Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:54
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
54. The gracious positive of the previous minatory negative. From the warning as to the disastrous consequences of not partaking He passes to a declaration of the blessed consequences of partaking, viz. eternal life, and that at once, with resurrection among the just hereafter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 54. Hath eternal life] This can never be understood of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper.
1. Because this was not instituted till a year after; at the last Passover.
2. It cannot be said that those who do not receive that sacrament must perish everlastingly.
3. Nor can it be supposed that all those who do receive it are necessarily and eternally saved.
On the contrary, St. Paul intimates that many who received it at Corinth perished, because they received it unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body: not distinguishing between it and a common meal; and not properly considering that sacrifice for sin, of which the sacrament of the Lord’s super was a type: see 1Co 11:30.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hath eternal life; he hath it in a sure and just right title, and he shall have it in a certain actual possession: and in order to it, he shall have a joyful resurrection unto it at the last day. This is no more than what our Saviour had often said, particularly Joh 3:18,36, admitting what was before said, that by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, is to be meant believing in him; only here is a clearer discovery than was there, of the true object of that faith which justifieth, viz. a Christ crucified, for that is signified by the flesh and blood mentioned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
54. Whoso eateth . . . hath,c.The former verse said that unless they partook of Himthey had no life this adds, that whoever does so “hatheternal life.”
and I will raise him up atthe last dayFor the fourth time this is repeated (seeJoh 6:39; Joh 6:40;Joh 6:44) showing most clearlythat the “eternal life” which such a man “hath“cannot be the same with the future resurrection life fromwhich it is carefully distinguished each time, but a lifecommunicated here below immediately on believing (Joh 3:36;Joh 5:24; Joh 5:25);and giving to the resurrection of the body as that whichconsummates the redemption of the entire man, a prominencewhich in the current theology, it is to be feared, it has seldom had.(See Rom 8:23; 1Co 15:1-58,throughout).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,…. Spiritually by faith, as explained in the preceding verse:
hath eternal life; the principle of spiritual life, which is evidently implanted in him, as appears from his eating and drinking; and is a durable and lasting principle: grace is an incorruptible seed; every part of it is abiding and permanent; and it is itself the beginning, pledge, and earnest of everlasting life, and is inseparably connected with it: moreover, such have eternal life itself, not only in Christ their head, but in themselves: they have a right unto it, and a meetness for it: and may be assured of it, as if they were personally possessed of it, from their election to it; the security of it in Christ; from the grace they have received, which is the beginning of glory; and the earnest of it in themselves:
and I will raise him up at the last day; to enjoy it in soul and body; [See comments on Joh 6:39],
[See comments on Joh 6:40].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He that eateth ( ). Present active participle for continual or habitual eating like in verse 29. The verb is an old one for eating fruit or vegetables and the feeding of animals. In the N.T. it occurs only in John 6:54; John 6:56; John 6:58; John 13:18; Matt 24:38. Elsewhere in the Gospels always or (defective verb with ). No distinction is made here between (John 6:48; John 6:50; John 6:52; John 6:53; John 6:58) and (John 6:54; John 6:56; John 6:57; John 6:58). Some men understand Jesus here to be speaking of the Lord’s Supper by prophetic forecast or rather they think that John has put into the mouth of Jesus the sacramental conception of Christianity by making participation in the bread and wine the means of securing eternal life. To me that is a violent misinterpretation of the Gospel and an utter misrepresentation of Christ. It is a grossly literal interpretation of the mystical symbolism of the language of Jesus which these Jews also misunderstood. Christ uses bold imagery to picture spiritual appropriation of himself who is to give his life-blood for the life of the world (51). It would have been hopeless confusion for these Jews if Jesus had used the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper. It would be real dishonesty for John to use this discourse as a propaganda for sacramentalism. The language of Jesus can only have a spiritual meaning as he unfolds himself as the true manna.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Eateth [] . Another verb for eating is used. With the exception of Mt 24:38, it is found only in John, and always in connection with Christ. No special significance can be fairly attached to its use here. It seems to be taken as a current word, and efagon is resumed in ver. 58.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Whoso eateth my flesh,” (ho trogon mou ten sarka) “The one who eats my flesh,” that I give for the life of the world, Joh 6:51, that is to everyone that believes on me, Joh 6:40; Joh 6:47.
2) “And drinketh my blood,” (kai pinon mou to haima) “And drinks my blood,” and accepts my blood, by faith, for his sins, as a propitiation for his sins, Rom 3:24-25; Col 1:14; Col 1:20.
3) “Hath eternal life; (echei zoen aionion) “He has or now possesses eternal life,” Joh 5:24; Joh 10:27-28; 1Jo 5 10-13; Eph 1:7. Redemption, by and through the blood of Jesus, will be the theme song around the throne of God, in the hour of resurrection triumph and glory, Rev 5:9.
4) ”And I will raise him up at the last day.” (Kago anasteso auton te eschate hemera) “And I will raise him up in the last day,” bodily, to reunite redeemed souls with their own body in that hour, Rom 8:11; 1Co 15:22-23, Php_1:20-21; Joh 14:3; 1Th 4:13-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
54. He who eateth my flesh. This is a repetition, but is not superfluous; for it confirms what was difficult to be believed, That souls feed on his flesh and blood, in precisely the same manner that the body is sustained by eating and drinking Accordingly, as he lately testified that nothing but death remains for all who seek life anywhere else than in his flesh, so now he excites all believers (162) to cherish good hope, while he promises to them life in the same flesh.
And I will raise him up at the last day. It ought to be observed, that Christ so frequently connects the resurrection with eternal life, because our salvation will be hidden till that day. No man, therefore, can perceive what Christ bestows on us, unless, rising above the world, he places before his eyes the last resurrection From these words, it plainly appears that the whole of this passage is improperly explained, as applied to the Lord’s Supper. For if it were true that all who present themselves at the holy table of the Lord are made partakers of his flesh and blood, all will, in like manner, obtain life; but we know that there are many who partake of it to their condemnation. And indeed it would have been foolish and unreasonable to discourse about the Lord’s Supper, before he had instituted it. It is certain, then, that he now speaks of the perpetual and ordinary manner of eating the flesh of Christ, which is done by faith only. (163) And yet, at the same time, I acknowledge that there is nothing said here that is not figuratively represented, and actually bestowed on believers, in the Lord’s Supper; and Christ even intended that the holy Supper should be, as it were, a seal and confirmation (164) of this sermon. This is also the reason why the Evangelist John makes no mention of the Lord’s Supper; and therefore Augustine follows the natural order, when, in explaining this chapter, he does not touch on the Lord’s Supper till he comes to the conclusion; and then he shows that this mystery is symbolically represented, whenever the Churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper, in some places daily, and in other places only on the Lord’s day.
(162) “ Tous les fideles.”
(163) “ De la maniere perpetuelle et ordinaire de manger la chair de Christ, qui se fait par la foy seulement.”
(164) “ Comme nn seau et confirmation.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood.The thought advances from the negative to the positive. The previous verse stated the condition without which they could not have life. This verse declares that they who thus eat and drink possess that life now, and that it is eternal. (Comp. Note on Joh. 6:47.) The thought advances, too, from the ye of those immediately addressed to the whoso, which has no limit but the fulfilment of the condition. The word for eateth is a stronger word than that before used, meaning literally the act of dividing the food by the teeth; but this meaning is not to be pressed. It is simply the present tense, which describes the process of eating, and is the same word which is used in Joh. 6:56-58, and in Joh. 13:18. The sense of the word in the only other place in the New Testament where it occurs (Mat. 24:38) confirms this.
And I will raise him up at the last day.The thought of the eternal life, which is the present possession of the spirit in communion with God, leads on once again to the fuller expansion of that life in the final victory over death. (Comp. Joh. 6:40; Joh. 6:44.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
54. Eateth my flesh drinketh my blood The truth which underlies these words lies as the basis of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. Here is the thought clothed in symbolical words; there it is clothed in symbolical objects and actions. Christ, in order to live and die, must possess flesh and blood. His death must be by the breaking of his flesh; and its manifestation is by the shedding of blood, for the blood is the life. By faith in the merit of that death so presented, we appropriate its efficacy to the present salvation of our souls and the ultimate glorification of soul and body. Figure this in powerful emblematic words, and we have it that, by eating that flesh and drinking that blood, we eat and drink eternal life to our soul and body. The emblem of words prepares us for the emblem of action. We take for the flesh the fleshless bread, and for the blood the bloodless wine; and by eating one and drinking the other we set forth the truth, that by the propitiatory death of our blessed Lord Christ we have eternal life to our soul and body. There is, then, no support in this passage for the dismaying doctrine invented by the Romish Church that men actually devour the flesh of Christ’s real body.
Raise him up last day The glorification of the body is the last grand result to the believer of Christ’s atonement. The work begins in regeneration; it is continued in the bliss of the disembodied spirit in paradise; it terminates in the resurrection glory of the last day.
Joh 6:54-55. Whoso eateth my flesh, “Whoso thus feedeth upon me by living faith, has the principle of eternal life implanted in him, and, if faithful unto death, shall enjoy it, because I will raise him up at the last day; For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. They are the true nutriment of the soul; they feed it, and make it grow. They give vigour to all its faculties, preserve it continually alive, and make it fit for heaven” See Joh 6:32. Ch. Joh 15:1.
Joh 6:54-55 . He now more fully explains Himself, onwards to Joh 6:58 , with regard to the saving efficacy of this spiritual eating and drinking: “ He who eateth my flesh ,” etc.
] Previously the word was , but there is in the change no special intention as if to use a stronger term (to chew, to crunch), as the repetition of shows. Comp. Dem. 402. 21 : . Plut. Mor . p. 613 B; Polyb. xxxii. 9. 9. Comp. also Joh 13:18 ; Mat 24:38 .
.] Fuller definition of the general which precedes; it signifies the eternal Messianic life , but the development of this in time as spiritual life is included in the thought; therefore (Joh 3:15 ), and the result of the possession of this life: , . . . Comp. Joh 6:40 .
Joh 6:55 . Proof of the assertion ; for if the flesh of Jesus were not true food (something which in very deed has nourishing power ), etc., the effect named in Joh 6:54 could not ensue. It is self-evident that food for the inner man is meant; but (see the critical notes) is not the same as (this would mean genuine food, food that realizes its own ideal). It denotes the opposite of that which is merely apparent or so called, and therefore expresses the actual fact (1Jn 2:27 ; Act 12:9 ), which the Jews could not understand, since they asked , . . ., Joh 6:52 .
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Ver. 54. Whoso eateth my flesh ] Because this was a hard point to believe, therefore it is so often repeated and inculcated. Verba toties inculcata viva sunt, vera sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt.
eateth =
feedeth on (so as to enjoy). Greek. trogo, as in verses: Joh 6:56, Joh 6:57-58. Not the same word as in verses: Joh 6:5, Joh 6:13, Joh 6:23, Joh 5:26, Joh 5:31, Joh 5:49, Joh 5:50, Joh 5:53, Joh 5:58 -. See the two words in Joh 6:58.
eternal. Greek. aionios. App-151.
Joh 6:54
Joh 6:54
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.-He who makes the life of Jesus his life hath eternal life and Jesus will raise him up to the enjoyment of eternal life at the last day.
eateth: Joh 6:27, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:63, Joh 4:14, Psa 22:26, Pro 9:4-6, Isa 25:6-8, Isa 55:1-3, Gal 2:20, Phi 3:7-10
hath: Joh 6:39, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:47
Reciprocal: Joh 11:26 – whosoever Joh 17:2 – give Rom 8:10 – but 1Co 15:45 – a quickening 1Ti 1:16 – believe 2Ti 1:1 – the promise Tit 1:2 – eternal 1Jo 2:25 – General 1Jo 3:24 – dwelleth
4
Literal flesh and blood will not produce endless life, hence they should have begun to understand that Jesus was not talking of that kind of material.
Joh 6:54-58. Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.
Ver. 54. After having given this explanation in a negative form (without this eating and this drinking, impossibility of living), Jesus completes the expression of His thought by adding: By this eating and this drinking, assured possession of life. Then He raises the eye of the believer even to the glorious limit of this impartation of lifethe resurrection of the body. The relation between these last words: And I will raise him up …, and the preceding ones is so close that it is difficult to avoid seeing an organic connection between the possession of the spiritual life and the final resurrection; comp. Rom 8:10-11. However this may be, the bodily resurrection is by no means a useless superfetation relatively to the spiritual life, according to the thought which Reuss ascribes to John. Here is the fourth time that Jesus promises it in this discourse as the consummation of the salvation which He brings to mankind; comp. Joh 6:39-40; Joh 6:44. Nature restored and glorified is the end of the victory gained by the divine grace over sin.
The Joh 6:55 justifies the preceding negation and affirmation. If to eat this flesh and to drink this blood are the condition of life, it is because this flesh and this blood are, in all reality, food and drink. A part of the critical authorities present the reading , is truly; the rest read : is true food… true drink. The former reading is more in conformity with the style of John. As Lucke observes, John ordinarily makes refer to moral veracity, in contrast to (falsehood), but he also connects the adverb with a substantive (Joh 1:48 : ; perhaps Joh 8:31 : ). Moreover, the sense of the two readings is not sensibly different. The adverb or the adjective expresses the full reality of the vital communication effected by these elements, which are truly for the soul what food is for the body. Joh 6:56-57 explain how this communication of life is effected. By this food of the soul Christ dwells in us and we in Him (Joh 6:56), and this is to live (Joh 6:57).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)