wheat.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 10. There was much grass in the place.] Perhaps newly mown grass, or hay, is meant, (so the Vulgate fænum,) and this circumstance marks out more particularly that the passover was at hand. In Palestine the grass is ready for mowing in March; and this miracle seems to have been wrought only a few days before the commencement of that festival: see John 6:4.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 11. Jesus took the loaves] See the notes on Matthew 14:19-21. As there were five loaves and five thousand people, so there was one loaf to every thousand men, independently of the women and children.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 12. Gather up the fragments] “Great will be the punishment of those who waste the crumbs of food, scatter seed, and neglect the law.” Synops Sohar. Among the Jews the hap peah, or residue after a meal, was the property of the servitors.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Ver. 12. Gather up the fragments that remain. They that will have plenty in their houses must gather up fragments; carefulness and liberality must be associated in one. So after sermons, let us gather up the fragments by meditation and prayer.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

5-13. See parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 14. This is of a truth that prophet] Spoken of, Deuteronomy 18:15, viz. the Messiah. How near were these people at this time to the kingdom of heaven!

Verses 5-14. When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come to him — That is, gathered round him; he saith unto Philip — Namely, after he had first taught the people many things, as we learn from the other evangelists, and had healed them, that had need of healing, Mark 6:34; Luke 9:11; Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? — He addressed himself to Philip particularly, because he, being a native of Bethsaida, was best acquainted with that country. This he said to prove him — To try what idea he had conceived of his divine power, and to give him an opportunity of observing what followed more attentively. Philip answered, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient, &c. — The Roman denarius, or penny, being equal to about seven pence half- penny of English money, two hundred of them were equal to about six pounds five shillings sterling, as much, probably, as their whole stock amounted to. One of his disciples saith — In answer to Jesus’s inquiring how many loaves they had, Mark 6:38; There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes — He meant which might be purchased of him; but what are they — To satisfy the hunger of so great a company? It seems, this disciple did not think on the proofs which Jesus had formerly given of his power, or did not form a just notion thereof. Jesus said, Make the men sit down — For an explanation of the circumstances of the miracle recorded in the following verses of this paragraph, see notes on Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44. Then those men — Who were present upon this occasion, and were thus miraculously entertained, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, after all the wonderful cures he had wrought upon the sick that same day; said, This is of a truth that prophet — Who has been so long and impatiently expected by us, even the Messiah himself; that should come into the world — According to the prediction of Moses, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Ver. 14. This is of a truth that prophet, whom Moses said the Lord would send. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18. Malachi 4:5. Because, like Moses, he had fed them with bread. His divine works were convictions to the people of his divine descent. And as our Saviour improved this miracle, ver. 27, we ought carefully to gather up the fragments, by remarking, that the gospel is generally compared to a feast, a feast in which Christ still has compassion on the hungry multitude. Proverbs 9:5. Isaiah 55:1. But he feeds them in small companies, congregated to hear his word, to meditate and pray, and talk of his goodness. — It is a feast in which the Saviour so blesses and multiplies the heavenly food, that all are satisfied and delighted with the fatness of his house. — It is a feast of celestial order and plenitude, for the food was not diminished. Every apostle had his basket full at the end of the feast. In a word, we are exhorted to be diligent in labouring for the bread of eternal life, by walking in all the ordinances of the Lord blameless. A good pasture is the only way to retain the flock; let the shepherds see to this, and endeavour to resemble their Lord in wisdom, and in every grace.

14. Of a truth that Prophet—This expresses the popular expectation of the Messiah, based on Deuteronomy 17:15-22. Upon the same passage the Samaritan woman, with higher feeling, expected a Messiah who would “teach us all things;” some of these expect a Messiah who will fill their bellies gratis. A Messiah-king who will furnish them a good living and lazy enjoyment is just the Messiah for them!

V. 15. He retired to the mountain alone-Having ordered his disciples to cross over the lake.

Verse 15. Take him by force, to make him a king] The Jews had often suffered by famine in those times in which their enemies were permitted to prevail over them; but, finding that Jesus had such power as to multiply a few loaves to feed thousands, they took it for granted that while he was at their head no evil could possibly happen to them, and therefore were determined immediately to proclaim him king, and rid themselves at once of Herod and the Romans. Our Lord perceiving this, either by some words which they had dropped, or by his penetration of their hearts, retired before the project had been fully formed, or could be put into execution. It was not till a considerable time afterwards that even the disciples fully understood that his kingdom was not of this world.

Into a mountain] That on which he was with his disciples previously to his working this miracle: see John 6:3.

St. Matthew, Matthew 14:22, 23, and Mark, Mark 6:45, 46, say that, before this, Jesus constrained his disciples to embark in the vessel, and go along the sea coast towards Capernaum, or Bethsaida-see here John 6:17, and the note on Mark 6:45; and that, after they were gone, he dismissed the multitudes, having, no doubt, given them such advices as the nature of the case required; after which he went into the mountain to pray.

Worldly wisdom would have said, “Declare thyself king: yield to the desires of the people: this will be the readiest way of converting the Jews.” No. Jesus must die for the sin of the world.-No man’s heart can be turned to God by outward pomp or splendour-no saving change can be brought about by any might or any power, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

§ 65.—JESUS WALKS ON THE SEA, 15-21.

Matthew 14:22-36; Mark 6:45-56.

15. Make him a king—Just as the devil had long before proposed. See note on Matthew 4:8.

V. 16. Matthew 14:22; Mark 6:45.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

16-21. Compare notes on parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 17. Toward Capernaum.] St. Mark says, Mark 6:45, that our Lord commanded them to go along to Bethsaida; and in the course of the history we find they got neither to Bethsaida nor Capernaum, but landed in the country of Genesaret: Matthew 14:34. Our Lord seems to have desired them to go either to Bethsaida or Capernaum, which were only a very few miles distant, and on the same side of the sea. The reason why they could reach neither was the storm which the evangelists say rose at the time, and the wind being contrary: the storm being probably excited by the prince of the power of the air. Capernaum lay at the northern part of this sea, and they went along the Galilean or western coast, probably expecting Christ to come to them, on which account they might keep in close by the land. But there are great difficulties in fixing the places mentioned by the evangelists. By some writers Bethsaida and Capernaum are placed on opposite sides of this lake: by others on the same side. Sometimes when our translation speaks of passing over the sea, &c., a coasting voyage only is meant, as we find the disciples landing on the same side from which they had departed: see Clarke’s note on “John 6:22”.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

16-21. Compare notes on parallel passage in Matthew.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

16-21. Compare notes on parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 19. Had rowed] Their vessel was a small one only, something of the boat kind: as to sails, if they had any, they could not now venture to carry them, because of the storm.

Five and twenty or thirty furlongs] Between three and four miles. The sea of Tiberias, on which they now were, was, according to Josephus, War, book iii. chap. 25, forty furlongs, or five miles in breadth; and one hundred and forty furlongs, or eighteen miles, in length. Pliny, lib. v. chap. 15, makes it about six miles broad, and sixteen long.

They see Jesus] See Clarke’s notes on “Matthew 14:25”, &c.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

16-21. Compare notes on parallel passage in Matthew.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

Ver. 20. It is I: be not afraid. See the Reflections on Matthew 14.

16-21. Compare notes on parallel passage in Matthew.

Verse 21. Immediately the ship was at the land] How far they were from the place at which they landed, when our Lord came to them, we know not. But the evangelist seems to speak of their sudden arrival there as extraordinary and miraculous.

Verses 15-21. When Jesus perceived — Through the knowledge which he had of their thoughts and intentions; that they would come and take him by force — That they had formed a purpose of doing so; to make him a king — Believing that the Messiah was to rule as well as teach his people; he departed again unto a mountain himself alone — Having ordered his disciples to cross the lake, and dismissed the multitude. To this mountain, according to Matthew and Mark, he retired to pray. For a further explanation of this, and the following verses, to verse 21, see notes on Matthew 14:22-33.

21. Willingly—As they had before dreaded his approach, so now they are eager to receive him on board; and as soon as his feet touched the deck the ship is at land. How, says the querist, was this miracle performed? We suppose that both the miracle of walking on the sea and moving the ship to land was performed, just as a writer moves his pen, by an act of will—of a will supernaturally, divinely powerful. Gravitation, so far as we can see, is the immediate effect of the divine volition holding the spheres in their places. That same volition could hold the water solid beneath the feet of Jesus, or cause his body to glide over the undisturbed surface.

V. 22. Who had stood on the other side-They were forced to stay a while, because there were then no other vessels; and they stayed the less unwillingly, because they saw that Jesus was not embarked.

Verse 22. The people which stood on the other side] eJsthkwv peran thv qalasshv, Standing by the sea side. The people were not on the other side, i.e. in Perea, as our version states, but on that side where Bethsaida lay: see the notes on Matthew 14:25, 34, and on Mark 6:45. The Greek word, peran, says Bishop Pearce, seems to signify in Scripture sometimes on the side of, and sometimes on this side of: see Joshua 5:1. and 1 Macc. 9:34. The Hebrew word rba abar, signifies by the side: Exodus 28:26, and is translated on this side in Deuteronomy 4:29. It has the same meaning in the Septuagint, Deuteronomy 1:5; 3:8; 4:46. peran, says Vorstius, is the same with para, near to. This is evidently the meaning of the word in Matthew 4:15; as it appears, from what is said of the land of Zabulon and Nepthali, that by peran is not meant beyond, but by the side of; because those two tribes inhabited the western side of Jordan, which was the side lying nearest to Judea and Galilee: see Clarke on “Matthew 19:1”.

Verses 22-24. “In this and the two following verses,” says Dr. Campbell, “is contained a sentence more involved than any in this gospel. Indeed it is so unlike the composition of this evangelist, as to give ground to suspect that it has been injured in transcribing. He often indeed uses tautologies; but, except in this instance, they occasion no darkness or perplexity. I have adopted the reading of the Vulgate as preferable upon the whole, namely, On the morrow the people, who were on the sea-side, knowing that there had been but one boat there, and that Jesus went not into the boat with his disciples, who went alone, (other boats, however, arrived from Tiberias, nigh the place where they had eaten, after the Lord had given thanks,) knowing besides, that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, embarked, and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.”

22. The day following—The multitude on the next day find with astonishment that they are left by both Jesus and his disciples on the eastern or wilderness side of Jordan, where they had been fed. They wonder how Jesus had gone; for he went not with his disciples, and no other ship had gone over.

Verse 23. There came other boats] After Jesus and his disciples had departed.

From Tiberias] Herod Antipas built this city near the lake of Genesaret, in the best parts of Galilee, and called it Tiberias, in honour of Tiberius, the Roman emperor: see Jos. Ant. book xviii. chap. 2. sect. 3.

Verses 22-24. “In this and the two following verses,” says Dr. Campbell, “is contained a sentence more involved than any in this gospel. Indeed it is so unlike the composition of this evangelist, as to give ground to suspect that it has been injured in transcribing. He often indeed uses tautologies; but, except in this instance, they occasion no darkness or perplexity. I have adopted the reading of the Vulgate as preferable upon the whole, namely, On the morrow the people, who were on the sea-side, knowing that there had been but one boat there, and that Jesus went not into the boat with his disciples, who went alone, (other boats, however, arrived from Tiberias, nigh the place where they had eaten, after the Lord had given thanks,) knowing besides, that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, embarked, and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.”

23. There came other boats—That is, from the Tiberias or western side; but none had gone over to Capernaum.

Verse 24. They also took shipping] That is, as many of them as could get accommodated with boats took them and thus got to Capernaum; but many others doubtless went thither on foot, as it is not at all likely that five or six thousand persons could get boats enow to carry them.

Verses 22-24. “In this and the two following verses,” says Dr. Campbell, “is contained a sentence more involved than any in this gospel. Indeed it is so unlike the composition of this evangelist, as to give ground to suspect that it has been injured in transcribing. He often indeed uses tautologies; but, except in this instance, they occasion no darkness or perplexity. I have adopted the reading of the Vulgate as preferable upon the whole, namely, On the morrow the people, who were on the sea-side, knowing that there had been but one boat there, and that Jesus went not into the boat with his disciples, who went alone, (other boats, however, arrived from Tiberias, nigh the place where they had eaten, after the Lord had given thanks,) knowing besides, that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, embarked, and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.”

24. The people—Not the whole five thousand, but a section of them who still stood on the other side of the sea. (Verse 22.) These were mostly of Capernaum, probably, and its near towns, as appears by verse 42. This section was doubtless a small one. The great body either returned to their homes, or continued on their way to the Passover, or prosecuted their preparations for the journey. Seeking for Jesus—How happy if they were seeking for Jesus as a true Saviour!

Verse 25. On the other side of the sea] That is, on the sea coast, to the northward of it, where Capernaum lies in the land of Genesaret: but see the note, on John 6:17, 22. It was in one of the synagogues of Capernaum that he delivered the following discourse: see John 6:59.

Verses 25-27. When they had found him on the other side — Namely, in the synagogue of Capernaum, as appears from verse 59; they said unto him — As soon as the worship was over, and even before they quitted the place; Rabbi, when camest thou hither? — They ask this question because, as Jesus did not go on the preceding evening with his disciples, they expected to have found him on the other side of the sea, and could not conceive when he could come, or what imaginable means he could have of crossing the water. Jesus, modestly waiving the recital of those extraordinary circumstances which attended his passage, diverted the discourse to a more important and edifying subject; and knowing, by an intimate penetration of their very hearts, that they were governed only by carnal motives in this attendance upon him, humble and zealous as it might appear, he said — With great solemnity, Verily, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles — Because, having been eye-witnesses of the miracles which I performed, you are convinced by them that I am a divine teacher, and are now disposed to hearken unto and obey my doctrine: but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled — And have from thence concluded, that you shall gain great secular advantages by following me: having been once fed, you expect that I will feed you frequently by a miracle; and the satisfaction you have found in that meal has made you conceive great hopes of temporal felicity under my administration. These are the views with which you are following me; but you are entirely mistaken in them, for your happiness does not consist in the meat that perisheth, neither is it that sort of meat which the Messiah will give you. Hitherto Christ had been gathering hearers; he now begins to try their sincerity by a figurative discourse concerning his passion, and the fruit of it to be received by faith. Labour not for the meat which perisheth — For bodily food, or for any merely temporal blessing; not for that only, not chiefly: not at all, but in subordination to divine knowledge and grace, faith and love; the meat that endureth to everlasting life — Which, by invigorating all the faculties of the soul, and making it wise and good, holy and happy, renders it incorruptible and immortal, entitled to, and prepared for, everlasting felicity. Which meat, or which life, the Son of man shall give you — If with sincerity, earnestness, and faith, you apply to him for it. It is his gift, carisma, a gift of grace, Romans 6:23: and yet we are commanded to labour for it, as if it were to be procured by our own industry, and sold upon that valuable consideration. But when we have laboured with the utmost diligence for it, still we have not merited it as our hire, but the Son of man gives it. And it is an encouragement, that he who has the giving of it is the Son of man, our kinsman and brother; for, in consequence of that, we may hope that the sons of men, who seek it and labour for it, shall not fail to obtain it. For him hath God the Father sealed — By this very miracle, as well as by his whole testimony concerning him. Having given him authority, he has given us assurance of it; having intrusted him with unlimited powers, he hath satisfied us by undoubted proofs that he has done so. Sealing a writing is a mark of the authenticity of it. God the Father sealed his Son, or manifested that he had commissioned him to be the Teacher, Redeemer, Saviour, and Governor of his church, by causing his Holy Spirit to rest on him, by the voice from heaven uttered once and again, and by the testimony he bore to him in signs and wonders.

25. When they had found him—Jesus first landed at the plain of Gennesaret; but before these pursuers found him he had arrived in the synagogue of Capernaum. See notes on Matthew 14:34-36. Second great discourse of Jesus to the hostile Jews, 26-59. Now commences a great oration of Jesus founded on the temper of this set of people, the miracle of their feeding, and the wonder of his walking on the water. Their temper regarded their view of his miracles. The Samaritans embraced Jesus not for miracle but for his sublime and holy doctrine; Nicodemus based on his miracles a need of proceeding to a deeper experience; but this populace, apparently destitute of any moral susceptibility, look to his miracles as a means of livelihood. Their traits of character appear specially in verses 26, 42, 43, and 52.

V. 26. Our Lord does not satisfy their curiosity, but corrects the wrong motive they had in seeking him:

because ye did eat-Merely for temporal advantage. Hitherto Christ had been gathering hearers: he now begins to try their sincerity, by a figurative discourse concerning his passion, and the fruit of it, to be received by faith.

Verse 26. Ye seek me, not because ye saw, &c.] Though the miracle of the loaves was one of the most astonishing that ever was wrought upon earth; and though this people had, by the testimony of all their senses, the most convincing proof of its reality; yet we find many of them paid little attention to it, and regarded the omnipotent hand of God in it no farther than it went to satisfy the demands of their appetite! Most men are willing to receive temporal good from the hands of God; but there are few, very few, who are willing to receive spiritual blessings.

Verses 25-27. When they had found him on the other side — Namely, in the synagogue of Capernaum, as appears from verse 59; they said unto him — As soon as the worship was over, and even before they quitted the place; Rabbi, when camest thou hither? — They ask this question because, as Jesus did not go on the preceding evening with his disciples, they expected to have found him on the other side of the sea, and could not conceive when he could come, or what imaginable means he could have of crossing the water. Jesus, modestly waiving the recital of those extraordinary circumstances which attended his passage, diverted the discourse to a more important and edifying subject; and knowing, by an intimate penetration of their very hearts, that they were governed only by carnal motives in this attendance upon him, humble and zealous as it might appear, he said — With great solemnity, Verily, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles — Because, having been eye-witnesses of the miracles which I performed, you are convinced by them that I am a divine teacher, and are now disposed to hearken unto and obey my doctrine: but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled — And have from thence concluded, that you shall gain great secular advantages by following me: having been once fed, you expect that I will feed you frequently by a miracle; and the satisfaction you have found in that meal has made you conceive great hopes of temporal felicity under my administration. These are the views with which you are following me; but you are entirely mistaken in them, for your happiness does not consist in the meat that perisheth, neither is it that sort of meat which the Messiah will give you. Hitherto Christ had been gathering hearers; he now begins to try their sincerity by a figurative discourse concerning his passion, and the fruit of it to be received by faith. Labour not for the meat which perisheth — For bodily food, or for any merely temporal blessing; not for that only, not chiefly: not at all, but in subordination to divine knowledge and grace, faith and love; the meat that endureth to everlasting life — Which, by invigorating all the faculties of the soul, and making it wise and good, holy and happy, renders it incorruptible and immortal, entitled to, and prepared for, everlasting felicity. Which meat, or which life, the Son of man shall give you — If with sincerity, earnestness, and faith, you apply to him for it. It is his gift, carisma, a gift of grace, Romans 6:23: and yet we are commanded to labour for it, as if it were to be procured by our own industry, and sold upon that valuable consideration. But when we have laboured with the utmost diligence for it, still we have not merited it as our hire, but the Son of man gives it. And it is an encouragement, that he who has the giving of it is the Son of man, our kinsman and brother; for, in consequence of that, we may hope that the sons of men, who seek it and labour for it, shall not fail to obtain it. For him hath God the Father sealed — By this very miracle, as well as by his whole testimony concerning him. Having given him authority, he has given us assurance of it; having intrusted him with unlimited powers, he hath satisfied us by undoubted proofs that he has done so. Sealing a writing is a mark of the authenticity of it. God the Father sealed his Son, or manifested that he had commissioned him to be the Teacher, Redeemer, Saviour, and Governor of his church, by causing his Holy Spirit to rest on him, by the voice from heaven uttered once and again, and by the testimony he bore to him in signs and wonders.

26. Ye seek me—This response of Jesus is even more abrupt than his opening reply to Nicodemus. See note on John 3:3. He promptly charges upon the animal nature of their motives. Did eat… were filled— For the stomach’s sake they would make him king, and for that same sake they tracked him across the lake and are here before him. He points them to an effort for the higher boon within his gift as Son of man, of which this lower is but the type and yet the pledge. With a purpose and spirit so low and animal, these men were beneath the reach of, and unsusceptible to, the Father’s drawings. They had no susceptibility for those drawings to take hold of; just as wood is unaffected by the attraction of the magnet.

V. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth-For bodily food: not for that only not chiefly: not at all, but in subordination to grace, faith, love, the meat which endureth to everlasting life. Labour, work for this; for everlasting life. So our Lord expressly commands, work for life, as well as from life: from a principle of faith and love.

Him hath the Father sealed-By this very miracle, as well as by his whole testimony concerning him. See John 3:33.

Sealing is a mark of the authenticity of a writing.

Verse 27. Labour not for the meat] That is, for that only, but also for the bread, &c. Our Lord wills every man to be active and diligent in that employment in which providence has placed him; but it is his will also that that employment, and all the concerns of life, should be subservient to the interest of his soul.

But for that meat, &c.] He who labours not, in the work of his salvation, is never likely to enter into the kingdom of God. Though our labour cannot purchase it, either in whole or in part, yet it is the way in which God chooses to give salvation; and he that will have heaven must strive for it. Every thing that can be possessed, except the salvation of God, is a perishing thing: this is its essential character: it can last to us no longer than the body lasts. But, when the earth and its produce are burnt up, this bread of Christ, his grace and salvation, will be found remaining unto eternal life. This is the portion after which an immortal spirit should seek. Him hath God the Father sealed.] By this expression, our Lord points out the commission which, as the Messiah, he received from the Father, to be prophet and priest to an ignorant, sinful world. As a person who wishes to communicate his mind to another who is at a distance writes a letter, seals it with his own seal, and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written, so Christ, who lay in the bosom of the Father, came to interpret the Divine will to man, bearing the image, superscription, and seal of God, in the immaculate holiness of his nature, unsullied truth of his doctrine, and in the astonishing evidence of his miracles. But he came also as a priest, to make an atonement for sin; and the bread which nourishes unto eternal life, he tells us, John 6:51, is his body, which he gives for the life of the world; and to this sacrifice of himself, the words, him hath God the Father sealed, seem especially to relate. It certainly was a custom, among nations contiguous to Judea, to set a seal upon the victim which was deemed proper for sacrifice. The following account of the method of providing white bulls among the Egyptians, for sacrifices to their god Apis, taken from HERODOTUS, Euterpe, b. ii. p. 117, casts much light upon this place. “They sacrifice white bulls to Apis; and for that reason make the following trial. If they find one black hair upon him, they consider him as unclean: that they may know this with certainty, the priest appointed for this purpose views every part of the animal, both standing and lying on the ground. After this, he draws out his tongue, to see if he be clean by certain signs: in the last place, he looks upon the hairs of his tail, that he may be sure they are as by nature they should be. If, after this search, the bull is found unblemished, he signifies it by tying a label to his horns; then, having applied wax, he seals it with his ring, and they lead him away: for it is death to sacrifice one of these animals, unless he have been marked with such a seal.

The Jews could not be unacquainted with the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship; and it is possible that such precautions as these were in use among themselves, especially as they were so strictly enjoined to have their sacrifices without SPOT, and without blemish. Infinite justice found Jesus Christ to be without spot or blemish, and therefore sealed, pointed out and accepted him, as a proper sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the whole world. Collate with this passage, Hebrews 7:26-28; Ephesians 5:27; 2 Peter 3:14; and especially Hebrews 9:13, 14: For if the blood of BULLS and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth-how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself WITHOUT SPOT to God, purge your consciences from dead works! The rabbins talk much of the seal of God, which they suppose to be tma emeth, or truth; and that this is a representation of the unoriginated and endless perfections of God. This doctrine is just; but their method of proving it is not so satisfactory. Aleph a, say they, is the first letter of the alphabet; mem m the middle; and tau t the last: these three letters make tma emeth, TRUTH, because God is the first-there was none before him; he is the middle-none mingles with him; and he is the last-there can be none after him. Hieros. Sanhed. fol. 18. See also 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

Verses 25-27. When they had found him on the other side — Namely, in the synagogue of Capernaum, as appears from verse 59; they said unto him — As soon as the worship was over, and even before they quitted the place; Rabbi, when camest thou hither? — They ask this question because, as Jesus did not go on the preceding evening with his disciples, they expected to have found him on the other side of the sea, and could not conceive when he could come, or what imaginable means he could have of crossing the water. Jesus, modestly waiving the recital of those extraordinary circumstances which attended his passage, diverted the discourse to a more important and edifying subject; and knowing, by an intimate penetration of their very hearts, that they were governed only by carnal motives in this attendance upon him, humble and zealous as it might appear, he said — With great solemnity, Verily, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles — Because, having been eye-witnesses of the miracles which I performed, you are convinced by them that I am a divine teacher, and are now disposed to hearken unto and obey my doctrine: but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled — And have from thence concluded, that you shall gain great secular advantages by following me: having been once fed, you expect that I will feed you frequently by a miracle; and the satisfaction you have found in that meal has made you conceive great hopes of temporal felicity under my administration. These are the views with which you are following me; but you are entirely mistaken in them, for your happiness does not consist in the meat that perisheth, neither is it that sort of meat which the Messiah will give you. Hitherto Christ had been gathering hearers; he now begins to try their sincerity by a figurative discourse concerning his passion, and the fruit of it to be received by faith. Labour not for the meat which perisheth — For bodily food, or for any merely temporal blessing; not for that only, not chiefly: not at all, but in subordination to divine knowledge and grace, faith and love; the meat that endureth to everlasting life — Which, by invigorating all the faculties of the soul, and making it wise and good, holy and happy, renders it incorruptible and immortal, entitled to, and prepared for, everlasting felicity. Which meat, or which life, the Son of man shall give you — If with sincerity, earnestness, and faith, you apply to him for it. It is his gift, carisma, a gift of grace, Romans 6:23: and yet we are commanded to labour for it, as if it were to be procured by our own industry, and sold upon that valuable consideration. But when we have laboured with the utmost diligence for it, still we have not merited it as our hire, but the Son of man gives it. And it is an encouragement, that he who has the giving of it is the Son of man, our kinsman and brother; for, in consequence of that, we may hope that the sons of men, who seek it and labour for it, shall not fail to obtain it. For him hath God the Father sealed — By this very miracle, as well as by his whole testimony concerning him. Having given him authority, he has given us assurance of it; having intrusted him with unlimited powers, he hath satisfied us by undoubted proofs that he has done so. Sealing a writing is a mark of the authenticity of it. God the Father sealed his Son, or manifested that he had commissioned him to be the Teacher, Redeemer, Saviour, and Governor of his church, by causing his Holy Spirit to rest on him, by the voice from heaven uttered once and again, and by the testimony he bore to him in signs and wonders.

Ver. 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth. Christ does not speak here of natural labour, because it is fully understood that we must work with our hands; but he prohibits a profession of religion for secular interest. They who follow him, or hang upon his people for loaves and fishes, will surely meet with a rebuke from the Searcher of hearts. He came not to encourage idle and seditious people, though such characters may sometimes taste of his bounty.

We learn farther from this caution, that our Lord improved his own miracles for spiritual good. Ministers therefore have a full right to do the same. He raised the dead, and said, I am the resurrection and the life. He washed the disciples’ feet, and intimated at the same time, that unless he washed them with justifying and sanctifying grace, they could have no part with him. When he tasted the wine, he made a transition to the better wine he should next drink in his Father’s kingdom. Here then is full justification of those who choose to improve the works of Christ for the benefit of their hearers.

We learn that we must be as diligent in devotion, and in all religious duties to acquire the spiritual bread, as we are in labour to earn our temporal bread. The christian will find it generally true, that the more diligent he is in the means, the more prosperous he will be in his soul. Devotion prepares the soul for grace, and God is never wanting to crown it with a blessing. For that hollowed purpose the Saviour is sealed with all the dignity of office, and anointed with oil of gladness above his fellows. Psalms 45:8Psalm 45:8.

27. Labour not—Let this clause be thus punctuated: Labour—not for the meat which perisheth, but—for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. This makes our Lord (not to forbid labour for bodily food, but) command solely labour for eternal life. It limits his command to seeking the heavenly; it does not make him prohibit a due attention to the earthly. Endureth unto everlasting life—Like the water springing up into everlasting life, John 4:14. The Son of man—Our Lord centres his discourse on his own divine person. Sealed—By the stupenduous miracle by which they had been so fed and startled.

V. 28. The works of God-Works pleasing to God.

Verse 28. That we might work the works of God?] That is, Divine works, or such as God can approve.

Verses 28, 29. Then said they — Desiring to appear willing to receive his instructions, as well as his bounties; What shall we do that we may work the works of God? — Works pleasing to God, so as to secure his favour, and eternal life. Jesus answered, This is the work of God — The work most pleasing to God, and the foundation of all others; that ye believe on him whom he hath sent — That you acknowledge him for the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, (John 20:31; 1 John 4:14, 15;) that you credit and obey his doctrine; rely, for acceptance with God, on his mediation; apply to him for, and receive, his pardoning and renewing grace. See on John 3:16-19. Thus our Lord calls them to a work they never thought of; the owning him to be the true Messiah; the receiving him as such, and trusting in him for salvation, present and eternal, which was necessary, notwithstanding all their acts of obedience to the law, whether moral or ceremonial.

28. Work the works of God—The Greek word labour in verse 27 is the same as this word work and works, and should have been rendered uniformly. Christ tells them, verse 27, to work a divine work for eternal life; they here, in reply, ask how they shall work this godly work. In this inquiry they seem for one hopeful instant disposed to direct their view to the higher object. Jesus grasps at it in the next verse, and makes one effort to bring them to himself. This is the crisis of their destiny.

V. 29. This is the work of God-The work most pleasing to God, and the foundation of all others:

that ye believe-He expresses it first properly, afterward figuratively.

Verse 29. This is the work of God, that ye believe] There is nothing you can be employed in more acceptable to God than in yielding to the evidence set before you, and acknowledging me as your Messiah and the Saviour of a lost world.

Verses 28, 29. Then said they — Desiring to appear willing to receive his instructions, as well as his bounties; What shall we do that we may work the works of God? — Works pleasing to God, so as to secure his favour, and eternal life. Jesus answered, This is the work of God — The work most pleasing to God, and the foundation of all others; that ye believe on him whom he hath sent — That you acknowledge him for the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, (John 20:31; 1 John 4:14, 15;) that you credit and obey his doctrine; rely, for acceptance with God, on his mediation; apply to him for, and receive, his pardoning and renewing grace. See on John 3:16-19. Thus our Lord calls them to a work they never thought of; the owning him to be the true Messiah; the receiving him as such, and trusting in him for salvation, present and eternal, which was necessary, notwithstanding all their acts of obedience to the law, whether moral or ceremonial.

29. Believe on him—Faith in Christ is the great saving work. Faith is work. Faith and work are one. Faith is the work in which all works is embodied. Be there a true perfect faith, and all works of righteousness will come into it and be one with it. Upon such a faith God forgives; by such a faith a man is graciously held just; consequent upon such a faith is present and eternal salvation.

To these men it was an explanation, too condensed to be overlooked, and too clear to be misunderstood. Fresh from the great miracle under whose influence they were confessedly acting, he places the offer of divine life, through faith in himself as God’s own Son, before their acceptance so plainly, that they completely see it—and finally REJECT it.

V. 30. What sign dost thou?-Amazing, after what they had just seen!

Verse 30. What sign] ti shmeion, What miracle; so the word is evidently used, John 2:11, 23, and in many other places.

That we may see, and believe thee] That, having seen the miracle, we may believe thee to be the promised Messiah. They had already seen the miracle of the five loaves, and did not believe; and it was impossible for them to see any thing more descriptive of unlimited power and goodness. Even miracles themselves are lost on persons whose hearts are fixed on the perishing things of the world, and whose minds are filled with prejudice against the truth.

Verses 30, 31. They said, What sign showest thou — What miracle dost thou work; that we may see and believe thee? — Since thou requirest us to give thee credit, and to regard thee as invested with a higher character than has been claimed by any one before, produce thy credentials; give some evidence of a superior kind to what has been done by others. Thus these unreasonable men speak, though they had just before seen the astonishing miracle of the loaves and fishes, one of the most extraordinary displays of creating power that could well be conceived, and though several of them lived in the neighbourhood of Capernaum, where he had long multiplied his wonders! But the greatest miracles are lost on persons who are blinded by prejudice, and whose minds are earthly, sensual, and devilish! The views and opinions, however, of those that speak to Christ in this discourse, are so various, (compare verses 34, 41, 42,) and the evangelist so expressly declares that there was a debate between some and others of them, (verse 52,) that it would be wrong to imagine these to have been the perverse and ungrateful sentiments of the whole multitude, who had followed him with so much eagerness from place to place, for several days. Our fathers did eat manna — By extolling the miracle of the manna, and by calling it bread from heaven, and by insinuating that it was Moses’s miracle, the Jews endeavoured to disparage both Christ’s mission and his miracle of the loaves, which they affected to despise, as no miracle in comparison. It was only a single meal of terrestrial food, at which nine or ten thousand had been fed: whereas Moses with celestial food, fed the whole Jewish nation, in number upward of two millions, and that not for a day, but during the space of forty years in the wilderness.

Ver. 30. What sign shewest thou? The moment the Lord talked to this carnal group of spiritual food, they felt distaste and indulged in a spirit of revolt. They deteriorated the miracle by the allegation, that Moses had fed a whole nation, and for forty years; nay, worse; for, repeating the words of the scribes, they asked a sign, as in Matthew 12:38. They affected not to believe in him, ver. 42, because they knew his parentage, as in John 7:27.

30. What sign—Here they propose to negotiate. Can you, like Moses, furnish us a free maintenance for life from the skies? The bountiful rural repast he has already furnished induces them to think that he can. The reality of that sign they do not propose to question but to waive; and this proposal of a sign is simply an opening the way for a consent on his part, that the sign of Moses shall be accorded them, namely, manna for their future living. Let that come and he shall be their crowned Messiah. The perplexity of a Strauss, how these men should ask for a sign when they had just seen and tasted so great a sign as the miraculous bread, manifests a comprehension not much higher than theirs.

V. 31. Our fathers ate manna-This sign Moses gave them. He gave them bread from heaven-From the lower sublunary heaven; to which Jesus opposes the highest heaven: in which sense he says seven times, John 6:32, 33, 38, 50, 58, 62, that he himself came down from heaven.

Verse 31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert] Their argument seems to run thus: Thou hast, we grant, fed five thousand men with five loaves and two small fishes; but what is this in comparison of what Moses did in the desert, who for forty years fed more than a million of persons with bread from heaven: do something like this, and then we will believe in thee, as we have believed in Moses.

Verses 30, 31. They said, What sign showest thou — What miracle dost thou work; that we may see and believe thee? — Since thou requirest us to give thee credit, and to regard thee as invested with a higher character than has been claimed by any one before, produce thy credentials; give some evidence of a superior kind to what has been done by others. Thus these unreasonable men speak, though they had just before seen the astonishing miracle of the loaves and fishes, one of the most extraordinary displays of creating power that could well be conceived, and though several of them lived in the neighbourhood of Capernaum, where he had long multiplied his wonders! But the greatest miracles are lost on persons who are blinded by prejudice, and whose minds are earthly, sensual, and devilish! The views and opinions, however, of those that speak to Christ in this discourse, are so various, (compare verses 34, 41, 42,) and the evangelist so expressly declares that there was a debate between some and others of them, (verse 52,) that it would be wrong to imagine these to have been the perverse and ungrateful sentiments of the whole multitude, who had followed him with so much eagerness from place to place, for several days. Our fathers did eat manna — By extolling the miracle of the manna, and by calling it bread from heaven, and by insinuating that it was Moses’s miracle, the Jews endeavoured to disparage both Christ’s mission and his miracle of the loaves, which they affected to despise, as no miracle in comparison. It was only a single meal of terrestrial food, at which nine or ten thousand had been fed: whereas Moses with celestial food, fed the whole Jewish nation, in number upward of two millions, and that not for a day, but during the space of forty years in the wilderness.

31. Our fathers did eat manna—Just so. In the middle of the second month after their start from Egypt, the Israelites went forth one morning and found a small round thing upon the ground, and they cried, (Man-hu?) “What is this?” And they found that it was bread rained from the skies; and their question, Man-hu?—manna, became its name. Exodus 16:14, 15. And this bread was their food until their arrival under Joshua at Gilgal. “The manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten or the old corn of the land, neither had the Children of Israel manna any more.” Joshua 5:12. The only trace left on earth of its existence was, (Exodus 16:32,) an omer thereof, kept by Jehovah’s command, “for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt.” The different vegetable productions to which, from some apparent suiting to the Scripture description the name manna has been applied, have no other title to the name than resemblance. Written—Quoted nearly correctly from Psalms 78:24Psalm 78:24, 25: “God… rained down manna for them to eat. Man did eat angels’ food.” <19A540>Psalm 105:40: “He satisfied them with the bread of heaven.” If Jesus will give them this true Mosaic sign, they will pledge their full allegiance to him as king of the Jews.

V. 32. Moses gave you not bread from heaven-It was not Moses who gave the manna to your fathers; but my Father who now giveth the true bread from heaven. Psalms 78:24Psalm 78:24.

Verse 32. Moses gave you not that bread from heaven] Our Lord refutes the argument of the Jews, by proving: 1. That it was not Moses, but God, who gave the manna. 2. That this bread was not the true bread, but was merely a type of it. 3. That God had given them now a bread infinitely more excellent. 4. That himself is that heavenly nourishment of which he spake, and who was typified by the manna in the desert.

To show that himself was the true bread from heaven, he proves two things: 1. That his doctrine was the true nourishment of the soul, and that those who were to be put in possession of the blessings promised in it must come to God by faith. 2. That he would give his body for the life of the world: that as bread is the staff that supports the natural life of man, so the salvation procured by his death should be that by which the bodies and souls of believers should be preserved unto life eternal.

Verses 32, 33. Jesus said, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven — It was not Moses who in ancient times gave the manna to your fathers, neither was the manna bread from heaven, though it be so called by the psalmist, on account of the thing which it typified: for it dropped from the air only; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven — It was my Father that gave to your ancestors the manna, and he now giveth you the true spiritual, heavenly bread, of which the manna was only a symbolical representation, and which is sufficient to sustain, not a single nation only, but the whole world. For the bread of God — The bread only worthy of that name; is he — Or rather, is that which cometh down, as o katabainwn should here be rendered, being a participle, referring to o artov, the bread, which is of the masculine gender: for it appears, from what follows, that our Lord did not intend at once to lay aside the veil, wherein he had wrapped his meaning: for the request made to him in the very next verse, Give us always this bread, shows that he was not yet understood as speaking of a person, which he must have been if his expression had been as explicit as that of our translation. From heaven — Not from the aerial, but from the highest heavens; and giveth life unto the world — Not that which preserveth a mere temporal life to one people only, but imparteth spiritual and eternal life to as many of the whole world as will be persuaded to partake of it; and that from generation to generation.

Ver. 32. Moses gave you not that bread. Moses never thought of praying for bread to fall from heaven, till God told him what he would do. It was not given by any virtue in Moses: and after all it was only a figure of Christ, the true bread that nourishes the soul of man, even as bread nourishes the body. In order to get this bread, we must come to Christ, or believe in him, as in ver. 35. He is the bread which, like the manna in the desert, descended from above.

Ver. 33, The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven. The divine descent of the Messiah is the current language of the old and new testament. Psalms 85:10Psalm 85:10, 11. Proverbs 8:22-30. Isaiah 62:1. John 3:13.

32. Verily—These men have fallen below the level possible for Jesus, or for the full sweep of divine mercy to reach. He now simply states, in terms they can comprehend, that his is a gift greater than Moses conferred; a bread of which that manna was but a type, imparting a life infinitely higher than the bread of the wilderness could nourish. The true bread—The real bread of which the heaven-descended manna was an emblem.

V. 33. He that-giveth life to the world-Not (like the manna) to one people only: and that from generation to generation. Our Lord does not yet say, I am that bread; else the Jews would not have given him so respectful an answer, John 6:34.

Verses 32, 33. Jesus said, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven — It was not Moses who in ancient times gave the manna to your fathers, neither was the manna bread from heaven, though it be so called by the psalmist, on account of the thing which it typified: for it dropped from the air only; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven — It was my Father that gave to your ancestors the manna, and he now giveth you the true spiritual, heavenly bread, of which the manna was only a symbolical representation, and which is sufficient to sustain, not a single nation only, but the whole world. For the bread of God — The bread only worthy of that name; is he — Or rather, is that which cometh down, as o katabainwn should here be rendered, being a participle, referring to o artov, the bread, which is of the masculine gender: for it appears, from what follows, that our Lord did not intend at once to lay aside the veil, wherein he had wrapped his meaning: for the request made to him in the very next verse, Give us always this bread, shows that he was not yet understood as speaking of a person, which he must have been if his expression had been as explicit as that of our translation. From heaven — Not from the aerial, but from the highest heavens; and giveth life unto the world — Not that which preserveth a mere temporal life to one people only, but imparteth spiritual and eternal life to as many of the whole world as will be persuaded to partake of it; and that from generation to generation.

33. Is he—The modest third person for himself. He comes in the full power of the first person in his next response. Verse 35. And in these two verses the Lord uses restrained language; terms which could be applied to either the physical heaven-descended manna sustaining temporal life, or the true bread of eternal life.

V. 34. Give us this bread-Meaning it still, in a literal sense: yet they seem now to be not far from believing.

Verse 34. Lord, evermore give us this bread.] Either meaning, “Let the miracle of the manna be renewed, and continue among us for ever:” or, “Let that bread of which thou hast spoken, become our constant nourishment.” The Jews expected that, when the Messiah should come, he would give them all manner of delicacies, and, among the rest, manna, wine, and spicy oil. From the following extract, we may see where Mohammed got his Paradise. “Many affirm, says Rab. Mayemon, that the hope of Israel is this: That the Messiah shall come and raise the dead; and they shall be gathered together in the garden of Eden, and shall eat and drink and satiate themselves all the days of the world. There the houses shall be all builded with precious stones; the beds shall be made of silk; and the rivers shall flow with wine and spicy oil. He made manna to descend for them, in which was all manner of tastes; and every Israelite found in it what his palate was chiefly pleased with. If he desired fat in it, he had it. In it, the young man tasted bread, the old man honey, and the children oil. So shall it be in the world to come, (i.e. the days of the Messiah.) He shall give Israel peace, and they shall sit down in the garden of Eden, and all nations shall behold their condition; as it is said, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry, &c., Isaiah 65:13.” See Lightfoot.

Verses 34, 35. Then said they, Evermore give us this bread — On which it seems our life depends: let us always live upon this heavenly manna. Thus said some of the wiser and better part of them, though they did not yet fully understand his meaning. Jesus said unto them — Proceeding to give them a clear and full explication of the important truth he spoke of; I am the bread of life — Having life in myself, and giving life to all that believe in me: nor is bread so necessary to the support of your bodies, as a believing regard to me is to the life of your souls. He that cometh unto me shall never hunger — Shall not be destitute of spiritual nourishment; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst — Shall find the most restless desires of his soul satisfied, and being conscious of having already received the noblest refreshment and nourishment, shall grow up to a state of complete and everlasting satisfaction and enjoyment. To come to him, and believe on him, are equivalent expressions; or are corresponding terms, explaining each other. Thus our Lord assigned one of the many reasons why he called himself the bread of life. See verses 47-51. The conclusion from this part of his discourse was so evident, that he left his hearers to draw it for themselves. It was this, “Since matters are so, I am evidently greater than Moses, even in respect of that for which you extol him most. He gave your fathers manna, which was bodily food only, and nourished nothing but the natural life. But I am myself the bread of life and food of the soul, making men both immortal and happy.”

34. Lord—This title, like the Rabbi of verse 25, indicates a yet remaining reverence for the Feeder of the five thousand. Give us this bread—They are themselves in ambiguous suspense, arising from the Lord’s restrained language in the preceding verse. But whatever miraculous supply he has at command, they would like to receive, not transiently, like the late great repast, but permanently—evermore. In his next response the Lord relieves them from this ambiguity for ever.

In the remainder of this discourse (35-71) three groups of character clearly present themselves. In the foreground are the men who have thus far replied to him, the Jews of verse 41. With them is the present contest lace to face. In the background is a body of converts by his miracles, the disciples of verses 60 and 66. A large minority of these are shaken and carried off into the ranks of his opposers. Aside of both these, foreground and background, are the twelve, intense spectators of the scene, awhile tremulous but finally firm.

To the opposers, confronting him, Jesus declares that theirs is not the sort of character that the Father has given to him for salvation, 35-47; and (not so much for them as for his disciples, his twelve, and for us) he describes himself as the dying Saviour, who gives us life by his death, under the successive figures of bread and flesh. The bread is suggested by the miraculous feeding; the body and flesh by his bodily walking the sea.

V. 35. I am the bread of life-Having and giving life: he that cometh-he that believeth-Equivalent expressions: shall never hunger, thirst-Shall be satisfied, happy, for ever.

Verse 35. I am the bread of life] That is, the bread which gives life, and preserves from death.

He that cometh to me] The person who receives my doctrine, and believes in me as the great atoning sacrifice, shall be perfectly satisfied, and never more feel misery of mind. All the guilt of his sins shall be blotted out, and his soul shall be purified unto God; and, being enabled to love him with all his heart, he shall rest, fully, supremely, and finally happy, in his God.

Verses 34, 35. Then said they, Evermore give us this bread — On which it seems our life depends: let us always live upon this heavenly manna. Thus said some of the wiser and better part of them, though they did not yet fully understand his meaning. Jesus said unto them — Proceeding to give them a clear and full explication of the important truth he spoke of; I am the bread of life — Having life in myself, and giving life to all that believe in me: nor is bread so necessary to the support of your bodies, as a believing regard to me is to the life of your souls. He that cometh unto me shall never hunger — Shall not be destitute of spiritual nourishment; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst — Shall find the most restless desires of his soul satisfied, and being conscious of having already received the noblest refreshment and nourishment, shall grow up to a state of complete and everlasting satisfaction and enjoyment. To come to him, and believe on him, are equivalent expressions; or are corresponding terms, explaining each other. Thus our Lord assigned one of the many reasons why he called himself the bread of life. See verses 47-51. The conclusion from this part of his discourse was so evident, that he left his hearers to draw it for themselves. It was this, “Since matters are so, I am evidently greater than Moses, even in respect of that for which you extol him most. He gave your fathers manna, which was bodily food only, and nourished nothing but the natural life. But I am myself the bread of life and food of the soul, making men both immortal and happy.”

35. I am the bread of life—The he of verse 33 now rises into the sublime I. The restrained language of that verse is now unbound. A style is adopted which they at once see passes beyond their scope. And yet, before giving it the fullest expansion, our Lord pauses to tell them that its grand range of promise and glory is not for such as they.

V. 36. I have told you-Namely, John 6:26.

Verses 36, 37. But I said, &c. — But valuable as these blessings of my grace are, you are little disposed to pursue and accept them. For ye also have seen me, and believe not — You have seen a manifestation of my true character, in my life and conversation, and have been eye-witnesses of the ample proofs which I had given of my divine mission, in the miracles which I have already performed; signs certainly sufficient to convince you that I am the Messiah: nevertheless, you do not believe that I am he, but reject me as an impostor. Therefore, your infidelity proceeds not from want of evidence, as you pretend, (verse 30,) but from the perverseness of your own disposition. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me — Nevertheless, though you reject me, yet I shall not be universally rejected, nor shall the purposes of my mission be entirely frustrated; for all that hearken to the teaching of my Father, and in consequence thereof see themselves to be in a lost estate, guilty, depraved, weak, and wretched, and therefore follow the drawings of his grace, (see verses 44, 45, where our Lord’s meaning is explained,) will come to me — By faith: such as these the Father in a peculiar manner giveth to the Son. And him that cometh to me — Being thus convinced of sin, humbled, and penitent; I will in no wise cast out — I will give him pardon, holiness, and happiness, and even heaven, if he continue in the faith, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Thus our Lord encouraged his disciples, who had already believed on him; and at the same time invited those who were disposed to believe, from the consideration that he would not reject them, however low their circumstances might be, however vile they might appear in their own eyes, or however much they might have formerly injured him, by speaking evil of him and opposing him. “The expression, ou mh ekbalw exw, is extremely beautiful and emphatical. It represents an humble supplicant, as coming into the house of some prince, or other great person, to cast himself at his feet, and to commit himself to his protection and care. He might fear his petition would be rejected, and he be thrust out of doors: but our Lord assures him to the contrary. His house and heart are large enough to receive, shelter, and supply all the indigent and distressed.” — Doddridge.

36. I said—When this was said in express terms is not recorded. But the full import of the expression is found in verse 26. They had seen his miracles, but believed not on him as being what in truth he is. To refer to John 5:37-44 as Alford does, is strangely ignoring that those words were uttered at Jerusalem, perhaps a year ago. Believe not—They were fixedly sordid in their views; seeking a feeder for their stomachs, not a Saviour for their souls.

V. 37. All that the Father giveth me-All that feel themselves lost, and follow the drawings of the Father, he in a peculiar manner giveth to the Son:

will come to me-By faith. And him that thus cometh to me, I will in nowise cast out-I will give him pardon, holiness, and heaven, if he endure to the end-to rejoice in his light.

Verse 37. All that the Father giveth me] The neuter gender, pan, is probably used here for the masculine, pav.

Shall come to me] All that are drawn by the Father, John 6:44, i.e. all those who are influenced by his Spirit, and yield to those influences: for as many as are LED (not driven or dragged) by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God, Romans 8:14. God sent his prophets to proclaim his salvation to this people; and he accompanied their preaching with the influence of his Spirit. Those who yielded were saved: those who did not yield to these drawings were lost. This Spirit still continued to work and to allure; but the people being uncircumcised both in heart and ears, they always resisted the Holy Ghost; as their fathers did, so did they; Acts 7:51. And though Christ would have gathered them together, as a hen would her chickens under her wings, yet they would not. See Clarke’s note on “Matthew 23:37”. Those who come at the call of God, he is represented here as giving to Christ, because it is through his blood alone that they can be saved. God, by his Spirit, convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment; those who acknowledge their iniquity, and their need of salvation, he gives to Christ, i.e. points out unto them the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Our Lord may here also refer to the calling of the Gentiles; for these, according to the ancient promise, Psalms 2:8Psalm 2:8, were given to Christ: and they, on the preaching of the Gospel, gladly came unto him. See ample proofs of this in the Acts of the Apostles.

I will in no wise cast out.] The words are exceedingly emphatical-ou mh ekbalw exw, I will by no means thrust out of doors; excellently rendered by Matthew of Erberg in his Italian Bible-Io non cacciaro fuori, I will not chase him out of the house. Our blessed Lord alludes to the case of a person in deep distress and poverty, who comes to a nobleman’s house, in order to get relief: the person appears; and the owner, far from treating the poor man with asperity, welcomes, receives him kindly, and supplies his wants. So does Jesus. Newer did he reject the suit of a penitent, however grievous his crimes might have been. He is come to the house of mercy; he is lying at the threshold: the servants bid him come in-he obeys, and stands trembling, waiting for the appearing of the Master, doubtful whether he is to be received or rejected: the Master appears, and not only grants his suit, but receives him into the number of his family: he alleges his unfitness, his unworthiness, his guilt, his crimes, his ingratitude: no matter, all shall be blotted out through the blood of the Lamb, and he be put among the children, and on none of these accounts shall he be put out of the house. The Gentiles shall be as welcome as the Jews; and the invitation to them be as free, as full, and as hearty: they shall become his adopted children, and never be cast out, as the Jews have been. O thou God of love! how able and WILLING art thou to save the vilest of the vile, who come unto thee! Thou art not the God of the Jews only, thou art also the God of the Gentiles. Rejoice, therefore, ye Gentiles, with his people.

Verses 36, 37. But I said, &c. — But valuable as these blessings of my grace are, you are little disposed to pursue and accept them. For ye also have seen me, and believe not — You have seen a manifestation of my true character, in my life and conversation, and have been eye-witnesses of the ample proofs which I had given of my divine mission, in the miracles which I have already performed; signs certainly sufficient to convince you that I am the Messiah: nevertheless, you do not believe that I am he, but reject me as an impostor. Therefore, your infidelity proceeds not from want of evidence, as you pretend, (verse 30,) but from the perverseness of your own disposition. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me — Nevertheless, though you reject me, yet I shall not be universally rejected, nor shall the purposes of my mission be entirely frustrated; for all that hearken to the teaching of my Father, and in consequence thereof see themselves to be in a lost estate, guilty, depraved, weak, and wretched, and therefore follow the drawings of his grace, (see verses 44, 45, where our Lord’s meaning is explained,) will come to me — By faith: such as these the Father in a peculiar manner giveth to the Son. And him that cometh to me — Being thus convinced of sin, humbled, and penitent; I will in no wise cast out — I will give him pardon, holiness, and happiness, and even heaven, if he continue in the faith, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Thus our Lord encouraged his disciples, who had already believed on him; and at the same time invited those who were disposed to believe, from the consideration that he would not reject them, however low their circumstances might be, however vile they might appear in their own eyes, or however much they might have formerly injured him, by speaking evil of him and opposing him. “The expression, ou mh ekbalw exw, is extremely beautiful and emphatical. It represents an humble supplicant, as coming into the house of some prince, or other great person, to cast himself at his feet, and to commit himself to his protection and care. He might fear his petition would be rejected, and he be thrust out of doors: but our Lord assures him to the contrary. His house and heart are large enough to receive, shelter, and supply all the indigent and distressed.” — Doddridge.

Ver. 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Pan, all, is of the neuter gender, denoting nations, languages, gentiles. Such is the import of Revelation 21:27. Pan koinoun, all that is common or unclean, as in Acts 10:14. Nothing shall enter the holy city that defileth; which excludes all the gentiles, finally impenitent, from the kingdom of God. Let us hear the paraphrase of Erasmus, whom we all regard as the father of biblical literature.

“And though you (jews) do now lothe this living bread through unbelief; nevertheless my Father hath not sent me into the world without a laudable mission. There shall yet be a people to whom this bread shall bring eternal life, although the Son be rejected by the whole nation of the jews; and though by so doing they are wicked towards God in despising the Son, whom the Father hath sent to save the whole world; for my Father is the God, not of the jews alone, but also of the gentiles. I have indeed nothing myself, but what the Father giveth me: and what kind [or nation] of people soever it may be, the same shall come to me by faith, although it hath nothing whatever to do with the law of Moses. And whosoever shall come to me, (and would to God that it might be all nations) him will I not reject. For my Father’s will is, that all men might be saved. Romans 10:1. 1 Timothy 2:4. And as his will and mine are one, for this very purpose I descended from heaven, not to do my own will, as though it were at issue with the will of my Father; but to do the Father’s will who sent me, and from whose pleasure I cannot recede.”

One remark is obvious here, that Erasmus literally adheres to the neuter form of our Saviour, “That which the Father hath given me.” St. Paul does the same in using the word creature for the gentile world. Romans 8:19. Colossians 1:27. The same word is also used in Mark 16:15. This learned man in the above paraphrase, I can say with confidence, speaks like the fathers of the primitive church. — I will also give a faithful translation of John CALVIN’S comment on these words.

“In order that the incredulity of the jews might not derogate from his doctrine, Jesus says that the cause of their obstinacy was, because they were reprobates, and did not belong to the flock of God. His intention was, in thus distinguishing between the elect and the reprobate, that the rejection of his doctrine by a great part of the world might not diminish its authority. For on the one hand, the wicked traduce the word of God, and make it of no account, because they doubt whether what a great part of the world reject, really be the word of God. Now, Christ rebuts the slander, when he says that those who do not believe are not his sheep, if they do not taste the truth of God, and which is no surprise; but as many as do receive his word are the children of God. He adds, “All that the Father giveth him should come to him;” by which he would say, that faith does not depend on the will of men, as though it were a chance whether this or that man would believe; but that God had elected those whom he had given into the hands of his Son; for when he says, that all those who are given to him shall come; we gather from his words, that all are not given.”

We may ask with deference, how can any man know the certainty of those terrific doctrines, here unhesitatingly declared as facts. St. Paul says, Oh the depth! And if those absolute decrees are true, how could the Saviour affirm to those very jews, “But these things I say, that ye might be saved?” Chap. 5:34. How could he weep and pray at the tomb of Lazarus, that they might believe? What can we do but weep with the Saviour over a gloomy theology, which freezes the lips of ministers, torporizes the church, and has driven Swisserland to arianism and infidelity. The comment of Erasmus has with me a strong preference to that of Calvin.

37. All—It is remarkable that this word is in the Greek neuter. It expresses not so much a person as a nature, a thing, a character: The whole sort that the Father giveth me. These gross men did not belong to those given, because, entertaining nothing but hopes of mercenary gain from Christ and his miracles, they truly believed not, as in the last verse is said. See note on verse 26. So in verse 45 it is more fully explained; it is only every one that hath learned of the Father that cometh unto me.

The Father, finding the willing soul, teaches by his law; attracts, convinces, and convicts by his Spirit; but when the soul has perfectly obeyed all their influences with a living faith, the Father does not himself save, but He draws and hands him over to Christ. Thither coming, and embracing Christ with a full faith, the man is not cast out but accepted and redeemed. But the Father giveth none to Christ who reject his teachings and drawings; none who do not freely consent to be given and go to his Son. Such is the great scheme of salvation.

Shall come unto me—Will come unto me. It is the simple future; the shall expresses no authority or securement of the coming. Every one who freely yields to the teachings and drawings of the Father, is, by the Father, given, and comes to Christ. Such a person coming to Christ will be accepted. For the Father gives none but such as will freely come. The giving by the Father is consequent upon the obedient learning; not the learning upon the giving. See notes on verses 44, 45, and 65.

Verse 38. Not to do mine own will] I am come, not to act according to human motives, passions, or prejudices; but according to infinite wisdom, goodness, and mercy. Jewish passions and prejudices would reject publicans and sinners as those alluded to, and shut the gate of heaven against the Gentiles; but God’s mercy receives them, and I am come to manifest that mercy to men.

Verses 38-40. For I came down from heaven — Into this lower world; not to do mine own will — Or to seek any separate interest of my own; but the will of him that sent me — Who is loving to every man, and willeth not the death of a sinner. And this is the Father’s will — This he revealeth to be his will; that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing — It is the will of my Father that every thing necessary be done, both for the conversion of sinners and for the preservation of those in the paths of righteousness who are already converted. He even willeth all men to be saved, yea, eternally saved; and in order thereto, to come to the knowledge of the truth, and to persevere therein. But he willeth these things conditionally, and not absolutely: men through his grace must repent, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance: they must believe in Christ, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, with a faith that worketh by love: they must resist the devil, steadfast in the faith; overcome the world, and crucify the flesh: they must endure unto the end, believing, loving, and obeying; must be faithful unto death, and then they shall receive the crown of life. And this is likewise the will of him that sent me — This also he wills conditionally; that every one which seeth the Son — Seeth the character and mission of the Son in the miracles which he works, and in the other evidences wherewith his mission is attended: as in verse 36; or who recognises the Son, views him with an attentive mind; as qewraw seems evidently to imply; that sees him so as to know him; and in consequence of that knowledge, cordially believeth on him — Receiving him by faith, and trusting in him as an all-sufficient Saviour; may have everlasting life — It is the fixed determination of the Father, to bestow everlasting life on all who persevere in this faith; and therefore, in execution of my Father’s will; I will raise all such up at the last day — I will make them completely happy, both in soul and body, in the enjoyment of a glorious immortality: nor are there any purposes or decrees of God inconsistent with this. Thus did Jesus place the character of the Messiah in a light very different from that in which his hearers had been accustomed to view it; and taught them, that instead of temporal blessings, which they expected from him, they were to receive none but such as were spiritual.

38. Not to do mine own will—Not to separate myself by personal self-will from the Father, but perfectly to cooperate and carry out his scheme of redeeming mercy.

V. 39. Of all which he hath already given me-See John 17:6, 12. If they endure to the end. But Judas did not.

Verse 39. I should lose nothing] It is the will of God that every soul who believes should continue in the faith, and have a resurrection unto life eternal. But he wills this continuance in salvation, without purposing to force the persons so to continue. God may will a thing to be, without willing that it shall be. Judas was given to Christ by the Father, John 17:12. The Father willed that this Judas should continue in the faith, and have a resurrection unto life eternal: but Judas sinned and perished. Now it is evident that God willed that Judas might be saved, without willing that he must be saved infallibly and unconditionally. When a man is a worker together with the grace of God, he is saved; when he receives that grace of God in vain, he is lost-not through a lack of will or mercy in God, but through lack of his co-operation with Divine grace. God saves no man as a stock or a stone, but as a reasonable being and free agent. “That which thou hast heard, thou mayest hold fast, and persevere in, if thou wilt,” Says St. Augustin. In eo quod audieras, et tenueras, perseverares, si velles. Deuteronomy Correct. & Grat. c. 7. See Calmet.

Raise it up again at the last day] The Jews believed that the wicked should have no resurrection; and that the principle that led to the resurrection of the body, in the righteous, was the indwelling Spirit of God. This is positively asserted in the Shir Hashirim Rabba. See Schoettgen.

Verses 38-40. For I came down from heaven — Into this lower world; not to do mine own will — Or to seek any separate interest of my own; but the will of him that sent me — Who is loving to every man, and willeth not the death of a sinner. And this is the Father’s will — This he revealeth to be his will; that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing — It is the will of my Father that every thing necessary be done, both for the conversion of sinners and for the preservation of those in the paths of righteousness who are already converted. He even willeth all men to be saved, yea, eternally saved; and in order thereto, to come to the knowledge of the truth, and to persevere therein. But he willeth these things conditionally, and not absolutely: men through his grace must repent, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance: they must believe in Christ, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, with a faith that worketh by love: they must resist the devil, steadfast in the faith; overcome the world, and crucify the flesh: they must endure unto the end, believing, loving, and obeying; must be faithful unto death, and then they shall receive the crown of life. And this is likewise the will of him that sent me — This also he wills conditionally; that every one which seeth the Son — Seeth the character and mission of the Son in the miracles which he works, and in the other evidences wherewith his mission is attended: as in verse 36; or who recognises the Son, views him with an attentive mind; as qewraw seems evidently to imply; that sees him so as to know him; and in consequence of that knowledge, cordially believeth on him — Receiving him by faith, and trusting in him as an all-sufficient Saviour; may have everlasting life — It is the fixed determination of the Father, to bestow everlasting life on all who persevere in this faith; and therefore, in execution of my Father’s will; I will raise all such up at the last day — I will make them completely happy, both in soul and body, in the enjoyment of a glorious immortality: nor are there any purposes or decrees of God inconsistent with this. Thus did Jesus place the character of the Messiah in a light very different from that in which his hearers had been accustomed to view it; and taught them, that instead of temporal blessings, which they expected from him, they were to receive none but such as were spiritual.

Ver. 39. I should lose nothing. Christ speaks here not of apostasy, but of the resurrection.

39. Of all which he hath given me—Namely, all who fully obey the Father’s drawings and come to Christ. I should lose nothing—There will be no erratic self-will in Christ, darting off from the divine plan; no remissness, no oversight, no failure. All who perseveringly believe in him, he will as faithfully and powerfully save as the will of the Father can require. Raise it up—From the dead. At the last day—The day that closes the series of human history and inaugurates the final judgment.

V. 40. Here is the sum of the three foregoing verses. This is the will of him that sent me-This is the whole of what I have said: this is the eternal, unchangeable will of God. Every one who truly believeth, shall have everlasting life.

Every one that seeth and believeth-The Jews saw, and yet believed not. And I will raise him up-As this is the will of him that sent me, I will perform it effectually.

Verse 40. This is the will of him that sent me] Lest they should take a wrong meaning out of his words, as many have done since, he tells them that, far from any person being excluded from his mercy, it was the will of God that every one who saw him might believe and be saved. The power, without which they could not believe, he freely gave them; but the use of that power was their own. God gives the grace of repentance and faith to every man; but he neither repents nor believes for any man. Each must repent for his own sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus, through the grace given, or perish.

Verses 38-40. For I came down from heaven — Into this lower world; not to do mine own will — Or to seek any separate interest of my own; but the will of him that sent me — Who is loving to every man, and willeth not the death of a sinner. And this is the Father’s will — This he revealeth to be his will; that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing — It is the will of my Father that every thing necessary be done, both for the conversion of sinners and for the preservation of those in the paths of righteousness who are already converted. He even willeth all men to be saved, yea, eternally saved; and in order thereto, to come to the knowledge of the truth, and to persevere therein. But he willeth these things conditionally, and not absolutely: men through his grace must repent, and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance: they must believe in Christ, and in the truths and promises of his gospel, with a faith that worketh by love: they must resist the devil, steadfast in the faith; overcome the world, and crucify the flesh: they must endure unto the end, believing, loving, and obeying; must be faithful unto death, and then they shall receive the crown of life. And this is likewise the will of him that sent me — This also he wills conditionally; that every one which seeth the Son — Seeth the character and mission of the Son in the miracles which he works, and in the other evidences wherewith his mission is attended: as in verse 36; or who recognises the Son, views him with an attentive mind; as qewraw seems evidently to imply; that sees him so as to know him; and in consequence of that knowledge, cordially believeth on him — Receiving him by faith, and trusting in him as an all-sufficient Saviour; may have everlasting life — It is the fixed determination of the Father, to bestow everlasting life on all who persevere in this faith; and therefore, in execution of my Father’s will; I will raise all such up at the last day — I will make them completely happy, both in soul and body, in the enjoyment of a glorious immortality: nor are there any purposes or decrees of God inconsistent with this. Thus did Jesus place the character of the Messiah in a light very different from that in which his hearers had been accustomed to view it; and taught them, that instead of temporal blessings, which they expected from him, they were to receive none but such as were spiritual.

40. Believeth on him—So long as he performs the condition, so long is he heir of the salvation. When he ceases to be a believer he loses all claim to the divine promise, and all interest in eternal life. That he has once believed no longer secures him heaven, any more than the fact that he has once disbelieved secures eternal death.

Verse 41. The Jews then murmured] Because the whole of his discourse event to prove that he was infinitely greater than Moses; and that he alone could give present peace and eternal glory to men.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

Ver. 41-43. The jews, meaning the pharisees and teachers, said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Christ had delicately asserted his divine descent, to draw them to believe, after having seen his miracles. But alas, like other unitarians, they knew him only after the flesh, of humble parentage, and utterly overlooked by the Asmonean family. “Jesus gave them a new proof of his divinity, by revealing the thoughts of their hearts. There is no cause why you should murmur at me; your own infidelity is the cause why my words have no place in your minds. You see, and see not; you hear, and hear not; and even while present, you are absent. Of a truth, whosoever comes to me shall obtain eternal life, but he must come by faith, which is by the inspiration of God. By breathing into their souls, he draws them to his Son. — He that believeth in me receives an excellent endowment. Meanwhile, those who do not believe, cannot excuse themselves by saying, that they were not drawn. For the Father, so much as lieth in him, is desirous to draw all men. He who is not drawn, is wholly himself in the fault, because he withdraws his heart from him who otherwise would draw him.” — ERASMUS.

41. The Jews—Used in an adverse sense, as opposers of Christ. Murmured—The character and destiny he has assigned them (36-40) now elicit their hostility. Down from heaven—The popular view of the coming of the Son of man from heaven, was doubtless modeled on the scene described in Daniel 7.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

Ver. 41-43. The jews, meaning the pharisees and teachers, said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Christ had delicately asserted his divine descent, to draw them to believe, after having seen his miracles. But alas, like other unitarians, they knew him only after the flesh, of humble parentage, and utterly overlooked by the Asmonean family. “Jesus gave them a new proof of his divinity, by revealing the thoughts of their hearts. There is no cause why you should murmur at me; your own infidelity is the cause why my words have no place in your minds. You see, and see not; you hear, and hear not; and even while present, you are absent. Of a truth, whosoever comes to me shall obtain eternal life, but he must come by faith, which is by the inspiration of God. By breathing into their souls, he draws them to his Son. — He that believeth in me receives an excellent endowment. Meanwhile, those who do not believe, cannot excuse themselves by saying, that they were not drawn. For the Father, so much as lieth in him, is desirous to draw all men. He who is not drawn, is wholly himself in the fault, because he withdraws his heart from him who otherwise would draw him.” — ERASMUS.

42. Whose father and mother we know—These Jews therefore were familiar with Nazareth. Their terms are not now, as before, Rabbi and Lord. They have discarded from their memory the miraculous feeding, and so, doubtless, they carefully forget the Davidic descent of his parents, and all reference to his miraculous birth. They scout the idea of his having come down from heaven.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

Ver. 41-43. The jews, meaning the pharisees and teachers, said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? Christ had delicately asserted his divine descent, to draw them to believe, after having seen his miracles. But alas, like other unitarians, they knew him only after the flesh, of humble parentage, and utterly overlooked by the Asmonean family. “Jesus gave them a new proof of his divinity, by revealing the thoughts of their hearts. There is no cause why you should murmur at me; your own infidelity is the cause why my words have no place in your minds. You see, and see not; you hear, and hear not; and even while present, you are absent. Of a truth, whosoever comes to me shall obtain eternal life, but he must come by faith, which is by the inspiration of God. By breathing into their souls, he draws them to his Son. — He that believeth in me receives an excellent endowment. Meanwhile, those who do not believe, cannot excuse themselves by saying, that they were not drawn. For the Father, so much as lieth in him, is desirous to draw all men. He who is not drawn, is wholly himself in the fault, because he withdraws his heart from him who otherwise would draw him.” — ERASMUS.

43. Murmur not—There is the stern authority of a future judge in this supreme silencing of the mutter of these unhappy men. He hushes them as reprobates condemned already.

V. 44. Christ having checked their murmuring, continues what he was saying, John 6:40.

No man comes to me, unless my Father draw him-No man can believe in Christ, unless God give him power: he draws us first, by good desires. Not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible, motions of his heavenly grace.

Verse 44. Except the Father-draw him] But how is a man drawn? St. Augustin answers from the poet, Trahit sua quemque voluptas; a man is attracted by that which he delights in. Show green herbage to a sheep, he is drawn by it: show nuts to a child, and he is drawn by them. They run wherever the person runs who shows these things: they run after him, but they are not forced to follow; they run, through the desire they feel to get the things they delight in. So God draws man: he shows him his wants-he shows the Saviour whom he has provided for him: the man feels himself a lost sinner; and, through the desire which he finds to escape hell, and get to heaven, he comes unto Christ, that he may be justified by his blood. Unless God thus draw, no man will ever come to Christ; because none could, without this drawing, ever feel the need of a Saviour. See August. Tract. 26, in Joan. and Calmet.

Drawing, or alluring, not dragging is here to be understood. “He,” say the rabbins, “who desires to cleave to the holy and blessed God, God lays hold of him, and will not cast him off.” Synops. Sohar. p. 87. The best Greek writers use the verb in the same sense of alluring, inciting, &c.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

Ver. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father — draw him. He draws us, as “with the cords of a man,” by argument, by love, and with all the sweet attractions of grace. It is in vain here for the slothful to say he wants grace, while “he draws iniquity with the cords of vanity, and sin as with a cart-rope.” The man who despises divine ordinances, and pleads the want of grace as an excuse for continuing in sin, offers the foulest of insults to the Most High.

44. No man can come to me—Men are by nature so depraved and lost that they have no power to attain salvation, but for a gracious ability bestowed. (John 1:4, 5.) That ability consists in a great degree of those special drawings purchased for them by the atonement. Except the Father… draw him—That is, attract him; shed drawing influences upon him, and inwardly empower him to a full obedience; but not obliging or securing that obedience. Nor will that drawing avail unless the man freely use his natural and grace-given power to obey.

V. 45. Every man that hath heard-The secret voice of God, he, and he only believeth. Isaiah 54:13.

Verse 45. It is written in the prophets] Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:34.

They shall be all taught of God.] This explains the preceding verse. God teaches a man to know himself, that, finding his need of salvation, he may flee to lay hold on the hope which his heavenly Father has set before him in the Gospel. God draws men by his love, and by showing them what his love has done for them. Fear repels, but love attracts. He who is ever preaching the terrors of the law, and representing God as a vindictive judge, will never bring sinners to him. They are afraid of this terrible God: but they love him, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

Ver. 45. It is written in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Isaiah 2:2-5. 54:13. Jeremiah 30:34. Micah 4:1-4. This teaching is,

(1) By the word; for Christ opened to his disciples the scriptures.

(2) It is by reading and meditation, and by sincere purposes of obedience; for so are the promises. The meek he will guide in judgment: the meek he will teach his way. And Christ says, speaking of the Father, If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.

(3) It is by the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit, who will irradiate the mind and guide it into all the truth, and into the peace and consolation of God. The soul divinely taught in the regenerating influences of the Holy Spirit, will then understand the scriptures, which the natural man cannot do.

45. The prophets—That section of the Old Testament popularly styled the prophets. The quotation is probably from Isaiah 54:13: All thy children shall be taught of Jehovah. This teaching is part of the great system of the Father’s drawing to Christ. Hath heard—Hath willingly listened. Hath learned—Hath applied his powers to know. Such a man has complied with the Father’s drawings. Cometh unto me—He is assigned by the Father to the Son for salvation. He exercises repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To this class belonged not these Jews.

V. 46. Not that any one-Must expect him to appear in a visible shape. He who is from or with God-In a more eminent manner than any creature.

Verse 46. Not that any man hath seen the Father] He does not teach men by appearing personally before them, or by any other outward voice than that of his word and messengers; but he teaches by his Spirit. This teaching from God implies: 1. That they shall have proper instruction. 2. That they shall comprehend it; for, when God teaches, there is no delay in learning. And, 3. That this teaching should be by the influence of the Holy Ghost upon their minds.

He which is of God] That is, Christ alone: neither Moses nor any of the prophets had ever seen God: Jesus, who lay in the bosom of the Father, HE saw and revealed him, John 1:18.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

46. Not… seen the Father—From the phrase hath heard the Father, his opponents might represent him as teaching the visibility, of God to men. He, therefore, guards his language by limiting the true vision, or seeing of God, to himself. He which is of God—Rather from God, referring to himself.

Reception of the body and blood of Christ, 47,59.

This paragraph is celebrated in what is called the Sacramentarian controversy. It will be made clear, perhaps, by viewing it in three parts:

Verse 47. Hath everlasting life.] He is entitled to this, on his believing me to be the Messiah, and trusting in me alone for salvation. Our blessed Lord recapitulates here what he had said in the preceding discourse. The person who is saved is, 1. drawn by the Father; 2. hears his instructions; 3. accepts the salvation offered; 4. is given to Christ Jesus, that he may be justified by faith; 5. is nourished by the bread of life; 6. perseveres in the faith; 7. is not lost, but is raised up at the last day; and 8. is made a partaker of eternal life.

Verses 41-47. The Jews then murmured at him — The dispositions of the greatest part of the Jews being carnal, the doctrine of our Lord respecting the spiritual nature of the blessings which his followers were to receive, and especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, and that he came down from heaven, greatly offended them. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, &c. — Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earth- born? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? Jesus answered, Murmur not among yourselves — On account of my words, for it is not want of truth in them, but want of affection to my doctrine, and your not considering the testimony God hath given to it, that makes you thus to murmur at and reject what I say. Set yourselves, therefore, to reflect seriously on your present state, and on your true interest. I know indeed that your prejudices against me are strong, and, without the influences of divine grace, will prove invincible and fatal: for, such is the moral blindness and degeneracy of human nature, that no man can come to me — Namely, by a saving faith; except the Father which hath sent me draw him — By the influence of his Holy Spirit on the heart, saving faith being of the operation of God, and the gift of God, Colossians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8. In other words, no man can believe in Christ to the saving of his soul, unless God give him power: God draws us first by good desires, not by compulsion, not by laying the will under any necessity; but by the strong and sweet, yet still resistible motions of his heavenly grace. That the expression, applied to reasonable agents, does not import any force or constraint, is plain from Jeremiah 31:3, where God says to Israel, With loving kindness have I drawn thee; that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the revelation of my will committed to thee, and have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John 12:32; If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will, by my word and Spirit, persuade many to follow me to heaven. Thus also, Hosea 11:4, God says, he drew Israel with the cords of a man, with bands of love. Wherefore, by the Father’s drawing men to Christ we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported his mission, by the doctrine of his gospel, and by those influences of his grace, which are necessary to give men a right discernment of the evidences of religion, and of the certainty and importance of the great truths of it, and to impress these things deeply on their minds. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father’s drawing hath upon men, is described by their hearing and learning of him. It is written in the prophets, (see the margin,) they shall be all taught of God — Namely, not merely by his word, but also and especially by his Spirit, termed therefore, (Ephesians 1:17,) the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. “Before the coming of Christ the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets, and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he empowered him to dispense.” Every man therefore, &c. — Every one that hath heard and understood what the Father hath said concerning the Messiah, whether by the prophets or by John the Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine and miracles, and has also been enlightened, and drawn by the influences of the Holy Spirit; cometh unto me — Will believe on me, and cordially receive me under the character I profess. Not that any man hath seen the Father — Not that I mean, when I speak of men’s hearing and learning of God, that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master; save he who is of God — No man hath seen the Father personally, except the Son, who is come to men as the great ambassador from God; he, indeed, being statedly resident with him, and inseparably united to him, has seen the Father, and enjoyed that intimacy with him which no creature can pretend to have known.

I. 47-50. Here Jesus gives the key to the whole paragraph, by explicitly showing that what the manna was to the fathers who received it by eating, that Himself is to the souls of all who receive him by faith. The manna was temporal life to Israel; He is eternal life to all believers. The spiritual faith is parallel to the physical eating. Those unperverted and unperverting hearers, therefore, disposed to accept him by faith, would be ready to accept this true interpretation through all that follows. Perverts would simply pervert his meaning, and still more pervert themselves. II. 51-52. Jesus takes a step further, and identifies the bread with his flesh. At this point the perverts revolt, and a contest arises between them and the spiritual hearers. But as the bread was spiritual and the eating was by the act of faith, so must the flesh and its eating be spiritual and by faith.

III. 53-59. Jesus to the bread and the flesh now adds the BLOOD. This completely sloughs off the perverts; and by opening a topic which could be understood only by future developments, he tries the faith of his disciples, and even of his twelve apostles. So far as the figures of bread and flesh extended, the meaning might be filled by his incarnation and living mission. But the figure of blood could only be explained by his propitiatory death; and then from his propitiatory death a new meaning is reflected back upon the bread and the flesh.

47. He that believeth… hath everlasting life—This verse, in its literal sense. embraces all that is figuratively embodied to verse 58.

Verse 48. I am that bread of life.] I alone afford, by my doctrine and Spirit, that nourishment by which the soul is saved unto life eternal.

Verses 48-50. I am the bread of life — Jesus, having explained the nature of the dignity which he had claimed in the foregoing part of his discourse, (verses 33-40,) and demonstrated that it really belonged to him, here repeats what he had said verse 35, and then runs a comparison between himself, considered as the bread from heaven, and the manna which Moses provided for their fathers in the desert, and which they admired so greatly, saying, Your fathers did eat manna, and are dead — The manna did not preserve them, either from spiritual, or temporal, or eternal death. This is the bread — That of which I now speak is the true bread; which cometh down from heaven — And is of such a nature, that a man may eat of it and not die — Not spiritually, not eternally. His soul, being quickened and made alive to God by partaking of it, shall, by continuing to feed on it, be preserved in spiritual life, and nourished to life eternal; and the death of his body will be only a short sleep, which will soon terminate in a resurrection to immortal glory.

I. 47-50. Here Jesus gives the key to the whole paragraph, by explicitly showing that what the manna was to the fathers who received it by eating, that Himself is to the souls of all who receive him by faith. The manna was temporal life to Israel; He is eternal life to all believers. The spiritual faith is parallel to the physical eating. Those unperverted and unperverting hearers, therefore, disposed to accept him by faith, would be ready to accept this true interpretation through all that follows. Perverts would simply pervert his meaning, and still more pervert themselves. II. 51-52. Jesus takes a step further, and identifies the bread with his flesh. At this point the perverts revolt, and a contest arises between them and the spiritual hearers. But as the bread was spiritual and the eating was by the act of faith, so must the flesh and its eating be spiritual and by faith.

III. 53-59. Jesus to the bread and the flesh now adds the BLOOD. This completely sloughs off the perverts; and by opening a topic which could be understood only by future developments, he tries the faith of his disciples, and even of his twelve apostles. So far as the figures of bread and flesh extended, the meaning might be filled by his incarnation and living mission. But the figure of blood could only be explained by his propitiatory death; and then from his propitiatory death a new meaning is reflected back upon the bread and the flesh.

47. He that believeth… hath everlasting life—This verse, in its literal sense. embraces all that is figuratively embodied to verse 58.

Verse 49. Your fathers did eat manna-and are dead.] That bread neither preserved their bodies alive, nor entitled them to life eternal; but those who receive my salvation, shall not only be raised again in the last day, but shall inherit eternal life. It was an opinion of the Jews themselves that their fathers, who perished in the wilderness, should never have a resurrection. Our Lord takes them on their own ground: Ye acknowledge that your fathers who fell in the wilderness shall never have a resurrection; and yet they ate of the manna: therefore that manna is not the bread that preserves to everlasting life, according even to your own concession.

Verses 48-50. I am the bread of life — Jesus, having explained the nature of the dignity which he had claimed in the foregoing part of his discourse, (verses 33-40,) and demonstrated that it really belonged to him, here repeats what he had said verse 35, and then runs a comparison between himself, considered as the bread from heaven, and the manna which Moses provided for their fathers in the desert, and which they admired so greatly, saying, Your fathers did eat manna, and are dead — The manna did not preserve them, either from spiritual, or temporal, or eternal death. This is the bread — That of which I now speak is the true bread; which cometh down from heaven — And is of such a nature, that a man may eat of it and not die — Not spiritually, not eternally. His soul, being quickened and made alive to God by partaking of it, shall, by continuing to feed on it, be preserved in spiritual life, and nourished to life eternal; and the death of his body will be only a short sleep, which will soon terminate in a resurrection to immortal glory.

49. Eat manna—Parallel to that manna is Christ; parallel to their living by manna is our life by Christ; parallel to their gathering and eating is our faith in receiving Christ; as in verse 47. Dead—There is one great opposition in the parallels: the manna gave but a transient earthly life; this true manna gives heavenly and eternal life.

V. 50. Not die-Not spiritually; not eternally.

Verse 50. This is the bread, &c.] I am come for this very purpose, that men may believe in me, and have eternal life.

Verses 48-50. I am the bread of life — Jesus, having explained the nature of the dignity which he had claimed in the foregoing part of his discourse, (verses 33-40,) and demonstrated that it really belonged to him, here repeats what he had said verse 35, and then runs a comparison between himself, considered as the bread from heaven, and the manna which Moses provided for their fathers in the desert, and which they admired so greatly, saying, Your fathers did eat manna, and are dead — The manna did not preserve them, either from spiritual, or temporal, or eternal death. This is the bread — That of which I now speak is the true bread; which cometh down from heaven — And is of such a nature, that a man may eat of it and not die — Not spiritually, not eternally. His soul, being quickened and made alive to God by partaking of it, shall, by continuing to feed on it, be preserved in spiritual life, and nourished to life eternal; and the death of his body will be only a short sleep, which will soon terminate in a resurrection to immortal glory.

50. Not die—The old manna was but for the body, and gave but a temporal life, and its eaters are dead; but this new manna is for the soul, and it gives an eternal life. The Romish Church, indeed, (like the Jews in verse 52,) holds that this flesh and blood of Christ are literal and bodily, and to be eaten and drank with the bodily mouth. But verse 35 shows that the hunger and thirst to be assuaged by this eating and drinking are to be assuaged by coming to and believing in Christ. The act of eating is, therefore, the act of faith by which the soul appropriates Christ as the life within. Such is plainly also the drinking of John 4:14. If the drinking Christ’s blood is the drinking the sacramental cup, and is necessary to salvation, then the Romish laity cannot be saved, for they are not allowed to drink of the sacramental cup.

V. 51. If any eat of this bread-That is, believe in me:

he shall live for ever-In other words, he that believeth to the end shall be saved.

My flesh which I will give you-This whole discourse concerning his flesh and blood refers directly to his passion, and but remotely, if at all, to the Lord's Supper.

Verse 51. Is my flesh, which I will give, &c.] Our Lord explains his meaning more fully, in these words, than he had done before. Having spoken so much of the bread which feeds and nourishes the soul, and preserves from death, the attention of his hearers was fixed upon his words, which to them appeared inexplicable; and they desired to know what their meaning was. He then told them that the bread meant his flesh, (his life,) which he was about to give up; to save the life of the world. Here our Lord plainly declares that his death was to be a vicarious sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the world; and that, as no human life could be preserved unless there was bread (proper nourishment) received, so no soul could be saved but by the merit of his death. Reader, remember this: it is one of the weightiest, and one of the truest and most important sayings in the book of God.

Verse 51. I am the living bread — Because it was a matter of infinite importance to his hearers that they should form a just judgment of his ability to save them, and believe in him as the Saviour of the world, he affirmed a third time that he was himself the living bread, which came down from heaven to make and keep men alive to God. and render them immortal; and that all who did eat of it should live for ever, because he was about to give them his flesh to eat, by making it an expiation for the sins of the world. The intelligent reader will observe that there is a beautiful gradation in our Lord’s discourse. The first time that he called himself the bread of life, (verse 35,) he assigned the reason of the name somewhat obscurely: He that cometh to me shall never hunger, &c. The second time he called himself the bread of life, (verse 47,) he spake more plainly: He that believeth on me hath everlasting life; therefore, I am the bread of life. And by connecting this with the affirmation, (verse 46,) that he was the only teacher of mankind that had ever personally seen, and conversed intimately with, the Father, he intimated that he gave life to men by his doctrine, being on that account also the bread of life. The third time he called himself bread, he added to the name the epithet of living; not only because he gives life to men by quickening their souls, raising their bodies from the dead, and making them eternally happy, but because he giveth them life in these senses, by means of his human nature, which was not an inanimate thing, like the manna, but a living substance. For he told them plainly, that the bread which he would give them was his flesh, which he would give for the life of the world — And spake of men’s eating it in order to its having that effect. But the meaning of this expression he had directed them to before, when, in calling himself the bread of life, he always joined believing on him as necessary to men’s living by him. Wherefore to eat, in the remaining part of this discourse, is to believe. See Macknight.

51. My flesh—Up to this word the unbelieving perverts could allow our Lord’s figure its true interpretation. He literally means, they would allow that faith in him secures eternal life. But this eating bread which is flesh, at once opens a divine mystery to his faithful hearers, but a terrible handle for perversion by the perverts.

V. 52. Observe the degrees: the Jews are tried here; the disciples, John 6:60-66, the apostles, John 6:67.

Verse 52. How can this man give us his flesh to eat?] Our Lord removes this difficulty, and answers the question, in John 6:63.

Verses 52, 53. The Jews therefore strove among themselves — Greek, emaconto, literally, they fought, that is, they debated with great violence, some being inclined to believe, others to reject this doctrine; some, doubtless, taking his words in one sense, others in another, and some vindicating, and others deriding and censuring them, and, as if what he had advanced was to be taken in a literal sense, the generality saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? — What a monstrous and unintelligible doctrine is this! Observe, reader, the effects of this discourse of Christ: the Jews are tried here; the disciples, verses 60, 66; the apostles, verse 67. Then Jesus — Proceeding in the same figurative language he had used before, and without condescending to make any further explication; said unto them, Verily, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, &c., ye have no life in you — As if he had said, However you may censure my doctrine as unintelligible and absurd, yet nothing can be more certain than it, or more important to you. For except you be entirely united to me by a firm and lively faith in the truth and importance of my doctrine, and a cordial dependance, for acceptance with God, on the merit of the sacrifice which I shall offer for the sins of the world, thereby deriving spiritual strength and nourishment from me, through the influences of my Spirit, in the use of those means of grace which I shall institute, you can have no spiritual life in you here, nor attain eternal life hereafter. The reader will easily observe, that by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, our Lord did not mean any corporeal action whatever, but men’s receiving in faith, and with gratitude, those blessings, to confer which he assumed the human nature. The expression therefore implies a true and lively faith in “the revelation he came to make, concerning the merciful counsels of God for the salvation of sinners; or, as he himself expresses it, verse 63, The word that he spake to them, especially concerning his incarnation, and his dying to make atonement for sin. Which articles of the Christian faith, being particularly understood here, give propriety to the metaphors of eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his blood, by which the whole of that faith is denominated. The reason is, of all the discoveries made by Christ, those concerning his incarnation, and the nature and ends of his death, received and meditated upon with a lively faith, afford sovereign and salutary nourishment unto the minds of sinners. They are as effectual for sustaining the spiritual life in the soul, as flesh, fitly prepared, is for nourishing the animal life in the body.” The sacrament of the eucharist was plainly intended to affect our minds with a sense of these important truths, and our Lord might probably think of that intended institution while he spoke: but as this was a future thing, and utterly unknown to his hearers, it would be very unwarrantable to interpret this text as chiefly referring to that ordinance. See Macknight and Doddridge.

52. Jews… strove among themselves—The contest is expressed in Greek by a word that signifies fought. One section (probably the low Nazarene party of verse 42) would give a base, cannibal sense to his words; others (like the respectful speakers in verse 34) might hold that the great feeder of the five thousand has some mysterious meaning in his words; others still (embracing perhaps some like his doubtful disciples of verse 60) held that he meant, by eating his flesh, only faith in his supernatural person.

V. 53. Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man-Spiritually: unless ye draw continual virtue from him by faith. Eating his flesh is only another expression for believing.

Verse 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man] Unless ye be made partakers of the blessings about to be purchased by my blood, passion, and violent death, ye cannot be saved. As a man must eat bread and flesh, in order to be nourished by them, so a man must receive the grace and Spirit of Christ, in order to his salvation. As food in a rich man’s store does not nourish the poor man that needs it, unless it be given him, and he receive it into his stomach, so the whole fountain of mercy existing in the bosom of God, and uncommunicated, does not save a soul: he who is saved by it must be made a partaker of it. Our Lord’s meaning appears to be, that, unless they were made partakers of the grace of that atonement which he was about to make by his death, they could not possibly be saved. Bishop Pearce justly observes that the ideas of eating and drinking are here borrowed to express partaking of, and sharing in. Thus spiritual happiness on earth, and even in heaven, is expressed by eating and drinking; instances of which may be seen, Matthew 8:11; 26:29; Luke 14:15; 22:30; and Revelation 2:17. Those who were made partakers of the Holy Spirit are said by St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 12:13, to be made to drink into (or of) one Spirit. This, indeed, was a very common mode of expression among the Jews.

Verses 52, 53. The Jews therefore strove among themselves — Greek, emaconto, literally, they fought, that is, they debated with great violence, some being inclined to believe, others to reject this doctrine; some, doubtless, taking his words in one sense, others in another, and some vindicating, and others deriding and censuring them, and, as if what he had advanced was to be taken in a literal sense, the generality saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? — What a monstrous and unintelligible doctrine is this! Observe, reader, the effects of this discourse of Christ: the Jews are tried here; the disciples, verses 60, 66; the apostles, verse 67. Then Jesus — Proceeding in the same figurative language he had used before, and without condescending to make any further explication; said unto them, Verily, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, &c., ye have no life in you — As if he had said, However you may censure my doctrine as unintelligible and absurd, yet nothing can be more certain than it, or more important to you. For except you be entirely united to me by a firm and lively faith in the truth and importance of my doctrine, and a cordial dependance, for acceptance with God, on the merit of the sacrifice which I shall offer for the sins of the world, thereby deriving spiritual strength and nourishment from me, through the influences of my Spirit, in the use of those means of grace which I shall institute, you can have no spiritual life in you here, nor attain eternal life hereafter. The reader will easily observe, that by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, our Lord did not mean any corporeal action whatever, but men’s receiving in faith, and with gratitude, those blessings, to confer which he assumed the human nature. The expression therefore implies a true and lively faith in “the revelation he came to make, concerning the merciful counsels of God for the salvation of sinners; or, as he himself expresses it, verse 63, The word that he spake to them, especially concerning his incarnation, and his dying to make atonement for sin. Which articles of the Christian faith, being particularly understood here, give propriety to the metaphors of eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his blood, by which the whole of that faith is denominated. The reason is, of all the discoveries made by Christ, those concerning his incarnation, and the nature and ends of his death, received and meditated upon with a lively faith, afford sovereign and salutary nourishment unto the minds of sinners. They are as effectual for sustaining the spiritual life in the soul, as flesh, fitly prepared, is for nourishing the animal life in the body.” The sacrament of the eucharist was plainly intended to affect our minds with a sense of these important truths, and our Lord might probably think of that intended institution while he spoke: but as this was a future thing, and utterly unknown to his hearers, it would be very unwarrantable to interpret this text as chiefly referring to that ordinance. See Macknight and Doddridge.

Ver. 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man — ye have no life in you. He said this that they might not still persist in understanding him in a carnal sense, for he speaks of ascending to the place where he was before he descended. Besides, his flesh was to be so great a feast as to give life to the world. Now, though the jews could not understand him as speaking of the last sacramental supper, I think, with deference to those who think otherwise, that he did not exclude the idea; and this chapter is often cited in sacramental books. The hint to the last supper was no more obscure to those jews, than the allusion to the brazen serpent was to Nicodemus. He dropped many words to be recollected, and to be understood at a future time, after he was risen from the dead.

53. Drink his blood—From bread to flesh, and now from flesh we come to the blood. So far from shrinking back before the face of these Jews, Jesus presses forward with firmer face, with stronger language, and deeper mysteries. Deep mystery, indeed, this word blood contained; for even his twelve understood not until his cross explained it, and the Spirit of the Pentecost elevated their souls to take in its whole true meaning. The soul of man must by faith eat and drink in the efficacy of Christ’s slain body and shed blood, in order to its attainment of eternal life. While, then, these words drove off the clan of perverts to their own fixed affinities and their own proper place, they opened (like the parables; see our note on Matthew 3:1,) to his faithful believers lessons full of increasing meaning with advancing time. These words, by their very force of parabolic language, fixed themselves upon the memory, especially of this disciple whom Jesus loved. They were spoken then by Jesus with a resistless persistence, even for us upon whom these ends of the world are come.

Verse 54. Hath eternal life] This can never be understood of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper. 1. Because this was not instituted till a year after; at the last Passover. 2. It cannot be said that those who do not receive that sacrament must perish everlastingly. 3. Nor can it be supposed that all those who do receive it are necessarily and eternally saved. On the contrary, St. Paul intimates that many who received it at Corinth perished, because they received it unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body: not distinguishing between it and a common meal; and not properly considering that sacrifice for sin, of which the sacrament of the Lord’s super was a type: see 1 Corinthians 11:30.

Verses 54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.

54. Eateth my flesh… drinketh my blood—The truth which underlies these words lies as the basis of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. Here is the thought clothed in symbolical words; there it is clothed in symbolical objects and actions. Christ, in order to live and die, must possess flesh and blood. His death must be by the breaking of his flesh; and its manifestation is by the shedding of blood, for the blood is the life. By faith in the merit of that death so presented, we appropriate its efficacy to the present salvation of our souls and the ultimate glorification of soul and body. Figure this in powerful emblematic words, and we have it that, by eating that flesh and drinking that blood, we eat and drink eternal life to our soul and body. The emblem of words prepares us for the emblem of action. We take for the flesh the fleshless bread, and for the blood the bloodless wine; and by eating one and drinking the other we set forth the truth, that by the propitiatory death of our blessed Lord Christ we have eternal life to our soul and body. There is, then, no support in this passage for the dismaying doctrine invented by the Romish Church that men actually devour the flesh of Christ’s real body. Raise him up… last day—The glorification of the body is the last grand result to the believer of Christ’s atonement. The work begins in regeneration; it is continued in the bliss of the disembodied spirit in paradise; it terminates in the resurrection glory of the last day.

V. 55. Meat-drink indeed-With which the soul of a believer is as truly fed, as his body with meat and drink.

Verse 55. My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.] Or, rather, My flesh is the true meat, &c. In both clauses of this verse, instead of alhqwv, the adverb, I read alhqhv, the adjective, agreeing with brwsiv. This reading is supported by BCKLT, and twenty-one others; both the Arabic, Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, two copies of the Itala, Clement, Origen, Cyril, Chrysostom, and Damascenus. Our Lord terms his flesh, the true meat, and his blood the true drink, because those who received the grace merited by his death would be really nourished and supported thereby unto eternal life. He calls himself the true vine, John 15:1, in exactly the same sense in which he calls himself the true bread, John 6:32, and the true meat and drink in this verse.

Verses 54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.

55, 56. Flesh… blood—The emphatic reiteration of these words is made by our Lord: 1. In firmness against his immediate gainsayers, who will thereby be sifted from among his followers. 2. To imply the greatness of the truth they embody. 3. To so impress the mystery upon the memory of his disciples that it shall rise to their recollection at the time of consummation.

4. To be placed on record by his apostolic reporter for the instruction of his Church through all generations. Blessed be the name of the Lord our God for the holy record!

Verse 56. Dwelleth in me, and I in him.] Of all connections and unions, none is so intimate and complete as that which is effected by the digestion of aliments, because they are changed into the very substance of him who eats them; and this our Lord makes the model of that union which subsists between himself and genuine believers. He lives in them, and they in him; for they are made partakers of the Divine nature: 2 Peter 1:4. To this verse the following addition is made in the Codex Bezæ, three copies of the Itala, and Victorinus. After these words-dwelleth in me, and I in him, they add, as the Father in me, and I in the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that unless ye receive the body of the Son of man as the bread of life, ye have not life in him. This is a very remarkable addition, and is between thirteen and fourteen hundred years old.

Verses 54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.

55, 56. Flesh… blood—The emphatic reiteration of these words is made by our Lord: 1. In firmness against his immediate gainsayers, who will thereby be sifted from among his followers. 2. To imply the greatness of the truth they embody. 3. To so impress the mystery upon the memory of his disciples that it shall rise to their recollection at the time of consummation.

4. To be placed on record by his apostolic reporter for the instruction of his Church through all generations. Blessed be the name of the Lord our God for the holy record!

V. 57. I live by the Father-Being one with him. He shall live by me-Being one with me. Amazing union!

Verse 57. So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.] From which we learn that the union between Christ and his followers shall be similar to that which subsists between God and Christ.

Verses 54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.

V. 58. This is-That is, I am the bread-Which is not like the manna your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding.

Verses 54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life — Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. — My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him — By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father — The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father — Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me — That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me — A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread — This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven — For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. — This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever — He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.

58. Your fathers did eat manna—The figure of the manna, by his gainsayers first adduced, (verse 31,) suggested by the bread to the five thousand, pervades all this discourse. Manna, bread, flesh, blood, Christ, are the serial terms along which the thought runs.

Verse 59. In the synagogue-in Capernaum.] From John 6:26, to this verse, the evangelist gives us the discourse which our Lord preached in the synagogue, in which he was repeatedly interrupted by the Jews; but this gave him the fuller opportunity to proclaim the whole truth relative to his passion and death, to edify the disciples, and confute these gainsayers.

Verse 59. These things — The things recorded in the preceding verses; said he in the synagogue — He spoke them openly in the hearing of all the people who attended at public worship in the synagogue; and that probably after prayer, and the reading of the law, in consequence of the question said to be asked him, verse 25. Nor are we to wonder at the dialogue which passed here; for conversations between different persons, and even debates, were not unusual in the Jewish synagogues: there are many other instances of disputes, which either Christ or his apostles had with the Jews in these places of worship. See Matthew 12:9-13; Luke 13:10-17; Acts 13:44-47; and 17:17. It was evidently for wise reasons that our Lord involved a part of his discourse in figurative and mysterious language; as, in particular, that which related to eating his flesh and drinking his blood; or to his sufferings and death, and the life and salvation to be obtained thereby.

59. Said he in the synagogue… in Capernaum—Our Evangelist thinks, wisely, that he has here made a great record, and he carefully notes the place: he well remembers it.

V. 60. This is a hard saying-Hard to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely, even to the apostles in private.

Who can hear-Endure it?

Verse 60. Many therefore of his disciples] So it appears that he had many more than the twelve, who constantly accompanied him. This is a hard saying; who can hear it?] Who can digest such doctrine as this? It is intolerable: it is impracticable. There is a similar saving in Euripides, to the sklhrov logov of the evangelist. potera qeleiv soi malqaka yeudh legw, h sklhrJ alhqh, fraze; Tell me whether thou wouldst that I should speak unto thee, a SOFT LIE, or the HARSH TRUTH? The wicked word of a lying world is in general better received than the holy word of the God of truth!

Verse 60. Many of his disciples — That is, of those who followed him as such; when they had heard this — Had heard the above discourse; said, This is a hard saying — A strange discourse, a doctrine difficult to be believed. Hard indeed it must have appeared, as it does still appear, to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely even to the apostles in private. Who can hear it — Who can understand, believe, and obey it? “Most of the metaphors in this discourse (and particularly that of food, to signify doctrine, and of eating and drinking, to signify believing) were abundantly easy, and might have been understood at the very first by the Jews, being found in their Scriptures, and used in their schools. Only, not being able to comprehend what he meant by his flesh, they took the whole literally, and were so offended at the thought of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, a thing not only prohibited by Moses, but repugnant to the customs of all civilized nations, that many of them who were his disciples, when they heard it, said it was absurd.”

60. His disciples—Second of the three groups distinguished in our note on verse 34. These are in the background thus far, though they may have mingled somewhat with group first in the foreground. See note on 52. They are distinct from group third, 67, his apostles. Hard saying—Not so much hard to understand as hard to accept, or willingly receive. The hard points especially were two: 1. The good offered by Christ was not as they desired, temporal, but eternal. It was not a miraculous feeding and earthly emolument, but a glorious resurrection upon their faith in him. 2. The awful interpretation that the unscrupulous Jews, (verse 41,) in the foreground, were able to put upon his last mysterious sentences, made them feel (before its day) the offence of the cross. It was not, perhaps, what they so much felt themselves, as what others might say! Such discourse, say they, so persevered in, was unnecessary; it was imprudent; it was susceptible of a very horrible interpretation. Henceforth the current will be against us if we make ourselves responsible for him.

Verse 61. Jesus knew in himself] By giving them this proof that he knew their hearts he also proved that he was God; that he could not be deceived himself, and that it was impossible for him to deceive any; consequently, that the doctrine he taught them must be the truth of God.

Verses 61-65. When Jesus knew — Greek, eidwv de o Ihsouv en eautw, Jesus knowing in himself; that his disciples murmured at it — Though they did not speak out their objections and scruples; said, Doth this, which you have just now heard, offend you — And do you stumble at it as incredible? What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up — Anabainonta, ascending; where he was before? — How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat? Or, will not that convince you of the truth of my having come down from heaven? Will it not show you, likewise, that I never intended you should eat my flesh in a corporeal manner? It is very probable that what Christ here says of his ascension, was, partly at least, intended to intimate to them the necessity of taking his discourse in a figurative sense, as it would so soon be evidently impossible to eat his flesh, which was to be received into heaven. It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words; that quickeneth — By which God giveth spiritual life. The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning; profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, the doctrines that I preach, unto you are spirit and life — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense; and when they are so understood and believed, or marked, learned, and digested, they are made the means of spiritual and eternal life to the hearers. There are some of you who believe not — And so receive no life by them; for Jesus knew from the beginning — Namely, of his ministry; who they were that believed not, and who should betray him — He knew the inward disposition of every particular person that heard him, and foresaw which of his disciples would be so base as to betray him. From this we infer with certainty that God foresees future contingencies:

“But his foreknowledge causes not the fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Therefore said I, &c. — Because I know perfectly the inward frame of your minds, that the prejudices of corrupt nature lie strongly against such a doctrine as I publish, and that nothing but divine grace can subdue them, therefore I told you plainly, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father — And it is given to those only who will receive it on God’s own terms. See the note on verses 37, 44.

61. Offend you—It is the you which is here emphatic. Are you too offended, who have professed to be my pupils, (for such is the meaning of the term disciples,) and who have learned by many a miracle that I am the Son of man, and that my word, however mysterious, cannot be less than divine?

V. 62. What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend where he was before?-How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat?

Verse 62. If ye shall see the Son of man ascend] Ye need not be stumbled at what I say concerning eating my flesh and drinking my blood, for ye shall soon have the fullest proof that this is figuratively spoken, for I shall ascend with the same body with which I shall arise from the dead; therefore my flesh and blood, far from being eaten by men, shall not even be found among them.

Verses 61-65. When Jesus knew — Greek, eidwv de o Ihsouv en eautw, Jesus knowing in himself; that his disciples murmured at it — Though they did not speak out their objections and scruples; said, Doth this, which you have just now heard, offend you — And do you stumble at it as incredible? What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up — Anabainonta, ascending; where he was before? — How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat? Or, will not that convince you of the truth of my having come down from heaven? Will it not show you, likewise, that I never intended you should eat my flesh in a corporeal manner? It is very probable that what Christ here says of his ascension, was, partly at least, intended to intimate to them the necessity of taking his discourse in a figurative sense, as it would so soon be evidently impossible to eat his flesh, which was to be received into heaven. It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words; that quickeneth — By which God giveth spiritual life. The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning; profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, the doctrines that I preach, unto you are spirit and life — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense; and when they are so understood and believed, or marked, learned, and digested, they are made the means of spiritual and eternal life to the hearers. There are some of you who believe not — And so receive no life by them; for Jesus knew from the beginning — Namely, of his ministry; who they were that believed not, and who should betray him — He knew the inward disposition of every particular person that heard him, and foresaw which of his disciples would be so base as to betray him. From this we infer with certainty that God foresees future contingencies:

“But his foreknowledge causes not the fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Therefore said I, &c. — Because I know perfectly the inward frame of your minds, that the prejudices of corrupt nature lie strongly against such a doctrine as I publish, and that nothing but divine grace can subdue them, therefore I told you plainly, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father — And it is given to those only who will receive it on God’s own terms. See the note on verses 37, 44.

62. See the Son of man ascend—What if your own eyes shall hereafter witness, in my ascension to the abode whence I came, the full proof that I did descend, the living Saviour, from heaven? Jesus assumes to be speaking, not to gainsayers, but to believers troubled by a mysterious saying. He reminds them that a time of exaltation is in the future, which should prevent their hasty irritability in the present.

V. 63. It is the Spirit-The spiritual meaning of these words, by which God giveth life.

The flesh-The bare, carnal, literal meaning, profiteth nothing. The words which I have spoken, they are spirit-Are to be taken in a spiritual sense and, when they are so understood,

they are life-That is, a means of spiritual life to the hearers.

Verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth] It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through which life is to be attained, 2 Corinthians 3:6. Such only as eat and drink what I have mentioned, in a spiritual sense, are to expect eternal life.

The flesh profiteth nothing] If ye could even eat my flesh and drink my blood, this would not avail for your salvation. These words contain a caution that the hearers should not understand his words in the strict literal sense, as if his body were really BREAD, and as if his flesh and blood were really to be eaten and drank.

The words that I speak] Or, I have spoken. Instead of lalw, I speak, I read lelalhka, I have spoken, on the authority of BCDKLT, thirteen others; the Syriac, all the Arabic, all the Persic, Coptic, Æthiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Vulgate, all the Itala; Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Tertullian, Ambrosias, Augustin, Gaudentius, and Vigilius Taps. This is an important reading, and plainly shows that our Lord’s words here do not refer to any new point of doctrine which he was then inculcating, but to what he had spoken concerning his being the living bread, and concerning the eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, in the preceding verses.

Are spirit, and they are life.] As my words are to be spiritually understood, so the life they promise is of a spiritual nature: see Bishop Pearce.

Verses 61-65. When Jesus knew — Greek, eidwv de o Ihsouv en eautw, Jesus knowing in himself; that his disciples murmured at it — Though they did not speak out their objections and scruples; said, Doth this, which you have just now heard, offend you — And do you stumble at it as incredible? What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up — Anabainonta, ascending; where he was before? — How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat? Or, will not that convince you of the truth of my having come down from heaven? Will it not show you, likewise, that I never intended you should eat my flesh in a corporeal manner? It is very probable that what Christ here says of his ascension, was, partly at least, intended to intimate to them the necessity of taking his discourse in a figurative sense, as it would so soon be evidently impossible to eat his flesh, which was to be received into heaven. It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words; that quickeneth — By which God giveth spiritual life. The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning; profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, the doctrines that I preach, unto you are spirit and life — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense; and when they are so understood and believed, or marked, learned, and digested, they are made the means of spiritual and eternal life to the hearers. There are some of you who believe not — And so receive no life by them; for Jesus knew from the beginning — Namely, of his ministry; who they were that believed not, and who should betray him — He knew the inward disposition of every particular person that heard him, and foresaw which of his disciples would be so base as to betray him. From this we infer with certainty that God foresees future contingencies:

“But his foreknowledge causes not the fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Therefore said I, &c. — Because I know perfectly the inward frame of your minds, that the prejudices of corrupt nature lie strongly against such a doctrine as I publish, and that nothing but divine grace can subdue them, therefore I told you plainly, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father — And it is given to those only who will receive it on God’s own terms. See the note on verses 37, 44.

63. The spirit that quickeneth—It is the inspired Power, the impregnating Spirit, in his words, by which their souls ought to be quickened and rise into a living faith. The flesh—The carnality which the sensual perverts would put into his words. Profiteth nothing—Being akin to their vain expectation to be fed in the body by the Messiah’s constant miracle. The words… are spirit—And should be interpreted in the highest sense of the Spirit, not by the low demands of appetite.

V. 64. But there are some of you who believe not-And so receive no life by them, because you take them in a gross literal sense. For Jesus knew from the beginning-Of his ministry: who would betray him-Therefore it is plain, God does foresee future contingencies:—

"But his foreknowledge causes not the fault, Which had no less proved certain unforeknown."

Verse 64. But there are some of you that believe not.] This is addressed to Judas, and to those disciples who left him: John 6:66. And who should betray him] Or, who would deliver him up. Because he knew all things; he knew from the first, from Judas’s call to the apostleship, and from eternity, (if the reader pleases,) who it was who would (not should) deliver him up into the hands of the Jews. Should, in the apprehension of most, implies necessity and compulsion; would implies that he was under the influence of his own free will, without necessity or constraint. The former takes away his guilt: for what a man is irresistibly compelled to do, by the supreme authority of God, he cannot avoid; and therefore to him no blame can attach: but Judas having acted through his own free will, abusing his power, and the grace he had received, he was guilty of the murder of an innocent man, and deserved the perdition to which he went.

Verses 61-65. When Jesus knew — Greek, eidwv de o Ihsouv en eautw, Jesus knowing in himself; that his disciples murmured at it — Though they did not speak out their objections and scruples; said, Doth this, which you have just now heard, offend you — And do you stumble at it as incredible? What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up — Anabainonta, ascending; where he was before? — How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat? Or, will not that convince you of the truth of my having come down from heaven? Will it not show you, likewise, that I never intended you should eat my flesh in a corporeal manner? It is very probable that what Christ here says of his ascension, was, partly at least, intended to intimate to them the necessity of taking his discourse in a figurative sense, as it would so soon be evidently impossible to eat his flesh, which was to be received into heaven. It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words; that quickeneth — By which God giveth spiritual life. The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning; profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, the doctrines that I preach, unto you are spirit and life — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense; and when they are so understood and believed, or marked, learned, and digested, they are made the means of spiritual and eternal life to the hearers. There are some of you who believe not — And so receive no life by them; for Jesus knew from the beginning — Namely, of his ministry; who they were that believed not, and who should betray him — He knew the inward disposition of every particular person that heard him, and foresaw which of his disciples would be so base as to betray him. From this we infer with certainty that God foresees future contingencies:

“But his foreknowledge causes not the fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Therefore said I, &c. — Because I know perfectly the inward frame of your minds, that the prejudices of corrupt nature lie strongly against such a doctrine as I publish, and that nothing but divine grace can subdue them, therefore I told you plainly, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father — And it is given to those only who will receive it on God’s own terms. See the note on verses 37, 44.

64. Some… that believe not—They had no living faith. To them his reference to his ascension, (verse 62,) and his thrilling words of the Spirit, would be but a continuance of the hard saying. Jesus knew—His very humanity, by its close contact with divinity, would be fringed with a supernatural intuition. See note on John 2:25. Who should betray him—Who was going to betray him. It is a simple future participle, and expresses no fatalism or predestination.

V. 65. Unless it be given-And it is given to those only who will receive it on God's own terms.

Verse 65. Therefore said I unto you] John 6:44. see the note there. Except it were given unto him] None can come at first, unless he be drawn by the Father; and none can continue, unless he continue under those sacred influences which God gives only to those who do not receive his first graces in vain. St. Augustin himself grants that it was the sole fault of these disciples that they did not believe, and were saved. Quare non POTERANT credere, si a me quæratur, cito respondeo, quia NOLEBANT. If I be asked why these could not believe, I immediately answer, because they WOULD NOT. Aug. Tract. 53, in Joan.

Verses 61-65. When Jesus knew — Greek, eidwv de o Ihsouv en eautw, Jesus knowing in himself; that his disciples murmured at it — Though they did not speak out their objections and scruples; said, Doth this, which you have just now heard, offend you — And do you stumble at it as incredible? What if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up — Anabainonta, ascending; where he was before? — How much more incredible will it then appear to you, that he should give you his flesh to eat? Or, will not that convince you of the truth of my having come down from heaven? Will it not show you, likewise, that I never intended you should eat my flesh in a corporeal manner? It is very probable that what Christ here says of his ascension, was, partly at least, intended to intimate to them the necessity of taking his discourse in a figurative sense, as it would so soon be evidently impossible to eat his flesh, which was to be received into heaven. It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words; that quickeneth — By which God giveth spiritual life. The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning; profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, the doctrines that I preach, unto you are spirit and life — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense; and when they are so understood and believed, or marked, learned, and digested, they are made the means of spiritual and eternal life to the hearers. There are some of you who believe not — And so receive no life by them; for Jesus knew from the beginning — Namely, of his ministry; who they were that believed not, and who should betray him — He knew the inward disposition of every particular person that heard him, and foresaw which of his disciples would be so base as to betray him. From this we infer with certainty that God foresees future contingencies:

“But his foreknowledge causes not the fault,

Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.”

Therefore said I, &c. — Because I know perfectly the inward frame of your minds, that the prejudices of corrupt nature lie strongly against such a doctrine as I publish, and that nothing but divine grace can subdue them, therefore I told you plainly, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father — And it is given to those only who will receive it on God’s own terms. See the note on verses 37, 44.

65. No man can come… except—Men, apart from the guidance and aid of the Father, furnished by the Spirit and the various means of grace, are hemmed into sin. They can neither will nor do acceptably to God. The Father first enables, but not obliges. For grace used, he adds more grace. For drawings obeyed, he adds more drawings. And when they so obey his drawings as to be ready for Christ, he gives and they come. But unless they use his grace and obey his drawings both will be withdrawn. But none ever missed the drawing of God who has not misused it. Given… of my Father—And it was not given in consequence of their not having obediently learned and accepted previous grace, and having sunk themselves into gross hardness. So that because of their primary wilfulness the drawing could not reach them, and for want of those drawings it was not given them to come. See notes on verses 26, 37, 38, 39, 44, and 45.

V. 66. From this time many of his disciples went back-So our Lord now began to purge his floor: the proud and careless were driven away, and those remained who were meet for the Master's use.

Verse 66. Many of his disciples went back] They no longer associated with him, nor professed to acknowledge him as the Messiah. None of these were of the twelve. Christ had many others who generally attended his ministry, and acknowledged him for the Messiah.

Verses 66-69. From that time many of his disciples went back — This discourse of our Lord was, in all its different branches, so offensive to many, who till now had followed him, and professed to be his disciples, that, from this time, they ceased to attend on or hear him. So that he now began to purge his floor: the proud and careless were driven away, and those only remained who were meet for the Master’s use. Then said Jesus unto the twelve — Jesus, perceiving this defection to be very general, asked the twelve if they were going to leave him with the rest. Then Peter — With his usual zeal; answered, Lord — If we were really disposed to quit thee; to whom shall we go? — Or, what advantage could we expect by it? Thou hast the words of eternal life — Thou, and thou alone, speakest the words which show the way to life everlasting; and hast even now been directing us therein; and God forbid that any other hopes and views should ever be preferred by us to these! And — However others may be governed by their carnal prejudices, and a deluded multitude may treat thee with contempt; we firmly believe, and assuredly know, on the most convincing evidence, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God — On which persuasion we are determined to cleave to thee, to continue to learn of thee as thy disciples, to confide in thee for salvation, present and eternal, and to hazard all in thy service. So that Peter’s implicit faith in our Lord’s doctrine was founded, as it was right it should be, on his faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

66. Disciples—Not apostles. See note on verse 60. Many—Doubtless a large minority. Walked no more with him—Indicating that they avoided the odium suggested in note on verse 60.

Verse 67. Will ye also go alway?] Or, Do YE also desire, &c. These words are very emphatical. Will YOU abandon me?-you, whom I have distinguished with innumerable marks of my affection-you, whom I have chosen out of the world to be my companions,-you, to whom I have revealed the secrets of the eternal world-you, who have been witnesses of all my miracles-you, whom I intend to seat with me on my throne in glory; will YOU go away? Reader, in what state art thou? Hast thou gone back from Christ, or art thou going back? Wilt thou go? Thou, whom he has redeemed by his blood-thou, whom he has upheld by his power, and fed by his providence-thou, into whose wounded soul he has poured the balm of pardoning mercy-thou, whom he has adopted into the heavenly family-thou, whom he has comforted in so many tribulations and adversities-thou, whose multiplied offences he has freely and fully pardoned; wilt thou go away?

Verses 66-69. From that time many of his disciples went back — This discourse of our Lord was, in all its different branches, so offensive to many, who till now had followed him, and professed to be his disciples, that, from this time, they ceased to attend on or hear him. So that he now began to purge his floor: the proud and careless were driven away, and those only remained who were meet for the Master’s use. Then said Jesus unto the twelve — Jesus, perceiving this defection to be very general, asked the twelve if they were going to leave him with the rest. Then Peter — With his usual zeal; answered, Lord — If we were really disposed to quit thee; to whom shall we go? — Or, what advantage could we expect by it? Thou hast the words of eternal life — Thou, and thou alone, speakest the words which show the way to life everlasting; and hast even now been directing us therein; and God forbid that any other hopes and views should ever be preferred by us to these! And — However others may be governed by their carnal prejudices, and a deluded multitude may treat thee with contempt; we firmly believe, and assuredly know, on the most convincing evidence, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God — On which persuasion we are determined to cleave to thee, to continue to learn of thee as thy disciples, to confide in thee for salvation, present and eternal, and to hazard all in thy service. So that Peter’s implicit faith in our Lord’s doctrine was founded, as it was right it should be, on his faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

67. The twelve—At the close of verse 58 we suppose the group of gainsayers to depart in violent disgust. At the close of 66, the wavering disciples have gradually disappeared. Now the twelve, who have been earnest watchers of the contest, alone remain. The number of the true believers having been sifted down to almost these twelve, and the number remaining present being but this twelve, the Lord (whose fan is in his hand terribly purging the floor) now sifts even the twelve. This is, not that he may be comforted in his desertion, but as a purifier to prove who of the degenerate sons of men can stand the Lord’s test. Twelve—John here first mentions the full number of the apostles. He evidently assumes that his readers are acquainted with the Gospel history. See note on John 3:24.

V. 68. Thou hast the words of eternal life-Thou, and thou alone, speakest the words which show the way to life everlasting.

Verse 68. Simon Peter answered] With his usual zeal and readiness, speaking in behalf of the whole, To whom shall we go? Where shall we find a more gracious master-a more powerful Redeemer-a more suitable Saviour? Thou alone hast the words of eternal life. None can teach the doctrine of salvation but thyself; and none can confer the gift of eternal life but thou alone. Reader, let me ask, whither art thou going? Has the world-the devil-the flesh-the words of eternal life? Art thou turning thy back upon God and Christ? For thy zealous services, what has Satan to give thee? Death! hell! and eternal misery! O stop! Cleave to Jesus; he will give thee that happiness which, in vain, thou seekest in the pleasures of sin.

Verses 66-69. From that time many of his disciples went back — This discourse of our Lord was, in all its different branches, so offensive to many, who till now had followed him, and professed to be his disciples, that, from this time, they ceased to attend on or hear him. So that he now began to purge his floor: the proud and careless were driven away, and those only remained who were meet for the Master’s use. Then said Jesus unto the twelve — Jesus, perceiving this defection to be very general, asked the twelve if they were going to leave him with the rest. Then Peter — With his usual zeal; answered, Lord — If we were really disposed to quit thee; to whom shall we go? — Or, what advantage could we expect by it? Thou hast the words of eternal life — Thou, and thou alone, speakest the words which show the way to life everlasting; and hast even now been directing us therein; and God forbid that any other hopes and views should ever be preferred by us to these! And — However others may be governed by their carnal prejudices, and a deluded multitude may treat thee with contempt; we firmly believe, and assuredly know, on the most convincing evidence, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God — On which persuasion we are determined to cleave to thee, to continue to learn of thee as thy disciples, to confide in thee for salvation, present and eternal, and to hazard all in thy service. So that Peter’s implicit faith in our Lord’s doctrine was founded, as it was right it should be, on his faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Ver. 68. Lord, to whom shall we go? When men forsake God, and take offence at an evangelical ministry, it would be well for them to make a contrast between what they leave, and what they embrace. Christ has the words of eternal life. Believing in him, eternal life opens in the heart, and gives the true enjoyment of God. And what has a dry morality, or the honour that comes of men, to compensate for this? Christ’s flock will have a glory, when the blaze of the world shall expire like a meteor. Piety is the life and soul of the church.

68. Peter answered—John was one of these twelve present on this occasion. And although semi-infidels have pretended to find traces of rivalry between him and Peter, yet to Peter he assigns the honour of this memorable confession. To whom… go—None of the founders of religions, or philosophies, or priesthoods, can fill this place. Words of eternal life— Peter might have said, Thou alone workest true divine miracles, and doubtless he so believed; and believed that the divinity in the miracles was full proof of the eternal life to be in his words; but it was the words of eternal life of which he truly stood in need.

V. 69. And we-Who have been with thee from the beginning, whatever others do,

have known-Are absolutely assured, that thou art the Christ.

Verse 69. We believe] On the authority of thy word; and are sure-have known, egnwkamen, by the evidence of thy miracles, that thou art the Christ, the promised Messiah. [-Anglo-Saxon-] And we belyfath and witen that thu eart Crist Godes Son. Anglo-Saxon. How near is the mother to the daughter tongue!

Instead of Christ the Son of the living God, some excellent MSS., BCDL, and others, read o agiov tou qeou, the holy one of God; and this reading Griesbach has received into the text, leaving out tou zwntov, the living. cristov, and agiov convey nearly the same meaning; but the Æthiopic, as usual, retains both. tou zwntev is omitted by BCDL, H, the Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, later Persic, Vulgate, all the Itala but one, and by the Anglo-Saxon; which last Griesbach has not noticed.

Verses 66-69. From that time many of his disciples went back — This discourse of our Lord was, in all its different branches, so offensive to many, who till now had followed him, and professed to be his disciples, that, from this time, they ceased to attend on or hear him. So that he now began to purge his floor: the proud and careless were driven away, and those only remained who were meet for the Master’s use. Then said Jesus unto the twelve — Jesus, perceiving this defection to be very general, asked the twelve if they were going to leave him with the rest. Then Peter — With his usual zeal; answered, Lord — If we were really disposed to quit thee; to whom shall we go? — Or, what advantage could we expect by it? Thou hast the words of eternal life — Thou, and thou alone, speakest the words which show the way to life everlasting; and hast even now been directing us therein; and God forbid that any other hopes and views should ever be preferred by us to these! And — However others may be governed by their carnal prejudices, and a deluded multitude may treat thee with contempt; we firmly believe, and assuredly know, on the most convincing evidence, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God — On which persuasion we are determined to cleave to thee, to continue to learn of thee as thy disciples, to confide in thee for salvation, present and eternal, and to hazard all in thy service. So that Peter’s implicit faith in our Lord’s doctrine was founded, as it was right it should be, on his faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

69. We believe—A generous confiding we; proof of a good heart but of a fallible head. Here, as ever. there is a slight collapse after Peter’s magnanimous assumptions. Christ, the Son of the living God—The words of this confession are given very differently in different ancient manuscripts. Alford decides for the reading, thou art the holy one of God. And this is fully as strong as the words in our English version. It, then, means that he is God’s sole holy one. He is, then, all he ever claims himself to be. Had the Jews, (41,) or the disciples of verses 60 and 66, had this simple faith in the very self of Jesus, they would not have been disturbed by the mystery of his discourse about himself. (51-58.) Thou art first of all— the holy one of God; then, what thy works or thy words, however mysterious, proclaim thee to be, that thou art; and that I believe so far as I understand, and trust so far as I understand not.

V. 70. Jesus answered the-And yet even ye have not all acted suitable to this knowledge.

Have I not chosen or elected you twelve?-But they might fall even from that election.

Yet one of you-On this gracious warning, Judas ought to have repented; is a devil-Is now influenced by one.

Verse 70. Have not I chosen you twelve] Have I not, in an especial manner, called you to believe in my name, and chosen you to be my disciples and the propagators of my doctrine! Nevertheless, one of you is a devil, or accuser, enlisted on the side of Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning.

Verses 70, 71. Jesus answered them — And, yet even ye have not all acted, nor will you act, suitably to this knowledge and faith. For, have I not chosen, or elected, you twelve — To the honour and happiness of a peculiar intimacy with me, and to a station of the most distinguished eminence and importance in my church? And yet one of you, as I well know, is a devil — Is now influenced by one, and will become my accuser and betrayer. As the word diabolov, rendered devil, sometimes signifies a false accuser, Mr. Locke considers our Lord as intimating here, that the reason why he had not more plainly declared himself to be the Messiah, was, because he knew Judas would, on that ground, have accused him of rebellion against the Romans. But, as Dr. Doddridge observes, “there does not appear to be any proof that Judas from the beginning intended to betray Christ. It is more than probable, that he at first engaged with him in expectation of secular advantages, and finding those views disappointed, he might now begin to form that detestable scheme which he afterward executed. If this was the occasion on which he first entertained the thought, as it probably might be, one would imagine that such an intimation of his secret wickedness must have struck him to the heart.” He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon — He meant Judas, though he did not at this time think fit to name him. Christ called Judas a devil, because he foresaw that he would be an apostate and a traitor. So likewise in rebuking Peter, who had expressed an utter aversion to his suffering at Jerusalem, he called him Satan, on account of that one act, by which he opposed the great design of his coming into the world. And he might much more give Judas the name of devil, who resembled Satan so nearly, in the wickedness of his dispositions and actions.

70. Chosen—Our Lord’s reply sifts them down to a visible remainder of eleven who are pronounced not reprobate; chosen and true elect. A devil— Whether this word here is to signify adversary, accuser, prosecutor, calumniator, or devil, commentators differ largely. But thus much is plain; the speaker could not but know that the last and worst of these meanings was the most obvious, being the then most common. It could not have been, therefore, an unmeant meaning. He is called a devil, perhaps, as now having in his will a readiness for a devilish act. Or, it may be, from his relation to Christ as a dark opposing figure in the sacred circle, a miniature antichrist. Or, devil, because a fallen angel—an apostate apostle.

Verse 71. He spake of Judas-for he it was that should betray him] outov gar hmellen auton paradidonai, He who was about to deliver him up. By referring to this matter so often, did not our blessed Lord intend to warn Judas? Was not the evil fully exposed to his view? And who dare say that it was impossible for him to avoid what he had so often been warned against? When the temptation did take place, and his heart, in purpose, had brought forth the sin, might he not have relented, fallen at his injured master’s feet, acknowledge his black offense, and implored forgiveness? And surely his most merciful Lord would have freely pardoned him.

1. ON the subject of the disciples sailing off without Christ, and the storm that overtook them, it may be necessary to make a few observations, chiefly for the encouragement of the labourers in God’s vineyard. It was the duty of the disciples to depart at the commandment of the Lord, though the storm was great, and the wind contrary. It was their duty to tug at the oar, expecting the appearing of their Lord and master. So it is the duty of the ministers of Christ to embark, and sail even into the sea of persecution and dangerous trial, in order to save souls. There may be darkness for a time-they must row. The waves may rise high-they must row on. The wind may be contrary-still they must tug at the oar. Jesus will appear, lay the storm, and calm the sea, and they shall have souls for their hire. The vessel will get to land, and speedily too. There are particular times in which the Lord pours out his Spirit, and multitudes are quickly convinced and converted. “Alas!” says one, “I see no fruit of my labour; no return of my prayers and tears.” Take courage, man; tug on; thou shalt not labour in vain, nor spend thy strength for nought. What he does thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Great grace, and great peace await thee; take courage, and tug on!

2. When a man forsakes the living God, and gives way to avarice, which appears to have been the case with Judas, he is fit for any thing in which Satan may choose to employ him. Beware of the love of money! The cursed lust of gold induced a disciple of Christ to betray his God: and has it not been the ruin of millions since? Few people love money merely for its own sake: they love it because it can provide them with the necessaries, conveniences, and comforts of life; those who have not God for their portion incessantly long after these things, and therefore are covetous. While a man watches unto prayer, and abides in the love of Christ Jesus the Lord, so long he is safe, for he is contented with the lot which God has given him in life. Reader, art thou like Judas (in his best state) put in trust for the poor, or for the Church of Christ. Do not covet; and take heed that thou grudge not; nor permit thy heart to be hardened by repeated sights and tales of wo. Thou art but a steward; act faithfully, and act affectionately. Because the ointment that prefigured the death of our Lord was not applied just as Judas would have it, he took offense; betrayed and sold his master; saw and wished to remedy his transgression; despaired and hanged himself. Behold the fruit of covetousness! To what excesses and miseries the love of money may lead, God alone can comprehend. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ST. JOHN

Verses 70, 71. Jesus answered them — And, yet even ye have not all acted, nor will you act, suitably to this knowledge and faith. For, have I not chosen, or elected, you twelve — To the honour and happiness of a peculiar intimacy with me, and to a station of the most distinguished eminence and importance in my church? And yet one of you, as I well know, is a devil — Is now influenced by one, and will become my accuser and betrayer. As the word diabolov, rendered devil, sometimes signifies a false accuser, Mr. Locke considers our Lord as intimating here, that the reason why he had not more plainly declared himself to be the Messiah, was, because he knew Judas would, on that ground, have accused him of rebellion against the Romans. But, as Dr. Doddridge observes, “there does not appear to be any proof that Judas from the beginning intended to betray Christ. It is more than probable, that he at first engaged with him in expectation of secular advantages, and finding those views disappointed, he might now begin to form that detestable scheme which he afterward executed. If this was the occasion on which he first entertained the thought, as it probably might be, one would imagine that such an intimation of his secret wickedness must have struck him to the heart.” He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon — He meant Judas, though he did not at this time think fit to name him. Christ called Judas a devil, because he foresaw that he would be an apostate and a traitor. So likewise in rebuking Peter, who had expressed an utter aversion to his suffering at Jerusalem, he called him Satan, on account of that one act, by which he opposed the great design of his coming into the world. And he might much more give Judas the name of devil, who resembled Satan so nearly, in the wickedness of his dispositions and actions.

71. Judas Iscariot the son of Simon—Alford adopts the reading, Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, that is, Simon of the town Kerioth. See note on Matthew 10:4. Should betray him—Literally, was about to betray him. Note on verse 64. The temper or state of purpose by which he was ready for such an act, upon due temptation, is probably the ground of his being a devil. Of the twelve—John has given no list of the twelve. Nevertheless, as he purposes to give a full history of this apostle’s betrayal of Jesus, he now, doubtless, says this as marking the aggravation of the deed.