Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
35 50. Identification of the Spiritual Bread with Christ
35. I am the bread of life. The pronoun is very emphatic: comp. Joh 4:26. As in Joh 5:30, He passes from the third to the first person. ‘Bread of life’ means ‘bread that giveth life.’ Comp. ‘the tree of life’ (Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22; Gen 3:24), ‘the water of life’ (Rev 21:6; Rev 22:1). In the remainder of the verse ‘He that cometh to Me’ = ‘he that believeth on Me,’ and ‘shall never hunger’ = ‘shall never thirst;’ i.e. the believer shall experience the continual satisfaction of his highest spiritual needs. The superiority of Christ to the manna consists in this, that while it satisfied only bodily needs for a time, He satisfies spiritual needs for ever.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I am the bread of life – I am the support of spiritual life; or my doctrines will give life and peace to the soul.
Shall never hunger – See the notes at Joh 4:14.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I am the bread of life; the bread that giveth spiritual and eternal life, and the bread that upholdeth and maintains spiritual life; the Messiah, whom God hath sent into the world, to quicken those that are dead in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1; and to give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given me. But those that have this life, must come unto me; which he interprets in the next phrase by believing in him. Thus he taketh them off all gross and carnal conceptions of eating and drinking in a carnal manner; and minds them to think of getting and maintaining another kind of life than they dreamed of. By believing in him, we have formerly showed is to be understood a receiving of him as the Mediator and Saviour of men, and closing with him, and committing their souls in all their spiritual concerns unto him; and he that doth so (saith he) shall never hunger nor thirst; that is, shall never want any thing necessary for him for life and eternal happiness. And for things of this life, he shall have food convenient for him; he shall be fed, Psa 37:3. See such a promise, Isa 49:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35. I am the bread oflifeHenceforth the discourse is all in the first person,“I,” “Me,” which occur in one form or other, asSTIER reckons, thirty-fivetimes.
he that cometh to metoobtain what the soul craves, and as the only all-sufficient andordained source of supply.
hunger . . . thirstshallhave conscious and abiding satisfaction.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life,…. Christ is so called, because he gives life to dead sinners: men in a state of nature are dead in trespasses and sins; and whatever they feed upon tends to death; Christ, the true bread, only gives life, which is conveyed by the word, and made effectual by the Spirit: and because he supports and maintains the life he gives; it is not in the power of a believer to support the spiritual life he has; nor can he live on anything short of Christ; and there is enough in Christ for him to live upon: and because he quickens, and makes the saints lively in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty, and renews their spiritual strength, and secures for them eternal life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger; not corporeally to hear him preach, or preached, or merely to his ordinances, to baptism, or the Lord’s table; but so as to believe in him, feed, and live upon him, as the next clause explains it:
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst; and which is owing, not to the power and will of man, but to divine teachings, and the powerful drawings of the efficacious grace of God; see Joh 6:44. Now of such it is said, that they shall never hunger and thirst; which is true of them in this life, though not to be understood as there were no sinful desires in them; much less, that there are no spiritual hungerings and thirstings after they are come to Christ; but that they shall not desire any other food but Christ; they shall be satisfied with him; nor shall they hereafter be in a starving and famishing condition, or want any good thing: and in the other world there will be no desires after that which is sinful, nor indeed after outward ordinances, in order to enjoy communion with God in them, as now, for they will then be needless; nor shall they have any uneasy desires after Christ, and his grace, and the enjoyment of him, since he will be all in all to them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I am the bread of life ( ). This sublime sentence was startling in the extreme to the crowd. Philo does compare the manna to the in an allegorical sense, but this language is far removed from Philo’s vagueness. In the Synoptics (Mark 14:22; Matt 26:26; Luke 22:19) Jesus uses bread () as the symbol of his body in the Lord’s Supper, but here Jesus offers himself in place of the loaves and fishes which they had come to seek (John 6:24; John 6:26). He is the bread of life in two senses: it has life in itself, the living bread (51), and it gives life to others like the water of life, the tree of life. John often has Jesus saying “I am” ( ). As also in John 6:41; John 6:48; John 6:51; John 8:12; John 10:7; John 10:9; John 10:11; John 10:14; John 11:25; John 14:6; John 15:1; John 15:5.
He that cometh to me ( ). The first act of the soul in approaching Jesus. See also verse 37.
Shall not hunger ( ). Strong double negative with first aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive, “shall not become hungry.”
He that believeth on me ( ). The continuous relation of trust after coming like (present tense) in verse 29. See both verbs used together also in 7:37f.
Shall never thirst ( ). So the old MSS. the future active indicative instead of the aorist subjunctive as above, an even stronger form of negation with (1:18) added.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I am the bread of life. A form of expression peculiar to John. See vv. 41, 48, 51; Joh 8:12; Joh 10:7, 9, 11, 14; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6; Joh 14:1, 5.
Cometh – believeth. Faith in its active aspect and in its resting aspect. Never [ ] . Rather, in nowise, or by no means. Rev., shall not.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And Jesus said unto them,” (eipen autois ho lesous) “Jesus said to them,” to those who had asked for this bread that continually gives life assurance to the world, Joh 6:34.
2) “I am the bread of life: (ego eimi ho artos tes zoes) “I am (exist as) the bread of life,” “the living bread,” Joh 6:51, the life sustaining food for the soul. His entire discourse led to this simple and dear affirmation. As water and bread are necessary to sustain physical life, so is acceptance of Jesus as Savior necessary to have spiritual water and bread for the soul, Joh 4:14; Joh 7:38; Isa 55:1-3.
3) “He that cometh to me shall never hunger; (ho erchomenos pros eme ou me peinase) “The one who comes to me hungers by no means at all;- As bread is necessary, available, and universally satisfying to physical hunger, above any other type of food, so is Jesus Christ necessary, available, and universally satisfying to all who trust in Him, for He “satisfieth,” without ceasing, the “longing soul,” Psa 107:9; Joh 5:40.
4) “And he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (kai ho pisteuon eis eme ou me dipsesei popote) “And the one who believes or trusts in me will never thirst, not by any means at all;- A double negative is here used to emphasize the unbreakable continuity of salvation of the soul, or deliverance of the soul forever from thirst and hunger, Joh 6:29; Joh 6:47; Joh 7:38-39. Our Lord thus identifies Himself as: a) The “bread of life,” Joh 6:35. b) The “living bread,” Joh 6:51. c) The “bread which came down from heaven,” Joh 6:33; Joh 6:41; Joh 6:58.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
35. I am the bread of life. First, he shows that the bread, which they asked in mockery, is before their eyes; and, next, he reproves them. He begins with doctrine, to make it more evident that they were guilty of ingratitude. There are two parts of the doctrine; for he shows whence we ought to seek life, and how we may enjoy it. We know what gave occasion to Christ to use those metaphors; it was because manna and daily food had been mentioned. But still this figure is better adapted to teach ignorant persons than a simple style. When we eat bread for the nourishment of the body, we see more clearly not only our own weakness, but also the power of divine grace, than if, without, bread, God were to impart a secret power to nourish the body itself. Thus, the analogy which is traced between the body and the soul, enables us to perceive more clearly the grace of Christ. For when we learn that Christ is the bread by which our souls must be fed, this penetrates more deeply into our hearts than if Christ simply said that he is our life
It ought to be observed, however, that the word bread does not express the quickening power of Christ so fully as we feel it; for bread does not commence life, but nourishes and upholds that life which we already possess. But, through the kindness of Christ, we not only continue to possess life, but have the beginning of life, and therefore the comparison is partly inappropriate; but there is no inconsistency in this, for Christ adapts his style to the circumstances of the discourse which he formerly delivered. Now the question had been raised, Which of the two was more eminent in feeding men, Moses or Christ himself? This is also the reason why he calls it bread only, for it was only the manna that they objected to him, and, therefore, he reckoned it enough to contrast with it a different kind of bread The simple doctrine is, “Our souls do not live by an intrinsic power, so to speak, that is, by a power which they have naturally in themselves, (145) but borrow life from Christ.”
He who cometh to me. He now defines the way of taking this food; it is when we receive Christ by faith. For it is of no avail to unbelievers that Christ is the bread of life, because they remain always empty; but then does Christ become our bread, when we come to him as hungry persons, that he may fill us. To come to Christ and to believe mean, in this passage, the same thing; but the former word is intended to express the effect of faith, namely, that it is in consequence of being driven by the feeling of our hunger that we fly to Christ to seek life.
Those who infer from this passage that to eat Christ is faith, and nothing else, reason inconclusively. I readily acknowledge that there is no other way in which we eat Christ than by believing; but the eating is the effect and fruit of faith rather than faith itself. For faith does not look at Christ only as at a distance, but embraces him, that he may become ours and may dwell in us. It causes us to be incorporated with him, to have life in common with him, and, in short, to become one with him, (Joh 17:21.) It is therefore true that by faith alone we eat Christ, provided we also understand in what manner faith unites us to him.
Shall never thirst. This appears to be added without any good reason; for the office of bread is not to quench thirst, but to allay hunger. Christ therefore attributes to bread more than its nature allows. I have already said, that he employs the word bread alone because it was required by the comparison between the manna and the heavenly power of Christ, by which our souls are sustained in life. At the same time, by the word bread, he means in general all that nourishes us, and that according to the ordinary custom of his nation. For the Hebrews, by the figure of speech called synecdoche, use the word bread for dinner or supper; and when we ask from God our daily bread, (Mat 6:11,) we include drink and all the other parts of life. The meaning therefore is, “Whoever shall betake himself to Christ, to have life from him, will want nothing, but will have in abundance all that contributes to sustain life.”
(145) “ Qu’elles ayent en elles naturellement.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(35) I am the bread of life.Comp. again the conversation with the woman of Samaria. Here they have asked for this bread, the bread which giveth life, as distinct from that which perisheth. It is now present with them. He is that bread, whose characteristic is life. He is the Word of God, revealing God to man, teaching the eternal truths which are the life of the spirit just as bread is of the body.
He that cometh to me . . . he that believeth on me.The natural bread satisfied no need unless it was appropriated and eaten. Prompted by hunger, they had taken into hand and mouth the loaves He had given them, and were filled. The same law holds for the spiritual bread. It is taken by him who comes to Christ; it is eaten by him who believes on Him, and it satisfies every need. It sustains the spiritual life in strength, and refreshes it in weariness. The bread of life giveth a principle of life, and he who hungereth and thirsteth for it shall also be filled, but with that which abideth, so that he shall never hunger and shall never thirst. (Comp. Mat. 5:6.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
35. I am the bread of life The he of Joh 6:33 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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus said to them, ‘I am the life-giving bread (bread of life), the one who comes to me will never hunger and the one who commits himself to me in faith will never thirst.”
Now the full meaning of what Jesus was saying is made clear. He was the One Who had come down from Heaven and was offering life to the world, and they must now ‘eat’ continually of Him by coming to Him in full commitment to Him and His teaching, and putting their trust in Him. As they do so their spiritual hunger will be satisfied, and their spiritual thirst will be quenched. The coming was to be a continual one, as was the believing. They were to come and go on coming. They were to believe and go on believing. The life-giving bread was like the living water offered to the Samaritan woman in chapter 4. It would satisfy the soul and give life. It was Spirit imparted spiritual bread bringing Jesus home to their hearts.
We should note here that coming to Him was the equivalent of eating, for it would satisfy their hunger, and believing was the equivalent of drinking, for it would satisfy their thirst. It is preparing the way for the more difficult illustration later on. One meaning of ‘eating and drinking’ is ‘coming and believing’.
It was a wonderful promise. He offers a full satisfying of the hunger and thirst of the soul. And the solution was available by response to Jesus Christ. And it was made available to those who continually came to Jesus Christ, and continually believed and trusted in Him. It was a wholly spiritual experience.
This is the first of the great ‘I am’ sayings. The Pharisees rightly pointed away from themselves to God and to Moses, (although were often not loath to take great credit on themselves), but Jesus could point to Himself because of Who He was. If they would have life it was to Him that men must look and nowhere else, for He had come from God and God was working through Him as His Son. This deliberate and continual pointing to Himself, and calling on people to believe in Him, is a further indication of deity.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus the Bread of Life:
v. 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am he Bread of Life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.
v. 36. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen Me, and believe not.
v. 37. All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
v. 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.
v. 39. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
v. 40. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus now makes a plain, frank statement. He had not said that He would give the wonderful bread that came down from heaven, but He had asserted that this miraculous Bread which came down from heaven had the power to give eternal life. He Himself is that Bread of Life. No matter who it is that comes to Him, he will no more suffer with hunger, just as he that drinks of the living water of His salvation will never again be bothered with thirst. To come to Jesus means to believe in Him as the Savior of the world. All the desires and longings of the soul find their complete gratification in Him and His mercy. But although the Son of God and such perfect satisfaction was brought so neat to the Jews, yet they did not believe. They have seen Him in His ministry of miracles, and they have heard the words of life which issued from His mouth at such times, but they have refused to believe. They should know, therefore, that everything which the Father gives to the Son will come to Him. To come to Jesus is to believe; faith is a spiritual coming. The heart and the will of a person goes to Christ, is joined to Christ. All those people actually come to Jesus whom the Father has given to Him as His own. Faith is the result of God’s merciful selection. It is a call and selection of grace, and therefore none of those that come to Him in faith will the Lord cast out. God’s thoughts are thoughts of peace and mercy only; He has no desire for the death of any sinner. To fulfill this merciful kind purpose of His heavenly Father Jesus has come into the world. It is the will of the Father that Jesus lose none of those whom the Father has given Him. They are all equally precious in His sight, far too dearly bought to be lost. Those, therefore, whom the Father has given to the Son as His own, the Son should raise from the dead on the last day to give them the full enjoyment of the blessings and the glory which are their heritage. For the sake of clearness and emphasis, Jesus repeats the same thought. It is the will of the Father who sent the Son into the world that everyone that looks upon the Son in faith, that accepts Him as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, shall, without fail, have eternal life, shall become partaker of the glories of heaven by and in the resurrection. In Christ we have been chosen unto eternal life.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Bread and Water
Joh 6:35
The subject is clearly, Bread and Water. You call these common things, and my object will be to show that their commonness is not a defect, but an excellence; that their very excellence has occasioned their commonness; and that their commonness corresponds to a common want in the constitution of mankind. I will take the simple idea of bread and water, and apply it socially in the first place and trace it upward to its highest and divinest meaning.
Let us look in upon the greatest feast ever spread for the refreshment and delight of kings. All delicacies shall be there that can be found in wood and air and sea: the richest wines shall sparkle and foam and glow upon the sumptuous board; and the fragrances arising from this luxurious feast shall excite and regale the appetite of hungry men. Now what have we there? What is the fundamental idea? What is the nucleus of the abounding and tempting feast? Surprising as it may seem, the whole thing is but an adaptation of bread and water! It is bread and water decorated; bread and water more or less adulterated; bread and water supposed to be at their best as to refinement, and richness, and power of gastronomic temptation and satisfaction. And if you could follow the sated guests into their privacy you would hear them say, in effect, “All this fine living is well enough now and then, but only now and then, after all; let us have something plain and substantial,” in a word, let them have bread and water. What is this prodigious art of the high cook? He is bound, like other popular slaves, to produce something fresh; without novelty he sinks into a common baker; a new relish may mean a new fortune; a new gravy may give him a country house and a footman; a new adaptation of an omelette may enable him to start a shooting box, but it is bread and water that he works upon; bread and water are the basis of his fortune; he lives by mystifying the public, and mightily laughs at the trick by which he has made men think that bread crumbs have some connection with far-off spice groves and Ceylon breezes. Offer your guests plain bread and water, and they will not often call your way; but dress up the bread and water, torture them, colour them, spice them, and they will praise the delicacy and excellence of the viands. But bread and water survive! These are the things that cannot be shaken. Empires of soups and entrees, wines and liqueurs, rise and fall, but the steady old friends bread and water remain as the unadorned and ever wholesome gifts of God. Ay, poor cook, clever trickster, half a creator, under all thy enchantments and wizardries there are the plain bread and water; disguise them, bribe them, paint them, and wreathe around them all manner of cunning ornamentation, they are but bread and water; the image and the superscription are the cook’s, but the bread and water themselves are God’s! Name the dishes that delighted Babylonian gluttons, and rehearse the menu which made the Egyptian gourmands smack their sensual lips; you cannot; these are forgotten delights, paste-boards that perished in the fire; but bread and water come steadily along the ages, over the graves of empires and the ashes of royalty, having escaped the tortures of the crudest cooks and shown themselves to be the primary and necessary gifts of God.
Well, the application of this is obvious in higher spheres of life, such, for example, as the culture and satisfaction of the intellect. Reading and writing are the bread and water of the mind. Give a child the power of reading and writing and let him do the rest for himself; it is worth doing (at least some of it), and let him find it out and he will value it the more. Your duty is done in giving the reading and the writing, the intellectual bread and water. But fine cookery is imitated in fine intelligence and with like results in some cases, namely mental indigestion and ill-health. Hence, we have imperfect French, caricatured German, and murdered music, and the native tongue and the native history are passed by as quite secondary if not beneath contempt. It is better to chatter French in a way which nobody can understand than to speak good plain exact English, is it not? We must be fine at all costs. We must have a few knick-knacks on the mantelpiece, even if we have not a bed to sleep on. We must be able to say, Parlez-vous Franaise even if we cannot pay our debts. When will people learn to prize bread and water? When will they see that it is better to know a little well, than to know next to nothing about a good deal? O when? This is not a little matter, it is a matter of great importance, from the fact that it is an index of character. I do not laugh at a man whose learning ends at the multiplication table, but I may laugh with grim amusement at a man who speaks hotel French and then spells October with an h. Give your children intellectual bread and water without grudging, that is to say, give them a thorough grounding in the beginnings and elements of knowledge, and let them do the rest for themselves.
These illustrations prepare the way for the highest truth of all, namely, that Jesus Christ is the bread and water without which we cannot live. He never says he is a high delicacy, a rare luxury, a feast which the rich alone can afford; he says that he is bread and water, he likens himself not to the luxuries but to the necessaries of life, and in so doing he shows a wisdom, a reach of mind, a grasp of human nature, which should save him from the attacks of malignant men. An adventurer would not have seen in metaphors so humble a philosophy so profound. Adventurers like big words and glaring figures; they speak great swelling words of vanity; they search heaven and earth for effective figures; they disdain the sling and the stone. Not so with Jesus Christ; he is Bread, he is Water, he is Light, he is the Door, he is the Shepherd, and these words, so simple, stretch their meaning around the whole circle of human life, and by their choice alone is the supreme wisdom of Jesus Christ abundantly attested.
Let us go further into this matter by a little detailed inquiry and illustration.
1. Man needs Jesus Christ as a necessity and not as a luxury. You may be pleased to have flowers, but you must have bread. Christ presents himself as exactly fulfilling this analogy. Our whole life is based on one or two simple but necessary lines; we must have food , we must have shelter, we must have security. But into how many glorifications have all these simple necessaries passed! We have just spoken about food. Now look at shelter, how styles of architecture have grown out of that idea! We talk of Doric, and Grecian, and Gothic; of Norman arches and Corinthian capitals; and indeed we have a long and perplexing nomenclature, all coming out of the fact that man must have a place to go into when the weather is rough and when sleep is needed. Out of the need of shelter has come the science or art of architecture! Is this wrong? Most certainly not. It is a trait of civilisation. It is a sign of refinement and progress. But let an architect of high fancy be called in to build you a house, he gives you a fine elevation, a noble porch, a splendid dome; but in the fever of his fancy he has forgotten the foundations, overlooked the drainage, omitted the joists, and made no provision for the escape of the smoke. How then? Of what avail is it that there is much elaboration of cunning masonry on the front of the house? You could have done without the stone faces above the mullions, but you cannot do without the chimneys and the joists. It is exactly after the bearing of this analogy that Jesus Christ has often been presented in preaching and in books. He has been offered as an ornament merely. He has been preached as the most curious and entertaining of all riddles. He has been treated as the successor of Plato, or Solon, or Seneca. In this way, generally indeed intended to be respectful, the whole purpose of his coming into the world has been overlooked. He has not been presented as bread and water, or the very first and most indispensable necessity of life; he has been treated as a phenomenon; cabineted as a rarity in human history; labelled as a remarkable specimen; and in this way even some of his admirers have ignorantly betrayed and dishonoured the Lord. Jesus is not a phenomenon, he is bread: Christ is not a curiosity, he is water. As surely as we cannot live without bread we cannot live truly without Christ; if we know not Christ we are not living, our movement is a mechanical flutter, our pulse is but the stirring of an animal life. It is in this way, then, that Jesus Christ is to be preached. It is even so I would preach him now, I would call him the water of life; I would speak of him as the true bread sent down from heaven; I would tell men that it is impossible to live without him; I would say, with heightening passion, with glowing and ineffable love, that he only, even the holy Christ of God, can satisfy the hunger and the thirst of the soul of man. In this way I claim a distinct vocation as a preacher. I am not one amongst many who try to do the world good; as a Christian preacher, or a preacher of Christ, I offer the only thing that can vitally and sufficiently touch the world’s condition, and thus the position of the Christian preacher is absolutely without similitude or parallel, in that the choice he offers is life or death, salvation or ruin, heaven or hell.
2. What has been the effect of omitting to declare Christ simply as bread and water? Leaving the simplicity of Christ we have elaborated theological sciences, established and promulgated with solemn sanctions the most intricate creeds; we have worked out a very high and cunning symbolism; we have filled the church with incense, with garments of many colours and many significances, ceremony after ceremony we have contrived; we have called councils, synods, and congresses; we have constituted splendid hierarchies, with mitres and crooks, and clothing precious with gold and glaring with ardent colour. All this have we done, O Son of God, though thou didst call thyself bread and water! We have gathered around thee liturgies and suffrages and gowns and bands and surplices and chants and censers and albs and stoles and chasubles, though thou didst call thyself Bread and Water! We have drawn a long and often mutinous procession of reverends and most reverends and right reverends and very reverends, and doctors and deans and eminences and holinesses and suffragans and novices and licentiates, though thou didst call thyself bread and water! Horrible, indeed, and quite infinite is the contemptibleness of all this, and shall I not even say the sin? Suppose some inquiring stranger looking on and asking, What does all this mean? I should answer, not without sharpness and indignation, It means that man is a fool, and that he prefers vanity to truth. This is not the Saviour. This is not the way to God. This is not the door of heaven. This is incubus and rubbish and abomination. Christ is bread; Christ is water; Christ is the one answer to thy difficulties, the one healer of thy wounds, the one Saviour of thy soul. Oh, but the curse of this mischief is terrible to contemplate! Poor souls are left to believe that they can only get to Christ by seeing ministers and priests and bishops, by learning catechisms, by swallowing dogmas they neither understand nor appreciate, and by listening to the mumbling and muttering of certain ecclesiastical men in livery. Oh the horribleness! Oh the blasphemy! Is not the devil laughing the while and filling his cruel hand with additional prey? My friend, man eager to know the truth, Christ is bread; Christ is water; he is nigh thee; take the pure Bible and read it for thyself, read it in solitude, read it with earnest desire to know its living claim upon thyself, and thou shalt see the Lord, and feel the Cross, and eat the heavenly bread.
3. History furnishes a most graphic confirmation of these views. John Stuart Mill says, “Let rational criticism take from us what it may, it still leaves us the Christ.” Exactly so; it still leaves us the bread and water! It still leaves us all we want. It takes away all human conceits and decorations, and it leaves the living bread. It mortifies the theological cook and confectioner, it humbles the decorator of tables, but it leaves the living water! Theological revolutions have come and theological revolutions have gone; timid souls have trembled as if the sanctuary had been destroyed, but when the noise has passed and the cloud has rolled off, behold the bread and water remain, and Welcome is written on the tables of the Lord! Men cannot get rid of Christ simply because they cannot get rid of themselves. Marvellous is it to watch how the Lord allows the chaff to blow away, but saves every grain of the precious wheat; and quite marvellous, too, is it to see how some nervous people think that the wheat is lost because the chaff has been scattered by the wind. The Lord will lose nothing. Society revolutionises itself, but society still lives. Theologies, eastern and western, wear themselves out, but the bread and water are still there, incorruptible and unlimited. Do we fear the dissolution of the earth because an owl’s nest has fallen? Will the sun not rise tomorrow because a candle has been blown out? Bethink thee, faithless soul, they are but accidents that change, the essentials abide,
I fancy we should change our standpoint in viewing all the revolutions and disasters that occurred within the limits of Christendom. Hitherto we have thought of them as the results of intellectual pride or spiritual insubordination. We have mourned over men as fallen creatures because they have risen against the systems in which they were reared. But possibly we are wrong. It may be Christ himself who is at work. He is the great Revolutionist. This may be Christ’s own way of clearing off the rubbish which has been piled upon his holy name. Christ pulls down papacies and hierarchies and rituals, that he may show that these are not needful, that all human contrivances are departures from his Divine simplicity, and that he wishes to be known through all ages and amongst all men as the Bread and Water of human souls. He knows that our temptation is to make more of externals than of realities, hence he turns his providence against us, hurls down our cathedrals and temples and ministers, and says he will be known only as Bread and Water, not as a compound of coloured and poisonous confection. O the deceitfulness of the human heart in this matter of serving Christ! We tell lies to ourselves about it. We talk about enriching our services, ennobling our architecture, educating our ministers, creating universities, founding endowments, originating retreats of elegant leisure for the production of technical literature. Rubbish, all of it! Christ asks nothing of the kind at our hands. He prefers his own Spirit, to our culture. “It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” saith the Lord. “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity even the solemn meeting.” What, then, are we to do? “Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Thus we are driven back to simplicity; our “culture” is thrown down and dashed to pieces as a potter’s vessel, and nothing stands but the bread and the water, the first verities, the essential graces, of the Lord’s Christ.
I care not how rich our music, how noble our architecture, how imposing our method of worship, if all this be kept strictly in its proper place. I love beauty; I am moved to passion and heroism by inspiring music; I would make the Lord’s house glad with every expression of love; but this done, I would write on the doorposts, on the roof, and on every panel, the words of Jesus: “In this place is one greater than the temple.” I prefer knowledge to ignorance, but I prefer holiness to either. Culture, when not a chattering and fussy prig, may be right noble and even majestic; but nothing is so cold as culture, and nothing so mean, when not inflamed and impassioned by the Spirit of Christ. Today the pulpit is in danger of being killed by miscalled culture. Men think that because they have been to college five years they ought to be preachers, which is as logical as to say that a man who has driven an omnibus five years ought to be able to take a ship across the Atlantic. The Lord continually dashes these culture-pots to pieces like a potter’s vessel, by making preachers of his own, and clothing them with mysterious but most beneficent power.
We must go back to bread and water, Our dainties must be given up. Our habits are too luxurious; we arc killing our souls with sweet poisons; we are, by our fabrications and masonries and fine fancies, exalting ourselves above the Lord; so I would call myself back to the simplicity of Christ, and find all I want in his grace and truth.
Prayer
Almighty God, we have come up out of the world into the church, a holy and chosen place, to make mention of thy goodness, to recall thy mercies, to meditate upon thy word and to have our spiritual strength renewed. We have also come up to the Cross that we may have our sins taken away, not by ministry of man, nor by ceremonial of church, but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We bless thee that the Cross is more than our guilt that the blood of Christ abounds where our sin abounded once, and that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the King, is able to destroy our sin and to cause it to be remembered no more for ever. We love the Saviour we love him most when our torment is intolerable: it is then we see what he really did as the atonement and the propitiation for the sins of the world. We love his words we love the tones of his voice, we love the smiling of his gentle face: but oh what words can tell the depth and passion of our love when we see our sin as it really is, and we feel our helplessness, and then behold the outstretched Priest, the dying Sacrifice. It is then our hope returns, and then doth our heart glow with fire from Heaven.
We rejoice that we care for thy word and for thy worship: this feeling elevates our whole nature, brings up our entire strength to its finest energy, and enables us with triumph, with holy scorn, to stand above the temptations and the lures of this world and all that is lowest in our own life, and to seize the enjoyments and securities of heaven. Thy word clears the future it levels the hill that keeps away from our vision the delights and the beauties of the Coming Land. It levels up the deep places and overbridges the yawning chasms and gulfs, that we may reach towards the heavenly and eternal. Lord, evermore show us the meaning of thy word may it be to us a word of ever-enlarging significance. We can never fully realise all its purpose its sacredness will be an eternal mystery; still may we be drawn forward by that great, kind, loving word to some deeper knowledge and some higher excellence.
We are tired of ourselves the world is a weariness to us its prizes are deceits, its delights are mockeries: it draws us forward by many a fascination only that it may sting us with many a disappointment. Behold the earth under our feet is hollow as a tomb that is waiting to enclose the living. There is nothing true but God: there is nothing lasting but thy light there is nothing sufficient but thy grace. Thou hast placed us in this world of beginnings and shadows and alphabets forbid that we should regard it as the only world; help us to look upon it as a porch to the universe, the opening of the infinite spaces and liberties of thy kingdom. And thus seizing the present, we shall hold it with a light hand, and reserve our veneration and our loyalty for things eternal and complete.
We desire as heads of houses to bless thee: bread has been upon our table and our cup has overrun. Thou hast defended our habitations, thou hast been merciful to every member of the household; the master and the servant bless thee, the old man and his grandchild thank the same God. Receive therefore our homage as heads of houses, members of families, fathers, mothers, children, servants may we unite in singing high psalms, may our hearts find an outgoing in the same hallowed supplication. Wherein we have suffered, help us to see the Lord’s hand in it: suffer us not to look upon our disappointments as complete in themselves: may we look upon life as a whole, see the relation of its various parts, feel that no one member of it is complete in itself may we measure all things by the eternal, may we desire the decisions and judgments of God, and not the conclusions of our own false understanding. Help us in all things to resign our life, our will, our work into thy hands, thou King of kings, thou Lord of lords.
Whether our days be few or many we cannot tell we would not know. The Son of Man must come when he pleases, not when we desire: may we be ready for his coming with welcomes, with the entire hospitality and bounding delights and desires of our expectant souls, so that he may have a full incoming into the habitations of our hearts. We put all our concerns into thine hands the letter difficult to answer, the appeal for which we have no present response, the sorrow for which we have not yet found a balm, the tears that scald us in their running, the life that is ebbing away, the business that seems to be receding from us notwithstanding our patience and industry we put our whole case into thine hands, saying, “Undertake for us, lead us as thou wilt.”
Now let us continue thy praise with increasing delight, search into the mysteries of thy word as men search in fields in which pearls are hidden, in which silver is to be found, and thus may the morning worship and meditation make us strong for the contests and the endurances of the coming week. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Ver. 35. I am that bread of life ] Christ, passing by that bitter scoff of theirs, proceeds to teach them. The servant of the Lord must “not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,” &c., 2Ti 2:24 .
Shall never hunger ] That is, shall never be painfully or despairingly hungry, utterly destitute of grace and glory; but shall continually feed at the feast of a good conscience, and at length sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
35. ] As in ch. Joh 5:30 , so here, our Lord passes from the indirect to the direct form of speech. Henceforward it is ‘I,’ ‘Me,’ throughout the discourse.
In the genitive is implied . . So in ch. 4.
On the assurance of never hungering or thirsting , see note at ch. Joh 4:14 . It is possible that our Lord placed the all-satisfying bread of life in contrast to the manna, which was no sooner given , Exo 16 , than the people began to thirst , Exo 17 ; but I would not lay any stress on this.
. . is in the same sense as in ch. Joh 5:40 that of acceptance of and faith in Him.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 6:35-40
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Joh 6:35 “I am the bread of life” This is one of the “I Am” statements which is so characteristic of John (cf. Joh 6:35; Joh 6:41; Joh 6:48; Joh 6:51; Joh 8:12; Joh 10:7; Joh 10:9; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:14; Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6; Joh 15:1; Joh 15:5). John’s Gospel focuses on the person of Christ. This is related to the Jews’ Messianic expectations about manna and the new Law giver Who would bring a new exodus (from sin). See note at Joh 8:12.
“He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” These are two strong Double negatives in Greek, “will never no never” (cf. Joh 6:37).
There is a parallel relationship between “comes” and “believes” (cf. Joh 7:37-38, similar to “sees” and “hears”). They are both present participles. Believers’ coming and believing are not one-time decisions, but the beginning of a lifestyle of fellowship, friendship and followship.
“hunger. . .thirst” Hunger and thirst were often used to describe spiritual reality (cf. Psa 42:1; Isa 55:1; Amo 8:11-12; Mat 5:6).
Joh 6:36 “that you have seen Me” Some ancient witnesses (MSS , A, and many Old Latin, Vulgate, and Syriac versions) omit “Me,” making Jesus’ statement refer to His sign (i.e., feeding the crowd). The pronoun is included in so many Greek manuscripts and versions that the UBS4 could not decide which was original.
Joh 6:37 “All that My Father gives Me will come to Me” The primary emphasis of this passage is on the sovereignty of God. The two definitive passages on this theological truth are Romans 9 and Eph 1:3-14. It is interesting that in both contexts mankind’s response is required. Romans 10 has seven all inclusive phrases. This is also the case in Ephesians 2, where the discussions of God’ grace in Joh 6:1-7 issue in a call to faith in Joh 6:8-9. Predestination is a doctrine for the redeemed, not a barrier to the unsaved. The key to unlock the doctrine is the love and grace of God, not eternal decrees. Notice that all who God gives to Jesus also “come” to Him. God always takes the initiative (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65), but humans must respond (cf. Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16). See Special Topic at Joh 3:16.
“the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” This is another strong double negative. This emphasizes the truth that God calls and welcomes everyone to Himself through Christ (cf. Eze 18:21-23; Ezekiel 30-32; 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9). God always takes the initiative (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65), but humans must respond (cf. Mar 1:15; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21). What a wonderful passage on security (cf. Rom 8:31-39)!
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE
Joh 6:38 “I have come down from heaven” This is perfect tense which refers to the Incarnation (cf. Joh 1:1 ff; Eph 4:8-10), and its results remain. It also shows the heavenly origin of Jesus (cf .vv. 41,62).
“not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” The NT asserts both the unity of the Trinity (see Special Topic at Joh 14:26), example Joh 14:8-9 and the personality of the three persons. This verse is part of John’s ongoing emphasis on Jesus’ submissiveness to the Father. See full note at Joh 5:19. See Special Topic: Send (Apostell) at Joh 5:24.
Joh 6:39 “that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing” There is an obvious relationship between the neuter singular “all that” of Joh 6:37 and the neuter singular of Joh 6:39. John uses this unusual form several times (cf. Joh 17:2; Joh 17:24). It apparently emphasizes the corporate whole (cf. Joh 6:40; Joh 6:45).
This is a great promise of God’s keeping power, a source of Christian assurance (cf. Joh 10:28-29; Joh 17:2; Joh 17:24, see Special Topic at 1Jn 5:13). Notice that the verb tense of Joh 6:37 is Present tense, while in Joh 6:39 it is perfect tense. God’s gift abides! Also the last two affirmations of Joh 6:39 are both aorist active; Jesus does not lose any of that which the Father has given to Him (Joh 6:37; Joh 6:39) and He raises all those who are given to Him on the last day (cf. Joh 6:44). Here are the divine promises of (1) election and (2) perseverance!
This concept of a day of consummation (both positive and negative) is called by several titles.
1. the last days, Joh 6:39-40; Joh 6:44; Joh 6:54; Joh 11:24; Joh 12:48; 2Ti 3:1; 1Pe 1:5; 2Pe 3:3
2. the last time, 1Jn 2:18; Jud 1:18
3. that day, Mat 7:22; 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 1:18; 2Ti 4:8
4. a day, Act 17:31
5. the great day, Jud 1:6
6. the day, Luk 17:30; 1Co 3:13; 1Th 5:4; Heb 10:25
7. His day, Luk 17:24
8. the day of the Lord, 1Th 5:2; 2Th 2:2
9. the day of Christ, Php 1:10; Php 2:16
10. the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1Co 1:8; 1Co 5:5
11. the day of the Lord Jesus, 2Co 1:14
12. the day of Christ Jesus, Php 1:6
13. the day of the Son of man, Luk 17:24 (see also #7)
14. day of judgment, Mat 10:15; Mat 11:22; Mat 11:24; Mat 12:36; 2Pe 2:9; 2Pe 3:7; 1Jn 4:17
15. day of wrath, Rev 6:17
16. The great day of God – Rev 16:14
“but raise it up in the last day” This refers to resurrection day for believers but judgment day for unbelievers (cf. Joh 6:40; Joh 6:44; Joh 6:54; Joh 5:25; Joh 5:28; Joh 11:24 and 1 Corinthians 15). Frank Stagg has a helpful statement at this point in his A New Testament Theology:
“The Gospel of John is emphatic about a future coming (Joh 14:3; Joh 14:18 f.,28; Joh 16:16; Joh 16:22) and it speaks clearly of the resurrection and final judgment ‘in the last day’ (Joh 5:28 f., Joh 6:39 f., 44,54; Joh 11:24; Joh 12:48); yet throughout this Fourth Gospel, eternal life, judgment, and resurrection are present realities (Joh 3:18 f.; Joh 4:23; Joh 5:25; Joh 6:54; Joh 11:23 ff.; Joh 12:28; Joh 12:31; Joh 13:31 f.; Joh 14:17; Joh 17:26)” (p. 311).
Joh 6:40 “this is the will of My Father” This is Jesus’ answer to the question of Joh 6:28, “what shall we do that we may work the words of God?” See Special Topic: The Will of God at Joh 4:34.
“that everyone who beholds the Son” The present active participles of “beholding” and “believing” are parallel (like “comes” and “believes” in Joh 6:35, like “sees” and “hears”). These are ongoing actions, not one-time events. The term “beholding” meant “to gaze intently” at something so as to understand or know it.
I surely like the term “everyone” (pas), notice
1. that all might believe through him, Joh 1:7
2. enlightens every man, Joh 1:9
3. whoever believes may in Him have eternal life, Joh 3:15
4. that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, Joh 3:16
5. that all may honor the Son, Joh 5:23
6.-9. Joh 6:37; Joh 6:39-40; Joh 6:45
10. everyone who loves and believes in Me shall never die, Joh 11:26
11. I, if I, be lifted up from the earth will draw all men to Myself, Joh 12:32
12. everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness, Joh 12:46
This is the mystery of sovereignty (cf. Joh 6:38-39; Joh 17:2; Joh 17:24 vs. freewill). Both are somehow true. For me the theological concept of “covenant” unites them best!
“believes in Him” Remember that salvation is primarily a personal relationship, not a creed, correct theology, or a moral lifestyle (cf. Joh 3:16; Joh 11:25-26). The stress is on the object of one’s faith, not the intensity. See Special Topic at Joh 2:23.
Notice the balance of the emphasis on God’s sovereign choice in Joh 6:37 a,39,44,65 and mankind’s faith response in Joh 6:37 b,40. These biblical tensions must be maintained. God’s sovereignty and mankind’s free will form the twin aspects of biblical covenant.
“may have eternal life” This is a present active subjunctive; a response is required (cf. 1Jn 5:11). Also note that Joh 6:39 is corporate, while Joh 6:40 is individual. This is the paradox of salvation.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
am the bread of life. A form of expression peculiar to this Gospel. The Figure of speech Metaphor (App-6), which carries over, and asserts that one thing is, i.e. represents the other; thus differing from Simile, and Hypocatastasis (App-6). See App-159. Note the seven (App-10) examples in this Gospel: I am the Bread of Life (Joh 6:35, Joh 6:41, Joh 6:48, Joh 6:51); the Light of the world (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5); the Door of the sheep (Joh 10:7, Joh 10:9); the Good Shepherd (Joh 10:11, Joh 10:14); the Resurrection and the Life (Joh 11:25); the true and living Way (Joh 14:6); the true Vine (Joh 15:1, Joh 15:5).
never = in no wise. Greek. ou me. App-105.
never thirst = in no wise at any time (Greek. ou me . . . popote) thirst. Greek.supply the Ellipsis by repeating “popote” after “hunger”. Both Authorized Version and Revised Version renderings are inadequate. The Authorized Version includes the Greek popote in the second “never”. The Revised Version weakens the first “never” by rendering it “not”. Neither Authorized Version nor Revised Version give the force of the strong negative ou me.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
35.] As in ch. Joh 5:30, so here, our Lord passes from the indirect to the direct form of speech. Henceforward it is I, Me, throughout the discourse.
In the genitive is implied . . So in ch. 4.
On the assurance of never hungering or thirsting, see note at ch. Joh 4:14. It is possible that our Lord placed the all-satisfying bread of life in contrast to the manna, which was no sooner given, Exodus 16, than the people began to thirst, Exodus 17;-but I would not lay any stress on this.
. . is in the same sense as in ch. Joh 5:40-that of acceptance of and faith in Him.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:35. , I am) To those who seek Him, He offers Himself immediately.- , of life) Both living, Joh 6:51, and life-giving, Joh 6:54, Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life.- , he who cometh to Me) So Joh 6:37; Joh 6:44-45; Joh 6:65. The parallel expression to it follows presently, , he who believes on Me [ch. Joh 7:37-38, quoted above].- , shall not hunger) Understand , ever, from the end of the verse.- , shall not thirst) He touches on that, which subsequently He handles more fully, as to drink, Joh 6:53, etc.: My blood is drink indeed [Joh 6:55].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 6:35
Joh 6:35
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.-Jesus is the spiritual bread and will give spiritual and eternal life to all who obey him. They, like the woman of Samaria, found it difficult to rise above the thoughts of their fleshly body and its appetites and desires. This is an explanation of what is meant. Jesus himself was the bread of life. To believe on him with an earnest, living faith was to eat his flesh and drink his blood. So he that came to him by faith and submission to him would never hunger, and he that believed on him should never thirst-that is, he who comes to Jesus trusts in him, is led by him, does his will, as did the Father’s will, shall have all the wants of the soul satisfied. This was an important lesson and brought the requirements of self-denial home to his followers so that all fair-weather followers forsook him and followed him no more.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I am: Joh 6:41, Joh 6:48-58, 1Co 10:16-18, 1Co 11:23-29
he that cometh: Joh 6:37, Joh 6:44, Joh 6:45, Joh 6:65, Joh 5:40, Joh 7:37, Isa 55:1-3, Mat 11:28, Rev 22:17
never hunger: Joh 4:13, Joh 4:14, Joh 7:38, Isa 49:10, Luk 6:25, Rev 7:16
Reciprocal: Lev 2:1 – meat offering Lev 8:31 – eat it Lev 24:7 – the bread Mat 13:44 – like Mar 16:16 – that believeth and Luk 1:53 – filled Luk 6:21 – for ye shall be Luk 6:47 – cometh Joh 4:10 – living Joh 6:32 – the true Joh 6:40 – and believeth Joh 11:25 – the life Rom 4:11 – father Eph 2:8 – through
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
SPIRITUAL FOOD
Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life.
Joh 6:35
The multitude followed the Lord, and immediately He directed their minds to that deduction which He would have us likewise draw from this factthe necessity of seeking food not for the body only, but for the whole man, soul and body, who lives not by bread alone, but by grace also. Thus while our Lords words damped the zeal of the worldly-minded, whose only object was to use His aid in resisting the Roman power, He at the same time so ordered it that His rebuke to them affords instruction to His Church throughout all ages on one of the most sacred mysteries of our Holy religion.
I. There is provided for us all spiritual food.The multitude had asked for further instruction how they might get miraculous support: What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? And our Lord replied, This is the work most acceptable in the sight of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sentso believe, as not dictating to Him, but receiving His commands. This was displeasing to them; they saw that He refused to do what His miracle had shown Him capable of doing, viz., of miraculously supporting a force capable of resisting the Romans; and so their feelings towards Him begin to change, and they seek to disparage His work: What sign shewest Thou then (greater than Moses)what dost Thou work (above what Moses did)? (Joh 6:30). Our Blessed Lord never sought to make partisans. He would simply encourage that faith which would lead honest hearts from things temporal up to things spiritual. He did not, therefore, defend Himself, or seek to maintain His cause; but he proceeded with His Divine instruction: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven (which I exhort you to labour for), but My Father (now) giveth you the true Bread from Heaven (of which the manna was a type); for the Bread of God is He Which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life to the world (see also Joh 6:34-35). Therefore, not only is there provided for us spiritual foodi.e. food for our soulsand not only is Christ the Giver of it, but
II. This spiritual food is Christ Himself.The Jews murmured at our Lord because He said, I am the Bread of Life; and they argued the subject, as many persons would do now; because they could not understand, they scoffed, and turned the declaration into ridicule. Now, our Lord would not enter into argument with those who were only seeking reasons to justify themselves in their unbelief. He simply, therefore, repeated His declaration more emphatically, and gave them to understand that He was prepared to teach those who were led to Him by the Father, and had had their eyes opened to discern the mystery: I am the living (or life-giving) Bread; if any man eat (or feed upon) this Bread, he shall live for ever, and the Bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. There is, then, spiritual food provided for us. This food is given to us by Christ our Lord; this spiritual Food is Himself; and now we find that it is His Flesh which He givetheven that Flesh which He offered once, and once for all, for the sins of men, upon the Cross.
III. How was this received?Let the infidel mark this, who, when we speak of grace in the Sacraments, asks how grace can come from an affusion of water, or from eating of bread and wine. He regarded not the How? of the infidel, but more emphatically still said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you (Joh 6:53 et sqq., 57). It was impossible for them then to understand the full import of these words. But this much they could understandthat, having had proof that He could give miraculous food, and that somehow He could confer it upon those who should abide with Him, it was their duty to have acknowledged Him, to have said, We believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we will stay with Thee to be further instructed in the mysteries of that Kingdom of which Thou art King. But when the Kingdom of God (the Church) was established, when our Lord had commissioned His Apostles and their successors, what He did mean was more fully known. To us it is given to know that by union with Him we are united to God, and He thus is the support of the soul; to know that there is Bread from Heaven, and that Christ is that Bread; nay, further, that the Bread, the Sustenance, with which He supplies us, is His Body and Blood, no longer visibly present, but sacramentally received by faith in the Holy Ordinance, called on this very account the Sacrament of His Body and Blood (1Co 10:16). This, in the Apostles time, was a question which could be only answered in one way: it was an admitted and an acknowledged principle of Christianity, not to be argued upon, but to be believed. And now the answer of the Church is the same.
Dean Hook.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE BREAD OF LIFE
God does not give us life without giving us nourishment for it (Psa 78:15-20). The believer knows that as Jesus is the Life (Joh 14:6; 1Jn 5:11-12), so Jesus is also the Bread of Life. Consider
I. Bread is ordained for a great endto preserve the whole race of mankind.What would men do if they had not bread? What would souls do without Christ? (Joh 15:5; Act 4:12). He is the Lamb foreordained (1Pe 1:19-20): and prepared of God (Heb 10:5); for the whole world (Joh 1:29).
II. Bread is of universal necessity; all require it, rich and poor, old and young.So it is of Christ. The king needs (Psa 21:1-7); so does the poor beggar (Luk 18:38). The old look to Him for consolation (Luk 2:25); so do the young (2Ti 3:15). They who have worldly riches are sorrowful without Him (Mat 19:22).
III. Bread has a hidden virtue, which cannot be known unless by taste or experience.And so we say of Jesus, Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psa 34:8; cf. 1Jn 1:1). All who have tried Him delight in Him (Son 2:3; Son 5:1). They desire to have more and more of Him (1Pe 2:2-3).
IV. Bread strengthens and renews lifewithout it men grow faint and die.You remember the case of David (Mar 2:25-26). Before Christ came, man was without strength (Rom 5:6); but now in Christ all strength is to be found (Eph 6:10; 2Ti 2:1).
V. Bread also, by renewing strength and preserving life, fits us for work and business.So Christ tells us distinctly, Without Me ye can do nothing; but what does His servant Paul say? (Php 4:13). He had learnt by experience that the grace of Christ was sufficient for him in everything (2Co 12:9).
VI. Bread, as it comprehends the greatest of blessings when promised, so the greatest of judgments when denied (Gen 47:13; Luk 15:14). (Look at Amo 8:11). Think how awful it is for man to be without Christ (Eph 2:12; Eph 4:18-19). We shall understand this by reading Gods words to Jerusalem (Eze 4:13; Eze 4:17).
You see, then, how these few simple facts concerning the bread we eat illustrate the great spiritual truths of Jesus as the Bread of Life.
Bishop Rowley Hill.
Illustrations
(1) The table of shewbread, bearing the weekly-changed bread of presence as an offering from the children of Israel, is a symbol of that spiritual food which is presented to His people by our Lord, Who said, I am the Bread of life (Joh 6:35), Who, as the living Bread is ever with the Church in her wanderings. As changed every Sabbath, the Shrewbread may also be an illustration of the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, in which we show forth the Lords death till He come (1Co 11:26).
(2) As soon as the slightest spiritual desire is manifested by any one, however ignorant and weak, he should be at once directed to Christ. It is what our Lord Himself did. As soon as the Jews said, Lord, evermore give us this bread, He cried, I am the Bread of life. He never quenched the smoking flax.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
5
The Jews should have been prepared by this time for the direct application of the figures of which Jesus has been speaking, hence he came out with the unusual statement, I am the bread of life. However, this only brought the comparison far enough along to tell them for whom he of verse 33 stood. As to what sense in which He could be called the bread of life is still to be seen. For the meaning of never hunger and never thirst, see the comments at chapter 4:14.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
THREE of our Lord Jesus Christ’s great sayings are strung together, like pearls, in this passage. Each of them ought to be precious to every true Christian. All taken together, they form a mine of truth, into which he that searches need never search in vain.
We have, first, in these verses, a saying of Christ about Himself. We read that Jesus said,-“I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
Our Lord would have us know that He himself is the appointed food of man’s soul. The soul of every man is naturally starving and famishing through sin. Christ is given by God the Father, to be the Satisfier, the Reliever, and the Physician of man’s spiritual need. In Him and His mediatorial office,-in Him and His atoning death,-in Him and His priesthood,-in Him and His grace, love, and power,-in Him alone will empty souls find their wants supplied. In Him there is life. He is “the bread of life.”
With what divine and perfect wisdom this name is chosen! Bread is necessary food. We can manage tolerably well without many things on our table, but not without bread. So is it with Christ. We must have Christ, or die in our own sins.-Bread is food that suits all. Some cannot eat meat, and some cannot eat vegetables. But all like bread. It is food both for the Queen and the pauper. So is it with Christ. He is just the Savior that meets the wants of every class.-Bread is food that we need daily. Other kinds of food we take, perhaps, only occasionally. But we want bread every morning and evening in our lives. So is it with Christ. There is no day in our lives but we need His blood, His righteousness, His intercession, and His grace.-Well may He be called, “The bread of life”!
Do we know anything of spiritual hunger? Do we feel anything of craving and emptiness in conscience, heart, and affections? Let us distinctly understand that Christ alone can relieve and supply us, and that it is His office to relieve. We must come to Him by faith. We must believe on Him, and commit our souls into His hands. So coming, He pledges His royal word we shall find lasting satisfaction both for time and eternity.-It is written,-“He that cometh unto me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
We have, secondly, in these verses, a saying of Christ about those who come to Him. We read that Jesus said,-“Him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out.”
What does “coming” mean? It means that movement of the soul which takes place when a man, feeling his sins, and finding out that he cannot save himself, hears of Christ, applies to Christ, trusts in Christ, lays hold on Christ, and leans all his weight on Christ for salvation. When this happens, a man is said, in Scripture language, to “come” to Christ.
What did our Lord mean by saying,-“I will in nowise cast him out”? He meant that He will not refuse to save any one who comes to Him, no matter what he may have been. His past sins may have been very great. His present weakness and infirmity may be very great. But does he come to Christ by faith? Then Christ will receive him graciously, pardon him freely, place him in the number of His dear children, and give him everlasting life.
These are golden words indeed! They have smoothed down many a dying pillow, and calmed many a troubled conscience. Let them sink down deeply into our memories, and abide there continually. A day will come when flesh and heart shall fail, and the world can help us no more. Happy shall we be in that day, if the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we have really come to Christ!
We have, lastly, in these verses, a saying of Christ about the will of His Father. Twice over come the solemn words,-“This is the will of him that sent me.” Once we are told it is His will, “that every one that seeth the Son may have everlasting life.” Once we are told it is His will that, “of all which he hath given to Christ he shall lose nothing.”
We are taught by these words that Christ has brought into the world a salvation open and free to everyone. Our Lord draws a picture of it, from the story of the brazen serpent, by which bitten Israelites in the wilderness were healed. Every one that chose to “look” at the brazen serpent might live. Just in the same way, every one who desires eternal life may “look” at Christ by faith, and have it freely. There is no barrier, no limit, no restriction. The terms of the Gospel are wide and simple. Every one may “look and live.”
We are taught, furthermore, that Christ will never allow any soul that is committed to Him to be lost and cast away. He will keep it safe, from grace to glory, in spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Not one bone of His mystical body shall ever be broken. Not one lamb of His flock shall ever be left behind in the wilderness. He will raise to glory, in the last day, the whole flock entrusted to His charge, and not one shall be found missing.
Let the true Christian feed on the truths contained in this passage, and thank God for them. Christ the Bread of life,-Christ the Receiver of all who come to Him,-Christ the Preserver of all believers,-Christ is for every man who is willing to believe on Him, and Christ is the eternal possession of all who so believe. Surely this is glad tidings and good news!
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Notes-
v35.-[Jesus said…I am the bread of life.] In this verse our Lord begins to speak in the first person. Henceforth in this discourse we hear directly of “I” and “Me” no less than thirty-five times. He drops all further reserve as to His meaning, and tells the Jews plainly, “I am the bread of life,”-the true bread from heaven,-the bread of God which, coming down from heaven, giveth life to the world.
The “bread of life” means that spiritual bread which conveys life to the soul,-that living bread which does not merely feed the body, like common bread, but supplies eternal sustenance and nourishment to the eternal soul. It is like “the water of life” (Rev 22:17), and “living water.” (Joh 4:10.)
The reasons why Christ calls Himself “bread,” appear to be such as these. He is intended to be to the soul what bread is to the body,-its food.-Bread is necessary food: when men can afford to eat nothing else, they eat bread.-It is food that all need: the king and the pauper both eat bread.-It is food that suits all: old and young, weak and strong, all like bread.-It is the most nourishing kind of food: nothing does so much good, and is so indispensable to bodily health, as bread.-It is food that we need daily and are never tired of: morning and night we go on all our lives eating bread.-The application of these various points to Christ is too plain to need any explanation.
One great general lesson is doubtless intended to be drawn from Christ’s selection of “bread” as an emblem of Himself. He is given to be the great supply of all the wants of men’s souls. Whatever our spiritual necessity may be, however starving, famished, weak, and desperate our condition, there is enough in Christ, and to spare.-He is “bread.”
Rollock remarks, that as soon as the slightest spiritual desire is manifested by any one, however ignorant and weak, he should be at once directed to Christ. It is what our Lord himself did. As soon as the Jews said,-“Lord, evermore give us this bread,” He cried,-“I am the bread of life.” He never “quenched the smoking flax.”
[He that cometh…hunger…believeth…thirst.] The word’s “coming” and “believing” in this sentence, appear to mean very nearly one and the same thing. To “come” to Christ is to “believe” on Him, and to “believe” on Him is to “come” to Him,-both expressions mean that act of the soul whereby, under a sense of its sins and necessity, it applies to Christ, lays hold on Christ, trusts itself to Christ, casts itself on Christ.-“Coming,” is the soul’s movement towards Christ. “Believing,” is the soul’s venture on Christ.-If there is any difference, it is that “coming” is the first act of the soul when it is taught by the Holy Ghost, and that “believing” is a continued act or habit which never ends. No man “comes” who does not believe; and all who come go on believing.
When our Lord says “shall never hunger,” and “shall never thirst,” He does not mean that a believer on Christ shall no longer feel any want, or emptiness, or deficiency within him. This would not be correct. The best of believers will often cry, like Paul, “Oh, wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24.) The man who “hungers and thirsts after righteousness,” is blessed. (Mat 5:6.)-What our Lord does mean is, that faith in Christ shall supply a man’s soul with a peace and satisfaction that shall never be entirely taken from him,-that shall endure for ever. The man who eats and drinks material food shall soon be hungry and thirsty as ever. But the man who comes to Christ by faith, gets hold of something that is an everlasting possession. He shall never die of spiritual famine, and perish for want of soul nourishment. He may have his low feelings at seasons. He may even lose his sense of pardon, and his enjoyment of religion. But once in Christ by faith, he shall never be cast away and starved in hell. He shall never die in his sins.
(a.) Let us note in this verse how simple are the figures by which our Lord brings His own sufficiency within the reach of man’s understanding. He calls himself “bread.” It was an idea that even the poorest hearer could understand. He that would do good to the poor, need never be ashamed of using the simplest and most familiar illustrations.
(b.) Let us note that faith is a movement of the soul. Its first action is “coming to Christ.” Its subsequent life is a constant daily repetition of its first action. To tell people to “sit still and wait,” is poor theology. We should bid them arise and come.
(c.) Let us note that coming to Christ is the true secret of obtaining soul satisfaction and inward peace. Until we take that step our consciences are never easy. We “hunger and thirst,” and find no relief.
(d.) Let us note that true believers shall never be altogether cast off and forsaken of God. The man that comes to Christ shall “never hunger nor thirst.” The text is one among many proofs of the perseverance of the saints.
(e.) Let us note, finally, how simple are the terms of the Gospel. It is but coming and believing that Christ asks at our hands. The most ignorant, the most sinful, the most hardened, need not despair. They have but to “come and believe.”
Luther, quoted by Besser, remarks on this verse:-“These are indeed dear and precious words, which it is not enough for us merely to know. We must turn them to account, and say, Upon these words I will go to sleep at night and get up in the morning; leaning upon them will I sleep and wake, and work and travel. For though everything were to go to ruin, and though father and mother, emperor and pope, princes and lords, all forsook me, though even Moses could not help me, and I had only Christ to look to, yet He will help me. For His words are sure, and He says ‘Hold fast by me: come thou to me, and thou shalt live.’ The meaning of these words is, that whoever can believe on that one Man who is called Jesus Christ, shall be satisfied, and cannot suffer either hunger or thirst.”
v36.-[But I said….ye also have seen Me and Believe not.] It is not quite clear to what our Lord refers in this verse, when He says,-“I said.” Some think that He is referring specially to His own words at Joh 6:26,-“Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles,” etc. Others think that He refers generally to the testimony He had frequently borne against the unbelief of the Jewish people, in almost every place where He preached.
It seems to me most natural to connect the verse with the saying of the Jews, in Joh 6:30. They had there said,-“What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee?” Why should we not suppose our Lord in this verse to take up that saying and reply,-“You talk of seeing and believing; I tell you again, and have long told you, that ye have seen me, and yet do not believe”?
The connecting link with the preceding verse, appears to be something of this kind:-“I am quite aware that I speak in vain to many of you of the bread of life and of believing. For I have said often, and now say it again, that many of you have both seen me and my miracles, and yet do not believe. Nevertheless, I am not discouraged. I know, in spite of your unbelief, that some will be saved.”
The unbelief of human nature is painfully exhibited in this verse. Some could even see and hear Christ himself, while He was on earth, and yet remain unbelieving! Surely we have no right to be surprised if we find like unbelief now. Men may actually see Christ with their bodily eyes and have no faith.
v37.-[All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.] The connection of this verse with the preceding one seems to be this: “Your unbelief does not move me or surprise me. I foresaw it, and have been aware of it. Nevertheless, your unbelief will not prevent God’s purposes taking effect. Some will believe though you remain unbelieving. Everything that the Father gives me will come unto me in due time; believe, and be saved. In spite of your unbelief, all my sheep shall sooner or later come to me by faith, and be gathered within my fold. I see your unbelief with sorrow, but not with anxiety and surprise. I am prepared for it. I know that you cannot alter God’s purposes: and in accordance with those purposes, a people will come to me, though you do not.”
Luther, quoted by Besser, supposes our Lord to say, “This sermon shall not on your account be of none effect, and remain without fruit. If you will not, another will; if you do not believe, yet another does.”
The English language fails to give the full sense of the Greek in this sentence. The literal meaning of the Greek is, not “all persons whom the Father giveth shall come,” but “everything,-the whole thing.” It is not a masculine plural, but a neuter singular. The idea is either “that whole mystical body, the company of my believing people, shall come to me,” or else “every single part or jot or member of my mystical body shall” come to me, and not one be found missing at last.”
We learn from these words the great and deep truth of God’s election and appointment to eternal life of a people out of this world. The Father from all eternity has given to the Son a people to be His own peculiar people. The saints are given to Christ by the Father as a flock, which Christ undertakes to save completely, and to present complete at the last day. (See Joh 17:2, Joh 17:6, Joh 17:9, Joh 17:11-12; and Joh 18:9.) However wicked men may abuse this doctrine, it is full of comfort to a humble believer. He did not begin the work of his salvation. He was given to Christ by the Father, by an everlasting covenant.
We learn from these words the great mark of God’s elect, whom He has given to Christ. They all come to Christ by faith. It is useless for any one to boast of his election unless he comes to Christ by faith. Until a man comes humbly to Jesus, and commits his soul to him as a believer, we have no dependable evidence of the man’s election.
Beza remarks, “Faith in Christ is a certain testimony of our election, and consequently of our future glorification.”
Ferus says, “Cleaving to Christ by faith, thou art sure of thy predestination.”
We learn from these words the irresistible power of God’s electing grace. All who are given to Christ shall come to Him. No obstacle, no difficulty, no power of the world, the flesh, and the devil, can prevent them. Sooner or later they will break through all, and surmount all. If “given,” they will “come.” To ministers the words are full of comfort.
[Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.] These words declare Christ’s willingness to save every one that comes to Him. There is an infinite readiness in Christ to receive, pardon, justify, and glorify sinners. The expression “I will in no wise cast out,” implies this. It is a very powerful form of negation. “So far from casting out the man that comes to me, I will receive him with joy when he comes. I will not refuse him on account of past sins. I will not cast him off again because of present weaknesses and infirmities. I will keep him to the end by my grace. I will confess him before my Father in the judgment day, and glorify him for ever. In short, I will do the very opposite of casting him out.”
The distinction between the language of this clause of the text and that of the former clause, should be carefully noticed. They who “shall come to Christ,” are “that whole thing” which the Father gives. But it is “each individual man” that comes, of whom Jesus says “I will in no wise cast him out.”
To “cast out of the synagogue,”-to “cut off from the congregation of Israel,”-to “shut out of the camp,” as the leper was shut out (Lev 13:46), were ideas with which all Jews were familiar. Our Lord seems to say, “I will do the very opposite of all this.”
A. Clarke thinks that the idea is that of a poor person coming to a rich man’s house for shelter and relief, who is kindly treated and not “cast out.” But may we not suppose after all that the latent thought is that of the man fleeing to the city of refuge, according to the law of Moses, who, once admitted, is safe and not “cast out”? (Num 35:11-12.)
We learn from these words that the one point we should look to is, “whether we do really come to Christ.” Our past lives may have been very bad. Our present faith may be very weak. Our repentance and prayers may be very imperfect and poor. Our knowledge of religion may be very scanty. But do we come to Christ? That is the question. If so, the promise belongs to us. Christ will not cast us out. We may remind Him boldly of His own word.
We learn from these words, that Christ’s offers to sinners are wide, broad, free, unlimited, and unconditional. We must take care that we do not spoil and hamper them by narrow statements. God’s election must never be thrust nakedly at unconverted sinners, in preaching the Gospel. It is a point with which at present they have nothing to do. No doubt it is true that none will come to Christ but those who are given to Him by the Father. But who those are that are so given we cannot tell, and must not attempt to define. All we have to do is to invite every one, without exception, to come to Christ, and to tell men that every one who does come to Christ shall be received and saved. To this point we must carefully stick.
Rollock observes, how close this glorious promise stands to our Lord’s words about God’s election and predestination. Election should never be stated nakedly and baldly, without reminding those who hear it of Christ’s infinite willingness to receive and save all.
Hutcheson remarks, “Saints do indeed ofttimes complain of casting off; but they are the words of sense and not of faith; they may seem to be cast off when really it is not so.”
v38.-[For I came down….not mine own will etc.] The meaning of this verse appears to be as follows. “I did not become man and enter this world to do anything of my own independent will and volition, and without reference to the will of my Father. On the contrary, I have come to carry out His will. As God, my will is in entire harmony and unity with my Father’s will, because I and my Father are one. As man, I have no other will and desire than to do that which is in entire accordance with the will of Him who has sent me to be the Mediator and Friend of sinners.”-What the Father’s will about man is, our Lord goes on immediately to state in the two following verses. One part of the Father’s will is, that nothing should be lost that He has given to the Son. That “will” Christ came to carry out and accomplish.-Another part of the Father’s will is, that every one who trusts in Christ, may be saved. That “will” again Christ came to carry out and accomplish.-The verse before us and the two following are closely connected, and should be looked at as one great thought. It was the Father’s “will” that free salvation by Christ should be brought near and within the reach of every one, and it was also His “will” that every believer in Christ should be completely and finally saved. To work out and accomplish this will of His Father was Christ’s object in coming into the world.
The expression, “I came down from heaven,” is a strong proof of the pre-existence of Christ. It could not possibly be said of any prophet or apostle, that he “came down from heaven.” It is a heavy blow at the Socinian theory that Christ was nothing more than a man.
v39.-[This is the Fathers will which hath sent me.] In this verse and the following, Christ explains fully what was the Father’s will concerning the Son’s mission into the world. It was that He should receive all and lose none, that any one might come to Him, and that no comer should be lost. It is a cheering and pleasant thought, that free and full salvation, and the final perseverance of believers, should be so expressly declared to be “the will of the Father.”
[Of all…given…lose nothing.] Here again there is the same form of speech as in Joh 6:37. Literally rendered, the sentence would be,-“that of the whole thing which He has given me, I should not lose anything out of it.” The “losing” must necessarily mean, that “I should let nothing be taken away by the power of Satan, and allow nothing to come to ruin by its own inherent weakness.” The general sense of the sentence must be, “that I should allow no member of my mystical body to be lost.”
We have in these words the doctrine of the final perseverance of true believers. It seems hard to imagine stronger words than these to express the doctrine. It is the Father’s will that no one whom He has given to Christ should be lost. His will must surely take effect. True believers may err and fail in many things, but they shall never finally be cast away. The will of God the Father, and the power of Christ the Son, are both engaged on their side.
We have in these words abundant comfort for all fearful and faint-hearted believers. Let such remember that if they “come'” to Christ by faith, they have been “given” to Christ by the Father; and if given by the Father to Christ, it is the Father’s will that they should never be cast away. Let them lean back on this thought, when cast down and disquieted;-“It is the Father’s will that I should not be lost.”
[Should raise it up again at the last day.] We have in these words the Father’s will that all Christ’s members shall have a glorious resurrection. They shall not only not be lost and cast away while they live: they shall be raised again to glory after they die. Christ will not only justify and pardon, keep and sanctify. He will do even more. He will raise them up at the last day to a life of glory. It is the Father’s will that He should do so. The bodies of the saints are provided for no less than their souls.
The idea of some writers, which Bullinger mentions with some favour, that the “last day” means the day of each believer’s death, and the “raising” his translation in the hour of death to paradise, seems to me utterly destitute of foundation.
The words before us are a strong argument for the “first resurrection,” as a peculiar privilege of believers. It is said here that believers shall be “raised again,” as a special honour and mercy conferred upon them. Yet it is no less clearly said in Joh 5:28-29, that “ALL that are in the graves shall come forth,” both good and bad. It follows, therefore, that there is a resurrection of which saints alone are to be the partakers, distinct from the resurrection of the wicked. What can this be but the first resurrection? (Rev 20:5.)-It must however in fairness be remembered that resurrection is sometimes spoken of in Scripture as if it was the peculiar privilege of believers, and a thing in which the wicked have no part. In the famous chapter in Corinthians, it is clear that the resurrection of the saints is the only thing in Paul’s mind. (1Co 15:1-58.) That the wicked will be raised again, as well as the righteous, is clearly asserted in several places. But it is sometimes a thing kept in the background.
v40.-[This is the will of him that sent me.] These words are repeated in this verse, to show that it is no less the Father’s will that Christ should receive sinners, than that Christ should preserve saints. Both things are alike the purpose and intention of God.
[Every one which seeth the Son and believeth…life.] These words mean that “every one, without exception, who by faith looks to Christ and trusts in Him for salvation, is allowed by God the Father’s appointment to have part in the salvation Christ has provided.” There is no barrier, difficulty, or objection. “Every one,” is the expression. No one can say he is excluded.-“Seeing and believing,” are the only things required. No one can say that the terms are too hard. Does he see and believe? Then he may have everlasting life.
The expression “seeth the Son,” in this sentence, must evidently mean more than mere seeing with the bodily eyes. It is the looking with faith at Christ. (See Joh 12:45, where the same Greek word is used.) It is such a look as that of the Israelites, who looked at the brazen serpent, and, looking, were healed. (See Joh 3:14-15, and Num 21:9.) I believe that this was in our Lord’s mind when He spake the words of this verse. Just as every serpent-bitten Israelite might look at the brazen serpent-and, as soon as he looked, was cured, so every sin-stricken man may look to Christ and be saved.
[I will raise him up at the last day.] These words are repeated, I believe, in order to make it sure that a glorious resurrection shall be the portion of every one that only “looks” at Christ and believes, as well as of those who enjoy the “assurance” that they are given to Christ and shall never be cast away. The humblest believer shall be raised again by Christ at the first resurrection, and eternally glorified, just as certainly as the oldest saint in the family of God.
Stier remarks, “This raising up at the last day, twice emphatically affirmed, points out to us the final goal of salvation, and preserving power; after the attainment of which there is no more danger of perishing, or losing again that eternal life, which is now, the body being raised, consummate.”
Let us mark what abundant comfort there is in this verse for all doubting, trembling sinners, who feel their sins and yet fancy there is no hope for them. Let such observe that it is the will of God the Father, that “every one” who looks at Christ by faith may have everlasting life. It would be impossible to open a wider door. Let men look and live. The will of God is on their side.
Calvin remarks on this verse, “The way to obtain salvation is to obey the Gospel of Christ. If it is the will of God that those whom He has elected shall be saved, and if in this manner He ratifies and executes His eternal decrees, whoever he be that is not satisfied with Christ, but indulges in curious inquiries about eternal predestination, such a person desires to be saved contrary to the purposes of God. They are madmen who seek their own salvation, or that of others, in the whirlpool of predestination, not keeping the way of salvation which is exhibited to them.”-“To every man, therefore, his faith is a sufficient attestation of the eternal predestination of God.”
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Verse 35
Shall never hunger and–never thirst; never suffer the want of spiritual food.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread {i} of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
(i) Which has life and gives life.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus’ identification of the bread 6:35-40
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jesus now identified Himself as the bread about which He had been speaking (cf. Joh 6:47; Isa 55:1-2). The Jews regarded the real bread from heaven as the Law. [Note: Edersheim, 2:30.] Jesus did not say He had the bread of life but that He was that bread. He claimed to be able to satisfy completely as bread and water satisfy physically. His hearers did not need to return to Him repeatedly as they had assumed (Joh 6:34) since He would also satisfy permanently (cf. Joh 13:9-10). The "nevers" are emphatic in the Greek text. Coming to Jesus and believing are synonymous concepts just as bread and water together represent total human need. Jesus did not mean that continual dependence on Him was unimportant (cf. Joh 15:4-5). He meant that believing on Him would satisfy the basic human need and desire for life. Again Jesus linked life with Himself. He is what sustains and nourishes spiritual life. It is by feeding on Him that we obtain life initially and continue to flourish spiritually.
Jesus’ claim to be the Bread of Life, three times in this discourse (Joh 6:35; Joh 6:48; Joh 6:51), is the first of seven such claims that John recorded Jesus making in his Gospel. Jesus used the same expression (Gr. ego eimi, "I am," plus a predicate) in each case. Two other instances of ego eimi and a predicate occur (Joh 8:18; Joh 8:23), but they are slightly different in meaning. Ego eimi without the predicate appears in Joh 6:20; Joh 8:24; Joh 8:28; Joh 8:58; and Joh 18:6. Each of these seven "I am" claims expresses Jesus’ relationship to humankind’s basic spiritual needs metaphorically.
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Jesus’ "I am" Claims |
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Title |
Meaning |
Reference |
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The Bread of Life |
Satisfier and sustainer of life |
Joh 6:35; Joh 6:48 |
|
The Light of the World |
Dispeller of sin’s darkness |
Joh 8:12 |
|
The Gate |
Entrance into security and fellowship |
Joh 10:7; Joh 10:9 |
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The Good Shepherd |
Protector and guide in life |
Joh 10:11; Joh 10:14 |
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The Resurrection and the Life |
Hope in death |
Joh 11:25 |
|
The Way, the Truth, and the Life |
Certainty in perplexity |
Joh 14:6 |
|
The True Vine |
Source of vitality and productivity |
Joh 15:1; Joh 15:5 |
"Jesus is the one who bears the divine name (cf. Exo 3:14). For John, this story takes on the character of a theophany, not unlike the Transfiguration recorded by the Synoptics." [Note: Harris, p. 177.]