Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:67

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

67. the twelve ] The first mention of them; S. John speaks of them familiarly as a well-known body, assuming that his readers are well acquainted with the expression (see on Joh 6:62). This is a mark of truth: all the more so because the expression does not occur in the earlier chapters; for it is probable that down to the end of chap. 4 at any rate ‘the Twelve’ did not yet exist.

Pilate and Mary Magdalene are introduced in the same abrupt way (Joh 18:29, Joh 19:25).

Will ye also go away? ] Better, Surely ye also do not wish to go away? ‘Will’ is too weak; it is not the future tense, but a separate verb, ‘to will.’ There is a similar error Joh 7:17 and Joh 8:44. Christ knows not only the unbelief of the many, but the belief and loyalty of the few.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The twelve – The twelve apostles.

Will ye also go away? – Many apostatized, and it was natural now for Jesus to submit the question to the twelve. Will you, whom I have chosen, on whom I have bestowed the apostleship, and who have seen the evidence of my Messiahship, will you now also leave me? This was the time to try them; and it is always a time to try real Christians when many professed disciples become cold and turn back; and then we may suppose Jesus addressing us, and saying, Will ye also go away! Observe here, it was submitted to their choice. God compels none to remain with him against their will, and the question in such trying times is submitted to every man whether he will or will not go away.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 6:67-69

Will ye also go away?

To whom should we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life

Human destiny and its attainment through Christ

I. GOD HAS SET BEFORE US A DESTINY. Eternal life.

1. The idea of a future world in the abstract is probably present to every man.

2. It is impossible for any one to entertain this idea without being haunted by the tremendous possibilities of its truth. A man may lose sight of it, or rush to escape it, but let it once have a lodgment within, and he cannot refuse it acknowledgment.

3. It does not require any argument to prove a future world–you know that there is one.

4. It is equally impressed upon the human consciousness that this future life

(1) is one of conscious immortal existence;

(2) has a retributive connection with the doings of the present life.

II. HE HAS REVEALED TO US THE METHOD BY WHICH THIS DESTINY MAY BE ACHIEVED AND REALIZED.

1. The revelation of Gods mercy in the gospel proceeds on the assumption of this conscious immortal existence, and has furnished appliances by which the happiest conditions of that existence may be brought within the reach of all. It is not merely a manual of precept for this world; it is a treasury of hope and comfort for the world to come. Point- ing to the Saviour, whose suretyship it announces, and from whose death it receives its validity and power, it says, This is the true God and eternal life, and it proclaims to the troubled spirit that in Christs possession are the words of eternal life.

2. Those words were never spoken in their fulness till Christ came. There were broken utterances about it, but He brought life and immortality to light.

III. HE HAS LIMITED AN EXCLUSIVE SAVIOUR. Neither is there salvation in any other.

1. To have allowed a plurality of Saviours would have indicated a faltering confidence or an unsatisfied claim.

2. There needs no other Saviour, so there is no other.

3. This conviction will force itself on all some day.

4. The experience of the past proves that none other has the words of eternal life. All ancient religion and philosophy are empty of information on eternal life.

5. The researches of the present can find no other Saviour. (W. M.Punshon, LL. D.)

Two stages of spiritual life

(Text in conjunction with Luk 5:8).

I. THE FIRST STAGE MARKED BY FEAR AT THE REVELATION OF DIVINE GLORY. It was not merely the wonder that produced the cry. This was not the first time that Peter had seen the power of Christ, and others had seen it who had not been affected. He saw in Christ the Holy one, and then came a sense of the chasm between Himself and Jesus.

1. Such a revelation does awaken the feelings of fear and awe. Before Christ came men had heard of holiness, but its awful presence was never fully felt until He crossed the path of the world. By Him the thoughts of many hearts were revealed. Before the light of His holiness all lying hypocrisies quailed. And for eighteen centuries the world has been convinced of sin by the presence of the Holy One. When a man realizes a sense of the presence of this holiness his cry is that of Peters.

2. Every one must have this feeling before He can cast himself utterly on Christ.

II. THE SECOND STAGE–CONFESSION OF DEVOTION TO CHRIST OUR LIFE. This was a testing time for the disciples–a time when they were driven to feel that Christ was their life. And in Christian experience there are similar periods, and then we feel that everything but the perfect reception of Him fails to satisfy the heart. Our spiritual nature craves three things.

1. A knowledge of God the Eternal Truth. Christ has revealed the Father.

2. Reconciliation with God the Eternal Righteousness. Christ is life for the conscience. 3.A knowledge of God the Eternal Love. Christ brought God close to mans heart. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

Reasons for continuance with Jesus

I. NO OTHER CHRIST WILL COME.

II. NO ONE WILL BRING A BETTER WORD.

III. THERE REMAINS NO OTHER FAITH.

IV. THERE IS NO BRIGHTER KNOWLEDGE. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

If not to Christ then to whom?

1. To whom shall we go? is his first question when a man awakens to moral consciousness, and feels within him those inarticulate longings which reveal that he is not what he ought to be. Plato accounted these yearnings the reminiscences of a former state in which the soul had seen the perfect ideas of things now lost–a near approach to the Bible doctrine of the Fall. The soul feels that it is not what it once was, and that it cannot make itself so; but it recognizes its forgotten greatness when it sees it again. It is not to be deceived. It says when one specimen is offered, This is not what I seek; but when it finds Christ it identifies its long lost manhood in Him.

2. Besides these longings there is within us a sense of guilt, and the spirit groans, Who will help me? As when the sick cry for a physician. Man must go somewhere. The Jews were confronted with four rival systems. Sadduceeism, Pharisaism, Essenism, Christianity, and these virtually confront the seeker to-day.

I. Shall we go to SCEPTICISM?

1. That seeks to cure the souls malady by denying it. That gives the same satisfaction as persuading a starving man that there is no reality in his hunger. How much more rational to accept the bread God has provided. Reject revelation and the same difficulties emerge in philosophy–so you only get rid of their only possible solution–just as sick men refused the doctor only throw away the chances of getting well.

2. The service of infidelity to man is well seen in the French Revolution.

II. Shall we go to RITUALISM? To improve our spiritual nature by ceremonial means is to begin at the wrong end, for it is the character of the soul that gives quality to the rite. The root of the evil is in the soul, which no ceremony can touch. Witness the Pharisees who would not go into Pilates Hall for fear of defilement, and yet could plot for murder. Witness the Italian brigand who gives thanks for a successful robbery. Witness the multitudes of formal worshippers on Sunday who take advantage of their neighbours on Monday. Formalism only substitutes hypocrisy for religion.

III. Shall we go to ASCETICISM?

1. It is useless in practice, because the heart cannot escape from itself, and no walls can exclude temptation.

2. The whole system is cowardly.

3. It is a negative thing.

IV. Shall we go to JESUS? What are His qualifications?

1. He has the words of eternal life. By words man was lured to his destruction, and now by words he is to be saved.

2. What are His words. Their substance is, God so loved the world, etc. Faith in these words gives certainty where before was doubt, and peace where formerly was despair.

3. See what they have done in the case of the apostles, heathens, drunkards, sinners of every age and degree. All that is noble and elevating in our modern civilization have come from Christ.

Conclusion: When our modern prophets ask us to leave Him, we reply

1. Find us a better answer to the questioning of our spirits than He has furnished.

2. Show us a better ideal of manhood than He has given.

3. Bring us brighter light in the life beyond than He has thrown.

4. In a word, give us something better than Christ. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Mans need of a Saviour

1. There is here one great assumption which, being removed, the whole drops to pieces. It is that man must have some one to go to. He cannot live without a master, a guide, a comforter. The soul cannot live alone or grope its own way. St. Peters question evidently implies, We cannot leave Thee till we have found another who shall outbid Thee in Thy offers, and outshine Thee in Thy revelations.

2. This is what we may call the argument from want. Man wants someone, and therefore God has someone for him. To whom is the only question, not whether we shall go. Was Peter right, or was he rash and wrong?

(1) There are some suppositions which would be fatal to this argument. Supposing there be no God, or, at most, a God unconcerned about His creatures, then to say that mans spiritual thirst is any proof that God has provided spiritual water is a fallacy; it only proves that to want and to have not is mans pitiless destiny. But if there be a God such a conception is revolting to our best instincts, and dishonouring to God Himself. Far worthier is that of One touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and if this be true, then provision is sure.

(2) This argument is not weakened by sins entrance. The fact that man was spared after he had sinned, and that he now needs Gods care and love more than ever, strengthens the argument. What Peter wanted, and what we want is

I. SOME ONE WHO CAN RAISE US ABOVE CIRCUMSTANCES. How many of our race suffer from poverty, anxiety, sickness, disappointment, the sense of inferiority, and the dullness of lifes routine, etc. God designs that such should have independence, earths giving or refusing: and there is only one person who goes to the root of the trouble, for He can say to us, I came to you from heaven, and there we know of no such distinctions; there the only honour is humility, the only office self-sacrifice, the only distinction, the being nearest to and likest God. Cultivate these things over which tyranny has no power, and I will guide you by my counsel and afterward receive you to glory.

II. SOME PERSONAL HELP TO LIFT US ABOVE SIN. Sin is an established fact, explain it, disguise it, extenuate it how we may. Christs mission was to teach us the nature and guilt of sin. When this is brought home to the soul then indeed it cries, To whom shall I go? Surely God must have some one for me? He is in that sinless one who came into the world to save sinners. If we accept not Christ the voice of centuries tells us that there is no other.

III. SOME ONE WHO SHALL RAISE US ABOVE DEATH ITSELF. This we find in Him who confronted death and conquered, and who is The resurrection and the life. Has any one else, not the words, but even the hope and promise of eternal life? (Dean Vaughan.)

Christ the only source of religious rife

1. There is a time when our religious thoughts and feelings undergo a strain. It may be in youth, when the world first lays hold of us: or in passing into manhood, when the intellect recoils from in- herited thought; or under some terrible temptation. Then it seems doubtful whether we shall stay in the old house or go away.

2. When this time comes, we must have an answer in our hearts why we should stay with Christ, or else we shall certainly go.

3. The idea of all religion is that of the higher eternal life of our text. Let us eat and drink, etc., is common enough in practice, but no school advocates it. All schools maintain that there is a life of unselfishness which has as its vital principle the happiness of others.

4. The question, then, is not as to the need, but the sources of this higher life. The religion of Christ is said to be no longer effectual. Science, the religion of humanity, art, and culture, make their claims more or less to the exclusion of Christ.

5. How, then, can it be shown that in Christ alone is the true source of the higher life for man. By

I. THE POWER OF CHRISTS PERSONALITY. It was not a question of opinion as to whether the doctrines of Christ could be abandoned, an alternative between those of Christ and the Pharisees. The issue here, as ever, was a purely personal matter.

1. This assertion of authoritative personality is characteristic of Christ as a religious teacher. I am the Way, etc. The words would have been profane boasting on any other lips. But when we see in Him what Peter saw in Him, we at once own the power and blessing of His words.

2. The consciousness of a Divine character in Christ is the most powerful root of the Divine life. We are moved by character as by nothing else. Truth on its intellectual side is hard to find, and may easily be eluded. It is this which makes the essential weakness of many modern schemes of religion. They are schemes of intellectualism, and, to the majority, are useless. They are incapable of being moved by science and art, because the motive power of life does not work in the main through the intellect or the taste. The higher life may be helped by them, but they do not give or quicken it.

3. But let the personal life in us be brought in contact with a higher personal life, and the springs of our higher life are at once touched. Place a noble human being amongst others, and how powerfully does his influence work! It is intelligible to all minds, and steals into all hearts. It was such a power as this, in a super-eminent degree, that Christ was felt to be. Behind all His kindness, there lay a depth of Divine personality.

4. All this Christ is still, and the higher life is realized by us when our character is moulded by His, and His mind is formed in us.

II. THE DIRECT REVELATION OF THE HIGHER LIFE THROUGH HIS WORDS. The idea of Divine personality carries with it the idea of revelation. If the power behind the world is a personal power, it cannot but make itself known; and eternal life can only be known to us through its expressions in such a one as Christ. If we cannot find it here, we can find it nowhere. All Christ said or did was a revelation of it. Here is strength to resist evil and to make habitual in us the instincts of a higher life, and nowhere else. And if we have failed, our hearts tell us it is because we have gone back from Christ. (Principal Tulloch.)

The difficulties of disbelief

1. Suppose we give up the Christian faith, what shall we have instead? Wise men are bound to look at consequences. If you were asked to leave your house, would you not inquire where yon were to go? And are we to concern ourselves more about shelter for the body than a home for the soul?

2. It is easier to pull down than to build up, to spoil a picture than to paint one, to tempt a man than to save one, to ruin life than to train it for heaven. Infidels are doing this easy work, and to them we must put the practical question, Give up religion, and what then?

I. GIVE UP THE IDEA OF GOD, AND WHAT THEN? You would refuse to throw away the poorest covering till you knew what you were to have in return. Will you, then, recklessly give up the idea of the living, loving, personal God at the bidding of any man? Remember that you can put away the mystery of God, and you get in return the greater mystery of godlessness. The wax flower on your table was made, but the roses in your garden grew by chance, forsooth.

II. GIVE UP THE IDEA OF THE FUTURE, AND WHAT THEN? If a man asked you to throw away a telescope, would you not inquire what you were to have in return? Will you, then, throw away the faith-glass through which you read the solemn and wondrous future. Christian revelation tells us that death is abolished, and heaven the goal of human spirits. Renounce this, and what can the sceptic give?

III. SHUT YOUR BIBLE, AND WHAT THEN? The Bible says, The Lord is my Shepherd, etc.; the tempter says, Be you that shepherd. It says, He, every one that thirsteth, etc.; he says, You have no thirst that you cannot slake at the muddy pool at your feet. It says, God is a present help in time of trouble; he says, Dry your tears, and snap your fingers in the face of the universe. It proclaims the forgiveness of sins; he says, You have never sinned. It says, In My Fathers house are many mansions; he says Your mansion is the grave; get into it, and rot away. Conclusion:

1. Keep this question straight before you.

2. Inquire of the tempter his power to provide an alternative.

3. Be sure that the alternative is worth having. And you will find

4. That if you leave the Divine life and aspect of things, there is nothing but outer darkness. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The disciples reasons for cleaving to Jesus

I. Let us glance at THOSE SYSTEMS FOR WHICH WE ARE TEMPTED TO FORSAKE CHRIST.

1. Romanism.

2. Spiritualism.

3. Pantheism.

4. Secularism.

5. The world.

II. Let us examine CHRISTS SUPERIOR CLAIMS ON OUR AFFECTION AND FAITH.

1. He is a Divine Teacher.

2. An all-sufficient Saviour.

3. An Almighty Protector.

4. A Sovereign Lord.

5. The Rest of the weary soul.

Conclusion:

1. Christ is infinitely worthy of our confidence and love.

2. Make yourselves better acquainted with Him, and your faith and lore will be confirmed. (Isaac Jennings.)

Personal affiance in Christ the souls safeguard

(Sermon to Young Men)

1. We can scarcely conceive of any one but Peter speaking these words. They would not have been the first answer of the critical Thomas or the more philosophical John. The truth they contain would at last have aroused the faith of Thomas, and have been the resting-place of the love of John. Their sudden, unqualified utterance could only have broken from the lips of Peter. At the bare mention of the possibility of departure from Christ, St. Peters soul was on fire, and the utterance of his heart outran the slower processes of the intellect, and he spoke with the voice of one who had experienced the power of the words of eternal life.

2. Young men are specially tempted to go away. The distinctive feature of your age is that it abounds in temptations. There is

I. THE TEMPTATION TO A LIFE OF IDLE SELF-INDULGENCE.

1. With health strong, spirits high, and companionship abundant, the pleasure of merely living is so very great as for the time to seem almost satisfying. The facilities for easy living increases this temptation; but to yield to it is to kill the heart of your truest life. Though there may be nothing positively sinful in the separate acts of such a life, it is as a whole most sinful. You are guilty of the sin of omission, and rendering yourself unfit for the work of the future when it comes. For in such a life the seeds of all future evil are sown–softness, slothfulness, selfishness, etc.

2. This temptation is not to be overcome by the dull aphorisms of morality, nor by the festering pricks of ambition–the one all powerless against the other, as dangerous as the evil. What you need is to know Christ for yourself, so that love for Him becomes a real passion in your heart. Personal affiance brings you into His presence; and to be in His presence is to love Him, and love makes all labour easy. There is no limit to the height to which this may not exalt the most common-place life.

II. THE TEMPTATION TO IMMORAL PLEASURES.

1. To attempt to restrain young men of strong passions by stoical philosophy or prudential maxims, is like throwing a little water on a great fire, which, hissing out its own feebleness, does but quicken the burning.

2. There is but one sufficient remedy: that which has turned the martyrs flames into a pleasant whistling wind, and subdued the flesh in all the triumph of its strength–the love of Christ. Bring Christ by the cry of faith into thy life; set thy struggles against corruption in the light of His cross, and pardon, and purity, and power will come from the pierced hand.

III. THE TEMPTATION TO SENSUOUS RELIGIOUSNESS.

1. Our worship may easily be smothered by the weight of its external adorning till it sinks into the death of mere formality, or is sentimentalized into the languid feebleness of an unmanly emotion.

2. The charm of such a temptation can only be broken by the knowledge of Christ on the cross dying for our sin, awakening by His word the sense of guilt, bringing the message of forgiveness, and holding communion with the reconciled spirit. When this mighty revelation comes, the soul cannot rest in outer things, nor allow the most beautiful symbol to intercept one ray of His countenance, who is fairer than the children of men. You cannot starve the busy, intrusive fancy into a heavenly affection. The love of Christ must so elevate the spirit, that it shall rest in no form, but in every form seek Him supremely.

IV. THE TEMPTATION TO FREE-THINKING, AND THE LOSS OF ALL REALLY FIXED BELIEF IN CHRISTIANITY.

1. Ages have their own temper, and there is much that is noble in that of our own. It contrasts most favourably with sensual, dull, and easy-living times. Labour, conflict, victory, are its watch-words. But its victories breed in it a certain audacity, to which the authority and genius of the Christian revelation oppose themselves.

2. Safety is not to be found in sleepily disregarding what is passing around us, nor in setting ourselves against the temper of the day, or in inventing a concordat between it and revelation, nor in forbidding criticism and turning away from discoveries. The rock, whose rugged breast affronts the torrent, cannot stay, but can only chafe the troubled waters.

3. If there are hard sayings discovered in the Christian record, and many turn back because of them, this is but a sifting of the inner willingness of hearts to go away. What else do the many voices around us proclaim but that, more than ever, we need a personal knowledge of Christ to keep us safe amidst the strife of tongues?

4. The real talisman against unbelief is not in hard, narrow, exclusive views, but in personal love to Christ. This love will sweep away a thousand doubts and speculative difficulties, and supply a whole life of resistance which is quickened into action by the mere touch of what might harm the spirit. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

Whence the words of eternal life

I. THE ANSWER OF SCIENCE. By education, by learning the laws of nature and training oneself to obey them, Professor Huxley likens life to a game at chess. The board is the world; the pieces the phenomena of the universe; the rules its laws. The player on the other side is hidden. His play is always fair, but he never overlooks a mistake. To the man who plays well the highest stakes are paid. The one who plays iii is checkmated without remorse. Education is learning the rules of this game.

1. This representation ignores the spiritual nature. That there is a spiritual nature and spiritual fact is attested by the consciousness and history of our race.

2. The God of Science is unknowable, without sympathy for the weak and erring, and compassion for the suffering. If this be all the God there is, how foolish to concern ourselves about the words of eternal life!

3. This theory of the highest living leaves out of the account the most startling fact of human life–sin.

4. This answer has been tested. Give us culture, say the scientists, and we will save the race, and usher in the long-looked-for Golden Age. Ah, yes, culture I that is what Athens had, and perished. That is what Paris has, and, as Carlyle says, is crazy. That is what Germany has, and still is full of the worst ills. That is what England has, and yet England is neither satisfied nor happy. That is what we have, and still these spirits of ours crave something higher, stronger, purer, better. That is what this age of ours has, and withal is blind and weak, and restless as the storm-tossed sea. Science may educate, but still sin remains, and conscience is not quieted.

II. PETERS ANSWER. What a mighty contrast between Christ and science..

1. Go to Jacobs well. Whence has thou the living water? The scientist would reply, Out of the great well of nature. Study the laws of the universe. Would the womans heart have been touched, and would she have obeyed?

2. Suppose it had been the scientist who had been dining at Simons table; he would have said, Woman, it is not scientific to weep. Be calm. Life is a game at chess; you have been checkmated because you didnt understand the rules of the game. Would she have gone away as she did disburdened and satisfied?

3. What would the scientist have done at the grave of Lazarus?

4. Where has science given us a parable of the prodigal son? (S. A.Ort, D. D.)

Jesus Christ the only source of rest and happiness

I. In this reply of the apostles is implied A CONVICTION OF THE INSUFFIENCY OF ALL HUMAN MEANS FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF SALVATION. Lord, to whom shall we go? Shall we apply to the scribes and Pharisees? Shall we inquire of the ceremonial or moral law? Shall we submit to the decisions of reason?

1. The scribes and Pharisees, and other doctors of the law among the Jews, at that period were blind leaders of the blind. Their corruptions had darkened their minds, and thrown a veil over the sacred writings; so that the plainest prophecies were misunderstood, and the most important doctrines perverted by them.

2. The apostles were equally convinced that life and salvation could not be obtained from an observance of the ceremonial or moral law.

(1) With respect to the former–they knew that the tabernacle service was chiefly typical, shadowing forth good things to come.

(2) With respect to the latter–even if they could not recollect that they had been guilty of any gross immorality, yet they knew that they were far from that perfection which the law demands.

3. They were also persuaded of the entire insufficiency of reason to point out to them the path of life. Untaught by revelation, what knowledge can we obtain respecting the salvation of a sinner?

II. The text implies that they had A FIRM BELIEF IN CHRISTS PERFECTIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS AS A SAVIOUR, Thou hast the words of eternal life.

1. This is the language of faith, and expresses the sentiments and exercises of every soul that flees to the Saviour for refuge.

2. In this confession they acknowledge, also, a belief in His ability to instruct men in the way of life.

3. It also implies faith in Him as the only atoning sacrifice.

4. To be a perfect Saviour, He must be able, also, to ensure everlasting life to those whose sins He expiated; and, therefore, He must be possessed of power to apply His purchased salvation to the souls of His people.

III. From such a view of His offices, and a complete satisfaction in His undertaking and character, arises an unconquerable desire for the blessings which He has to bestow; and hence the words of the text are to be considered as expressing A FIRM RESOLUTION TO ADHERE TO HIM AS THEIR SAVIOUR AND LORD. To whom shall we go, say the disciples, but unto Thee.

1. United to Him they see safety; separated from Him they behold inevitable death.

2. This holy resolution is formed, not merely from necessity, but from a conviction of the honour, delight, and immortal glory which await the followers of the Lamb. (W. L. Johnson.)

Words of eternal life

I. A SEARCHING QUESTION PUT AT A CRITICAL TIME.

1. It is a question put at a time when there was a great falling off from the number of Christs followers. Now was the time to show their colours–now or never. The chaff was driven away. The wheat remained. Times of apostasy are sifting seasons for Gods people, giving a renewed call to every soldier of the Cross to rally round the deserted banner. The example of others is no safe guide. Public opinion is often a feeble indicator of duty. There is one example, and only one, that we are safe to follow–the example of Christ. There is one standard, and only one, that never varies–the Word of God. Keep the infallible standard in your eye, and that willhelp to steady you amid the changes of men and time.

2. This question was put at a time when there was a fresh demand made on the faith of Christs followers. It is obvious that our Lords design was to lead His followers to a knowledge of the hidden mysteries of His kingdom; to set before them some of the deeper truths of revelation. Progressiveness marked all His teaching. Faith has often to surmount barriers which are impassable by the natural understanding. Duty is ever making fresh demands upon us, and as we advance we are ever finding out depths that we have not yet sounded, and heights of holiness we have not yet scaled.

There are speculative difficulties that try our faith, and perplexing things in Gods word that we cannot explain. In the face of such perplexities it will be our wisdom to hold fast what we can accept. What we know not now, we shall know hereafter.

3. This question was put at a time when higher devotion was required in the life of Christs followers. When God reveals Himself to His people, as He has been doing with increasing clearness at different stages in the worlds history, it is in order to enable them to be more devoted witnesses for Him among men. All our knowledge ought to help us to live holier and nobler lives; otherwise it profits nothing.

II. A NOBLER REPLY FOUNDED ON WEIGHTY REASON.

1. Christ the highest of all teachers. We have many professing guides, but they all save One lead astray. Shall we follow our modern Pharisees and adopt the creed of the formalist? No, that will not satisfy the soul that longs for life. Shall we follow our modern Sadducees and adopt the creed of the atheist? No, that will not satisfy the soul that longs for God. Are we perplexed in our search for truth, and know not whose teaching to trust amid conflicting opinions? Let us learn to distrust, in matters of eternal moment, all human guides, and look to that Name beside which there is none other under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Then we shall have a Teacher to instruct us wiser than man, a Light brighter than the sun to shine on our path.

2. Eternal life the best of all possessions. Christ has something to bestow which no other claimant can boast of. He offers an inheritance that will outlast the sun, and live as long as God Himself. (D. Merson, M. A.)

Words of eternal life

What are any of these life-giving words? Here are a few. I am the Resurrection and the Life, etc. Seek ye Me, and your soul shall live. Whoso eateth My flesh, etc. God so loved the world, etc. What potential energy slumbers in those wonderful words! They carry within them to the guilty and the dying a Divine message fraught with saving and life-giving power. They are simple that a child may read them, but they hold, as it were in solution, the deepest thoughts of God. The mere words are often compared to the casket containing the gem. To find the gem you have to open the casket. Even so, to get at the meaning of Christs life-giving words, you need the spiritual discernment, the key that will unlock the gospel casket. The application of its contents to the heart will result in life eternal. Or take another similitude: The words are like the title-deeds of an inheritance. The possession of the title-deeds settles the ownership of the property. So the man who appropriates by faith the truths of the gospel makes good his claim to the inheritance which the gospel promises. Accept these truths, hold fast the title-deeds, and the inheritance is yours–not simply will be yours at some future time, but is yours now. The moment you receive the words of Christ you become possessor of the life of Christ. And this is what is here called Eternal Life, which has been defined to be not simply endless being, but a life of perfect harmony with its environment, not subject to the changes and imperfections of this finite world. To be in harmony with Christ, otherwise called reconciliation with God–this is the aim of mans being, the noblest heritage of fallen humanity. Christ makes the offer of it to all His followers. In Him it is to be found, and those who are in Him have already entered into possession. But, so long as they are in this finite world, they are like the sons of Jacob in their possession of Canaan, surrounded by foes and exposed to changes, so that the circumstances are not favourable to undisturbed possession, the external harmony or environment not being perfect, but the time is coming when the harmony thus incomplete will be consummated in fairer worlds amid perfect and purer surroundings. (D. Merson, M. A.)

Revealed religion the only source of true happiness

Taking the gospel just as we find it, I shall show that all mens desires are to be met in it and in nothing else. If we reject it, whither shall we go for the fruition of oar desires? Take

I. THE DESIRE OF CONTINUED EXISTENCE. That this is deeply seated in the soul is evident from the horror which annihilation awakens. Where shall we, then, find the evidence that the desire is to be gratified?

1. The senses only inform us that we shall die, and no disembodied spirit appears to contradict it.

2. Reason only speculates upon it as a probability, and those philosophers who most cleverly argued it our disbelieved their own reasonings.

3. But faith looks through tile darkness and beholds in Christ life and immortality brought to light.

II. THE DESIRE OF ACTION. The gospel, and that only

1. Gives a right direction to the human faculties. Those faculties have acquired a wrong direction which reason, working through the highest civilization, could not correct; but just in proportion as the gospel has prevailed the standard of morality has been elevated.

2. Opens a noble field for their exercise. When the gospel is not known the social duties are but little understood or performed; but Christianity enjoins the doing of good to our fellow-creatures, not only as beings who are to live here, but for ever.

3. Enjoins employments which are fitted to improve mans faculties, and thus render him capable of some vigorous and successful action.

III. THE DESIRE OF KNOWLEDGE. True, man may advance with no other light but the light of nature. But in that department which respects the character of God and mans eternal relations human reason is at best an inadequate instructor. The knowledge derived from the Bible is

1. Most practical, adapted to influence the affections, and through them the life.

2. Sublime. Its revelations are stamped with moral grandeur–God, creation, the soul, redemption, immortality, etc.

3. For ever progressive. The treasures of the Bible are inexhaustible, and he who walks by it here will walk in the brighter light of heaven hereafter.

IV. THE DESIRE OF THE APPROBATION OF OTHER BEINGS.

1. Wherever the gospel has not existed, malice, hatred, envy, revenge, etc., have held the soul in dominion in spite of all that reason could do to redeem it. But the gospel brings into exercise the spirit of forgiveness and benevolence, and makes man a brother, instead of an enemy, to his fellowman.

2. But this desire has respect to the favourable regard of God, and is met

(1) By the gospel proclamation of forgiveness;

(2) The impartation of a character which renders man the object of Divine complacency.

V. THE DESIRE FOR SOCIETY. There is an impression abroad that Christianity is unfriendly to social enjoyment. But monkery is a perversion of Christianity. Christianity is in its very nature social, for

1. A large part of its duties are social.

2. Its tendency is to refine and exalt the social affections.

3. It has established a society–the Church.

4. It meets this desire through every period of existence.

Conclusion:

1. Does not this furnish a conclusive argument for the Divinity of the gospel?

2. How malignant the spirit of infidelity.

(1) Even on the theory that Christianity is false, it can supply nothing in its place.

(2) But on the theory that Christianity is true, it stands chargeable with opposing mans best interests in time and eternity.

3. How blessed the employment of extending the gospel! (W. B. Sprague, D. D.)

Christ the centre of Unity

An old Greek sage had a theory, and it must be admitted that there was a great deal of truth in his speculations. He had a notion that the history of the universe was composed of alternate cycles, covering vast periods of time–the cycle of love and the cycle of hate. Under the influence of love, when this cycle was being fulfilled which he supposed all came under, the mighty force and tendency of each was towards unity. Then came the cycle of hate when the centrifugal forces produced universal disintegration; parts flew off from the whole, from their proper centre, and from their proper relations to each other; and the various objects of beauty also began to disappear. This was a curious conception, but was there not a great deal of truth in it? May we not say that there are two laws in the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ? First, the love law, having for its centre God, who pervades the universe and tends to promote harmony and beauty and every other comeliness. The second, the law of hatred or self-assertion, by which the individual, breaking away from God, sets himself up as his god; from which will of necessity result the disintegration of society, confusion, anarchy, and the ruin of the universe. These two great laws are operating in our midst. (W. Hay-Aitken, M. A.)

Christ Himself the sole protection against the assaults of unbelief

It is not by limiting the intellectual side of our religion, but by exalting its spiritual side, that we can be safe and keep others safe. It is not by striving to repress intellectual activity, nor by jealously warning it off the precincts of revealed religion; it is by lifting up before mens eyes the Cross of Christ, and teaching them personal affiance in Him, that we shall keep uninjured the great deposit of the truth. And this is the only talisman: without it all speculations upon the mystery of life and of God are full of danger; for though such peril is preeminently present in studies and inquiries which tend to shake received belief as to things sacred, it is not with them only that it is present. It is almost as easy for controversial orthodoxy, as for adverse speculative criticism, to land the spirit in the valley of the shadow of death. Nothing can more endanger the true life of the spirit than the cold charnel-house breath of a mere reasoning, unloving, uncharitable orthodoxy. Alas, the pathway of the Church, through times of great controversy, is marked by the mouldering corpses of such combatants for truth. This, and this only, can keep us safe amongst our own perils–to have known ourselves the love bred within the soul by a true belief in Christs atoning blood, in Christs perpetual presence, in Christs abiding love. And of this we may be sure no speculative difficulties can endanger one soul, which has been taught by experimental knowledge to say in times of darkness, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

A reason against turning back

When Christian, in the Pilgrims Progress, thought about going back, he recollected that he had no armour for his back. Look at that fact whenever you are tempted. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Christ alone can satisfy the soul

Timour the Tartar desired universal dominion, saying the earth was too small for more than one master. It is too small to satisfy the ambition of a great soul. The ambition of a great soul, said the Sheik of Samarcand to him one day, is not to be satisfied by the possession of a morsel of earth added to another, but by the possession of God alone sufficiently great to fill up an infinite thought. (Lamartine.)

I have received from Taubenheim one hundred pieces of gold, and fifty pieces of silver from Schart, so that I begin to fear lest God be giving me my portion here below. But I solemnly declare that nothing can make me happy except God. (Luther.)

The world cannot confer happiness

One should think, said I, that the proprieter of all this (Keddlestone, the seat of Lord Scarsfield) must be happy. Nay, sir, said Johnson; all this excludes but one evil–poverty. (Boswell.)

Christ only is worth serving

A great statesman, abandoned in his old age by his sovereign, lay dying one day in England; and it is recorded of him that he said, If I had served my God as faithfully as I have served my king, He had not cast me off now. How true! Blessed God! Thou will never abandon any who put their trust in Thee. (Dr. Guthrie.)

The hopelessness of humanity away from Christ

To whom shall we go? Poor humanity, distracted by many perplexities, bleeding from many wounds, weeping over many griefs, must go somewhere: she cannot eat out her own heart with grief and consume her own life with sighing. Whither shall we go? Where shall the great mystery of our existence be unveiled to us? Is Nature to be the temple of our worship, with its skies, now bright and now cloudy, arching over us in alternate loveliness and terror? Ah, there is no gospel in her sighing wind, and all her resurrections die again, and all her waves break upon a strand that is unknown and far. Can infidelity reassure us? Is there safety in the everlasting No? Can we vanquish the danger by denying it? Can we overcome the peril by putting it far away? Men try this sometimes, but it is a sombre region to dwell in where dead leaves crackle under foot. Ah, no! there is a shuddering and sickly air, as of some ghost-haunted wood or precincts stern and savage; and it is useless, for Death will come, although society join us in the conspiracy to cheat him, and although friends forbear kindly to inquire about our age, and although decay can go and rouge over its wrinkles, and compliment itself into youth again, Death will come; and there is something in all of us that will keep on asking, What then? what then? What after death for me remains? Oh, it is wiser surely even with the Egyptian to shape the coffin in the lifetime, or with the Jew to build the sepulchre in the garden. Speaking of Jews, would Judaism serve to shelter us? It has glorious types–a wonderful history, many lighted windows of worship. Shall we enter the door? Nay, dont exhume it: it has been in the sarcophagus, a corpse, now for more than a thousand years. Christ would have been the soul of it once, but it rejected Him, and struck its own suicide in a mistaken chivalry which preferred death to what it deemed to be dishonour. Judaism can do nothing for us. Then shall reason light us down the vale, or morality put a staff in our hand, or superstition torture us into safety, or formalism ferry us over the swellings of Jordan? Alas! they are all miserable comforters; they lift no cloud; there it hangs, mysterious and solemn, over the passage into eternal life. Jesus of Nazareth, Divine human Saviour! we come to Thee: we pray to Thee. In Thee is all the beauty which the Greek worshipped: in Thee is all the law which the stern Roman loved. Thou art Natures great interpreter; and infidelity shrinks away from Thy presence; and Judaism is fulfilled in Thee; and superstition becomes reverence as Thou speakest; and formality gets an inner spirit; and faith in Thee is the highest reason; and love to Thee is the grandest morality. (W. M. Punshon, LL. D.)

No retreat

When Garibaldi sailed from Genoa in 1860 he took with him a thousand volunteers. They landed at Marsala almost in the face of the Neapolitan fleet. When the commander of Marsala, returning to the port, saw the steamers, he gave orders to destroy them. Garibaldi having landed his men, looked with indifference, almost with pleasure on the work of destruction. Our retreat is cut off, he said, exultingly; we have no hope but in going forward: it is to death or victory. (H. O. Mackey.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

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

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

It is probable that some stayed besides the twelve, for it is said only that many of his disciples turned back. Nor was our Saviour (who knew the hearts of all) ignorant what they would do; but he had a mind both to try them by this question, and also to convince them that there was a false brother amongst them, whose wickedness (though it lay hid from them) would in a short time discover itself.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

67. the twelvethe first timethey are thus mentioned in this Gospel.

Will ye also goaway?Affecting appeal! Evidently Christ felt thedesertion of Him even by those miserable men who could not abide Hisstatements; and seeing a disturbance even of the wheat by theviolence of the wind which blew away the chaff (not yetvisibly showing itself, but open to His eyes of fire), He would nipit in the bud by this home question.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Then said Jesus unto the twelve,…. “To his own twelve”, as the Persic version reads; that is, to his twelve apostles, whom he had chosen to that office: Christ takes no notice of those that went away from him, he showed no concern about them; he knew what they were, that the truth of grace was not in them, and that they did not belong to him, and therefore was not uneasy about their departure; but turns himself to his apostles, whom he dearly loved, and in a very tender manner thus said to them,

will ye also go away? this he said, not as ignorant of what they were, or of what they would do in this case; he knew full well their faith in him, their love to him, and esteem of him, and close attachment to him, at least in eleven of then; nor did he say this, as having any fears or jealousies concerning them, by observing any thing in their countenances or gestures, which looked like a departure from him; but it was said out of a tender regard and strong affection for them: and it is as if he should have said, as for these men that have walked with me for some time, and have now turned their backs upon me, it gives me no concern; but should you, my dear friends and companions, go also, it would give me, as man, real pain and great uneasiness: or he might say this to show, that as they were not pressed into his service, but willingly followed him, and became his disciples, being made a willing people by him, in the day of his power on them; so they willingly continued with him, and abode by him; as also to strengthen their faith in him, and cause them the more to cleave to him, with full purpose of heart, when others left him; as well as to draw out from them expressions of their regard for him, and faith in him, which end was answered.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Would ye also go away? ( ;). Jesus puts it with the negative answer () expected. See 21:5 where Jesus also uses in a question. Judas must have shown some sympathy with the disappointed and disappearing crowds. But he kept still. There was possibly restlessness on the part of the other apostles.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The twelve. John assumes that the number is known. It is implied in the twelve baskets of fragments. As in so many other instances in this Gospel, facts of the synoptic narrative are taken for granted as familiar. Will ye also go away? [ ] . The interrogative particle mh shows that a negative answer is expected. Surely ye will not. Will ye go is not the future tense of the verb to go, but is expressed by two words, do ye will [] , to go away [] . Rev., would ye. On the verb to go away, see on they went (ver. 21).

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Then said Jesus unto the twelve,” (eipon oun ho lesous tois dodeka) “Then said Jesus directly to the twelve,” to the twelve disciple-apostles, to those who were His administrative confidants, or trustees in intimate labors with Him, whom He had specifically chosen from John’s baptism, from the beginning, Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; Act 1:21-22.

2) “Will ye also go away?” (me kai humeis thelete hupagein) “Do you all also wish (very much) to go?” to walk away, and keep walking? to call it “quits,” to desert the old ship of Zion? the work and witnessing of me, that I have called you to do, Act 1:8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

67. Jesus therefore said to the twelve. As the faith of the apostles might be greatly shaken, when they saw that they were so small a remnant of a great multitude, Christ directs his discourse to them, and shows that there is no reason why they should allow themselves to be hurried away by the lightness and unsteadiness of others. When he asks them if they also wish to go away, he does so in order to confirm their faith; for, by exhibiting to them himself, that they may remain with him, he likewise exhorts them not to become the companions of apostates. And, indeed, if faith be founded on Christ, it will not depend on men, and will never waver, though it should see heaven and earth mingling. We ought also to observe this circumstance, that Christ, when deprived of nearly all his disciples, retains the twelve only, in like manner as Isaiah was formerly commanded to

bind the testimony and seal the law among the disciples, (Isa 8:16.)

By such examples, every one of the believers is taught to follow God, even though he should have no companion.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(67) Will ye also go away?We have to think of the disciples grouped round Him, the Twelvenow a distinct body, and so well known that St. John names them for the first time without a notebeing nearer to Him than the rest, and of these the first four (see Note on Mat. 10:2) the nearest. Many go away from Him. Men He had taught, borne with in all their weakness and darkness, watched as some light seemed to dawn upon them, hoped for, prayed for, lived for, and would die for, turn back. Yes; that heart, too, can feel the bitterness of disappointment. He looks at the Twelve close to Him, and says to them, Ye also do not wish to go away? The question expects the answer it receives. There He has hope still.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

67. The twelve At the close of Joh 6:58 we suppose the group of gainsayers to depart in violent disgust. At the close of 66, the wavering disciples have gradually disappeared. Now the twelve, who have been earnest watchers of the contest, alone remain. The number of the true believers having been sifted down to almost these twelve, and the number remaining present being but this twelve, the Lord (whose fan is in his hand terribly purging the floor) now sifts even the twelve. This is, not that he may be comforted in his desertion, but as a purifier to prove who of the degenerate sons of men can stand the Lord’s test.

Twelve John here first mentions the full number of the apostles. He evidently assumes that his readers are acquainted with the Gospel history. See note on Joh 3:24.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “Would you also go away?”.’

Jesus then challenged ‘the twelve’. This is the first mention of the twelve and assumes knowledge of the traditions with respect to them. The challenge was specific. Would they also leave Him? This was one moment when they must commit themselves as to their thoughts about Jesus.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Joh 6:67-69. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, &c. On occasion of this great apostacyamong the disciples, our Lord, for the trial of the faithof the twelve apostles, and to give them a proper opportunity of professing it, said, in an affectionate and moving manner to them, See how many have forsaken me! will ye also follow their example? tell me what are the thoughts and purposes of your hearts about this matter. Then St. Peter replied, in the name of all, as in charity believing that they were of the samemind with himself, “Lord, whatever others do, we dare not think of leaving thee: for to whom should, or can we go, with safety, and advantage, but to thee? shall we go to the world? that can never be a satisfying portion to us: shall we go to the service of sin? that would certainly ruin us: shall we go to the scribes and Pharisees? they would mislead and deceive us: shall we go to any schemes of our own or of others framing, for happiness? they would surely disappoint us: shall we go to Moses, and trust in the righteousness of the law? he could not help us, but would send us back to thee: or shall we go to John the Baptist? he has turned us already over to thee: ’tis thou, and thou only, that teachest the true doctrine of eternal life, and art able and willing to give us life, as thou thyself hast told us in this discourse: we therefore are determined to cleave to thee. And from what we have already seen of thee, and heard, and learnt, and felt from thee, we firmly believe, and are fully satisfied, that thou art the true bread of life, even that promised Messiah whom we expected, and that eternal Son of the only living and true God, who, as a Divine Person, camest down from heaven.” God is there styled the living God, not to distinguish the nature of the Father from that of the Son, but the nature of the true God from that of all false Gods; and Christ is called, by way of peculiar eminence and propriety, the Son of this living God, to intimate that he, as the Son, partakes of the same divine life and perfections with his Father.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 1643
CHRIST THE ONE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE

Joh 6:67-69. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

IT was said of our Lord by the aged patriarch who took him in his arms at his presentation in the temple, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against; that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed: and this discovery of mens characters was universally produced by his ministrations. Nor was it occasioned by his doctrines only, but frequently by the manner in which they were promulgated. His discourses abounded much in parabolical and figurative representations, which cast a veil of obscurity over them and served as a touchstone to try the spirits of those who heard him. His statement of the new birth was for a time a stumbling-block to Nicodemus, who knew not what interpretation to put upon his words: and in like manner, his discourse respecting eating his flesh and drinking his blood offended many; insomuch that they went back, and walked no more with him. His own Apostles scarcely knew how to receive his word; so that it seemed as if they also would depart from him. But they were of a more humble and teachable spirit; and therefore, when our Lord asked, if they also intended to forsake him, they expressed their abhorrence of such an idea, and their determination to adhere to him at all events.

I.

The question which our Lord put to his Disciples demands our first consideration

Though it related to one particular occasion, it is suited to convey much general instruction. It shews us,

1.

That the best of men are liable to depart from God

[This is a truth of infinite importance, which yet many are very averse to hear. But who can doubt it in reference to himself? Who does not feel that he himself may fall, and that too into grievous sin, and into final condemnation? Advocates for human systems may say what they please on this subject; but there is not an humble Christian in the universe who does not feel this to be true in reference to himself: and if any choose to deny it, we shall oppose to him the example of the Apostle Paul, who kept his body under, and brought it into subjection, lest by any means, after having preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away [Note: 1Co 9:27.]. In ourselves we are weak as new-born babes: it is God alone that can keep us from falling; and if ever we be saved at all, we must be kept by the power of God unto salvation [Note: Jude, ver. 24. 1Pe 1:5.].

But there is not that opposition between this doctrine and that of the perseverance of the saints that some imagine. A mothers care is a pledge for the security of her child: but that does not set aside the liability of the child to perish by hunger or cold, or a thousand other accidents; any of which things may at any time occur by the carelessness or death of its nurse. Thus our security is not in ourselves, but in our God: if left to ourselves for one moment, we should perish: and all our hope is in the tender care and mercy of our God. The only difference between the child and us is, that its guardian is weak and mortal; whereas ours is the almighty and unchangeable Jehovah, in whose power and fidelity alone our advantage consists.]

2.

That the defection of some endangers the stability of others

[We are easily wrought upon by the influence of bad example. The mixed multitude in the wilderness fell a lusting, and soon drew after them the whole nation of Israel [Note: Num 11:4.]. In the Gospels too we have many melancholy instances of the readiness even of good men to follow each other in what is evil. Peter, full of self-confidence, presumed to declare, that though he should be called to die with his Lord, he would not deny him: and then we are told, Likewise also said all the Disciples [Note: Mat 26:35.]; so speedily were they led away by his example. On another occasion, we find them all murmuring and full of indignation about the expense which had been incurred for the purpose of honouring their Lord: and, when we come to inquire whence it originated, we trace it all to Judas, who was a thief, and wanted to steal the money for his own use [Note: One Evangelist mentions only in general terms that some were thus affected: Mar 14:4-5. Another tells us who they were, even all the Disciples: Mat 26:8. And another tells us who was the first instigator, and by what principle he was actuated. Joh 12:4-6.]. The instance of Barnabas also, and other Jewish Christians, who were led away by Peters dissimulation, is precisely in point. Indeed, who that is at all conversant with the Christian world, has not seen, on many occasions, how rapidly a bad spirit in one diffuses itself through a whole Church? Good instruction and example operate very slowly and partially; but that which is evil spreads apace: a little leaven will soon leaven the whole lump. It becomes us then to be on our guard against the contagion of evil. Doubtless these apostates thought that they had reason enough to forsake our Lord: but if we were left, like Paul, unsupported and unacknowledged by the whole Christian world [Note: 2Ti 4:16.], it would become us, like him, to maintain our steadfastness, and to cleave unto Christ with full purpose of heart.]

3.

That we ought to watch the first motions and tendencies of our own hearts to evil

[The twelve had evidently participated in the feelings of the other Disciples, though not to the same extent. This our Lord saw; and therefore bade them come to a decision. Happy was it for them that the bias of their minds was the right way: and happy for them that they were called upon to decide, before the evil had got too deep a root in their minds. Had they been left to go back, and walk no more with Jesus, how bitterly would they have lamented it to all eternity! Let us then be aware of the tendency of evil thoughts, and guard against their first introduction into the mind. If we be tempted for a moment to account any thing a hard saying, or to turn aside in the smallest degree from the path of duty, let us remember, that they who draw back, draw back unto perdition; and that if any man draw back, Gods soul shall have no pleasure in him [Note: Heb 10:38-39.].]

Such was the instructive nature of our Lords question: and,

II.

The answer of Peter was worthy of an inspired Apostle

Peter was forward on all occasions to speak his mind; and often spoke hut unadvisedly at best. But on this occasion he returned, both for himself and all his brethren, an answer fraught with wisdom. Two grounds he states for the determination which all of them had formed to adhere to Christ;

1.

The insufficiency of the creature

[The conviction of his mind on this subject was very strong; insomuch that he ventured even to appeal to Christ himself, and to defy, if I may so speak, Omniscience itself to tell him, where any other refuge could be found, or any other source of solid good: Lord, to whom shall we go? We are in pursuit of instruction: who can give it us, if we turn our back on thee? We are in pursuit of happiness: where can we find it, but in thee? We are bent upon the attainment of heaven: who can bring us thither, but thyself? If we go back to the world and cast off all care for these things, nothing but everlasting destruction awaits us: and if we go to the Scribes and Pharisees, we have had evidence enough what kind of teachers they are, blind leaders of the blind. To whom then can we go, with the smallest prospect of attaining what we are seeking after?

Now this part of Peters answer furnishes us with a good reply to all who would turn us from the Lord. To whom, or what, would you turn me?to the world? I have found its emptiness. To sin? I know its bitterness. To formality? I have felt its incompetency to satisfy my mind and conscience. My God tells me that Christ is all: and I am constrained from daily experience to say to him, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Whatever advantages were proposed to us as an inducement to turn back from Christ, we should regard the proposal as absurd and impious as that which was made by the Israelites of old [Note: Num 14:3-4.]]

2.

The all-sufficiency of Christ

[Our Lord had frequently asserted in the foregoing discourse, that he would give eternal life to those who should eat his flesh and drink his blood. Peter, in his answer, refers to that; and professes confidently, in the name of all the other Apostles, that the words of Christ pointed out the only true way to life, and that Christ himself was that very Messiah, who was authorized and commissioned to bestow life: Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe, &c.
This was a glorious confession, and an ample reason for the determination they had formed to remain firm in his cause. Whither should they go for water, when they had the fountain near them? True it was, that at the present it was, in a measure, a fountain sealed; yet not so sealed, but that it always afforded them an abundant supply for their present necessities; and in due time it would be opened to the whole world, and flow unto the ends of the earth. They were persuaded that he would impart to them living water; and that, if only they drank of the water that he should give them, they should never die. O that every Christian in this day felt the same confident persuasion! In vain would the world, and the flesh, and the devil combine their efforts to destroy him: he would determine with Joshua, that though the whole world should become servants to them, he and his house would serve the Lord [Note: Jos 24:15.].]

Application

Who amongst you are disposed to walk with Jesus?
[This may be done now in the exercise of faith and prayer, precisely as Enoch and Noah walked with God in the days of old. It is every Christians privilege to do so [Note: 1Jn 1:3.]. Be assured, that, however the world may be offended at Christ, he is an able Instructor, a kind Master, a faithful Friend, and an all-sufficient Saviour ]

Are there any amongst us that have turned back from him?
[Alas; there are apostates now, as well as in former times. But what has any one gained by departing from Christ? Is he happier than he was when he sat at the Saviours feet and heard his words? There is but one testimony on this head from all the children of men: In observing lying vanities, they have forsaken their own mercies [Note: Jon 2:8.] Think then from whence ye are fallen, and say, I will return unto my first husband, for then it was better with me than now [Note: Hos 2:7.] ]

To those who are walking steadily with him,
[We would address those words of the Apostle, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. If even the Apostles were ready to start aside, who has not need to watch and pray lest he also enter into temptation? Awful is that admonition of our Lord, Remember Lots wife. If you would endure unto the end, you must be teachable as little children; and be determined, through Gods assistance, to die with Christ, rather than forsake him.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

DISCOURSE: 1644
NO SAVIOUR BUT THE LORD JESUS

Joh 6:67-69. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that them art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

NOTHING is more common than for persons to take offence at the word of God itself. Sometimes its strictness offends them; sometimes its harshness and severity; sometimes its mysteriousness and sublimity. Nicodemus could not receive what was spoken to him about the new birth: the Samaritan woman could not comprehend the idea of living water: and the hearers of our Lord were altogether indignant, when he discoursed to them about giving them his flesh to eat. Indeed, this saying appeared to them so hard, so strange, and so absurd, that a great number of them departed from him, and walked no more with him. Even the Apostles themselves were evidently stumbled at it; insomuch, that our Lord, with a mixture of surprise and pity, asked them, Will ye also go away? The answer which St. Peter gave him, in the name of all the rest, will lead me to shew you the grounds of a Christians adherence to Christ. He determinately cleaves to Christ,

I.

Because there is salvation for him in no other

[We may conceive the Apostle speaking to this effect: Lord, to whom shall we go? We are seeking after salvation: we are desiring to obtain peace with God: we want to find rest for our souls. Whither can we go for any of these things?
Now, in like manner, may every Christian say, To whom shall I go, to remove the burthen of my sins? If I go to the world, it may dissipate my thoughts for a moment; but it can bring no solid peace to my soul. Its cares, its pleasures, its company, can do nothing towards healing the pangs, or silencing the accusations, of a guilty conscience: they may suspend, but can never remove, my sorrows: or rather, if they cause me to forget my sins for a little time, it is only that they may press upon me afterwards with an accumulated weight, and leave me a more awful prey to guilt and shame and misery. If I go to the Law, and seek to pacify my mind by an obedience to its commands, I find no success. I feel a consciousness that I can never atone for the sins I have already committed: I am sensible, too, that, in spite of all my endeavours, I cannot fulfil its demands: I come short in every thing I do: and I hear it thundering out its anathemas against me; saying, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. I perceive that I can never establish such a righteousness as shall avail for my acceptance before God. I am therefore shut up to that way of salvation which thou, my Lord, hast revealed. Nothing but fear or terror haunts me, whether I endeavour to forget my sins, or to make an atonement for them: and I can find none but Jesus that can afford me the desired relief.]

A further ground on which a Christian adheres to Christ is,

II.

Because he is both able and willing to save

[Thou hast the words of eternal life, said this blessed Apostle. The preceding discourse alone abundantly warranted this assertion: for, in it, Jesus had declared, in the strongest terms, that he would give eternal life [Note: ver. 27.]; that whosoever should come to him, and believe in him, should never hunger, never thirst [Note: ver. 35.]; that of those who should come to him, he would never cast out one [Note: ver. 37.]; that all who should see him and believe in him should assuredly have everlasting life [Note: ver. 40.]; yea, that they were at that very moment in actual possession of it [Note: ver. 47.]; that he had come down from heaven on purpose to bestow it on all who would seek it through him [Note: ver. 51.]: that, as the Jews had subsisted upon manna in the wilderness, so all who would eat his flesh, and drink his blood, should subsist by him [Note: ver. 5456.], and that not for a time only, but for ever [Note: ver. 58.]. Now what could all this mean? Could any declaration be more full, more rich. more suitable to men sojourning in this dreary wilderness?

Thus, then, may every believer say: for the whole Scripture teems with invitations and promises from this adorable Saviour, and especially to those who feel their need of mercy at his hands. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest! Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burthen is light [Note: Mat 11:28-30.]. If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink: and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [Note: Joh 7:37-38.]. Here is no exception: the only requisite for acceptance with him is, that we feel our need of him, and come to him to quench our thirst.

What can we want more? Let our wants be ever so great, he has a fulness adequate to the supply of them: and let our unworthiness be ever so great, our sense of that unworthiness shall be our best recommendation to him: nor shall our incapacity to offer him any thing in return for these benefits be any bar to our acceptance: since they are all offered freely, without money and without price [Note: Isa 55:1.]. Shall we then decline going to him? or, having gone to him, shall we ever depart from him? God forbid!]

But the Christian will yet more determinately adhere to him,

III.

Because he is expressly appointed to that very office

[Of this the Apostles were assured: We believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God. It had been foretold that the Messiah should appear, on purpose to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in an everlasting righteousness for his believing people [Note: Dan 9:24.]. This person was to be no other than the Son of the Living God [Note: Psa 2:7.]. And that Jesus was this very person, the Apostles had no doubt. They had seen the miracles which Jesus had wrought in confirmation of his divine mission, those very miracles to which Jesus himself had appealed in proof of his Messiahship [Note: Mat 11:2-5.]: and they could not doubt but that he was the very person to whom all the Law and the Prophets had borne witness, as the appointed Saviour.

Now, if the Apostles at that time were sure of this truth, how much more may we be assured, who have seen his whole work completed, in his death upon the cross, his resurrection from the dead according to his word, his ascension into heaven, and his sending down of the Holy Spirit, to testify of him, and to establish his kingdom in the world? Methinks we might as well doubt our own existence, as call in question his Messiahship, and his express ordination of God to be the Saviour of the world.

Shall we, then, look out for any other? or, having believed in him, shall we for a moment suffer any other to stand in competition with him? No, Lord: we believe, and are sure, that thou art sent of God to this very office; and we will know none but Thee, none but Thee.]

Here I would put a question or two, by way of bringing home the subject more fully to our souls. Having taken for granted that we all are following the Lord Jesus, I have forborne hitherto to inquire respecting it. Let me, however, entreat you to supply that defect, and to examine carefully whether you have ever come to Christ aright? Deceive not yourselves, I pray you, in relation to this matter: for the everlasting salvation of your souls depends upon it. Have you seen that there is no hope for you in any thing but in his atoning blood? Have you renounced all dependence upon your own righteousness; and are you trusting altogether in his obedience unto death? Unless this be clearly ascertained, you are not prepared to enter on the consideration of the questions which I would wish to propose to you. But, supposing that you are indeed believers in Christ, I ask,
1.

Will you depart from him?

[Whom or what will you place in competition with him? Perhaps you are not at present tempted in any particular way to depart from him. But be assured that you will he: for there is not any true follower of Christ who does not, sooner or later, meet with trials to prove his sincerity. You may not be called to resist unto blood: but you cannot fail to meet with smaller persecutions, such as contempt and ridicule, and the hatred of an ungodly world, perhaps too even of your nearest friends. What, then, is the state of your minds in reference to these things? Are you enabled, through grace, to honour Christ, and to set at defiance all your enemies? If you see others turning back, (for what age is there which does not witness many apostasies?) are you the more determined, through grace, to cleave unto him with full purpose of heart? Are you saying, as Ruth to Naomi, Nothing but death (no, nor death itself) shall part between thee and me. You must not indeed be making resolutions, and, in dependence on your own strength, be saying, Though all men forsake thee, yet will not I: but your daily prayer must be, that you may be kept steadfast unto the end: for it is only by being faithful unto death, that you can ever attain a crown of life.]

2.

Will you not endeavour to bring all you can to him?

[Surely, if you are fully persuaded that there is no other name under heaven but his, whereby man can be saved, you will labour according to your ability to bring men to the knowledge of him. You cannot but pity the poor deceived world, who are going after lying vanities, whilst you have found a refuge for your souls. Go, look around you: go and see what empty cisterns men hew out to themselves, whilst your thirst is quenched at the fountain-head. Go to the places of public resort, and see what a poor vain portion the worldlings have. Verily, their best pleasures are but as the crackling of thorns under a pot; a fire that blazes for a moment, and then expires in smoke and melancholy. Have compassion on them, and tell them of the Saviour you have found: and, whilst you labour to instruct the ignorant, exert yourselves to the utmost to confirm the wavering, and to bring back the sheep that have been driven away.
Extend your views, also, to the heathen world. Alas! to what refuges of lies have they recourse! Behold their idols of wood and stone, that cannot so much as move themselves, much less assist their votaries! Behold the painful and cruel rites which they observe, in order to recommend themselves to the favour and approbation of their imaginary deities! Can you be acquainted with the Saviour, and not wish to make him known to them? Can you be in possession of the words of eternal life, and not endeavour to put into their hands that blessed volume in which they are contained [Note: If this were for a Mission Society, or Bible Society, here would be the place for enlargement on the subject.]? Surely, next to a personal adherence to him, this must be your duty: and, if you are his Disciples indeed, I feel no doubt but that you will engage in this blessed work with an affectionate solicitude for the welfare of your fellow-creatures, and an ardent zeal for the honour of your God [Note: This was written at the distance of many years from that which precedes it, and without the slightest recollection that the text had ever been treated before. But the two are so entirely different from each other, the one being more scientific, (if it may be so called) and the other altogether popular, that they are both inserted as specimens of two very different ways of treating the same text, and as answering in a slight degree the end which is more studiously consulted in the four skeletons at the end of Claudes Essay.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Ver. 67. Will ye also go away? ] q.d. This general defection of those temporaries may possibly tempt you to it. Evil men endanger good men, as weeds the corn, as bad humours the blood, or an infected house the neighbourhood. Nemo errat sibi ipsi, sed demonentiam spargit in proxbnos. (Seneca.) No man falls single, but draws company along with him, as the dragon with his tail drew down the stars of heaven; as tall cedars bear down with them the shrubs that grow under them. As when Hymenaeus and Philetus (two such eminent professors) fell away, the apostle, for the better settling of such as were shaken thereby, was fain to caution, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure,” &c. And “in a great house” (such as God’s is) “there are vessels of all sorts, some to hononr, and some to dishonour,” 2Ti 2:19-20 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

67. ] The first mention of the Twelve by John. The question is asked in order to extract from them the confession which follows, and thus to bind them closer to Himself. We must not forget likewise, in the mystery of our Lord’s human nature, that at such a moment of desertion, He would seek comfort in the faith and attachment of His chosen ones.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 6:67 . This giving up of their adherence to Christ was probably manifested in an immediate and physical withdrawal from His presence. For He turned to the Twelve with the words: ; “Sciebat id non facturos,” Lampe, who adds six reasons for the question, of which the most important are: “ut confessionem illam egregiam eliceret, qua se genuinos discipulos Jesu esse mox probaturi erant”; and “ut edoceret, se nonnisi voluntarios discipulos quaerere”. Probably also that they might be confirmed in their faith by the expression of it, and that He might be gladdened.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Will ye also go away? = Surely ye also do not (Greek. me. App-105) wish (App-102) to go away? Implying a negative answer,

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

67.] The first mention of the Twelve by John. The question is asked in order to extract from them the confession which follows, and thus to bind them closer to Himself. We must not forget likewise, in the mystery of our Lords human nature, that at such a moment of desertion, He would seek comfort in the faith and attachment of His chosen ones.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 6:67. , to the twelve) John takes for granted their names, and the very appellation Apostles, as known from the other evangelists.- , whether will ye also) It was not far from being so. It was well that it [the decision] rested on [was confined to] this point of time. Otherwise Judas might have carried away the rest with him.-, will ye?) Jesus compels no man, and by this very circumstance attaches His own the more closely to Him.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 6:67

Joh 6:67

Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away?-A feeling of depression and temporary despondency seems to have crept over the soul of Jesus when he asked this question of the twelve. It would indicate that the great number of his other disciples had left him and gone away.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Will: Jos 24:15-22, Rth 1:11-18, 2Sa 15:19, 2Sa 15:20, Luk 14:25-33

Reciprocal: Deu 4:4 – General 2Ki 2:2 – Tarry here 1Ch 12:18 – thy God Psa 62:5 – wait Son 1:7 – for Mat 24:10 – shall many Luk 22:28 – General Joh 20:6 – General Joh 20:24 – was

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

FALLING AWAY

Will ye also go away?

Joh 6:67

The sin implied in this affecting appeal of Christ is that of backsliding and apostasy from Him and His cause.

I. Some forsake the way of the Lord because of its growing straitness.The extreme narrowness of the way does not fully appear to the believer on his first setting out in the Divine life, and many have fallen away. Such individuals never counted the cost of a Christian profession of Christ. They took not into consideration the self-denial demanded, the battle with sin involved, the crucifixion to the world required; and when these things came upon them, these half-hearted pilgrims swerved from their profession, and returned to the sins they professed to have renounced, and to the world they professed to have abandoned, and walked no more with Jesus.

II. The world is another fruitful cause of alienation from a religious profession.It is a deadly snare, a fatal rock to many a towering professor. Its seductions are so powerful, its disguise so successful, its pleas so plausible, its eddies so numerous, its vortex so powerful and absorbing, few who profess to have come out of and to have renounced it for ever, escape from its entire enthralment, and hold on their Christian course of daily dying to its fascination and power. Oh, what a snare to the Christian profession is the ungodly world! And is there not, at the present moment, cause for alarm at the growing encroachment of the world upon the professing Church of Christ? We verily think so.

III. Offence because of the truth is another popular cause of inconstancy of religious profession and of apostasy from the faith. As the Gospel becomes more unfolded to their view, and those truths and doctrines are propounded which teach eternal election, Divine sovereignty, free grace, effectual calling, spiritual regeneration, perceptive holiness, final perseverance, and cognate doctrines of grace, by and by they become offended, go back, and walk no more with Jesus.

Rev. Dr. Octavius Winslow.

Illustration

It is an affecting thought that multitudes who appear to set out for heaven, moved by some powerful, undefinable impulse, eventually flag, halt, and finally turn back, and never touch the borders of the good land. They seem to make some spiritual progress, to bid fair to hold on their way to the end, but by and by, when the straitness, the difficulties, and the dangers of the way unfold themselves, they tire, and stumble, and gradually decline and walk no more professedly with Jesus.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

A TOUCHING APPEAL

What was the feeling our Lord here betrayed? It was a deep, intense, earnest sympathy with the Christian progress and perseverance of His true disciples. Will you leave and forsake Me? Will you sever from My faith, no more walk with Me, and henceforth cease to be My disciples? What must have been the touching tenderness of that look, the melting tones of that voice, the winning power of that appeal when these words were spoken! What is the subject thus so dear to the heart of Christ?with what is His sympathy so closely, so warmly entwined? It is the perseverance of His disciples in spiritual knowledge, grace, and steadfastness, resolving itself into a simple, single, and firm adherence to Himself. Will ye also go away? The subject is importantChristian perseverance. Let us present it in two or three particulars.

I. Perseverance in the growth of spiritual knowledge must necessarily occupy a prominent place in religious progress.Add to virtue knowledge. Real growth in experimental Christianity demands calm thought, mental abstraction, patient and prayerful study of Divine truth. Christian progression would be an anomaly not based upon, and accompanied by, Christian knowledgean increasing knowledge of Christ, knowing more and more of the glory of His person, the excellency of His work, the sufficiency of His grace, and the depth of His love. The point from which we start and the goal to which we aspire are the samea knowledge, spiritual and saving, of God and Christ. This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent. With this we commence our spiritual life, with this we close it on earth, and with this we prolong it through eternity.

II. A faithful, consistent attachment to Christ also includes a firm, unswerving adherence to His pure truth.To compromise the Gospel is to compromise the Christ of the Gospel. To give heed to the teaching that causeth to err, to exchange truth for error, is to turn the back upon Christ. Adherence to truth and loyalty to Christ are inseparable. As error enters the mind, love to Christ leaves the heart.

III. Adherence to Christ includes also adherence to the Church of Christ.Christ and His Church are one, as the Church per se is one and indivisible. We cannot, therefore, in any way separate from the Church of Christ without compromising our union with Christ Himself.

Rev. Dr. Octavius Winslow.

Illustration

We know but little of the Gospel, and the hindrance to our deeper learning lies in our belief that we know it intimately. We are ignorant of its laws, and we have not searched out its spirit: we make curious inquisition into the words of man, and we are negligent of the Word of God. One sentence of the Gospel is more precious than all the literature of the worldit is the fountain of truth. With what love, what faith, what adoration, should we give ear to Jesus Christ in His own Word! Let us then, henceforward, say to Him with Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? One moment of devout aspiration, of love, and of the Divine Presence, gives a deeper insight into the truth than all the reasonings of men.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

7

This pathetic question that Jesus asked the apostles doubtless was intended as an inducement to obtain an expression from them. The all-important discourse that Jesus delivered was for the benefit of all hearers, but it was especially needed by the twelve. They were the ones expected to take the same teaching to the world.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 6:67. Jesus therefore said unto the twelve, Would ye also go? In contrast with the desertion of many is the strengthened faith of those who, being of the light, are attracted by the light. The Twelve are here mentioned by John for the first time.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Our Saviour finding many of his nominal disciples forsaking him, and departing from him, asks his apostles (the twelve) whether they would also go away? Intimating, that their departure would go nearer to him, than the departure of all the rest. The nearer they are from whom we receive unkindness, the nearer do these unkindnesses go to our hearts, Will you, the twelve, also go away? Peter as the mouth, and in the name, of the rest, answers, That they knew none besides to whom they could go, and expect that happiness which they did from him. They that go from Christ, can never hope to mend themselves, let them go whither they will: therefore ’tis as irrational as it is sinful to depart from Christ, who hath the words, that is, the promise of eternal life.

Observe lastly, St. Peter having made this profession for himself and the rest of the twelve, that they would not depart from Jesus, whom they believed to be the true Messias, the Son of God; Christ intimates to Peter, that his charity was something too large in promising so much from them all; for there was one traitor among them, whose heart was as open to Christ, as his face was to them; he meant it of Judas Iscariot, of whose perfidiousness he gave them warning at this time.

Learn hence, That the better any man is in himself, the more charitable is the opinion which he has of others. Charity inclines to believe others good till they discover themselves to be bad.

Learn, 2. That Christ doth approve of our charitable judgment of others sincerity, according to what we hope and believe, though we happen to be mistaken, and our judgment is not according to truth: Christ knew Judas to be an hypocrite at this time, but doth not reprove Peter for having a better opinion of him than he deserved. It is far better to err on the charitable, than on the censorious hand; it is less offensive to Christ, and less injurious to ourselves.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Vv. 67-69. Jesus said therefore unto the Twelve: And you, you will not also go away? 68. Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of eternal life; 69 and as for us, we have believed and have known that thou art the Holy One of God.

At the sight of this increasing desertion (), Jesus addresses Himself to the Twelve themselves. But who are these Twelve of whom John speaks as personages perfectly well known to the readers?

He has, up to this point, only spoken of the calling of five disciples, in chap. 1; he has mentioned, besides, the existence of an indefinite and considerably numerous circle of adherents. In this example we lay our finger on the mistake of those who claim that John is ignorant of, or tacitly denies, all the facts which he does not himself relate. This expression: the Twelve, which is repeated in Joh 6:70-71, implies and confirms the story of Luk 6:12 ff.; Mar 3:13 ff., which John has omitted as known; comp. the (Joh 6:70) with the of Luke. Jesus’ question expects a negative answer (). So de Wette, Meyer, Weiss, give to it this melancholy sense: You would not also leave me? Here, as it seems to me, and whatever Weiss and Dusterdieck may say, is an example of the errors into which grammatical pedantry may lead.

Far from having the plaintive tone, this question breathes the most manly energy. Jesus has just seen the larger part of his earlier disciples leaving Him; it seems, therefore, that He must hold so much the more firmly to the Twelve, the last human supports of His work; and yet He Himself opens the door for them. Only, as he certainly does not wish to induce them to leave Him, and it is only a permission that He intends to give them, He cannot use the expression , will you not, which would be a positive invitation to depart. He limits Himself, therefore, to saying: you surely will not …? a form which implies this idea: But if you wish to go, you are free. It must not be forgotten, that, in the use of the particles, there are shades of feeling which prevent our subjecting their meaning to such strict rules as those which philology sometimes claims to establish. The before , you also, emphatically distinguishes the apostles from all the other disciples.

At which one of them did Jesus aim, as He discharged this arrow? The close of the conversation will give us the answer. Peter hastens to take up the discourse, and, without troubling himself, perchance, enough to find out whether his feeling is shared by all his colleagues, he makes himself their mouthpiece; it is exactly the Peter of the Synoptics and the Acts, the bold confessor. His answer (Joh 6:68) expresses these two facts: the deep void which all other teaching has left in his soul, and the life-giving richness which he has found in that of Jesus. This confession of Peter is, as it were, an echo of the declaration of Jesus, Joh 6:63 : My words are spirit and life; but it is not a mechanical imitation of it; it is the result of a personal experience already gained (Joh 6:69). By substituting thewords for words our translations have transformed the ejaculation of immediate feeling into a dogmatic formula.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Verse 67

Will ye also, &c.; that is, Do you wish or, desire to go away? There seems to be nothing in the John 5:19-47 from which we should anticipate that feelings of resistance and animosity would be awakened, unless it is the sentiment expressed in the conclusion, (John 6:65,) that the human soul never seeks spiritual good from its own spontaneous impulses, but that, if it turns at all into the way of life, it turns in consequence of a prevenient action exerted upon it by Almighty God. This truth is repeatedly recognized in this conversation. (John 6:37,44,45,65.)

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Jesus’ question assumed a negative answer, as is clear from the Greek construction. He undoubtedly asked it not because He had questions about the Twelve’s perseverance (Joh 6:64) but because they needed to reaffirm their commitment. It would have been easy for them to agree with the crowd. The question also implied that very many of His disciples had abandoned Jesus, perhaps the majority.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)