Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this,] said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
60 71. Opposite Results of the Discourse
60. Many therefore of his disciples ] Including many more than the Apostles.
This is a hard saying ] Or, Hard is this speech. Not hard to understand, but hard to accept. The word for ‘hard’ means originally ‘dry,’ and so ‘rough;’ and then in a moral sense, ‘rough, harsh, offensive.’ Nabal the churl has this epithet, 1Sa 25:3; and the slothful servant in the parable of the Talents calls his master a ‘ hard man,’ Mat 25:24. Here the meaning is: ‘This is a repulsive speech; who can listen to it?’ It was the notion of eating flesh and drinking blood that specially scandalized them. See on Joh 5:47.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Many of his disciples – The word disciple means learner. It was applied to the followers of Christ because they were taught by him. It does not imply, of necessity, that those to whom it was given were real Christians, but simply that they were under his teaching, and were professed learners in his school. See Mat 17:16; Mar 2:18; Joh 9:28; Mat 10:24. It is doubtless used in this sense here. It is, however, often applied to those who are real Christians.
This is an hard saying – The word hard here means offensive, disagreeable – that which they could not bear. Some have understood it to mean difficult to be understood, but this meaning does not suit the connection. The doctrine which he delivered was opposed to their prejudices; it seemed to be absurd, and they therefore rejected it.
Saying – Rather doctrine or speech – Greek, logos. It does not refer to any particular part of the discourse, but includes the whole.
Who can hear it? – That is, who can hear it patiently – who can stay and listen to such doctrine or believe it. The effect of this is stated in Joh 6:66. The doctrines which Jesus taught that were so offensive appear to have been:
1.That he was superior to Moses.
2.That God would save all that he had chosen and those only.
3.That he said he was the bread that came from heaven.
4.That it was necessary to partake of that; that it was necessary that an atonement should be made, and that they should be saved by that.
These doctrines have always been among the most offensive that men have been called on to believe, and many, rather than trust in them, have chosen to draw back to perdition.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 6:60-65
Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
The defection of the disciples
I. OCCASIONED BY A HARD SAYING (Joh 6:60). It was unquestionably hard (Joh 6:51; Joh 6:53; Joh 6:57).
1. Difficult to understand even for Christians (Joh 14:17; Joh 14:26; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27), but especially for unbelievers (1Co 2:14).
2. Difficult to receive, demanding humility, self-abnegation (Mat 16:24), whole-hearted surrender (Rom 13:14; Eph 4:22; Col 3:8), none of which is easy for the unrenewed.
3. Difficult to practice.
II. ARRESTED BY A HIGH SAYING (Joh 6:62).
1. Retrospective (Joh 3:13; Joh 6:38; Joh 6:51; Joh 7:29; Joh 8:38); referring to His preexistent condition.
2. Predictive; foretelling His ascension.
3. Anticipative; cherishing the hope that His exaltation would resolve difficulties (Mat 28:17).
III. INSTRUCTED BY A DEEP SAVING (Joh 6:63).
1. The announcement of a truth. Only spirit can impart life.
2. The removal of an error that literal eating was meant.
3. The illustration of a principle. Wrong understanding a stumbling block; right understanding of the same words life.
IV. WARNED BY A SHARP SAYING (Joh 6:64).
1. Discriminating. Christ, then as now, distinguished between those who believed and those who believed not.
2. Informing. Christ, then as now, showed that He was perfectly acquainted with characters, works, and ways (Rev 2:2; Rev 2:9; Rev 2:13; Rev 2:19; Rev 3:1; Rev 3:8; Rev 3:15) of His professed followers.
3. Reproving of their guilt. Christ never regarded unbelief as an accident, misfortune, disease, but always as a sin.
4. Sorrowing (Mar 3:5; Mar 6:6).
V. EXPLAINED BY A DARK SAYING (Joh 6:65).
1. A rebuke to their self-sufficiency. They deemed themselves competent to pronounce judgment on Christ, to gauge His utterances, to estimate the value of His teaching, and to determine His position in Gods kingdom. Christ assures them they could do none of these things without Divine assistance.
2. A declaration of their irreligion. They were yet in their uurenewed condition, and therefore incapable of receiving the truth.
Learn
1. The sin of stumbling at Christs words.
2. To wait for further light on religious difficulties.
3. The danger of literalism.
4. The propriety of self-examination as to whether one truly believes.
5. The possibility of repeating the sin of Judas.
6. The need of daily prayer for Divine grace. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Hard sayings
I. For the SELF-RIGHTEOUS to feel he deserves eternal punishment.
II. For the LAODICEAN increased in goods to feel that he is a beggar.
III. For the WISE AND PRUDENT to believe he is a fool.
IV. For the MAN OF PLEASURE to believe that he is selling his soul for ashes.
V. For THE CARNAL MIND to know that he must owe his salvation to the blood of a crucified Galilean. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
Doth this offend you?–
A certain test
I. OF WHAT IS GOOD? That which the unrenewed hate to do.
II. OF WHAT IS TRUE? That which the unrenewed hate to hear.
III. OF WHAT IS HEAVENLY? That which the unrenewed hate to become. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life
Christianity a vital force
Christianity is a latent spiritual power, designed and adapted to translate men from a lower and physical life into a higher and spiritual life. If this be so
I. WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN LIFE?
1. It is the life of the human soul, derived not from natural laws, or the incitements of society, nor from any human causes, but distinctively a life derived from God; not an occasional excitement, but the indwelling of a Divine influence.
2. Under such influence is developed a personal experience differing from any that could otherwise be developed, which awakens in us a likeness to Christs nature and habits in
(1) Purity;
(2) Love;
(3) Activity.
II. SOME GOOD REASONS WHY ONE SHOULD ENTER IN THIS LIFE. Most have some conception of a character. With one it is wealth, with another learning, with others art, eloquence, home life. But these are not you. There is a living, controlling being behind all achievements: character is the fashioning of that. I urge you, therefore, to accept the Christian ideal–the man in Christ Jesus–because
1. The Divine power, as a living influence on your souls, is the only reconstructive force adequate to your needs. Those ideals which men form, exterior to themselves, have no transforming power upon their dispositions. What man needs is a perfect control of his animal nature, his selfishness, pride, sensuality.
2. This developing power reveals the only harmonizing elements around which all of a mans nature can reorganize itself. Love is the only point of crystallization.
(1) Crown pride and there are many faculties which say, I will not bow down to pride.
(2) Crown vanity, and many parts of the soul will say, I am higher than thou.
(3) Crown reason, and many feelings will rebel.
(4) Crown beauty, and there is not one faculty that under stress of trial will cry, O Beauty, save me!
(5) Crown conscience, and many faculties indeed will follow; but conscience is a despot.
(6) But crown love, and all will acknowledge his supremacy.
3. It is only in a character fashioned on the model of Christ that we can find relief from things seemingly or really antagonistic.
(1) Aspiration and content.
(2) Conscience and peace.
(3) Hope and fear.
4. The Divine power in the soul harmonizes man with his fellow-men.
5. This Divine power gives to the whole economy of life and flow of events a reconciliation which nothing else can. Christ is not working for results that appear in this life alone, but for those that shall appear in the life hereafter. You do not care what befalls you, so long as you have the certainty that the end of it shall be right. This redeems death from being a catastrophe, and exalts it into a victory.
Conclusion: If this view be correct
1. There is a very great difference between reasoning upon Christianity and testing Christianity. No man is competent to determine questions in regard to it until he has put his whole soul into the attitude of Christ. There are multitudes asking for arguments; Christ says, The words that I speak unto you, etc.
2. Is there not reason to fear that many persons who believe themselves to be safe come far short of true Christian life? No man is a Christian, whatever his morality, etc., until Christs Spirit dwells in him.
3. No man can come into this position by his own power. But open your heart and the Spirit will come in with His vivific power. (H. W. Beecher.)
The influence of the Spirit
I. EXPLAIN THE PASSAGE. When it is said, It is the spirit that quickeneth
1. It is not to be understood of the Holy Spirit exclusively, for the same work is ascribed to the Father and the Son.
2. The spirit does not quicken universally. The wind bloweth where it listeth; we read of those who were full of the Holy Ghost, and of others which were sensual, not having the Spirit.
3. Yet the Holy Spirit quickens all who are quickened (Eze 37:7; Rom 8:12).
4. He quickens men in their several stations: ministers to preach with clearness and fervour; private Christians to hear, receive, and do.
5. Though the Spirit can do this immediately, yet He generally does it by the use of means, and principally by the Word.
II. THE SUBJECTS OF HIS INFLUENCE He quickens
1. Our attention, as in the case of Lydia.
2. Our judgment (Isa 4:4). He leads us to distinguish between good and evil, to discern the reality of grace.
3. The will, to choose, embrace and cleave to that which is good.
4. The conscience, stirring it up to the faithful and vigorous discharge of duty.
5. The memory, to receive and retain Divine truths, to recollect Gods dealings with us and our conduct towards Him.
6. The gifts of ministers and private Christians, that they may be ready in prayer, preaching, and conference, and also those graces which He has implanted–fear, love, faith, zeal, etc.
7. The dead bodies of the saints (Rom 8:11).
III. THE ENDS FOR WHICH HE QUICKENS.
1. To consideration, without which we should be utterly thoughtless about our spiritual concerns (Jer 23:20).
2. To useful inquiries.
3. To fervent and importunate prayer.
4. To holiness of heart and newness of life.
5. To all acts of evangelical obedience.
IV. IMPROVEMENT.
1. Learn the proper Deity of the Spirit. He that doeth the works of Deity must have the perfections of Deity.
2. See why Gods words and ordinances have no greater efficacy. The most persuasive address is not sufficient without the influence of the Spirit.
3. Let us earnestly pray for His quickenings.
4. Let us join in the use of means.
5. Grieve not the Spirit. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The necessity of the Holy Spirit
However learned, godly, and eloquent a minister may be, he is nothing without the Holy Spirit. The bell in the steeple may be well hung, fairly fashioned, and of soundest metal, but it is dumb until the ringer makes it speak; and in like manner the preacher has no voice of quickening for the dead in sin, of comfort for living saints until the Divine Spirit gives him a gracious pull, and bids him speak with power. Hence the need of prayer from both preacher and hearers. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The Spirit a Quickener
I. IN THE PHYSICAL CREATION. He brooded over dark chaos and quickened it into life, order, beauty, and fruitfulness. This vitalizing power has never left His realm.
II. IN THE MORAL WORLD. The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. He implants instincts and affinities that respond to the touch of God.
III. IN THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. He inspired poets to sing, prophets to teach, judges to rule, and warriors to fight.
IV. IN THE REVELATION OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH. Eye and ear are inadequate vehicles.
1. He was the efficient Agent in the Incarnation, and from that hour until now if Christ is born in a soul, the hope of glory, it is by the same Spirit.
2. Like a dove He descended on Jesus at His baptism, fitting Him for all His future work.
3. In bringing Him from the dead (Rom 8:11), and in the impartation of Pentecostal power the same fact is corroborated.
4. The personal and local Christ departed, for it was expedient for Him to give way for the Spirit. The dull eyes of the disciples were opened, and they were transformed into heroes of faith.
5. Your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, therefore your dust will be re-animated by Deity. Conclusion: The highest need of the Church is the overjoying power of the Holy Ghost. (J. S. Kennard, D. D.)
The Spirit and Life
I. THE LIFE OF THE SOUL IS DERIVED FROM A SPIRITUAL SOURCE.
1. The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is the Communicator of life
(1) Physical (Gen 1:2; Psa 33:6).
(2) Intellectual (Pro 8:12; Pro 8:14; Job 32:8).
(3) Spiritual (Act 2:36-38).
2. The spirit of the new man inspires him to attend to the things that are appropriate to his life, and so he grows in grace (Rom 8:5).
3. A careful consideration of the ordinances of Christianity, anal their underlying truths, are conducive to spiritual results.
(1) Baptism, the symbol of death to sin, separation from the world, and the commencement of a new life.
(2) The Lords Supper, the memorial of the sublimest self-sacrifice.
(3) The Scriptures, which contain the will of God and eternal life.
II. LIFE FROM THE FLESH IS IMPOSSIBLE (Gal 5:17).
1. However imperceptible the path of a soul under the control of the unregenerate senses is a downward one (Rom 8:8).
2. The fleshly spirit divided Jewish society into hypocritical formalists and icy sceptics; and the same spirit has continued to work in priestly corruptions and theoretical and practical infidelity within and without the Church.
III. THE POWER OF CHRISTS WORDS IS SPIRITUAL.
1. They are spiritual in their nature.
2. They are life-giving. Flesh and Spirit.
(1) Flesh here means the outward and sensuous, which appeals to the eye, ear, etc. There was much of this in the old Jewish faith; but whenever they rested in it, it profited them nothing.
(2) Spirit does not mean the Holy Spirit, but the inward part of religion which the soul understands and lives upon.
I. THE UNPROFITABLE FLESH. The external observances of religion in themselves.
1. The real Presence. If Christ were really eaten carnally, then He could only profit carnally like other food. Does grace operate through the stomach? On the contrary, the real reception consists in belief in the Incarnation, trust in the death, realization of the spiritual indwelling of Christ.
2. Baptism. The putting away of the filth of the flesh is nought, the answer of a good conscience towards God is the vitality of baptism.
3. Apostolical succession. The mere fleshly connection between bishop and bishop, established by successive laying on of hands, supposing it could be proved, is valueless: the apostles successors are those who preach apostolic doctrine, display apostolic piety, and do apostolic work.
4. The value of ornate worship must be determined by what in it is sensuous and what spiritual.
5. The same applies to architecture and symbolism: do they gratify a carnal taste or minister to spiritual life?
6. Eloquence often excites the same emotions as the theatre is as sounding brass, and only profits as the vehicle of a truth that moves the inmost soul.
7. Revivalistic movements frequently engender a mere carnal enthusiasm, and, unless their excitements stir the spirits of a man towards God and holiness, they are based upon a lie.
8. Prayer and ordinances of any kind as mere matters of form and habit profit nothing. Their power lies wholly in their spirituality.
II. THE QUICKENING SPIRIT.
1. It is the spiritual nature which quickens a man. He who has not received this from the Holy Ghost is dead in trespasses and sins.
2. This quickens all ordinances and makes them vitalizing means of grace.
3. So with spiritual acts and moral duties.
4. This spiritual nature has for its Author the Divine Father and is the actual operation of the Holy Spirit.
5. The mark by which it is discovered is faith. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spirit and life
I. THE WORDS OF CHRIST PERTAIN TO AND REVEAL THE SPIRITUAL AND ETERNAL.
1. Spirit and life are closely related to each other. The Spirit originates, the life perpetuates.
2. Words strictly speaking cannot be Spirit; they represent or manifest; as Christ said, I am the Door. The words of man express his thoughts and reveal his inmost being, How easy to detect the style of Johnson, Macaulay, or Carlyle. The words of Christ reveal His Spirit of wisdom and love.
3. Valuable as are the works of literature, etc., Christs words do not pertain to them. They are of a prior and higher realm. They do not teach science, but they give light and life to men that he may pursue the most profound investigations. Hence under the shadow of the Cross alone flourish literary and scientific institutions of the highest character.
II. THE WORDS OF CHRIST ARE ACCOMPANIED BY AN UNSEEN SPIRITUAL POWER, which is indissolubly joined to them, and thus they become spirit and life. How the spiritual can be joined to the material we cant explain. Where are the cords which bind this earth to yonder sun? What is it that gives the minute seed the power to develop? Life. But what is life? The chemist says a grain of wheat is so much carbon, etc. I ask him to make one, and he takes the various substances in their due proportions, and the result looks like a grain of wheat. It has the same colour, weight, form. But plant it–it will not grow. But the grain that God made, though kept in Egypts catacombs for three thousand years, will, because it has life. So with the words of Christ. They are like other words, but God has joined with them a spirit and life which affect the heart of man.
III. THE POWER OF THIS WORD IS SEEN IN THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE.
1. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. The great worlds are Gods conceptions materialized that finite minds may catch a glimpse of His almightiness and wisdom. Think of all this as the product of a word and who can estimate its power?
2. More than this, He upholdeth all things by the word of His power.
3. Great as is the creation and preservation of worlds there is something higher in life. The one is passive the other active. In Christ was life and He breathed into man a living soul. His Word perpetuates natural life, and how numberless are its forms and varieties! What endless gradations in the character of that life from the worm to the man, from life for a moment to life everlasting.
IV. The text, however, refers to SPIRITUAL LIFE AND DECLARES THAT THE WORDS OF CHRIST ORIGINATE AND PERPETUATE THAT LIFE.
1. Were there no such declaration we might infer it. Unless needed to awaken mans sensibilities, why did God stoop to Mount Sinai and Christ to the manger and the cross?
2. Everywhere religion is spoken of as life. Ezekiels mystic river and valley of dry bones.
3. The words of great men have frequently given to nations increasing influences: Homer, Aristotle, etc., for Greece; Bacon, Shakespeare, etc., for England. But if God speaks, how powerful must His words effect the hearts and lives of men! Even fancied Divine words, as of the oracle to Alexander or of the imaginings of Joan of Arc inspired almost irresistible power.
4. During His earthly abode, Jesus showed how truly His words were spirit and life. He healed the sick and raised the dead with a word. And how simple were His words, apparently without any effort. How quietly he calmed the winds and multiplied the bread. And His words reached spirit as well as matter. Whether is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee, etc.
5. The same power accompanies His words as spoken by His servants. They have revolutionized the world, Idolatry disappeared before the Bible. The Cross was exalted above the eagle. Great reforms have always been preceded and accompanied by the study of Gods Word. (Bp. M. Simpson.)
Christs great ideas
Christ came into the world to introduce three great ideas, into which all His teachings could be classified.
I. The first was simple in form and sublime in sentiment; He came into the world to teach THAT GOD IS OUR FATHER, and urged that idea continually. Over all things was a sustaining power, and this over the most precious of all truths in regard to the being of God. The only prayer Christ ever taught began, Our Father which art in heaven.
II. THE IDEAL OF A TRUE MAN. No one else ever did that or had ever attempted it–even in outline. He could tell us what a true man was because He was Himself a True Man. Eighteen centuries have criticised that life only to render it more radiant and excellent.
III. THE PERFECTIBILITY OF SINFUL MAN. No one had so clearly shown that man was a sinful being, or been more outspoken in regard to the awful consequences of wrong doing, and yet He affirms that fallen humanity can be lifted up and made holy. Sin was an obstacle to eternal life, but Jesus Christ had pledged Himself to remove it. He promises ,that if we will come to Him our sins shall be forgiven; that they shall be flung far from remembrance into the backward depths of space. His words will live and never change. (H. M. Scudder, D. D.)
The honesty of Jesus
1. Christs teaching was honesty itself compared with that of the scribes; and now no book has a ring so decidedly clear and genuine as the New Testament.
2. Yet honesty is not the whole of the significant quality of Christs life and words. A man may be quite honest but greatly mistaken. It is a great thing to have a candid mind not obscured by prejudice or broken by passion.
3. But this is not enough. The position of a mirror in the light, and its angle towards the object to be seen in it is as important as its clearness. We cannot hope to gain true representations if we persist in holding ourselves at a wrong personal angle towards truths. But Jesus always kept Himself in a relation so true to men that in His thoughts and judgments, all objects are represented in their simple reality. His words are not only clear and honest, they correspond to the truth of things.
I. Let me DESCRIBE THIS CHARACTERISTIC.
1. In the conversations of Jesus. He quietly brushes aside Jewish notions and personal deceptions and touches with saving power the real lives of the people. They might for years have concealed their real self, but when Jesus came they became real. It was so with Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, the publican, the Pharisee, the disciples.
2. In the teachings of Jesus.
(1) They went to the moral core of their being, and insisted on their becoming true men at heart.
(2) His doctrine of God has the same practical relation to human life. The doctrine of Jesus means real righteousness, justice, love, in God as in man. He did not come to teach a comprehensive system of philosophy, a subtle science of nature, or some perfect scheme of divinity. He represented God on earth, and realized in His life and death the whole eternal disposition of God towards man.
II. Some pertinent APPLICATIONS OF THIS TRUTH. Two facts are forcing themselves on our notice.
1. Ecclesiastical Christianity and dogmatic Christianity have less influence to-day than ever they had.
2. Never has a real Christianity of real life been more honoured or loved.
3. It requires therefore no prophet to predict that the church of the future will not be altogether the church of the past. It will not be a church of vested ecclesiastical pretension or formal and one sided orthodoxism, but a gospel of the Son of God in the hearts of men, preached through the conduct of life.
4. If we have any doubt as to what this real gospel is we may find it in the New Testament, if we read it with a willing mind; but to practice it means something much harder than coming to church, singing hymns or discussing doctrines. It is Christ loved, chosen, and obeyed as Saviour and Lord. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 60. Many therefore of his disciples] So it appears that he had many more than the twelve, who constantly accompanied him.
This is a hard saying; who can hear it?] Who can digest such doctrine as this? It is intolerable: it is impracticable. There is a similar saving in Euripides, to the of the evangelist. , ‘ , ; Tell me whether thou wouldst that I should speak unto thee, a SOFT LIE, or the HARSH TRUTH? The wicked word of a lying world is in general better received than the holy word of the God of truth!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His disciples; his followers, not those that were his disciples indeed, but in name; for many followed him that did not believe in him; and many (in a sense) believed, to whom he did not commit himself, Joh 2:23,24. Now, many of these disciples, having heard these sayings, and being no way able to comprehend so great mysteries, nor having their eyes opened by the Spirit of illumination, said within themselves, These are sayings hard, or impossible, to be understood; who is able to hear or to understand them? or who is able to bear them?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
60-65. Many . . . of hisdisciplesHis pretty constant followers, though an outer circleof them.
hard sayingnot merelyharsh, but insufferable, as the word often means in the OldTestament.
who can hearsubmit tolisten to it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Many therefore of his disciples,…. Not of the twelve, nor of the seventy, but of the multitude of the disciples, who followed him from place to place, attended on his ministry, and might be baptized in his name; see Joh 4:1;
when they had heard [this]; that his flesh and blood were truly and really meat and drink, and that none had life in them, or should have eternal life, but such as eat and drink the same:
said, this is an hard saying; or it is to be objected to; so , “an hard thing”, the word here used in the Syriac version, and
, “it is to me a hard thing”, are phrases used to express an objection in the Talmudic writings, where they are often met with: or it is difficult to be understood and received; so , “an hard saying”, or “an hard cause”, is a cause difficult to be tried and determined, Ex 18:26, and is used of that which seems incredible and absurd, and is surprising and unaccountable: so it is said z, that
“it happened to a certain woman, that she came before R. Abika: she said to him, I have seen a spot; he said to her, perhaps there is a wound in thee; she answered him, yes, and it is healed; he replied, perhaps it may be opened, and the blood brought out; she answered him, yes; and he pronounced her clean. R. Abika saw his disciples look upon one another; and he said unto them, , “is this an hard saying with you?””
is it a difficult thing with you? does it seem absurd to you? or are you surprised at it? anything difficult, or which seems irreconcilable, is so called: so the slaying the passover between the two evenings is called by Aben Ezra, in Ex 12:6, , “an hard saying”. In like sense the phrase is used here; and the allusion may be to food that is hard of digestion, since Christ had been speaking of himself under the metaphors of bread and meat. As some of the doctrines of Christ are comparable to milk, which is easy of digestion; others are like to strong meat, which belongs to those of full age, and cannot be digested by children, by babes in Christ, and much less be received, ate, and digested, with ease and pleasure, by carnal minds; who therefore say, as these Capernaites did,
who can hear it? this saying, or doctrine, concerning eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ; or “him” Christ, who delivered this doctrine: such preaching, and such a preacher, are intolerable; there is no hearing, nor bearing them: hence we afterwards read, that these withdrew from the ministry of Christ, Joh 6:66.
z Misn. Nidda, c. 8, sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Christ’s Discourse with His Disciples; The Effect of Christ’s Discourse; The Character of Judas. |
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60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
We have here an account of the effects of Christ’s discourse. Some were offended and others edified by it; some driven from him and others brought nearer to him.
I. To some it was a savour of death unto death; not only to the Jews, who were professed enemies to him and his doctrine, but even to many of his disciples, such as were disciples at large, who were his frequent hearers, and followed him in public; a mixed multitude, like those among Israel, that began all the discontents. Now here we have,
1. Their murmurings at the doctrine they heard (v. 60): This is a hard saying, who can hear it? (1.) They do not like it themselves: “What stuff is this? Eat the flesh, and drink the blood, of the Son of man! If it is to be understood figuratively, it is not intelligible; if literally, not practicable. What! must we turn cannibals? Can we not be religious, but we must be barbarous?” Si Christiani adorant quod comedunt (said Averroes), sit anima mea cum philosophis–If Christians adore what they eat, my mind shall continue with the philosophers. Now, when they found it a hard saying, if they had humbly begged of Christ to have declared unto them this parable, he would have opened it, and their understandings too; for the meek will he teach his way. But they were not willing to have Christ’s sayings explained to them, because they would not lose this pretence for rejecting them–that they were hard sayings. (2.) They think it impossible that any one else should like it: “Who can hear it? Surely none can.” Thus the scoffers at religion are ready to undertake that all the intelligent part of mankind concur with them. They conclude with great assurance that no man of sense will admit the doctrine of Christ, nor any man of spirit submit to his laws. Because they cannot bear to be so tutored, so tied up, themselves, they think none else can: Who can hear it? Thanks be to God, thousands have heard these sayings of Christ, and have found them not only easy, but pleasant, as their necessary food.
2. Christ’s animadversions upon their murmurings.
(1.) He well enough knew their murmurings, v. 61. Their cavils were secret in their own breasts, or whispered among themselves in a corner. But, [1.] Christ knew them; he saw them, he heard them. Note, Christ takes notice not only of the bold and open defiances that are done to his name and glory by daring sinners, but of the secret slights that are put upon his doctrine by carnal professors; he knows that which the fool saith in his heart, and cannot for shame speak out; he observes how his doctrine is resented by those to whom it is preached; who rejoice in it, and who murmur at it; who are reconciled to it, and bow before it, and who quarrel with it, and rebel against it, though ever so secretly. [2.] He knew it in himself, not by any information given him, nor any external indication of the thing, but by his own divine omniscience. He knew it not as the prophets, by a divine revelation made to him (that which the prophets desired to know was sometimes hid from them, as 2 Kings iv. 27), but by a divine knowledge in him. He is that essential Word that discerns the thoughts of the heart,Heb 4:12; Heb 4:13. Thoughts are words to Christ; we should therefore take heed not only what we say and do, but what we think.
(2.) He well enough knew how to answer them: “Doth this offend you? Is this a stumbling-block to you?” See how people by their own wilful mistakes create offences to themselves: they take offence where there is none given, and even make it where there is nothing to make it of. Note, We may justly wonder that so much offence should be taken at the doctrine of Christ for so little cause. Christ speaks of it here with wonder: “Doth this offend you?” Now, in answer to those who condemned his doctrine as intricate and obscure (Si non vis intelligi, debes negligi—If you are unwilling to be understood, you ought to be neglected),
[1.] He gives them a hint of his ascension into heaven, as that which would give an irresistible evidence of the truth of his doctrine (v. 62): What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? And what then? First, “If I should tell you of that, surely it would much more offend you, and you would think my pretensions too high indeed. If this be so hard a saying that you cannot hear it, how will you digest it when I tell you of my returning to heaven, whence I came down?” See ch. iii. 12. Those who stumble at smaller difficulties should consider how they will get over greater. Secondly, “When you see the Son of man ascend, this will much more offend you, for then my body will be less capable of being eaten by you in that gross sense wherein you now understand it;” so Dr. Whitby. Or, Thirdly, “When you see that, or hear it from those that shall see it, surely then you will be satisfied. You think I take too much upon me when I say, I came down from heaven, for it was with this that you quarrelled (v. 42); but will you think so when you see me return to heaven?” If he ascended, certainly he descended,Eph 4:9; Eph 4:10. Christ did often refer himself thus to subsequent proofs, as Joh 1:50; Joh 1:51; Joh 2:14; Mat 12:40; Mat 26:64. Let us wait awhile, till the mystery of God shall be finished, and then we shall see that there was no reason to be offended at any of Christ’s sayings.
[2.] He gives them a general key to this and all such parabolical discourses, teaching them that they are to be understood spiritually, and not after a corporal and carnal manner: It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, v. 63. As it is in the natural body, the animal spirits quicken and enliven it, and without these the most nourishing food would profit nothing (what would the body be the better for bread, if it were not quickened and animated by the spirit), so it is with the soul. First, The bare participation of ordinances, unless the Spirit of God work with them, and quicken the soul by them, profits nothing; the word and ordinances, if the Spirit works with them, are as food to a living man, if not, they are as food to a dead man. Even the flesh of Christ, the sacrifice for sin, will avail us nothing unless the blessed Spirit quicken our souls thereby, and enforce the powerful influences of his death upon us, till we by his grace are planted together in the likeness of it. Secondly, The doctrine of eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his blood, if it be understood literally, profits nothing, but rather leads us into mistakes and prejudices; but the spiritual sense or meaning of it quickens the soul, makes it alive and lively; for so it follows: The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. To eat the flesh of Christ! this is a hard saying, but to believe that Christ died for me, to derive from that doctrine strength and comfort in my approaches to God, my oppositions to sin and preparations for a future state, this is the spirit and life of that saying, and, construing it thus, it is an excellent saying. The reason why men dislike Christ’s sayings if because they mistake them. The literal sense of a parable does us no good, we are never the wiser for it, but the spiritual meaning is instructive. Thirdly, The flesh profits nothing–those that are in the flesh (so some understand it), that are under the power of a carnal mind, profit not by Christ’s discourses; but the Spirit quickeneth–those that have the Spirit, that are spiritual, are quickened and enlivened by them; for they are received ad modum recipientis–so as to correspond with the state of the receiver’s mind. They found fault with Christ’s sayings, whereas the fault was in themselves; it is only to sensual minds that spiritual things are senseless and sapless, spiritual minds relish them; see 1Co 2:14; 1Co 2:15.
[3.] He gives them an intimation of his knowledge of them, and that he had expected no better from them, though they called themselves his disciples, Joh 6:64; Joh 6:65. Now was fulfilled that of the prophet, speaking of Christ and his doctrine (Isa. liii. 1), Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Both these Christ here takes notice of.
First, They did not believe his report: “There are some of you who said you would leave all to follow me who yet believe not;” and this was the reason why the word preached did not profit them, because it was not mixed with faith, Heb. iv. 2. They did not believe him to be the Messiah, else they would have acquiesced in the doctrine he preached, and not have quarrelled with it, though there were some things in it dark, and hard to be understood. Oportet discentum credere–Young beginners in learning must take things upon their teacher’s word. Note, 1. Among those who are nominal Christians, there are many who are real infidels. 2. The unbelief of hypocrites, before it discovers itself to the world, is naked and open before the eyes of Christ. He knew from the beginning who they were of the multitudes that followed him that believed, and who of the twelve should betray him; he knew from the beginning of their acquaintance with him, and attendance on him, when they were in the hottest pang of their zeal, who were sincere, as Nathanael (ch. i. 47), and who were not. Before they distinguished themselves by an overt act, he could infallibly distinguish who believed and who did not, whose love was counterfeit and whose cordial. We may gather hence, (1.) That the apostasy of those who have long made a plausible profession of religion is a certain proof of their constant hypocrisy, and that from the beginning they believed not, but is not a proof of the possibility of the total and final apostasy of any true believers: such revolts are not to be called the fall of real saints, but the discovery of pretended ones; see 1 John ii. 19. Stella cadens non stella fuit–The star that falls never was a star. (2.) That it is Christ’s prerogative to know the heart; he knows who they are that believe not, but dissemble in their profession, and yet continues them room in his church, the use of his ordinances, and the credit of his name, and does not discover them in this world, unless they by their own wickedness discover themselves; because such is the constitution of his visible church, and the discovering day is yet to come. But, if we pretend to judge men’s hearts, we step into Christ’s throne, and anticipate his judgment. We are often deceived in men, and see cause to change our sentiments of them; but this we are sure of, that Christ knows all men, and his judgment is according to truth.
Secondly, The reason why they did not believe his report was because the arm of the Lord was not revealed to them (v. 65): Therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me, except it be given unto him of my Father; referring to v. 44. Christ therefore could not but know who believed and who did not, because faith is the gift and work of God, and all his Father’s gifts and works could not but be known to him, for they all passed through his hands. There he had said that none could come to him, except the Father draw him; here he saith, except it be given him of my Father, which shows that God draws souls by giving them grace and strength, and a heart to come, without which, such is the moral impotency of man, in his fallen state, that he cannot come.
3. We have here their final apostasy from Christ hereupon: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him, v. 66. When we admit into our minds hard thoughts of the word and works of Christ, and conceive a secret dislike, and are willing to hear insinuations tending to their reproach, we are then entering into temptation; it is as the letting forth of water; it is looking back, which, if infinite mercy prevent not, will end in drawing back; therefore Obsta principiis–Take heed of the beginnings of apostasy. (1.) See here the backsliding of these disciples. Many of them went back to their houses, and families, and callings, which they had left for a time to follow him; went back, one to his farm and another to his merchandise; went back, as Orpah did, to their people, and to their gods, Ruth i. 15. They had entered themselves in Christ’s school, but they went back, did not only play truant for once, but took leave of him and his doctrine for ever. Note, The apostasy of Christ’s disciples from him, though really a strange thing, yet has been such a common thing that we need not be surprised at it. Here were many that went back. It is often so; when some backslide many backslide with them; the disease is infectious. (2.) The occasion of this backsliding: From that time, from the time that Christ preached this comfortable doctrine, that he is the bread of life, and that those who by faith feed upon him shall live by him (which, one would think, should have engaged them to cleave more closely to him)–from that time they withdrew. Note, The corrupt and wicked heart of man often makes that an occasion of offence which is indeed matter of the greatest comfort. Christ foresaw that they would thus take offence at what he said, and yet he said it. That which is the undoubted word and truth of Christ must be faithfully delivered, whoever may be offended at it. Men’s humours must be captivated to God’s word, and not God’s word accommodated to men’s humours. (3.) The degree of their apostasy: They walked no more with him, returned no more to him and attended no more upon his ministry. It is hard for those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted the good word of God, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, Heb. vi. 4-6.
II. This discourse was to others a savour of life unto life. Many went back, but, thanks be to God, all did not; even then the twelve stuck to him. Though the faith of some be overthrown, yet the foundation of God stands sure. Observe here,
1. The affectionate question which Christ put to the twelve (v. 67): Will you also go away? He saith nothing to those who went back. If the unbelieving depart, let them depart; it was no great loss of those whom he never had; lightly come, lightly go; but he takes this occasion to speak to the twelve, to confirm them, and by trying their stedfastness the more to fix them: Will you also go away? (1.) “It is at your choice whether you will or no; if you will forsake me, now is the time, when so many do: it is an hour of temptation; if you will go back, go now.” Note, Christ will detain none with him against their wills; his soldiers are volunteers, not pressed men. The twelve had now had time enough to try how they liked Christ and his doctrine, and that none of them might afterwards say that they were trepanned into discipleship, and if it were to do again they would not do it, he here allows them a power of revocation, and leaves them at their liberty; as Jos 25:15; Rth 1:15. (2.) “It is at your peril if you do go away.” If there was any secret inclination in the heart of any of them to depart from him, he stops it with this awakening question, “Wilt you also go away? Think not that you hang at as loose an end as they did, and may go away as easily as they could. They have not been so intimate with me as you have been, nor received so many favours from me; they are gone, but will you also go? Remember your character, and say, Whatever others do, we will never go away. Should such a man as I flee?” Neh. vi. 11. Note, The nearer we have been to Christ and the longer we have been with him, the more engagements we have laid ourselves under to him, the greater will be our sin if we desert him. (3.) “I have reason to think you will not. Will you go away? No, I have faster hold of you than so; I hope better things of you (Heb. vi. 9), for you are they that have continued with me,” Luke xxii. 28. When the apostasy of some is a grief to the Lord Jesus, the constancy of others is so much the more his honour, and he is pleased with it accordingly. Christ and believers know one another too well to part upon every displeasure.
2. The believing reply which Peter, in the name of the rest, made to this question, Joh 6:68; Joh 6:69. Christ put the question to them, as Joshua put Israel to their choice whom they would serve, with design to draw out from them a promise to adhere to him, and it had the like effect. Nay, but we will serve the Lord, Peter was upon all occasions the mouth of the rest, not so much because he had more of his Master’s ear than they, but because he had more tongue of his own; and what he said was sometimes approved and sometimes reprimanded (Mat 16:17; Mat 16:23) –the common lot of those who are swift to speak. This here was well said, admirably well; and probably he said it by the direction, and with the express assent, of his fellow-disciples; at least he knew their mind, and spoke the sense of them all, and did not except Judas, for we must hope the best.
(1.) Here is a good resolution to adhere to Christ, and so expressed as to intimate that they would not entertain the least thought of leaving him: “Lord, to whom shall we go? It were folly to go from thee, unless we knew where to better ourselves; no, Lord, we like our choice too well to change.” Note, Those who leave Christ would do well to consider to whom they will go, and whether they can expect to find rest and peace any where but in him. See Psa 73:27; Psa 73:28; Hos 2:9. “Whither shall we go? Shall we make our court to the world? It will certainly deceive us. Shall we return to sin? It will certainly destroy us. Shall we leave the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns?” The disciples resolve to continue their pursuit of life and happiness, and will have a guide to it, and will adhere to Christ as their guide, for they can never have a better. “Shall we go to the heathen philosophers, and become their disciples? They are become vain in their imaginations, and, professing themselves to be wise in other things, are become fools in religion. Shall we go to the scribes and Pharisees, and sit at their feet? What good can they do us who have made void the commandments of God by their traditions? Shall we go to Moses? He will send us back again to thee. Therefore, if ever we find the way to happiness, it must be in following thee.” Note, Christ’s holy religion appears to great advantage when it is compared with other institutions, for then it will be seen how far it excels them all. Let those who find fault with this religion find a better before they quit it. A divine teacher we must have; can we find a better than Christ? A divine revelation we cannot be without; if the scripture be not such a one, where else may we look for it?
(2.) Here is a good reason for this resolution. It was not the inconsiderate resolve of a blind affection, but the result of mature deliberation. The disciples were resolved never to go away from Christ,
[1.] Because of the advantage they promised themselves by him: Thou hast the words of eternal life. They themselves did not fully understand Christ’s discourse, for as yet the doctrine of the cross was a riddle to them; but in the general they were satisfied that he had the words of eternal life, that is, First, That the word of his doctrine showed the way to eternal life, set it before us, and directed us what to do, that we might inherit it. Secondly, That the word of his determination must confer eternal life. His having the words of eternal life is the same with his having power to give eternal life to as many as were given him, ch. xvii. 2. He had in the foregoing discourse assured eternal life to his followers; these disciples fastened upon this plain saying, and therefore resolved to stick to him, when the others overlooked this, and fastened upon the hard sayings, and therefore forsook him. Though we cannot account for every mystery, every obscurity, in Christ’s doctrine, yet we know, in the general, that it is the word of eternal life, and therefore must live and die by it; for if we forsake Christ we forsake our own mercies.
[2.] Because of the assurance they had concerning him (v. 69): We believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ. if he be the promised Messiah, he must bring in an everlasting righteousness (Dan. ix. 24), and therefore has the words of eternal life, for righteousness reigns to eternal life, Rom. v. 21. observe, First, The doctrine they believed: that this Jesus was the Messiah promised to the fathers and expected by them, and that he was not a mere man, but the Son of the living God, the same to whom God had said, Thou art my Son, Ps. ii. 7. In times of temptation to apostasy it is good to have recourse to our first principles, and stick to them; and, if we faithfully abide by that which is past dispute, we shall be the better able both to find and to keep the truth in matters of doubtful disputation. Secondly, The degree of their faith: it rose up to a full assurance: We are sure. We have known it by experience; this is the best knowledge. We should take occasion from others’ wavering to be so much the more established, especially in that which is the present truth. When we have so strong a faith in the gospel of Christ as boldly to venture our souls upon it, knowing whom we have believed, then, and not till then, we shall be willing to venture every thing else for it.
3. The melancholy remark which our Lord Jesus made upon this reply of Peter’s (Joh 6:70; Joh 6:71): Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? And the evangelist tells us whom he meant: he spoke of Judas Iscariot. Peter had undertaken for them all that they would be faithful to their Master. Now Christ does not condemn his charity (it is always good to hope the best), but he tacitly corrects his confidence. We must not be too sure concerning any. God knows those that are his; we do not. Observe here, (1.) Hypocrites and betrayers of Christ are no better than devils. Judas not only had a devil, but he was a devil. One of you is a false accuser; so diabolos sometimes signifies (2 Tim. iii. 3); and it is probable that Judas, when he sold his Master to the chief priests, represented him to them as a bad man, to justify himself in what he did. But I rather take it as we read it: He is a devil, a devil incarnate, a fallen apostle, as the devil a fallen angel. He is Satan, an adversary, an enemy to Christ. He is Abaddon, and Apollyon, a son of perdition. He was of his father the devil, did his lusts, was in his interests, as Cain, 1 John iii. 12. Those whose bodies were possessed by the devil are never called devils (demoniacs, but not devils); but Judas, into whose heart Satan entered, and filled it, is called a devil. (2.) Many that are seeming saints are real devils. Judas had as fair an outside as many of the apostles; his venom was, like that of the serpent, covered with a fine skin. He cast out devils, and appeared an enemy to the devil’s kingdom, and yet was himself a devil all the while. Not only he will be one shortly, but he is one now. It is strange, and to be wondered at; Christ speaks of it with wonder: Have not I? It is sad, and to be lamented, that ever Christianity should be made a cloak to diabolism. (3.) The disguises of hypocrites, however they may deceive men, and put a cheat upon them, cannot deceive Christ, for his piercing eye sees through them. He can call those devils that call themselves Christians, like the prophet’s greeting to Jeroboam’s wife, when she came to him in masquerade (1 Kings xiv. 6): Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam. Christ’s divine sight, far better than any double sight, can see spirits. (4.) There are those who are chosen by Christ to special services who yet prove false to him: I have chosen you to the apostleship, for it is expressly said that Judas was not chosen to eternal life (ch. xiii. 18), and yet one of you is a devil. Note, Advancement to places of honour and trust in the church is no certain evidence of saving grace. We have prophesied in thy name. (5.) In the most select societies on this side heaven it is no new thing to meet with those that are corrupt. Of the twelve that were chosen to an intimate conversation with an incarnate Deity, as great an honour and privilege as ever men were chosen to, one was an incarnate devil. The historian lays an emphasis upon this, that Judas was one of the twelve that were so dignified and distinguished. Let us not reject and unchurch the twelve because one of them is a devil, nor say that they are all cheats and hypocrites because one of them was so; let those that are so bear the blame, and not those who, while they are undiscovered, incorporate with them. There is a society within the veil into which no unclean thing shall enter, a church of first-born, in which are no false brethren.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
A hard saying (). “This saying is a hard one.” Old adjective, rough, harsh, dried hard (from , to dry), probably the last saying of Jesus that he was the bread of life come down from heaven and they were to eat him. It is to be hoped that none of the twelve joined the many disciples in this complaint.
Hear it ( ). Or “hear him,” hear with acceptation. For with the genitive see John 10:3; John 10:16; John 10:27.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hard [] . See on Mt 25:24; Jude 1:14. According to the Greek order, hard is this saying.
Hear it [ ] . Aujtou may be rendered Him, but this is not probable. Hear means a docile hearing, with a view to receiving what is heard. Compare Joh 10:3, 16, 27; Joh 12:47; Joh 18:37.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said,” (polloi oun akousantes ek ton matheton autou eipan) “Then many of the disciples upon hearing, said,” many who had been followers and learner.
2) “This is an hard saying; (skleros estin ho logos houtos) “This is the hard (firm) word;” The hardness was in their hearts, not the words of Jesus, Jer 17:9; For it is with the heart man may believe or resist the Word and spirit of God, Act 7:51-54; Rom 10:9-10.
3) “Who can hear it?” (tis dunatai autou akouein) “Who is able to hear it?” to give heed to it, to obey it? The answer is, anyone who wills to do so, can heed it, Joh 7:17; Luk 14:35; Act 3:22-23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
60. This is a harsh saying. On the contrary, it was in their hearts, and not in the saying, that the harshness lay. But out of the word of God the reprobate are thus accustomed to form stones to dash themselves upon, and when, by their hardened obstinacy, they rush against Christ, they complain that his saying is harsh, which ought rather to have softened them. For whoever shall submit with true humility (168) to the doctrine of Christ will find nothing in it harsh or disagreeable; but to unbelievers, who oppose themselves with obstinacy, it will be a hammer which breaketh the rocks in pieces, as the Prophet calls it, (Jer 23:29.) But since the same hardness is natural to us all, if we judge of the doctrine of Christ according to our feelings, his words will be just so many strange and incredible (169) statements. All that remains for us, therefore, is, that every one commit himself to the guidance of the Spirit, that he may inscribe on our hearts what otherwise would never have even entered into our ears.
Who can hear it? Here we see the awful wickedness of unbelief; for they who impiously and basely reject the doctrine of salvation, not satisfied with excusing themselves, have the hardihood to put the Son of God in their room as if he were guilty, and to declare that he is unworthy of being heard Thus, in the present day, Papists not only reject the Gospel in a daring manner, but likewise break out into horrid blasphemies, that it may not be thought that they have no good reason for opposing God. And, indeed, since they desire darkness, we need not wonder if Satan deceives them by strange monsters, where there is nothing but the open highway. (170) But that which they, through their rage and fury, cannot endure will not only be tolerable to modest and teachable persons, but will support and comfort them. Yet the reprobate, by their obstinate slanders, will do nothing more than bring down on themselves more dreadful condemnation.
(168) “ En vraye humilite.”
(169) “ Estranges et incroyables.”
(170) “ La ou il n’y a que le beau plein chemin.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE BREAD OF LIFE, EXPLAINED
Text 6:60-65
60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
61
But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble?
62
What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?
63
It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
64
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him.
65
And he said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father.
Queries
a.
What was hard about Jesus saying?
b.
Why did Jesus mention His future ascension?
c.
How do words give life?
Paraphrase
Now when the great crowds of Galilean followers heard this, many of them said, This saying is offensive and hard to tolerate. Who can be expected to accept such teaching? But Jesus, knowing within Himself that these disciples were protesting concerning His teaching, said to them, Are you stumbling and entrapping yourselves over my teaching? What then will be your reaction should you see the Son of man ascending to heaven where He was before? Eating My flesh would gain you nothing; the Spirit is that which makes alive. The words that I have spoken unto you, they are Spirit and they are Life. But some of you still refuse to trust and obey Me, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who it was that should betray Him. And He said, On account of this have I told you that no one can come to Me unless he is drawn unto Me by the Father.
Summary
The Jews openly express their repugnance to Jesus teaching. He, in turn, explains the real meaning behind His figurative discourse of eating His flesh. The words of Jesus are to be assimilated unto life not His literal flesh. All of this serves to emphasize the fact that only the spiritually-minded (those drawn by the Father) can come to Jesus.
Comment
The Greek word translated hard is skleros, and does not mean hard to understand, but hard to accept, intolerable, exacting. It was not that this multitude of Galilean disciples had failed to understand the implications of Jesus words, They were murmuring and protesting because they did understand Him to a certain degree. They understood Him to be saying, throughout the discourse, that He was the Messiah, and His kingdom was one of the Spirit, of self surrender and obedience to Gods Word. They were disgusted with Him because He said, in essence, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 14:17).
We quote here some excellent comments by Barclay in his Daily Study Bible, The Gospel of John, Volume 1, page 234.
Here we come upon a truth that re-emerges in every age. Time and again it is not the intellectual difficulty of accepting Christ which keeps men from becoming Christians; it is the height of Christs moral demand . . . The real difficulty of Christianity is two-fold. It demands an act of surrender to Christ, an acceptance of Him as the final authority; and it demands a moral standard wherein only the pure in heart may see God . . . The disciples were well aware that Jesus had claimed to be the very life and mind of God come down to earth; their difficulty was to accept that that was true, with all the implications which are in it. And to this day many a mans refusal of Christ comes, not because Christ puzzles and baffles his intellect, but because Christ challenges and condemns his life.
Some commentators find in Joh. 6:62 a promise of Jesus intended to clarify His claims and teachings. In other words, when He is resurrected and ascended, then these disciples will have a guarantee of all His claims to be the Bread out of Heaven, and an explanation of all His teachings concerning eating and drinking His flesh and blood. The context, however, seems to indicate otherwise. They have taken offence at His presentation of Himself as having descended out of Heaven, and that He is the Bread of life which must be eaten. What then will be your reaction, says Jesus, if you see and be taught that the Son of man ascends to heaven where He was before? We know very well what their reaction was. They stumbled, took offence and hardened their hearts (cf. Act. 7:55-58).
Joh. 6:63 is the key to this entire discourse on the Bread of Life. We present here two great commentators paraphrases of this passage:
Albert Barnes: My doctrine is spiritual; it is fitted to quicken and nourish the soul, It is from heaven. Your doctrine or your views are earthly, and may be called flesh, or fleshly, as pertaining only to the support of the body. You place a great value on the doctrine that Moses fed the body; yet that did not permanently profit, for your fathers are dead. You seek also food from me, but your views are gross and earthly.
William Hendriksen: My flesh as such cannot benefit you; stop thinking that I was asking you literally to eat my body or literally to drink my blood. It is my spirit, my person, in the act of giving my body to be broken and my blood to be shed, that bestows and sustains life, even everlasting life.
The more one reads this entire passage, the more he begins to see that these disciples said one thing and thought another. It seems almost certain that they did not really believe Jesus to mean literal eating and drinking flesh and blood. This was a Hebrew way of saying abiding in the words and commands of another long before Christ said it here. They knew what Jesus meant. When they expressed horror (Joh. 6:52) at eating His flesh, it probably was a clever dodge of the real issue.
One thing is certain. Jesus makes the meaning of His entire discourse plain enough in Joh. 6:63 that he who runs may read. The entire body of doctrine of Christ is the source of life eternal.
a.
His words shall judge us (Joh. 12:48).
b.
His commandment is life eternal (Joh. 12:50).
c.
His word is able to build up and give an inheritance among the saints (Act. 20:32).
d.
His word is able to save our souls (Jas. 1:21).
e.
His word gives us a new birth (1Pe. 1:22-23).
The passage in Rom. 8:1-17 offers itself as an excellent commentary of Jesus words in Joh. 6:63. The summation of this passage in Romans can be made by quoting just two verses: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, (Rom. 8:13-14). We are led by the Spirit, of course, when we are led by the words of Christ and the apostles.
For Jesus power to read the hearts and minds of men, see our comments on Joh. 2:23-25. This power is expressed again here in Joh. 6:64.
And in Joh. 6:65 Jesus again expresses the fact, as He has before in this same discourse (Joh. 6:37; Joh. 6:44) that men cannot come to Him unless they are spiritually drawn by the Father and by submission of their own wills (cf. our comments on Joh. 6:37; Joh. 6:44).
Quiz
1.
What did the disciples mean by saying, This is a hard saying, Who can hear it?
2.
What is the major barrier for most people to overcome before accepting Christ? Is it intellectual?
3.
Did the Jews take offence at the teaching of the Ascension of Christ? Give a Scriptural example.
4.
What is so outstanding about Joh. 6:63 in this discourse?
5.
Give at least three Scriptural references to show that the Word of God is the way to Life.
6.
What connection does Rom. 8:1-17 have with Joh. 6:63?
7.
Does Joh. 6:63 show the falseness of Transubstantiation and Sacramentalism? How?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(60) Many therefore of his disciplesi.e., of the disciples in the wider sense; those who more or less fully were accepting His teaching, and were regarded as His followers. From Joh. 6:64, the Apostles would seem to be included in the more general designation. In Joh. 6:67 they are separately addressed.
This is an hard saying; who can hear it?i.e., not hard to be understood, but hard to hear, a stumbling-block in the way of their faith. For the word itself, comp. Mat. 25:24. His meaning was, indeed, not read by them, but the literal meaning was painfully clear, and one to which they will not listen. (Comp. Joh. 10:20.) They do not raise any formal objection to Him, but friends and companions who had talked together of the Teacher and His teaching before, talk again now, and many of them who have followed Him up to this point can follow Him no more.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
60. His disciples Second of the three groups distinguished in our note on Joh 6:34. These are in the background thus far, though they may have mingled somewhat with group first in the foreground. See note on 52. They are distinct from group third, 67, his
apostles. Hard saying Not so much hard to understand as hard to accept, or willingly receive. The hard points especially were two: 1. The good offered by Christ was not as they desired, temporal, but eternal. It was not a miraculous feeding and earthly emolument, but a glorious resurrection upon their faith in him. 2. The awful interpretation that the unscrupulous Jews, (Joh 6:41,) in the foreground, were able to put upon his last mysterious sentences, made them feel (before its day) the offence of the cross. It was not, perhaps, what they so much felt themselves, as what others might say! Such discourse, say they, so persevered in, was unnecessary; it was imprudent; it was susceptible of a very horrible interpretation. Henceforth the current will be against us if we make ourselves responsible for him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” ’
Some of the wider group of disciples, those who were following Him around to learn and to consider His teaching, now began to question (not the twelve as Joh 6:67-70 make clear). ‘This is a hard saying,’ they said. ‘Who can listen to it?’ They had been very happy with the idea of Jesus being ‘the bread of life’, and with Jesus as the coming king and prophet, but they were not happy with this talk of benefiting by, and participating in, His death. So Jesus was now deliberately facing all who followed Him with the realities involved. They must consider their inward hearts, and recognise that the way to God led through a cross. He was really saying again, that ‘if any man will come after me let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me’ (Luk 9:23). He would never deny that to follow Him was hard and could lead into danger and suffering. The question was, could they face the fact that He must die in order to triumph? That was what they found difficult.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Disciples Must Now Face Up to Who He Is ( Joh 6:60-71 ).
The discourse began with the challenge to the crowds. It then moved on to the challenge to the Judaisers. Now it becomes a challenge to the disciples themselves. They too must face up to what the future holds. Many did not like this talk of His coming death. That was not the kind of Messiah that they were looking for.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Response from the Disciples In Joh 6:60-71 the disciples of Jesus respond to His teaching. They had listened to Him teach in the synagogue in Capernaum and had dialogued with Him about His declaration that He was the Bread of Life. Most of these disciples were offended at these words, not being able to accept the fact that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh.
The disciples who helped to distribute the loaves and fishes to the five thousand felt proud that day as they embarked into the boat to return to Capernaum. The popularity of Jesus had been growing as the people saw the miracles that He performed. The multitudes began to follow Him and listen to His teachings. However, popularity is a shallow foundation upon which to build one’s loyalty and God the Father saw that it was necessary to shatter this unhealthy foundation for the benefit of the disciples, causing many of them to depart forever, but leaving a few devoted ones to receive greater revelations of His deity while mixed with persecutions. Although many disciples were about to stumble at Jesus’ declaration of His divinity, a few disciples remained whom God could now lead into a deeper commitment, a deeper level of faith and trust in Him. As the multitudes abandoned Jesus and His teachings following the popular consensus, a few followed their heart and stood with Jesus. What made the difference between these two types of disciples was not the miracle of feeding the five thousand, but of Jesus coming to rescue them in the midst of the storm (Joh 6:16-21), of seeing how much He truly loved and cared for them in their greatest need. It is this type of God that men will serve, a God who cares for them. Only His closest disciples were rescued by Jesus walking on the water. The day after this miracle, these particular disciples would be standing alone with Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum, watching many others walk away, disillusioned by this new revelation of Jesus’ divinity. These few disciples stood by the one who genuinely loved them. It was necessary for their faith to become firmly established in the love of Jesus to order to face the life of a true disciple of Christ. Thus, the miracle of Jesus walking on the water (Joh 6:16-21) served to anchor their soul in their growing faith and devotion to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, thus, preparing them for a deeper walk with Jesus.
Joh 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Joh 6:60
[188] Andreas J. Ksterberger, John, in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2004), 218.
Joh 6:61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:61
Andreas J. Ksterberger notes that the murmuring of the Jews begins in Joh 6:41 and reflects the tone of the disciples during a large portion of Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue in Capernaum. He also notes that it reflects the same behavior of the children of Israel in the wilderness (1Co 10:10), a story that was a part of this same discourse. [189]
[189] Andreas J. Ksterberger, John, in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2004), 213.
1Co 10:10, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”
Joh 6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:62
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:63
“ the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life ” – Comments God has ordained His Word, the Holy Bible, to be the instrument He uses to transform mankind into the image of Christ, into a lifestyle of godliness, so that man can life an abundant life in this world. An academic education on the Holy Bible is a great foundation when an individual allows the Holy Spirit to guide Him into the Word of God daily for his spiritual guidance. Jesus is telling the Jews that the Word is spiritual food for man’s spiritual make-up, for his inner man, the heart. For this reason, Jesus next says, “But there are some of you that believe not.” (Joh 6:64) The decision to accept the Holy Scriptures as God speaking to us is a decision of the heart, and not of the educated mind.
Joh 6:62-63 Comments The Sending of the Holy Spirit Jesus knew that these disciples were trying to understand His words in their minds rather than following their heart. They were being carnal minded rather than spiritually minded. Thus, Jesus addresses the spirit of man, the inner man. Jesus will soon ascend to the right hand of the Father following His resurrection (Joh 6:62); He will send the Holy Spirit to impart eternal life in those who believe (Joh 6:63). The indwelling Holy Spirit will enlighten God’s children into His Word and impart abundant life to them in the form of peace and fellowship with God the Father.
Joh 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:64
“For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” – Comments Jesus is about to mention His betrayal in this same discourse (Joh 6:70-71).
Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:65
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:66
1Co 3:4, “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?”
1Co 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Illustration I have met individuals who have been born again, then drifted away from Church because of disappointment in a pastor of other Church leader. I have met other new believers who have read many of the latest devotional books, or listened to radio and television ministries; yet, they were disappointed with the progress in their own lives. When a believer focuses his eyes upon a person instead of embracing God’s Word as his source of life and strength and direction, he risks disappointment because of the failure of men. Jesus, as our source of life and strength, will never disappoint us.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Joh 6:68
Joh 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Illustration – Thirty-two years ago, as a young Christian, I will never forget the decision I had to make in response to this statement by Jesus that He is the Bread of Life. I was offered a good job out of college, a job that would have given me a comfortable career. Yet, I had no desire for this job. I made a decision to stop spending all of my energy on my physical, earthly needs, making a high salary, and I begin to spend more time ministering to my spirit, my inner man. I stopped seeking entertainment, and started getting involved in my local church. For a season, I stopped listening to radio and television as a source of entertainment, and stopped reading newspapers for my source of information, and I went to my room, into my bed room, and I spend hours each day reading the Word of God. I read the entire Bible through six times in those early years. In fact, I hungered so much for God’s Word that I enrolled in Bible school and left my job, trusting the Lord would meet my financial needs while in school. I did not have the money to go to school, but I just hungered that much for God’s eternal Word, for the Bread of Life. His Word fed my soul. I was not called to Bible school by a divine word from the Lord. No, I went to Bible school because I hungered for God’s Word. After three years in Bible school, studying God’s Word, in class or doing homework many hours a day, I looked around and my needs were met. I did not lack anything. I did not want all of these earthly luxuries anymore. My church and family would send me money and give me financial support. They purchased my clothes and took care of many personal needs. I had food, I had clothing, and I was so very content in life because I had the Word of God coming alive within me; and God would speak to me; He would quicken verses to me.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Joh 6:70 Joh 6:71 Joh 6:71
[190] C. M. Kerr, “Judas Iscariot,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).
“for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve” – Comments The Greek reads, “for he was the one who was about to betray Him,” which emphasizes the certainty of this event. [191] Jesus fed the five thousand during the second Passover, so it will be another year before His betrayal and crucifixion during the third Passover.
[191] Andreas J. Ksterberger, John, in Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2004), 222.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Offense of Many Disciples. The disciples murmur:
v. 60. Many; therefore, of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
v. 61. When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?
v. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?
v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
v. 64. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.
v. 65. And He said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me except it were given unto him of My Father. Jesus had gained a considerable number of followers in Galilee, people that were impressed by both His miracles and His preaching and therefore accompanied Him whenever they could. These people had just heard a wonderful sermon out of the mouth of the Master. They had learned that faith is a work which God desires of men, that Jesus is the Life-giver, that the grace of God in Jesus is universal, and that none is refused, that there is an election of grace by which those whom God has given to the Son become partakers of grace, that faith is the work of God, who draws to Christ, that the believers are sure of everlasting life, that there is. a communication of attributes in the Godhead, between the divine and the human nature of Christ, that there is a mystical union between God the Father and the Son and the believers. And yet some of these disciples were offended; they found it a hard saying that the flesh and blood of this Man should give eternal life. Although this dissatisfied grumbling went on softly, the omniscience of Jesus was fully aware of it and reproved them for taking occasion to stumble here. When they would see Him ascending up into heaven, whence He came down, they would either be scandalized all the more, or they would have to be convinced. They would then also understand what He meant when He said that they must eat His flesh. For then His weak human nature would be forever imbued and united with the divine, with the heavenly manner of being. His flesh would then be spiritualized, His body glorified. That would be a visible proof of the fact that He came down from heaven. Knowing this in advance, they should remember that the spirit is life-giving, that the flesh has no value. All material, earthly things that are associated with the sinful derivation of man have no value for spiritual life. Only the words of Christ contain spirit and life, give spirit and life. The reason for their offense therefore lies not in Christ, but in themselves: they do not believe. They depend upon human, carnal understanding and interpretation of everything about them; they refuse to let the Spirit of Christ work in them and give them life. From the beginning Jesus knew that there were such among His disciples as were no true believers; from the beginning also He knew His betrayer. Once more His earnest warning goes out to them that coming to Christ is a gift of God, who draws men through faith. The fact that there are unbelievers even among the disciples is a proof of the statement that no one can believe unless he receives this faith from the Father, that no one can come to Christ by his own strength: Note: The result of freely preaching the Gospel of the unvarnished truth as to the way of salvation is ever this, that some are offended; their self-righteousness and pride rebels against the idea of free grace and mercy.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Joh 6:60. Many therefore of his disciples, &c. As our Lord had a great number of disciples at large, who often attended his ministry, and made a profession of his name; so many of them, whose hearts were not right with him, were highly offended at what he had said about his being the bread that came down from heaven, and about the necessity of eating him in order to their living by him: they who still took these things in a literal sense, thought it a monstrous doctrine: they who took them in a figurative sense, as Christ explained them, thought that he blasphemously assumed to himself a divine original and operation; and they who knew not what construction to put upon his words, thought there was something so mysterious in them, that no man in his senses could receive them. But if they had been humble and childlike, and had really sought spiritual blessings for their souls, they would have understood our Lord perfectly well.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 6:60 . ] Many therefore , for in Capernaum He had many adherents ( is here used in the wider sense, not of the apostles; see Joh 6:67 ).
] hard, harsh , the opposite of (Plat. Legg . x. p. 892 B; Prot . p. 331 D); in a moral sense, Mat 25:24 ; Sir 3:24; Sirach 3 Esdr. 2:27; Soph. Oed. R . 36, Aj . 1340; Plat. Locr . p. 104 C, and often; of speeches , comp. Soph. Oed. C . 778: ; Gen 42:7 ; Gen 21:11 , Aq.; Pro 15:1 . It here denotes what causes offence ( , Joh 6:61 ), does not comply with preconceived views, but is directly antagonistic , the relation in which the assurances and demands of Jesus from Joh 6:51 stood to the wishes and hopes of His disciples. [246] He had, indeed, from Joh 6:51 onwards, required that they should eat His flesh (which was to be slain), and drink His blood (which was to be shed), in order to have life. By this whether they rightly understood it or not they felt sorely perplexed and wounded. The bloody death, which was certainly the condition of the eating and drinking, was an offence to them, just as in that lay the lasting offence of the Jews afterwards, Joh 12:34 ; 1Co 1:23 ; Gal 5:11 ; comp. also Mat 16:21 ff. The explanation “difficult to be understood” (Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus, Grotius, Olshausen) lies neither in the word nor in the context, for , . . . affirms: “ it is a thing not to be borne, to listen to the discourse, ” such insuperable offence does it excite. Tholuck, following early writers, finds the offence to be that Jesus seemed arrogant in making life dependent upon participation in His flesh and blood. But it was not the arrogant , it was the lowly and suffering, Messiah that was a to the Jew. As little did the offence consist in the requirement that Christ “would be all, and they were to be nothing” (Hengstenberg), which, indeed, is only an abstract inference subsequently drawn from His discourse.
[246] Not as if they had understood the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood in a literal and material sense (hence the expression “manducatio Capernaitica ”), and so nonsensical an affirmation had provoked them (Augustine, Grotius, Lcke, Keim, and many others). The speakers are ; but not even the , ver. 52, so grossly misunderstood Jesus.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1642
THE GOSPEL A GROUND OF OFFENCE
Joh 6:60. Many therefore of his Disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
THE Gospel, to those who have obtained just views of it, is simplicity itself: but to those who are not taught of God, it is utter foolishness. When the prophets taught the people, their hearers, instead of believing their report [Note: Isa 53:1.], were ready to exclaim, Ah! Lord God, doth he not speak parables [Note: Eze 20:49.]? In like manner, when our blessed Lord, who spake as never man spake [Note: Joh 7:46.], addressed to his followers as rich and instructive a discourse as any that is contained in the sacred volume, they said among themselves, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
We shall find it not unprofitable to consider,
I.
What was the saying at which they were so greatly offended
In substance it was, that his people must live by faith in him
[This he had spoken plainly: I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. But he had also represented it under a figure which they did not understand. He had been challenged by his hearers to give any proof of his divine mission, equal to that which Moses had given to the Jewish people, in the wilderness, by supplying them with manna from heaven for forty years: and, in answer to that challenge, our Lord drew a parallel between the manna and himself, whom that manna typified [Note: Here the parallel may be drawn from the context. See Discourse on ver. 5355.] and required that all should live by faith in him for the salvation of their souls, as their forefather did on the manna for the sustenance of their bodies.]
This filled them with extreme astonishment and disgust
[That he should speak of himself as coming down from heaven, was unaccountable; since they knew, as they supposed, his earthly parentage, as well as they did that of any other man [Note: ver. 41, 42.] That he should speak of giving them his flesh to eat, was equally incomprehensible; since they could annex no idea to it but that which was too horrible to think of [Note: ver. 52.] Then, as to the consequences that he spake of, as infallibly arising to them from their eating, or declining to eat, his flesh, they could not endure to hear such assertions from his lips.
Hence they murmured among themselves; and declared it all to be utterly unintelligible, and unworthy to be received by any rational being. Their confidence, in relation to this view of it, is strongly expressed in that pointed interrogation, Who can hear it? And so strong was their disgust at it, that from that time many of his Disciples went back, and walked no more with him [Note: ver. 66.]. So general, too, was this feeling, that it seemed as if the Apostles themselves would follow the example of his other Disciples [Note: ver. 67.].]
But that to which I would more especially call your attention is, to inquire,
II.
Whence it was that it proved so particularly offensive to them?
It should seem that they were offended because of,
1.
The strangeness of the image
[Never had they heard any thing like it before. Had he spoken of himself as a sacrifice, they might have more readily received the idea of eating his flesh; because, under their own law, the offenders in many cases partook of their own sacrifices. But even then, as they knew nothing of human sacrifices, it would have proved sufficiently dark and unintelligible to them. But when he spake of drinking his blood, it was disgusting to them in the extreme: for not even the prohibitions relative to idolatry were stronger than those which related to the tasting of blood. If they viewed it literally, they could regard it in no other light than as a savage ordinance, too horrible to think of: and of a spiritual or mystical import their minds could form no conception; since nothing that they had ever heard of could at all lead them to such a thought. Hence it is not surprising that they should be stumbled at what they were so utterly unable to comprehend. If so learned and excellent a man as Nicodemus was confounded at the mention of a new birth, we cannot wonder that Disciples of a more uneducated class should be offended at an image so gross, and remote from common apprehension, as that of eating human flesh, and drinking human blood.]
2.
The sublimity of the sentiments contained in it
[They saw that some deep mystery was contained in this image, though they were unable to unravel it. The food of which Jesus spake was not to nourish life, but to give it; and not to the body, but to the soul; and not of one people only, but of the whole world; and not for a few years, but for ever and ever. What could all this mean? The manna had never restored so much as one dead man to life; nor had it kept even Moses himself from dying: yet the flesh and blood of Christ were to do this, and infinitely more, for all who would partake of it, even to the very end of time. What shall we say to such assertions as these? How can they be credited? How can any man listen to them for a moment? Yes: such, I say, might well be the murmurings of those who understood not his sayings.]
3.
The meanness of him who promulgated these sentiments
[Had he been a mighty monarch, who, like the kings of the earth, had the command of life and death, his hearers might have annexed some idea to his words. But they were uttered by a poor man, who had not for himself so much as a place where to lay his head, and was attended only by a few poor fishermen. What could such a person mean, by asserting things which would appear extravagant beyond all endurance, if uttered by the greatest monarch upon earth? Doubtless the unsuitableness of his pretensions to his present appearance must have tended exceedingly to increase the difficulty of apprehending the just import of his words.]
4.
The contrariety of the sentiments to all the notions they had ever imbibed
[In addition to all the difficulties arising from the figures that were used, an insurmountable objection to the reception of them arose from the sentiments which they seemed intended to convey. If they had any meaning at all, it must be, that, in some way or other, the souls of men were to live by him, and by him alone. But how could this be? What must become of all the ordinances of the Ceremonial Law, and all the precepts of the Moral Law? Must all these, without exception, be put aside; and nothing be of any avail, but the eating of this mans flesh, and the drinking of his blood?
That this was a particular stumbling-block in their way, is highly probable, from the very question which was put to our Lord, and from which the whole discourse originated. They said unto him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent [Note: ver. 28, 29.]. What! Is this the great work that we have to do? Is faith in him the great duty, by means of which we are to find acceptance with God? What then becomes of Moses, and of all the precepts, whether ceremonial or moral, that he has enjoined?
Let us put ourselves into the place of the people whom our Lord addressed, and take into consideration these various difficulties which they had to contend with; and, though we cannot but severely blame, we shall be inclined, I think, to pity also, the fatal resolution which they adopted on this occasion.]
Address
1.
Those who have an insight into this mystery
[Blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see. We have very little conception what privileges we enjoy, even above those who attended the ministry of our Lord himself. We are enabled to compare one part of Scripture with another, and to see both the character of our Lord as God and man, and the accomplishment of the whole Mosaic economy in him. The things, therefore, that were stumbling-blocks to his hearers, are not so to us: and the things which were veiled in impenetrable darkness to them, are as resplendent as the day to us. Nor do we merely comprehend the Gospel as one harmonious whole, revealed at successive periods from the fall of man; but we are enabled to enjoy in our own souls, and to attest, from personal experience, that Christs flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed [Note: ver. 55.]. Be thankful then, beloved, for this inestimable benefit; and, as the Israelites in the wilderness subsisted altogether on the bread from heaven, so live ye on the true bread from heaven, even on the Son of God, who hath loved you, and given himself for you.]
2.
Those who are not yet able to receive it
[Do not imagine, that because many things in the Gospel appear absurd to you, they are therefore of necessity absurd in themselves: for you cannot but know, that, in human sciences, there are many things which, if they were stated to you with the greatest clearness, you would not be able to comprehend: and therefore you may well expect the same in that deepest of all mysteries, the redemption of the world by the blood and righteousness of our incarnate God. The truth is, that this mystery cannot be understood, unless our eyes be opened by the Son of God, and a spiritual understanding be given to us, whereby to discern the things of the Spirit [Note: 1Jn 5:20.]. Let me, then, guard you against precipitancy in judging of the things which you are not able to comprehend: but lift up your hearts to God in prayer, that his Spirit may be given you, and that by that Spirit you may be guided into all truth. Perhaps the images of Scripture may offend you; or the declarations of it may appear too harsh. But remember, It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, says our Lord, are spirit and life. Though therefore, if taken in a carnal sense, they may be, as doubtless in many cases they are, foolishness itself [Note: 1Co 2:14.], yet, viewed according to their true import, they are the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth [Note: Rom 1:16.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying: who can hear it? (61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (62) What, and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (63) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (64) But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. (65) And he said, Therefore said I unto you, That no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
What disciples were these which so expressed themselves? It could not be the Apostles. Neither was it any on whom a saving work of grace had been wrought in their heart. The word disciple is comprehensive of all that go after another. And, as our Lord told the great mass which followed him, that it was because they did eat of the loaves, and were filled, for which they came to him, so when they found that such carnal enjoyments were not likely any longer to take place, they took offence, and called Christ’s sayings hard. But, Reader! I pray you, do not overlook the occasion Jesus took from their murmuring to drop some most sweet and precious discourse concerning himself and his people. See Joh 3:13 and Commentary.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this , said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Ver. 60. This is an hard saying ] The hardness was in themselves, not in the word; but that must bear the blame howsoever; as she in Seneca that was stricken with sudden blindness, and then cried out of the light. A hypocrite is not discovered, till upon some critical point. If it come to a matter of cost, he cries, “What needs this waste?” if of pains, “This is an hard saying.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
60 65. ] Murmuring of some of the disciples at the foregoing discourse, and the answer of Jesus to them .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
60. ] Lampe shews by reff. and other citations that “non tam absurditatem quam impietatem designat.” It seems clear that it was not the difficulty , so much as the strangeness of the saying, which scandalized them. It is the whole discourse, the turn given to it, the doctrine of the Bread of Life, the giving His Flesh and Blood to eat, at which they take offence.
, to listen to it ‘Who can stay and hear such sayings as this?’ not, ‘ to understand it .’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 6:60-71 . The crisis in Galilee .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Joh 6:60 . ; many of His disciples [ i.e. , of the larger and more loosely attached circle of His followers, as distinct from the Twelve, Joh 6:67 ] having heard the foregoing utterances, said . is rather “hard to receive” than “hard to understand”. Abraham found the command to cast out Hagar , Gen 21:11 . Euripides opposes , distasteful, uncompromising truths to , flattering falsehoods ( Frag. , 75, Wetstein). The referred to was especially, Joh 6:58 , as is proved by Joh 6:61-62 . But this must be taken together with His statement in Joh 6:51 , that He would give His flesh, and the development of this idea in Joh 6:53-54 , ; “who can listen to Him?”
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh 6:60-65
60Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? 63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Joh 6:60 “Therefore many of His disciples” This use of the term “disciple” has a wide connotation. In John this term and “believe” are used of both (1) true followers (Joh 6:68) and (2) temporary followers (Joh 6:64, cf. Joh 8:31-47).
“heard. . .listen” There is a play on the word “hear” (akou). They heard Jesus’ words, but they did not understand them and act on them. In this sense this Greek term functions like the Hebrew shema (cf. Deu 4:1; Deu 5:1; Deu 6:3-4; Deu 27:9-10).
Joh 6:62 This is an incomplete first class conditional sentence with no conclusion. The implication is they would see it (cf. Acts 1). After Jesus’ death/resurrection/ascension and the coming of the Spirit, much of Jesus’ teachings and acts would make sense to them.
“ascending to where He was before” This is the continuing emphasis on Jesus as “coming down out of heaven.” It speaks of His pre-existence with the Father in heaven and His intimate fellowship with the Father in heaven (cf. Joh 17:5; Joh 17:24).
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ASCENSION
Joh 6:63 This verse, because of the larger context of chapter 6, may relate to a contrast between old covenant versus new covenant, Moses versus Jesus (cf. Joh 6:58; 2Co 3:6, see the comparisons of the two covenants in the book of Hebrews).
“the Spirit who gives life” This is one of many phrases that are used for both Jesus and the Spirit.
1. the Spirit is life-giving water (Joh 7:38-39)
2. Jesus is the living water (Joh 4:10-14)
3. the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (Joh 14:17; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13)
4. Jesus is the truth (Joh 14:6)
5. the Spirit is paraclete (Joh 14:16; Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7)
6. and Jesus is paraclete (1Jn 2:1)
See Special Topic at the Joh 14:16.
Notice in this verse that “spirit” (pneuma) is used in two specialized senses.
1. the Holy Spirit (cf. Joh 1:32-33; Joh 3:34; Joh 7:39; Joh 14:17; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13)
2. spiritual (cf. Joh 4:24; Joh 11:33; Joh 13:21)
In Joh 3:5-6; Joh 3:8 it is hard to know which is meant. Being John, possibly both.
SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT (PNEUMA) IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Joh 6:64 This group of apparent but false followers is reduced to the false follower- Judas (cf. Joh 6:70-71; Joh 13:11. There is surely mystery involved in levels of belief.
SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI)
Joh 6:65 This expresses the same truth as Joh 6:44. Fallen mankind does not seek God on its own initiative (cf. Rom 3:9-18 for a series of OT quotes which emphasize mankind’s sinfulness and rebellion).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Many. Other than the twelve (Joh 6:70).
This is an hard saying. The emphasis is on “hard” by the Figure of speech Hyperbaton (App-6).
saying. Greek. logos. See note on Mar 9:32.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
60-65.] Murmuring of some of the disciples at the foregoing discourse, and the answer of Jesus to them.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:60. , hard) There are no doubt many things which the carnal nature cannot but shrink from in this discourse, which is, if considered by itself, a most delightful one. His discourse is difficult, not hard [harsh]: whereby the evil are deterred; but genuine disciples are proved, disciplined, and established. Hardly anywhere can you see a passage where the Lord spake more sublimely, even when apart from the multitude with His apostles. Let us receive it with pious admiration!- , who can) Very differently Peter thought, Joh 6:68, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.-, Him [Engl. Vers. it]) They seem to mean this: who can hear Jesus? Comp. ch. Joh 10:20, He hath a devil, and is mad. Why hear ye Him? This is the head and crowning point of their misery, to refuse to hear.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 6:60
Joh 6:60
Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?-Many who claimed to be his disciples and after a kind believed in him when they heard these things were dissatisfied and turned back and no more followed him. These people really believed in him with the power of faith they possessed; but lacked depth of character or strength of character to withstand the fleshly desires and so turned back.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the Sifting of Jesus Followers
Joh 6:60-71
The teaching of this chapter involves a deliberate act of Christ to arrest the revolutionary movement that was gathering around His person and making Him its figure-head, Joh 6:15. He therefore set Himself to teach that these people had misconceived the meaning of His ministry, which was not intended to raise a standard of revolt against Rome, but to lead to a spiritual revolution. The effect of His words was precisely what he expected, and must have shattered any ambitions that had begun to stir in the hearts of His disciples. In Joh 6:41 the men who the night before wished to crown Him, murmured at Him. In Joh 6:52 they strove among themselves. In Joh 6:60 many of His disciples said that His sayings were hard to be understood, and still harder to be obeyed. In Joh 6:66 many went back. And now as the shades of evening began to fall and the synagogue was almost empty, he was left alone with the little company of twelve, who had sorrowfully watched the overthrow of their hopes. Christs pathetic question-Will ye also go away?-elicited from Peter a reply which proved that the inner meaning of His words had already broken upon their souls. Thy words give us and nourish within us the eternal life.
The questions on Section 1-28, to be found on pp. 232, 233, will serve as a review at this point.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
of his: Joh 6:66, Joh 8:31
This: Joh 6:41, Joh 6:42, Joh 8:43, Mat 11:6, Heb 5:11, 2Pe 3:16
Reciprocal: Mat 24:10 – shall many Mar 6:3 – offended Mar 10:24 – astonished Luk 7:23 – General Luk 9:58 – Jesus Joh 3:4 – How Joh 3:9 – How Joh 7:36 – manner Joh 10:6 – they understood not Joh 14:22 – how Act 17:20 – strange
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Not only the Jews in general, but even the disciples were puzzled over this strange (to them) speech that Jesus was making. Who can hear it. By this the disciples meant they could not understand it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
WE learn from these verses that some of Christ’s sayings seem hard to flesh and blood. We are told that “many” who had followed our Lord for a season, were offended when He spoke of “eating his flesh and drinking his blood.” They murmured and said, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”
Murmurs and complaints of this kind are very common. It must never surprise us to hear them. They have been, they are, they will be as long as the world stands. To some Christ’s sayings appear hard to understand. To others, as in the present case, they appear hard to believe, and harder still to obey. It is just one of the many ways in which the natural corruption of man shows itself. So long as the heart is naturally proud, worldly, unbelieving, and fond of self-indulgence, if not of sin, so long there will never be wanting people who will say of Christian doctrines and precepts, “These are hard sayings; who can hear them?”
Humility is the frame of mind which we should labor and pray for, if we would not be offended. If we find any of Christ’s sayings hard to understand, we should humbly remember our present ignorance, and believe that we shall know more by and bye. If we find any of His sayings difficult to obey, we should humbly recollect that He will never require of us impossibilities, and that what He bids us do, He will give us grace to perform.
We learn, secondly, from these verses, that we must beware of putting a carnal meaning on spiritual words. We read that our Lord said to the murmuring Jews who stumbled at the idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”
It is useless to deny that this verse is full of difficulties. It contains expressions “hard to be understood.” It is far more easy to have a general impression of the meaning of the whole sentence, than to explain it word by word. Some things nevertheless we can see clearly and grasp firmly. Let us consider what they are.
Our Lord says, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth.” By this He means that it is the Holy Ghost who is the special author of spiritual life in man’s soul. By His agency it is first imparted, and afterwards sustained and kept up. If the Jews thought He meant that man could have spiritual life by bodily eating or drinking, they were greatly mistaken.
Our Lord says, “The flesh profiteth nothing.” By this He means that neither His flesh nor any other flesh, literally eaten, can do good to the soul. Spiritual benefit is not to be had through the mouth, but through the heart. The soul is not a material thing, and cannot therefore be nourished by material food.
Our Lord says, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” By this He signifies that His words and teachings, applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, are the true means of producing spiritual influence and conveying spiritual life. By words thoughts are begotten and aroused. By words mind and conscience are stirred. And Christ’s words especially are spirit-stirring and life-giving.
The principle contained in this verse, however faintly we may grasp its full meaning, deserves peculiar attention in these times. There is a tendency in many minds to attach an excessive importance to the outward and visible or “doing” part of religion. They seem to think that the sum and substance of Christianity consists in Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, in public ceremonies and forms, in appeals to the eye and ear and bodily excitement. Surely they forget that it is “the Spirit that quickeneth,” and that the “flesh profiteth nothing.” It is not so much by noisy public demonstrations, as by the still quiet work of the Holy Ghost on hearts that God’s cause prospers. It is Christ’s words entering into consciences, which “are spirit and life.”
We learn, lastly, from these verses, that Christ has a perfect knowledge of the hearts of men. We read that “He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.”
Sentences like this are found so frequently in the Gospels that we are apt to underrate their importance. Yet there are few truths which we shall find it so good for our souls to remember as that which is contained in the sentence before us. The Savior with whom we have to do is one who knows all things!
What light this throws on the marvelous patience of the Lord Jesus in the days of His earthly ministry! He knew the sorrow and humiliation before Him, and the manner of His death. He knew the unbelief and treachery of some who professed to be His familiar friends. But “for the joy that was set before Him” he endured it all. (Heb 12:2.)
What light this throws on the folly of hypocrisy and false profession in religion! Let those who are guilty of it recollect that they cannot deceive Christ. He sees them, knows them, and will expose them at the last day, except they repent. Whatever we are as Christians, and however weak, let us be real, true, and sincere.
Finally, what light this throws on the daily pilgrimage of all true Christians! Let them take comfort in the thought that their Master knows them. However much unknown and misunderstood by the world, their Master knows their hearts, and will comfort them at the last day. Happy is he who, in spite of many infirmities, can say with Peter: “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” (Joh 21:17.)
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Notes-
v60.-[Many therefore of his disciples.] It is plain that these were not true believers. Many who followed our Lord about, and were called His “disciples,” had no real grace in their hearts, and followed Him from carnal motives. We must expect to see the same thing in every age. Not all who come to church, nor all who profess to admire and follow popular preachers, are real Christians. This is far too much forgotten.
[This is an hard saying.] This does not mean “hard” in the sense of being “difficult to understand.” It is not so much “hard to the comprehension,” as “hard to the feelings.” Parkhurst defines it as “shocking to the mind.” It is the same word that is used in the parable of the talents: “Thou art an hard man” (Mat 25:24): and in the Epistle of Jude: “the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jud 1:15.)
Some think that the “hard saying” means the whole discourse. My own opinion is, that it refers specially to our Lord’s concluding words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
[Who can hear it?] The “hearing” here is evidently the hearing so as to believe, receive, and obey. “Who can believe, receive, and obey such a saying as this?” (See Joh 5:24; Joh 8:43; Joh 10:3, Joh 10:16, Joh 10:27; Joh 18:37; 1Jn 4:6.)
v61.-[Jesus knew in himself.] This means, that He knew by that divine knowledge, through which He always “knew what was in man.” (Joh 2:25.)
[His disciples murmured at it.] This would be more literally rendered “His disciples are murmuring about this.” He spoke at the very moment of their murmuring.
[Doth this offend you?] This means, “Is this saying of mine a stumbling-block to you? Is the doctrine of eating my flesh and drinking my blood, too humbling a doctrine for your hearts to receive?”
v62.-[What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend.] This means, “What will ye think and say of my ascension into heaven?” “What will your feelings be, if you behold this body of mine going up to that heaven from whence I came down? Will you not be much more offended?” (See Joh 3:12.)
The first thing, we must remember, that the Jews “murmured” about, was our Lord’s saying that He “came down from heaven.” The second thing was, His saying that He would “give them His flesh to eat.” Both times our Lord’s human body was the subject.-Here our Lord asks them what they would think, if they saw that same body “ascending up” into heaven. Even then, after his ascension, they would have to “eat His flesh, and drink His blood,” if they desired eternal life. What would they think of that? Would they not find it even more difficult to receive and believe?
[Where He was before.] This is an expression which no Socinian can explain. It is a clear assertion of the “pre-existence” of Christ.
Some think, as Olshausen and Tholuck, that our Lord only means generally, “If you are offended and unbelieving, even now, while I am with you, how much more will ye be, when I go away.” But this is a frigid and unsatisfactory interpretation.
It is fair to say that Stier thinks, with Chrysostom, Cyril, Theophylact, and others, that our Lord did not mean that His ascension would be a greater difficulty to His disciples, but that, on the contrary, it would remove their doubts and weaken the offense which they now felt. Hutcheson and Alford seem to agree with this. But I cannot see it. Stier thinks our Lord implied, “Then, after my ascension, it will be disclosed to you how, and in what way, my human corporeity, become heavenly and glorified, may be given to be eaten, and to be drunk.” (Compare Joh 8:28.)
v63.-[It is the Spirit, &c.] This text is, perhaps, one of the most difficult in the Gospel of John, It is easy to slur it over, and be satisfied with a vague impression that it means “We are to put a spiritual sense on our Lord’s words.” That, no doubt, is a true idea. But when we come to a close examination of the words which compose the verse, I think no one can be satisfied with such a loose interpretation of Scripture. That our Lord’s words “are to be taken spiritually,” may be very true. But to say so is not to explain the verse.
What is meant by the expression, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth”?
(a.) Some think that “the Spirit” here means, “the divine nature of Christ” (as Rom 1:4; 1Pe 3:18), in contradistinction to His human nature, here called, His “flesh.” (See 1Co 15:45.) They consider our Lord to mean, “It is my divine nature, as God, which is the means of communicating spiritual benefit to men. My human nature, as flesh, could of itself do no good to souls. It is not, therefore, any carnal eating of my flesh, that could be of use to you, and I did not mean any such eating.”
This is the opinion of Cyril, Cartwright, Poole, Bishop Hall, Trapp, Toletus, Rollock, Hutcheson, Leigh, Burkitt, Quesnel, Burgon, and Wordsworth.
(b.) Some think that “the Spirit” here means “the Holy Spirit,” the Third Person of the Trinity. They consider our Lord to mean, “It is the Holy Spirit who alone can convey spiritual life to the soul of man. The mere eating of flesh, whether my flesh, or any other flesh, cannot do good to the inner man. When, therefore, I spoke of ‘eating my flesh,’ I did not mean the bodily act of eating any literal flesh, but a very different kind of eating, and a very different sort of flesh.” This is the opinion of Zwingle, Melancthon, Calvin, Bucer, Ecolampadius, Pellican, Flacius, Bullinger, Cocceius, Diodati, Piscator, Musculus, Baxter, Lampe, Henry, Scott, Stier, Besser, Alford.
(c.) Some think that “the Spirit” here means, “the spiritual doctrine, or sense,” as opposed to “the letter,” or literal sense of scriptural language. (2Co 3:6.) They consider the sentence to mean, “It is the spiritual sense of my words, and not the literal, which is quickening, or life-giving to the soul. When I spoke of ‘my flesh,’ I did not mean my flesh literally, but my flesh in a spiritual sense. My flesh literally could be of no use to any one.” This seems to be the opinion of Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, Brentius, Beza, Ferus, Cornelius Lapide, Schottgen, Pearce, Parkhurst, A. Clarke, Faber, Barnes, Webster. But it is not easy to make out clearly, in every instance, what is the precise meaning put on the words, “the Spirit,” by the interpreters who take this third view. There are not a few shades of variety in their opinions.
I must acknowledge, that I find it difficult to give a decided opinion on the comparative merits of these three views of the expression before us. There is something to be said for each of the three. On the whole, I think the second and third are more satisfactory than the first; and I incline to prefer the second to the third. But I say this with much hesitation.
Rollock, who holds strongly that “the Spirit” means Christ’s divine nature, maintains, that “the flesh,” means the whole human nature of Christ. He thinks that the meaning of “the flesh profiteth nothing” is, that all the works of our Lord’s body, whether in life or death, His fulfilling the law, His sufferings on the cross, derive their whole efficacy from the union of the two natures-“It is the divine nature that is life-giving. The human nature, alone and separate from the divine, is useless and unprofitable.”-He holds, therefore, that to eat the human nature of Christ alone, i. e., His flesh, could do us no good; as, unless we could eat His divine nature also, it would be unprofitable. He concludes, therefore, that the only eating of Christ that can be useful to the soul, must, of necessity, be the spiritual eating of faith, and not any carnal eating of the Lord’s Supper. Hutcheson agrees with this view.
The expression, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life,” is just as difficult as the former part of the text. The word “spirit,” here, at any rate, cannot mean the divine nature of Christ. If it were so taken, the sentence would be unmeaning.-The word Spirit must either mean the “Holy Spirit,” or “the spiritual sense,” as opposed to the letter. The sentence then might be paraphrased in either of the following ways:-(1.) “The words that I speak to you, received into your hearts and believed, are the Spirit’s influence, the ministration of the Spirit, and the Spirit’s means of giving you life.” This is Rollock’s view. Or else, (2.) “The words that I speak unto you, are to be taken in a spiritual sense; or, are spiritual words, and, taken in that sense, are life-giving to the soul.”-This is Augustine’s view.
I must honestly confess that neither of these explanations is quite satisfactory; but they are the nearest approach I can see to a satisfactory interpretation. The sentence is evidently a concise elliptical one, and it seems impossible to convey it in English, without a paraphrase.
Alford paraphrases the sentence thus: “The words that I have spoken, viz., the words ‘my flesh and blood,’ are spirit and life,-spirit, not flesh only,-living food, not carnal and perishable.” I venture to think, that this explanation is not more precise, or satisfactory, than either of those I have suggested.
The expression “the words that I speak unto you,” must probably be confined to the words our Lord had spoken about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and not referred to the whole discourse.
After all, however difficult and elliptical the sentence before us may be, there is a truth which throws light on it, with which every true Christian must be familiar. It is the words of Christ brought home to the hearts of men by the Spirit, which are the great agents employed in quickening and giving spiritual life to men. The Spirit impresses Christ’s words on a man’s conscience. These words become the parent of thoughts and convictions in the man’s mind. From these thoughts springs all the man’s spiritual life. The soul is not benefited by bodily actions, such as eating or drinking, but by spiritual impressions, which the Holy Spirit alone can produce. In producing these spiritual impressions the Spirit specially employs the agency of Christ’s “words,” and hence comes the great principle, that “His words are spirit and life.”
v64.-[There are some of you that believe not.] The connection of this sentence with the preceding verses seems to be this:-“The true account of your murmuring and thinking my sayings ‘hard’ is your want of faith. You do not really believe me to be the Messiah, though you have followed me and professed yourselves my disciples. And not really believing in me, you are offended at the idea of eating my flesh and drinking my blood.”
[Jesus knew from the beginning who…believed not.] This is one of the many places which declare our Lord’s Divine knowledge of all hearts and characters. He was never deceived by crowds and apparent popularity, as His ministers often are. When it says “from the beginning,” it probably means “from the beginning of His ministry, and from the time when the unbelieving ‘many’ before Him first professed to be His disciples.” Of course our Lord, as God, knew all things “from the beginning” of the world. But it does not seem necessary to suppose that this is meant here.
Rollock remarks our Lord’s example of patient teaching and preaching to all without exception, though He knew that many did not and would not believe. He points out what a pattern it is to ministers. Christ knew exactly who would believe. Ministers do not know.
[Who should betray him.] We should not fail to notice in this expression our Lord’s marvelous patience in allowing one whom He knew to be about to betray Him to be one of His Apostles. It was doubtless meant to teach us that false profession must be expected everywhere, and must not surprise us. How much we ought to tolerate and put up with, if our Lord tolerated Judas near him! The pain and sorrow which the foreknowledge of the conduct of Judas must have caused to our Lord’s heart, is a circumstance in our Lord’s sufferings which ought not to be forgotten.
v65.-[And he said, Therefore said I, etc., etc.] The connection of this verse seems to be as follows:-“There are some of you that believe not, and that is the reason why I said to you, that no man can come to me unless the Father gives him grace to come, and draws his heart to me. The Father has not given you grace, and drawn you to me, and therefore you do not believe.”
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Joh 6:60. Many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said, This is an hard saying; who can hear him? The word disciples is here used in a wide sense, including many more than the Twelve, and many who had never risen to a high and pure faith. The saying can only be that of the preceding verses (Joh 6:53-57), and its hardness consisted in the fact that it pointed out one only way to life,eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of man. These words the disciples did not spiritually comprehend, and therefore they were repelled by them.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The foregoing doctrine of our Saviour concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood, sounded so very harshly, that not only the common multitude, but some of them that had been his disciples, that is, who had given up their names to follow him, could not tell how to hear it. Our Saviour reproves their unjust stumbling at what he had said, that he was the bread which came down from heaven, and tells them, that his ascension into heaven should prove the truth of his descent from heaven.
Hence we learn, That Christ’s arising from the grave, and ascending into heaven, by his own power is an evident proof of his godhead, and that he really came down from heaven, in respect of his divine nature, which condescended to be clothed with our flesh. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 6:60. Many of his disciples That is, of those who followed him as such; when they had heard this Had heard the above discourse; said, This is a hard saying A strange discourse, a doctrine difficult to be believed. Hard indeed it must have appeared, as it does still appear, to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely even to the apostles in private. Who can hear it Who can understand, believe, and obey it? Most of the metaphors in this discourse (and particularly that of food, to signify doctrine, and of eating and drinking, to signify believing) were abundantly easy, and might have been understood at the very first by the Jews, being found in their Scriptures, and used in their schools. Only, not being able to comprehend what he meant by his flesh, they took the whole literally, and were so offended at the thought of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, a thing not only prohibited by Moses, but repugnant to the customs of all civilized nations, that many of them who were his disciples, when they heard it, said it was absurd.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.
Vv. 60-65. The very difficulty in the way of understanding, which has just been referred to, caused the division between the temporary and permanent disciplesthe true and the false oneswhich needed to be made. The temporary and false ones went back because of the hard saying. The principal question connected with these verses is that of Joh 6:62. With reference to this question the following points may be noticed: (a) If of Joh 6:60 refers, as the connection would seem to show that it does, to what had been said about eating His flesh, etc., the point now in mind must be the same: If you are offended by this which I have said, how will it be if, etc.(b) The words ascending where I was before are most naturally contrasted with His present condition, and thus refer to the time of and after His ascension.
(c) The 63d verse shows that the purpose of Jesus was to bring the minds of these professed disciples to interpret His words spiritually, and to see that His teaching and the life of which He spoke were wholly in the spiritual sphere. (d) Joh 6:64-65 present again the absence of faith and of the divine drawing as the foundation of their whole difficulty.In view of these considerations two conclusions may be drawn: (x) that the thought of Joh 6:62 is of a greater difficulty in the matter of comprehension, when He should have passed away from earth to heaven, rather than a less one; and (y) that the cause of this greater difficulty would be the entire removal of the earthly and physical element. Like the discourse which precedes, therefore, these verses are intended to be a demand upon these hearers to rise into a higher sphere of thought, and place themselves face to face with the Divine truth.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
6:60 {13} Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this], said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
(13) The reason of man cannot comprehend the uniting of Christ and his members: therefore let it worship and revere that which is better than itself.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The response of many disciples 6:60-65
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Not only "the Jews" (Joh 6:52) but many of Jesus’ followers found His teaching about the Bread of Life offensive (Gr. skleros, difficult or hard). The term "disciple" is not synonymous with "believer," as should be patently clear in the Gospels. In Joh 6:64 Jesus said that some of these "disciples" did not believe. Some of Jesus’ disciples were believers, but many of them were following Him to learn from Him and to decide if He was the Messiah or not. This teaching persuaded many in this seeker category to abandon this Rabbi. Some of them undoubtedly wanted the physical benefits of Jesus’ messianism but had little interest in spiritual matters (cf. Joh 6:14-15; Joh 6:26; Joh 6:30-31). Others could not see beyond Jesus’ humanity to His true identity (Joh 6:41-46). Others probably could not accept Jesus’ claim to be greater than Moses (Joh 6:32-33; Joh 6:58). Still others may have found Jesus’ language offensive, particularly His references to eating flesh and drinking blood (Joh 6:53-54).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
4. The responses to the bread of life discourse 6:60-7:9
Considerable discussion followed Jesus presentation of Himself as the Bread of Life. John noted the responses of many people who were following Jesus around, then the response of the Twelve, and finally the response of most of the Jews. What followed probably happened in the adjoining courtyard, or outside the synagogue, or perhaps inside after Jesus had concluded His discourse.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 15
THE CRISIS IN GALILEE.
Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? But Jesus knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble? What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where He was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray Him. And He said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it be given unto him of the Father. Upon this many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away? Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God. Jesus answered them, Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now He spake of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve.- Joh 6:60-71.
The situation in which our Lord found Himself at this stage of His career is full of pathos. He began His ministry in Juda, and His success there seemed to be all that could be desired. But it soon became apparent that the crowds who followed Him misunderstood or wilfully ignored His purpose. They resorted to Him chiefly, if not solely, for material advantages and political ends. He was in danger of being accounted the most skilful metropolitan physician; or in the greater danger of being courted by politicians as a likely popular leader, who might be used as a revolutionary flag or party cry. He, therefore, left Jerusalem at an early period in His ministry and betook Himself to Galilee; and now, after some months preaching and mingling with the people, things have worked round in Galilee to precisely the same point as they had reached in Juda. Great crowds are following Him to be healed and to be fed, while the politically inclined have at last made a distinct effort to make Him a king, to force Him into a collision with the authorities. His proper work is in danger of being lost sight of. He finds it necessary to sift the crowds who follow Him. And He does so by addressing them in terms which can be acceptable only to truly spiritual men-by plainly assuring them that He was among them, not to give them political privileges and the bread that perisheth, but the bread that endureth. They found Him to be what they would call an impracticable dreamer. They profess to go away because they cannot understand Him; but they understand Him well enough to see He is not the person for their purposes. They seek earth, and heaven is thrust upon them. They turn away disappointed, and many walk no more with Him. The great crowd melts away, and He is left with His original following of twelve men. His months of teaching and toil seem to have gone for nothing. It might seem doubtful if even the twelve would be faithful-if any result of His work would remain, if any would cordially and lovingly adhere to Him.
One cannot, I think, view this situation without perceiving how analogous it is in many respects to the aspect of things in our own day. In all ages of course this sifting of the followers of Christ goes on. There are experiences common to all times and places which test mens attachment to Christ. But in our own day exceptional causes are producing a considerable diminution of the numbers who follow Christ, or at least are altering considerably the grounds on which they profess to follow Him. When one views the defection of men of influence, of thought, of learning, of earnest and devout spirit, one cannot but wonder what is to be the end of this, and how far it is to extend. One cannot but look anxiously at those who seem to remain, and to say, Will ye also go away? No doubt such times of sifting are of eminent service in winnowing out the true from the mistaken followers, and in summoning all men to revise the reason of their attachment to Christ. When we see men of serious mind and of great attainments deliberately abandoning the Christian position, we cannot but anxiously inquire whether we are right in maintaining that position. When the question comes to us, as in Providence it does, Will ye also go away? we must have our answer ready.
The answer of Peter clearly shows what it was that bound the faithful few to Jesus; and in his answer three reasons for faith may be discerned.
1. Jesus satisfied their deepest spiritual wants. They had found in Him provision for their whole nature, and had learned the truth of His saying, He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst. They could now say, Thou hast the words of eternal life. His words made water into wine, and five loaves into five thousand, but His words did what was far more to their purpose,-they fed their spirit. His words brought them nearer to God, promised them eternal life, and began it within them. From the lips of Jesus had actually fallen words which quickened within them a new life-a life which they recognised as eternal, as lifting them up into another world. These words of His had given them new thoughts about God and about righteousness, they had stirred hopes and feelings of an altogether new kind. And this spiritual life was more to them than anything else. No doubt these men, like their neighbours, had their faults, their private ambitions, their hopes. Peter could not forget that he had left all for his Master, and often thought of his home, his plentiful table, his family, when wandering about with Jesus. They all, probably, had an expectation that their abandonment of their occupations would not be wholly without compensation in this life, and that prominent position and worldly advantage awaited them. Still, when they discovered that these were mistaken expectations, they did not grumble nor go back, for such were not their chief reasons for following Jesus. It was chiefly by His appeal to their spiritual leanings that He attracted them. It was rather for eternal life than for present advantage they attached themselves to Him. They found more of God in Him than elsewhere, and listening to Him they found themselves better men than before; and having experienced that His words were spirit and life (Joh 6:63), they could not now abandon Him though all the world did so.
So is it always. When Christ sifts His followers those remain who have spiritual tastes and wants. The spiritual man, the man who would rather be like God than be rich, whose efforts after worldly advancement are not half as earnest and sustained as His efforts after spiritual health; the man, in short, who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and lets other things be added or not to this prime requisite, cleaves to Christ because there is that in Christ which satisfies his tastes and gives him the life he chiefly desires. There is in Christ a suitableness to the wants of men who live in view of God and eternity, and who seek to adjust themselves, not only to the world around them so as to be comfortable and successful in it, but also to the things unseen, to the permanent laws which are to govern human beings and human affairs throughout eternity. Such men find in Christ that which enables them to adjust themselves to things eternal. They find in Christ just that revelation of God, and that reconcilement to Him, and that help to abiding in Him, which they need. They cannot imagine a time, they cannot picture to themselves a state of society, in which the words and teaching of Jesus would not be the safest guide and the highest law. Life eternal, life for men as men, is taught by Him; not professional life, not the life of a religious rule that must pass away, not life for this world only, but life eternal, life such as men everywhere and always ought to live-this is apprehended by Him and explained by Him; and power and desire to live it is quickened within men by His words. Coming into His presence we recognise the assuredness of perfect knowledge, the simplicity of perfect truth. That which outrides all such critical times as the disciples were now passing through is true spirituality of mind. The man who is bent on nourishing his spirit to life everlasting simply cannot dispense with what he finds in Christ.
We need not then greatly fear for our own faith if we are sure that we covet the words of eternal life more than the path to worldly advantage. Still less need we tremble for the faith of others if we know that their tastes are spiritual, their leanings Godward. Parents are naturally anxious about their childrens faith, and fear it may be endangered by the advances of science or by the old props of faith being shaken. Such anxiety is in great measure misdirected. Let parents see to it that their children grow up with a preference for purity, unselfishness, truth, unworldliness; let parents set before their children an example of real preference for things spiritual, and let them with Gods aid cultivate in their children an appetite for what is heavenly, a craving to live on terms with God and with conscience; and this appetite will infallibly lead them to Christ. Does Christ supply the wants of our spirits? Can He show us the way to eternal life? Have men found in Him all needed help to godly living? Have the most spiritual and ardent of men been precisely those who have most clearly seen their need of Him, and who have found in Him everything to satisfy and feed their own spiritual ardour? Has He, that is to say, the words of eternal life? Is He the Person to whom every man must listen if he would find his way to God and a happy eternity? Then, depend upon it, men will believe in Christ in every generation, and none the less firmly because their attention is called off from non-essential and external evidences to the simple sufficiency of Christ.
2. Peter was convinced not only that Jesus had the words of eternal life, but that no one else had. To whom shall we go? Peter had not an exhaustive knowledge of all sources of human wisdom; but speaking from his own experience he affirmed his conviction that it was useless to seek life eternal anywhere else than in Jesus. And it seems equally hopeless still to look to any other quarter for sufficient teaching, for words that are spirit and life. Where but in Christ do we find a God we can accept as God? Where but in Him do we find that which can not only encourage men striving after virtue, but also reclaim the vicious? To put anyone alongside of Christ as a revealer of God, as a pattern of virtue, as a Saviour of men, is absurd. There is that in Him which we recognise as not merely superior, but of another kind. So that those who reject Him, or set Him on a level with other teachers, have first of all to reject the chief part of what His contemporaries were struck with and reported, and to fashion a Christ of their own.
And it should be observed that Christ claims this exceptional homage from His people. The following He requires is not a mere acceptance of His teaching alongside of other teaching, nor an acceptance of His teaching apart from Himself, as if a man should listen to Him and go home and try to practise what he has heard; but He requires men to form a connection with Himself as their King and Life, as that One who can alone give them strength to obey Him. To call Him the Teacher, as if this were His sole or chief title, is to mislead.
The alternative, then, as Peter saw, was Christ or nothing. And every day it is becoming clearer that this is the alternative, that between Christianity and the blankest Atheism there is no middle place. Indeed we may say that between Christianity, with its supernatural facts, and materialism, which admits of no supernatural at all, and of nothing spiritual and immortal, there is no logical standing-ground. A mans choice lies between these two-either Christ with His claims in all their fulness, or a material universe working out its life under the impulse of some inscrutable force. There are of course men who are neither Christians nor materialists; but that is because they have not yet found their intellectual resting-place. As soon as they obey reason, they will travel to one or other of these extremes, for between the two is no logical standing-ground. If there is a God, then there seems nothing incredible, nothing even very surprising, in Christianity. Christianity becomes merely the flower or fruit for which the world exists, the element in the worlds history which gives meaning and glory to the whole of it: without Christianity and all it involves the world lacks interest of the highest kind. If a man finds he cannot admit the possibility of such an interference in the worlds monotonous way as the Incarnation implies, it is because there is in his mind an Atheistic tendency, a tendency to make the laws of the world more than the Creator; to make the world itself God, the highest thing. The Atheists position is thoroughgoing and logical; and against the Atheist the man who professes to believe in a Personal God and yet denies miracle is helpless. And in point of fact Atheistic writers are rapidly sweeping the field of all other antagonists, and the intermediate positions between Christianity and Atheism are becoming daily more untenable.
Any one then who is offended at the supernatural in Christianity, and is disposed to turn away and walk no more with Christ, should view the alternative, and consider what it is with which he must throw in his lot. To retain what is called the spirit of Christ, and reject all that is miraculous and above our present comprehension, is to commit oneself to a path which naturally leads to disbelief in God. We must choose between Christ as He stands in the gospels, claiming to be Divine, rising from the dead and now alive; and a world in which there is no God manifest in the flesh or anywhere else, a world that has come into being no one knows how or whence, and that is running on no one knows whither, unguided by any intelligence outside of itself, wholly governed by laws which have grown out of some impersonal force of which nobody can give any good account. Difficult as it is to believe in Christ, it is surely still more difficult to believe in the only alternative, a world wholly material, in which matter rules and spirit is a mere accident of no account. If there are inexplicable things in the gospel, there are also in us and around us facts wholly inexplicable on the atheistic theory. If the Christian must be content to wait for the solution of many mysteries, so certainly must the materialist be content to leave unsolved many of the most important problems of human life.[26]
3. The third reason which Peter assigns for the unalterable loyalty of the Twelve is expressed in the words, We have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God. By this he probably meant that he and the rest had come to be convinced that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the consecrated One, whom God had set apart to this office. The same expression was used by the demoniac in the synagogue at Capernaum.[27] But although the idea of consecration to an office rather than the idea of personal holiness is prominent in the word, it may very well have been the personal holiness of their Master which bore in upon the minds of the disciples that He was indeed the Messiah. By His life with them from day to day He revealed God to them. They had seen Him in a great variety of circumstances. They had seen His compassion for every form of sorrow and misery, and His regardlessness of self; they had marked His behaviour when offered a crown and when threatened with the cross; they had seen Him at table in gay company, and they had seen Him fasting and in houses of mourning, in danger, in vehement discussion, in retirement; and in all circumstances and scenes they had found Him holy, so holy that to turn from Him they felt would be to turn from God.
The emphasis with which they affirm their conviction is remarkable: We have believed and we know. It is as if they felt, We may be doubtful of much and ignorant of much, but this at least we are sure of. We see men leaving our company who are fit to instruct and guide us in most matters, but they do not know our Lord as we do. What they have said has disturbed our minds and has caused us to revise our beliefs, but we return to our old position, We have believed and we know. It may be true that devils have been cast out by the prince of the devils; we do not know. But a stainless life is more miraculous and Divine than the casting out of devils; it is more unknown in the world, referable to no freak of nature, accomplished by no sleight of hand or jugglery, but due only to the presence of God. Here we have not the sign or evidence of the thing but the thing itself, God not using man as an external agent for operating upon the material world, but God present in the man, living in his life, one with him.
Upon our faith nothing is more influential than the holiness of Christ. Nothing is more certainly Divine. Nothing is more characteristic of God-not His power, not His wisdom, not even His eternal Being. He who in his own person and life represents to us the holiness of God is more certainly superhuman than he who represents Gods power. A power to work miracles has often been delegated to men, but holiness cannot be so delegated. It belongs to character, to the mans self; it is a thing of nature, of will, and of habit; a king may give to his ambassador ample powers, he may fill his hands with credentials, and load him with gifts which shall be acceptable to the monarch to whom he is sent, but he cannot give him a tact he does not naturally possess, a courtesy he has not acquired by dealing with other princes, nor the influence of wise and magnanimous words, if these do not inherently belong to the ambassadors self. So the holiness of Christ was even more convincing than His power or His message. It was such a holiness as caused the disciples to feel that He was not a mere messenger. His holiness revealed Himself as well as Him that sent Him; and the self that was thus revealed they felt to be more than human. When, therefore, their faith was tried by seeing the multitudes abandon their Lord, they were thrown back on their surest ground of confidence in Him; and that surest ground was not the miracles which all had seen, but the consecrated and perfect life which was known to them.
To ourselves, then, I say, by the circumstances of our time this question comes, Will ye also go away? Will you be like the rest, or will exceptional fidelity be found in you? Is your attachment to Christ so based on personal conviction, is it so truly the growth of your own experience, and so little a mere echo of popular opinion, that you say in your heart, Though all men should forsake Thee, yet will not I? It is difficult to resist the current of thought and opinion that prevails around us; difficult to dispute or even question the opinion of men who have been our teachers, and who have first awakened our mind to see the majesty of truth and the beauty of the universe; it is difficult to choose our own way, and thus tacitly condemn the choice and the way of men we know to be purer in life, and in every essential respect better than ourselves. And yet, perhaps, it is well that we are thus compelled to make up our own mind, to examine the claims of Christ for ourselves, and so follow Him with the resolution that comes of personal conviction. It is this our Lord desires. He does not compel nor hasten our decision. He does not upbraid His followers for their serious misunderstandings of His person. He allows them to be familiar with Him even while labouring under many misconceptions, because He knows that these misconceptions will most surely pass away in His society and by further acquaintance with Him. One thing He insists upon, one thing He asks from us-that we follow Him. We may only have a vague impression that He is quite different from all else we know; we may be doubtful, as yet, in what sense some of the highest titles are ascribed to Him; we may be quite mistaken about the significance of certain important parts of His life; we may disagree among ourselves regarding the nature of His kingdom and regarding the conditions of entrance into it; but, if we follow Him, if we join our fortunes to His, and wish nothing better than to be within the sound of His voice and to do His bidding; if we truly love Him, and find that He has taken a place in our life we cannot ever give to another; if we are conscious that our future lies His way, and that we must in heart abide with Him, then all our slowness to understand is patiently dealt with, all our underrating of His real dignity is forgiven us, and we are led on in His company to perfect conformity, perfect union, and perfect knowledge.
All that He desires, then, is, in the first place, not something we cannot give, not a belief in certain truths about which doubt may reasonably be entertained, not an acknowledgment of facts that are as yet beyond our vision; but, that we follow Him, that we be in this world as He was in it. Shall we, then, let Him pursue His way alone, shall we do nothing to forward His purposes, shall we show no sympathy, address no word to Him, and pretend not to hear when He speaks to us? To drag ourselves along murmuring, doubting, making difficulties, a mere dead weight on our Leader, this is not to follow as He desires to be followed. To take our own way in the main, and only appear here and there on the road He has taken; to be always trying to combine the pursuit of our own private ends with the pursuance of His ends, is not to follow. Had we seen these men asking leave of absence two or three times a month to go and look after the fishing, even though they promised to overtake their Master somewhere on the road, we should scarcely have recognised them as His followers. Had we found them, on reaching a village at night, leaving Him, and preferring to spend their leisure with His enemies, we should have been inclined to ask an explanation of conduct so inconsistent. Yet is not our own following very much of this kind? Is there not too little of the following that says, What is enough for the Lord is enough for me; His aims are enough for me? Is there not too little of the following that springs from a frank and genuine dealing with the Lord from day to day, and from a conscientious desire to meet His will with us, and satisfy His idea of how we should follow Him? May we each have the peace and joy of the man who, when this question, Will ye also go away? comes to him, quickly and from the heart responds, I will never forsake Thee.
[26] Those who turn their backs on the Eternal Son must understand, then, that they are on their way to a creed which denies an Eternal Father, and puts in His place an unconscious impersonal soul of nature, a dead central force, of which all the forces in the universe are manifestations; or an unknown, unknowable cause, remaining to be postulated after the series of physical causes has been traced as far back as science can go; and which robs mortal man of the hope that the seed sown in the churchyard shall one day be reaped in the harvest of the resurrection…. Your so-called Christianity independent of dogmas is but the evening twilight of faith, the light which lingers in the spiritual atmosphere after the sun of truth has gone down.-Dr. Bruce, Training of the Twelve, p. 154, a book to which I am greatly indebted here and elsewhere.
[27] Mar 1:24.