Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
34. My meat is to do the will, &c.] Literally, My food is that I may do the will of Him that sent Me and thus finish His work. It is Christ’s aim and purpose that is His food. Comp. Joh 5:36, Joh 8:56. These words recall the reply to the tempter ‘man doth not live by bread alone,’ and the reply to His parents ‘Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business.’ Luk 4:4; Luk 2:49.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My meat … – Jesus here explains what he said in Joh 4:32. His great object – the great design of his life – was to do the will of God. He came to that place weary and thirsty, and at the usual time of meals, probably hungry; yet an opportunity of doing good presented itself, and he forgot his fatigue and hunger, and found comfort and joy in doing good – in seeking to save a soul. This one great object absorbed all his powers, and made him forget his weariness and the wants of nature. The mind may be so absorbed in doing the will of God as to forget all other things. Intent on this, we may rise above fatigue, and hardship, and want, and bear all with pleasure in seeing the work of God advance. See Job 23:12; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necesary food. We may learn, also, that the main business of life is not to avoid fatigue or to seek the supply of our temporal wants, but to do the will of God. The mere supply of our temporal necessities, though most people make it an object of their chief solicitude, is a small consideration in the sight of him who has just views of the great design of human life.
The will of him that sent me – The will of God in regard to the salvation of men. See Joh 6:38.
To finish his work – To complete or fully to do the work which he has commanded in regard to the salvation of men. It is his work to provide salvation, and his to redeem, and his to apply the salvation to the heart. Jesus came to do it by teaching, by his example, and by his death as an expiation for sin. And he shows us that we should be diligent. If he was so diligent for our welfare, if he bore fatigue and want to benefit us, then we should be diligent, also, in regard to our own salvation, and also in seeking the salvation of others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me] In these words, our blessed Lord teaches a lesson of zeal and earnestness to his apostles, and to all their successors in the Christian ministry. Let the salvation of souls lie nearer your heart than life itself. Let eating and drinking, labour and rest, reading, thinking, study, prayer, and all things, be directed to the accomplishment of this great work. Ministers of Jesus! imitate your Lord! Souls are perishing for lack of knowledge – God has given you the key of the kingdom, the knowledge of his word-O open unto them the gate of life! They are dropping by thousands into hell! O pluck the brands out of the burning!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Lord, without any reproof of them for their dulness in understanding, and having compassion on their infirmity and ignorance, tells them what he meant by his former words; telling them, that the doing of his Fathers will, and the finishing of his work, was that which he more hungered after, and look more delight in, than in eating and drinking: this is what he sought, Joh 5:30, that which he came down from heaven for, Joh 6:38. As the law of God was sweeter to David than the honey or the honey comb, so the publishing of the gospel was to Jesus Christ, the calling sinners to repentance, and publishing the glad tidings of the Messiah; that was his work, which he tells his Father he had finished, Joh 17:4. Hereby teaching ministers, and people also, to prefer spiritual things before temporal; and the ministers of the gospel especially, to prefer the publishing of the gospel (which is their work) to any other employment whatsoever.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. My meat is, c.”AServant here to fulfil a prescribed work, to do and to finish,that is ‘meat’ to Me and of this, while you were away, I have had Myfill.” And of what does He speak thus? Of the condescension,pity, patience, wisdom He had been laying out upon one soulavery humble woman, and in some respects repulsive too! But He hadgained her, and through her was going to gain more, and lay perhapsthe foundations of a great work in the country of Samaria; and thisfilled His whole soul and raised Him above the sense of naturalhunger (Mt 4:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jesus saith unto them,…. His disciples:
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. The Ethiopic version reads, “of my Father that sent me”, and who is undoubtedly intended. Now as food is pleasant, and delightful, and refreshing to the body of man, so doing the will of God was as delightful and refreshing to the soul of Christ: he took as much pleasure in it, as an hungry man does in eating and drinking. One part of the will of God was to assume human nature; this he had done, and with delight and pleasure: another part of it was to fulfil the law; and this was in his heart, and was his delight, and he was now doing it: and another branch of it was to suffer and die, in the room and stead of his people; and as disagreeable as this was in itself to the human nature, yet he cheerfully agreed to it; and was sometimes, as it were, impatient till it was accomplished; and he voluntarily became obedient to it: no man could, with greater eagerness, fall to eating, when hungry, than Christ went about his Father’s will and work, even that which was most ungrateful to him, as man.
And to finish his work; one part of which was to preach the Gospel, and for, which he was anointed and sent; and which he did with great assiduity and constancy: and another part of it was the conversion of sinners by it, whom he was sent to call, and with whom he delighted to be; and was the work he was now about, and took the pleasure in, the text expresses: and beside these miracles were works his Father gave him to finish; such as healing diseases, and dispossessing of devils, and which he went about doing continually, with great delight: but the chief, work of all is, that of redemption and salvation of his chosen ones: this was a work his Father called him to, and sent him into this world to perform, which he gave unto him, and Christ accepted of, and agreed to do; and though it was a very toilsome and laborious one, there being a righteous law to be fulfilled, justice to be satisfied, the sins of all his people to bear, as well as the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, and numerous enemies to grapple with, and an accursed death to undergo; yet with pleasure he performed this: for the joy of his Father’s will, accomplishing his counsels and covenant, and his own engagements, and procuring the salvation of his people, he endured the cross patiently, and despised the shame of it. The whole of the and work of God was done by him, just as the Lord commanded it; exactly, according to the pattern given him, with all faithfulness and integrity; with the most consummate wisdom and prudence; with all application, diligence, and constancy, and so as to finish it, and that without the help of any other; and in such a manner that nothing can be added to it to make it more perfect, or that it can be undone again by men or devils: and that the doing and finishing of this were his meat, or as delightful and refreshing to him as meat is to the body, appears from his ready and cheerful engaging in it in eternity; from his early and industrious entrance on it in time; from his constancy in it, when he had begun, insomuch that nothing could deter him from it; nor did he sink and fail under it, nor left it till he had finished it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To do the will ( ). Non-final use of and the first aorist active subjunctive as subject or predicate nominative as in John 6:29; John 15:8; John 17:3. The Messianic consciousness of Jesus is clear and steady (John 5:30; John 6:38). He never doubted that the Father sent him.
And to accomplish his work ( ). H understood with in like idiom, first aorist active subjunctive of (from ), to bring to an end. See 5:36. In 17:4 (the Intercessory Prayer) he will say that he has done () this task which the Father gave him to do. On the Cross Jesus will cry (It is finished). He will carry through the Father’s programme (Joh 3:16). That is his “food.” He had been doing that in winning the woman to God.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Meat [] . A different word from that in ver. 32, signifying what is eaten.
To do [ ] . Literally, in order that I do. Emphasizing the end and not the process. Frequently so used in John. See on 3 19.
Finish [] . Better, as Rev., accomplish. Not merely bring to an end, but perfect. From teleiov, perfect. The verb is characteristic of John, and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. See Joh 5:36; Joh 17:4; Joh 19:28; 1Jo 2:5; 1Jo 4:12; Heb 2:10; Heb 5:9, etc.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Jesus saith unto them,” (legei autois ho lesous) “Jesus said to them,” explaining what He had just said to His confused disciples, that they had not understood, Joh 4:32.
2) “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,” (emon broma estin hina poio to thelema tou pempsantos me) “My food is (exists in this) in order that l may continually do the priority will of him who has sent me,” my strongest desire and that which pleases me most, as prophesied Psa 40:7-8; As also expressed by our Lord and reported by the apostles, Mat 26:39; Joh 6:33; Heb 10:7.
3) “And to finish his work.” (kai teleioso autou to ergon) “And to complete his work, which He sent me to do, to seek and to save the lost, Joh 3:17; Luk 19:10; Joh 17:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
34. My food is to do the will of him who sent me. He means not only that he esteems it very highly, but that there is nothing in which he takes greater delight, or in which he is more cheerfully or more eagerly employed; as David, in order to magnify the Law of God, says not only that he values it highly, but that it is sweeter than honey, (Psa 19:10.) If, therefore, we would follow Christ, it is proper not only that we devote ourselves diligently to the service of God, but that we be so cheerful in complying with its injunctions that the labor shall not be at all oppressive or disagreeable.
That I may finish his work. By adding these words, Christ fully explains what is that will of the Father to which he is devoted; namely, to fulfill the commission which had been given to him. Thus every man ought to consider his own calling, that he may not consider as done to God what he has rashly undertaken at his own suggestion. What was the office of Christ is well known. It was to advance the kingdom of God, to restore to life lost souls, to spread the light of the Gospel, and, in short, to bring salvation to the world. The excellence of these things caused him, when fatigued and hungry, to forget meat and drink. Yet we derive from this no ordinary consolation, when we learn that Christ was so anxious about the salvation of men, that it gave him the highest delight to procure it; for we cannot doubt that he is now actuated by similar feelings towards us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) My meat.Better, My food, as before (Joh. 4:8).
To do the will. . . . to finish.Better, that I may do the will, . . . that I may finish. These verbs point out the end which He ever kept in view. In some of the best MSS., and in the received text, the tenses are different. That. I may be constantly doing the will of Him that sent Me, and may then at last complete His work. (Comp. Joh. 17:4.)
This work He speaks of here, and in Joh. 4:32, as actual food, as the supply of the truest needs, and the satisfaction of the truest desires of His nature. (Comp. Note on Mat. 4:4.) Analogies to this are within the limits of every mans experience, and, faint as they are, help us to learn something of what this spiritual sustenance was. The command of duty, the cheering power of hope, the stimulus of success, are forces that supply to weak and weary nerves and muscles, the vigour of a new life. Under them the soldier can forget his wounds, the martyr smile at the lion or the flame, the worn-out traveller still plod onward at the thought of home. We cannot analyse this power, but it exists. They have food to eat that those without know not of.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Jesus says to them, “My meat is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘there are yet four months and then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are already white for harvest.”
Jesus patiently explained His attitude. ‘My food is to do the will of Him Who sent me and to bring about what He wants me to do.’ His Father’s work must come first. This was far more important than food, and He knew that that work was at hand in this unexpected place.
The passage is very moving. Meeting the woman had sparked off in Jesus a realisation of the wonder of what was to come. He had been very successful in Judea, but now there had come home to Him that others needed Him as well, and He wanted His disciples to realise it too. This ‘chance’ meeting with the woman had made Him realise afresh that the Father had a wider work for Him to do. He had been thinking in terms of the Jews. Now He recognised that He must not limit Himself so much. There were other fields waiting to be harvested. In the light of this He realised that food was unimportant.
It was true that His first message was to be for the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Mat 10:6; Mat 15:24). That was still His priority and they had to be given the first opportunity. But He now clearly saw Samaritans as included in that number. They too worshipped the God of Abraham and Moses. Later He would recognise that Israel was rejecting Him and would turn to a wider audience, influenced by His contact with the Syro-phoenician woman. Jesus Himself grew in His understanding of His ministry. It was an indication of his true humanness.
It is possible that even as He spoke He could see the white clothing of the Samaritans coming out to see Him, and was deeply moved. Was it on them He was looking as He spoke, and on them that He was directing His disciples’ gaze when He said, ‘Lift up your eyes and look on the fields — they are white for harvest’? His heart was reaching out to them.
‘There are yet four months and then comes the harvest.’ This phrase may have been a well known proverb indicating the certainty of something to come but which is for the time delayed, or it may simply have indicated the time of the year, but it may also have hinted at the fact that the disciples saw Jesus and themselves as sowers, with the harvest some way away. (Again a Johannine double meaning). But now Jesus wanted them to recognise that the time for harvest was here. ‘The fields are white to harvest.’ He could have added, ‘See, you can see them coming over there.’ His disciples had to learn that they were living in the last times (Act 2:17; Rom 13:11-12; 1Co 10:11; Heb 1:2; 1Pe 1:20; 1Pe 4:7; 2Pe 3:3) when the harvest must be gathered. Great was their privilege. And great was their responsibility.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1620
CHRISTS DILIGENCE IN SERVING GOD
Joh 4:34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
OUR blessed Lord, throughout his whole life, was the most illustrious pattern of condescension to man and of fidelity to God. Both these dispositions were eminently displayed in the history before us. Notwithstanding he was already exhausted with a long and fatiguing journey, he had been labouring for the salvation of a most abandoned adulteress: and when urged to intermit his exertions for a little while in order to recruit his strength by some necessary refreshment, he declared, that food was not so delightful to a famished body, as the prosecuting of the great ends of his ministry was to his soul.
From his words we shall take occasion to,
I.
Consider our Lords example
Jesus, in his human and mediatorial capacity, was the Fathers servant. And the work assigned him was, to reveal in a more perfect manner the will of God, and to save mankind by his own obedience unto death.
In this work he engaged,
1.
With fervent affection
[Nothing could exceed the delight with which he undertook the arduous task [Note: Psa 40:7-8.]: nothing the zeal with which he accomplished it [Note: Luk 12:50.]. Whether we view his private addresses to God [Note: Heb 5:7.], or his public ministrations among men [Note: He was filled with joy at the least prospect of success, ver. 35 and he grieved and wept when he could not succeed, Mar 3:5. Luk 19:41.], we shall see that in him was that prophecy accomplished, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up [Note: Joh 2:17.].]
2.
With indefatigable diligence
[From the commencement of his ministry to the end of it not a day was unemployed. Frequently, after having laboured all the day, he spent the night in prayer, and resumed his labours with the returning light. Like the sun in the firmament, he proceeded in one steady course through all the cities, towns, and villages; nor ever ceased from his work, till he could say, It is finished.]
3.
With undaunted resolution
[What continual opposition did he endure! He was truly a sign spoken against, or a butt of contradiction [Note: Luk 2:34.]. There was not any thing however perverse, scandalous, or contemptuous, but his ears were assailed with it from day to day. From the very first discourse he uttered till the hour of his crucifixion, his enemies never ceased to seek his life [Note: Joh 11:8.]. Yet did he persevere in the face of every danger, and at last complete his obedience, by surrendering up his life upon the cross.]
That we may profit from this great example, we will,
II.
Propose it for your imitation
We also have a work to do for God
[Our work is great; but O! how different from that which was committed to our Lord! We have not to satisfy the demands of justice, or to endure the wrath due to sin: blessed be God! that was the Redeemers, work; and it has been finished by him on our behalf. The work which we have to do is to believe in Christ [Note: Joh 6:29.], and, from a sense of his love to us, to devote ourselves unreservedly to his service [Note: Rom 12:1.].]
Let us then engage in it,
1.
Heartily
[Whatever our hand findeth to do, we should do it with all our might [Note: Ecc 9:10.]. A lukewarm service is unacceptable, yea, hateful to God [Note: Rev 3:15-16.]. Let us then first labour to know the will of God, and then endeavour to do it with our whole hearts. Let us be fervent in spirit, while we serve the Lord [Note: Rom 12:11.].]
2.
Uniformly
[It is not an occasional act of zeal that will please God, but a steady conscientious, uniform discharge of our duty. Our spirit, alas! is often faint; and even, when the spirit is willing, our flesh is weak. But we must counteract our sloth, and give all diligence to make our calling and election sure [Note: 2Pe 1:10.].]
3.
Courageously
[We shall surely meet with reproach and persecution, if we set ourselves in earnest to serve the Lord [Note: 2Ti 3:12.]. But let us remember him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself [Note: Heb 12:3.]. Woe be to us if we draw back through the fear of man [Note: Heb 10:38.]. We must hate, not only father and mother, but even our own life also, if we would be Christs Disciples [Note: Luk 14:26.]. Let us then take up our cross daily after Christs example, and suffer with him, in order that we may be also glorified together [Note: Rom 8:17.].]
Address
1.
Those who are unconcerned about the work of God
[Has not God appointed you a work to do; and ought you not to have begun it long ago? Is it expedient to leave it to a dying hour? What if you should die before it is finished? O, begin instantly; for the night cometh, wherein no man can work.]
2.
Those who do his work deceitfully
[God has pronounced such persons accursed, no less than if they did nothing for him [Note: Jer 48:10.]. His service must be your meat and drink; the joy of your souls, and the business of your lives. See then that ye approve yourselves to God as servants that need not be ashamed [Note: 2Ti 2:15.].]
3.
Those who are in a measure conformed to their Saviours image
[Bless your God, who has thus far enabled you to serve him. But O! think how much you fall short of your heavenly pattern! Forget then what is behind, and press forward for that which is before you [Note: Php 3:13-15.]: so shall you in due season rest from your labours, and be welcomed as good and faithful servants to the joy of your Lord [Note: Mat 25:21.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Ver. 34. My meat is to do the will ] Job, Job 23:12 , preferred it before his necessary food, that should keep him alive. So did Christ, when disappointed of a breakfast at the barren fig tree, and coming hungry into the city, he went not into an eating house, but into the temple, where he taught the people most part of that day,Mat 21:17Mat 21:17 ; Mat 21:23 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
34. ] Christ alone could properly say these words. In the believer on Him, they are partially true, true as far as he has received the Spirit, and entered into the spiritual life; but in Him they were absolutely and fully true. His whole life was the doing of the Father’s will. We can ‘eat and drink, &c. to the glory of God,’ but in Him the hallowing of the Father’s name, doing His will, bringing about His Kingdom, was His daily bread , and superseded the thoughts and desires for the other, needful as it was for His humanity.
is not = . The latter would imply what was true (but not here expressed), that the absolute doing , &c. was His food; as it now stands, it implies that it was His food to carry onward to completion that work: to be ever, step after step, having regard to its being completed. My meat is (not to do , as E. V., but) that I may do , &c. In the , the way is prepared for the idea introduced in the next verse. These words give an answer to the questioning in the minds of the disciples, and shew that He had been employed in the Father’s work during their absence .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 4:34 . Jesus answers their question though not put to Him: . Westcott thinks the telic use of can be discerned here; “the exact form of the expression emphasises the end and not the process , not the doing and finishing, but that I may do and finish”. Lcke acknowledges that it is not always easy to distinguish between the construction of or with and with , but that here it is possible to discriminate; and translates “Meine Speise besteht in dem Bestreben ,” etc. It is much better to take it as the Greek commentators and Holtzmann and Weiss take it, as equivalent to . See especially 3Jn 1:4 . [“Sometimes, beyond doubt, is used where the final element in the sense is very much weakened sometimes where it is hard to deny that it has altogether vanished.” Simcox, Grammar , 177.] The idea that mental or spiritual excitement acts as a physical stimulant is common. Cf. Plato’s , Tim. , 27 B; Thucydides, i. 70, represents the Corinthian ambassadors as saying of the Athenians . See also Soph., Electra , 363, and the quotations in Wetstein; also Browning’s Fra Lippo Lippi , “to find its [the world’s] meaning is my meat and drink”. Jesus does not say that His meat is to bring living water to parched souls, but “to do the will of Him that sent me, and to accomplish His work”. First, because throughout it is His aim to make Himself a transparency through which the Father may be seen; and second, because the will of God is the ultimate stability by fellowship with which all human charity and active compassion are continually renewed.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
meat. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Species), App-6, for all kinds of food. Greek. broma. Not the same word as in Joh 4:33.
to do = in order to do. Emphasizing the object and end, not the act. Compare Luk 2:49; Luk 4:4.
will. App-102.
sent. Greek. pempo. App-174. See note on Joh 1:22.
finish. Greek. teleioo. A characteristic word of this Gospel; here, Joh 5:36; Joh 17:4, Joh 17:23; Joh 19:28. See p. 1511.
work. A characteristic word of this Gospel, most frequently in plural. See p. 1511.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
34.] Christ alone could properly say these words. In the believer on Him, they are partially true,-true as far as he has received the Spirit, and entered into the spiritual life;-but in Him they were absolutely and fully true. His whole life was the doing of the Fathers will. We can eat and drink, &c. to the glory of God,-but in Him the hallowing of the Fathers name, doing His will, bringing about His Kingdom, was His daily bread, and superseded the thoughts and desires for the other, needful as it was for His humanity.
is not = . The latter would imply what was true (but not here expressed), that the absolute doing, &c. was His food;-as it now stands, it implies that it was His food to carry onward to completion that work: to be ever, step after step, having regard to its being completed. My meat is (not to do, as E. V., but) that I may do, &c. In the , the way is prepared for the idea introduced in the next verse. These words give an answer to the questioning in the minds of the disciples, and shew that He had been employed in the Fathers work during their absence.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 4:34. , the meat) with which my appetite is satisfied.-, that I may finish) Not yet had Jesus reached the middle of His time of action, and yet now He is thinking of the end [the finishing work]: so earnestly did He act throughout. The same verb occurs, ch. Joh 5:36, The works which My Father hath given Me to finish. Concerning the thing meant, comp. ch. Joh 6:38-39, at the end: I came down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me; and this is the Fathers will, etc., that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day.- , work) a work, one, great, and which embraces Israelites, Samaritans, and all nations.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 4:34
Joh 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work.-[Meat in the scriptures means not only flesh, but any kind of food.] The doing the will of his Father supplied the place of food and refreshed and strengthened him in body as well as spirit. Here are two persons becoming so interested in spiritual truths presented that they forgot their fleshly wants and external demands. One in teaching the truth of God, and the other forgets the water for which she had gone to the well. Jesus forgets his weariness and hunger in the desire to save a soul and accomplish the work unto which he was sent.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
My meat: Joh 4:32, Joh 6:33, Joh 6:38, Job 23:12, Psa 40:8, Isa 61:1-3, Luk 15:4-6, Luk 15:10, Luk 19:10, Act 20:35
and: Joh 5:36, Joh 17:4, Joh 19:30, Heb 12:2
Reciprocal: Exo 40:33 – So Moses Lev 10:14 – General Jdg 19:5 – Comfort 1Ki 13:14 – sitting Psa 119:47 – I will delight Psa 119:143 – yet thy Pro 8:31 – and my Pro 21:15 – joy Ecc 9:10 – thy hand Son 6:2 – feed Mat 3:15 – for Mat 6:10 – Thy will Mat 9:19 – General Mat 18:13 – he rejoiceth Mar 1:35 – General Mar 14:36 – nevertheless Luk 2:49 – my Luk 4:42 – when Luk 9:11 – and he Luk 12:50 – and Luk 13:33 – I must Luk 15:5 – when Luk 22:15 – With desire I have desired Luk 22:42 – not Joh 5:30 – because Joh 8:2 – early Joh 8:29 – for Joh 9:4 – must Joh 9:31 – and doeth Joh 14:31 – that the Joh 15:10 – even Act 8:30 – ran thither Act 13:25 – fulfilled Act 28:23 – from Rom 1:15 – I Rom 7:22 – I delight Rom 15:3 – Christ Phi 2:8 – and became 1Th 4:3 – this 2Ti 4:7 – I have finished Heb 5:8 – yet Heb 10:7 – Lo
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
Jesus used meat (food) in a figurative sense. The word is from BROMA, which Thayer defines, “That which is eaten, food.” He explains the way it is used in this passage to mean, “That which delights and truly satisfies the mind.” The context justifies his explanation, for it would certainly satisfy the mind of Jesus to do the will of his Father. To finish His work meant to carry through to the end all that was in the mind of God when he sent his Son into the world.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 4:34. Jesus saith unto them, My meat if that I should do the will of him that sent me, and accomplish his work. This is the first of many similar sayings in this Gospel (Joh 5:30, Joh 6:38, Joh 7:18, Joh 8:50, Joh 9:4, Joh 12:49-50, Joh 14:31; Joh 15:10, Joh 17:4), expressing our Lords perfect loyalty to His Fathers will, and complete devotion to the accomplishment of His Fathers work.
The pursuit of this is not His joy, His purpose, His refreshment only, but His very food, that without which He cannot live. The will to be done may perhaps remind us of the action of the hour or the moment; the work to be accomplished, of the complete expression and fulfilment of the will.