John 6

John 6:15

[a] make him a king] The Jews expected a Messiah (whom they called ὁ προφήτης, the prophet, ver. 14.) about this time. Tacitus and Suetonius say it was a received opinion that about this time a great king should arise in Judah; but this a glorious one, and a powerful king, one that should work their deliverance, free them from, and revenge them on the nations who had gotten the dominion over them. By this miracle of Christ’s in feeding such a multitude with so small provision, they conjectured rightly that he was able to sustain and feed the greatest and most numerous army with very little charge, and thereupon were ready to come and take him by force to be their king, that is, their judge or leader, to fight their battles for them like Gideon, &c.; and this afterwards they again refer to, when they put him in mind of Moses giving them manna in the wilderness, ver. 31, which if he will do, or any thing equal to it, they will believe on him. This faith of theirs being unduly founded, and breaking out into a very inordinate expression, our Saviour wholly disliked, as to the present expression of it, meaning not to undertake any such employment; and for the faith itself, that he justly suspected would turn into malice, when they should see this their hope of temporal deliverance and revenge frustrated; and therefore he retired, departed out of their hands to a mountain alone.

John 6:19

When therefore by the contrariety of the winds they had been forced to fall to their oars, and had done so for some space, they discern one walking on the sea, and coming toward the ship; this was Jesus; but they not knowing it was so (ver. 20.), were affrighted with the sight. m gladly took him into the ship, (see Mark vi. 51,) and as soon as ever they received him in, the ship arrived at their intended shore.

John 6:24

When, I say, the multitude saw Jesus was gone from that place, as well as his disciples, ver. 17, and from thence concluded it most probable, that Jesus, though he went not with the disciples, was gone after them to Capernaum, his usual habitation, they having the advantage of vessels for passage, ver. 23, took ship, and went to Capernaum to look for him. they considering that he went not into the ship with the disciples, ver. 22, and not knowing of any passage by boat which he could have to Capernaum, could not imagine which way he came thither; yet because Tiberias was not far off from the place where the miracle of the bread was wrought, and there came other boats from thence, ver. 23, they being uncertain what to think, asked him of the time and way of his conveyance, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? That which makes you thus follow me is not the acknowledgment of my divine power, evidenced by my miracles, or consequent to that, a purpose to embrace my doctrine, or desire to learn of me, but a gross carnal desire of the like advantages which you had of my multiplying loaves to feed you.

John 6:27

Set not your hearts on these poor external advantages; seek not, desire not to acquire this corporal food, in order to your worldly ends, secular victories and greatness, (see note [a]), and that which will afford you but a short fading benefit, ver. 49; but look out, and get your part of that food which is itself unperishable, and will make all that feed on it immortal also. This food shall the Messias (that is, Christ) bestow upon you; for him and his doctrine hath God the Father acknowledged to be his own, (see note [i] Ephes. iv.,) and by the coming of the Spirit on him, demonstrated him to be sent by him, no king of your choosing or making, ver. 15; but as his kingdom is to be a spiritual kingdom, so is he to be installed to it by God, and not by you.

[b] Labour] The word ἐργάζεσθαι, to labour, here seems to answer the Hebrew עשה, having here an accusative case after it, and that signifies to acquire, parare, comparare, quærere, acquirere, colligere, possidere, lucrari, and is rendered by the Septuagint ἐκτήσαντο, Gen. xii. 5. and Gen. xxxi. 1. For עשה in Hebrew, and πεποίηκε in Greek, the Targum read קנא, acquisivit, and Deut. viii. 17, instead of my hand hath wrought me all this strength, עשה החול, ἐποίησε δύναμιν, the Targum hath כנש נכסא, hath gathered or acquired me these riches. So Ezek. xxviii. 4, ἐποίησας, thou hast made the gold and silver in thy treasury, the Targum have וכנשתא, and thou hast gathered, &c. and thus Luke xix. 16, ἡ μνὰ σου προσεφράσατο δέκα μνάς, and ver. 18, ἐποίησε πέντε μνάς, thy pound hath made, or wrought, that is, hath gained, acquired, ten, or five pounds. Thus in Palæphatus Pariusᵖ, περὶ ἀπίστων, εἰργάσατο βρώμα, “he got himself food,” sibi victum comparavit. Another notion there is of the word, 1 Cor. ix. 13, οἱ τὰ ἱερὰ ἐργοζόμενοι, they that work, or labour, or prepare holy things, according to another notion of עשה, when it is applied to a sacrifice, or feast, or office, and then it notes observare, celebrare, præparare, aptare, ordinare, disponere, “to prepare,” or “fit,” or “dispose,” but that belongs not to this place.

John 6:28

Hereupon they said unto him, What is required of us, what course wilt thou prescribe, that we may do that which thou biddest us, ver. 27, that we may be always employed in God’s tasks, so as will be acceptable to him?

[c] work the works of God] That ἔργα Θεοῦ signifies here the tasks or commands of God, is not only evidenced by the context, but is the affirmation of Procopius in Gen. ii. Τὴν γὰρ ἐντολὴν ὁ Σωτὴρ ἔργον λέγει.

p. 30.

John 6:29

Jesus answered them, That which God requires of you, is, to believe and do all that I, who am sent by him, do command you.

John 6:30

Then, though they had before believed and resolved, ver. 14, that he was of a certain truth the expected Messias, and were therefore minded to set him for their captain or king, yet now being checked by Christ for their carnal conceits of the Messias, vv. 26, 27, they retract their former resolution, and demand farther signs, before they will look after such a kind of Messias as he now tells them of, and therefore to his requiring them to believe on him, they said, What miracle do you shew? what work of wonder, such as may be sufficient to assure us that thou art the Messias?

John 6:31

We have great reason to adhere to Moses, who wrought such miracles, brought down bread ready prepared from heaven for us; and unless thou wilt produce some attestation to thyself, which may at least equal this one, why may not we be allowed to think it unreasonable to forsake him and follow thee?

John 6:32

Jesus saith unto them, I assure you, that manna came not from heaven, but out of the airy region, and that the work of God, not Moses; and now the same God gives you far more durable food than that was, gives you me, who came really down from heaven, and am most eminently that which manna was to your bodies, bread or food to your souls.

John 6:33

That fed but your bodies, and putrefied presently; but that which God now gives you is for your souls, and will feed them to eternity, ver. 27, and did really descend from the heaven of heavens, not as that manna, for a multitude only, but the feeding and enlivening the whole world. ⁴ that durable vivifical bread of God, the excellency whereof is infinitely above that of manna, as in other things, so in this, that the feeding thereon yields a durable satisfaction, whereas in manna, and all corporcal food, there is still a succession of appetite.

John 6:36

But that which I told you, ver. 26, was, that though you have seen me, and tasted of my miracles, yet you do not believe on me, feed not on this true bread, which came down from heaven.

John 6:37

This is an evidence of great obstinacy and untowardness, of improbity and pride in you; for had God’s preventing grace had any success on you, ¹⁰ that, 6. ¹¹ ye have both seen me, not impdward ye.

[d] the Father giveth me] What is the meaning of ὁ δίδωσί μοι ὁ Πατήρ, what my Father giveth me, may thus be discerned: Psalm ii. 8, there is a prediction, or prophecy of Christ, (of whom in the words immediately precedent it is said, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee, ver. 7.) that God will give him the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession; where we discern what kind of giving is here meant, giving for an inheritance or possession, and that is for Christ to be lord or owner of them, and they, as possessions, subject to his power and dispose. And this is done in the conversion of them, (see note [o] Rev. ii.) Of this possession of his we find mention, Tit. ii. 14, where the περιούσιος λαός, peculiar people, are λαός εἰς περιουσιασμὸν, people for a possession, and those are to be purified by Christ, and his life given for them, that he might redeem them from all iniquity. But who they are that are thus said to be given to Christ by God will first appear negatively; 1. not any peculiar number of men, absolutely (without all respect to any qualifications) chosen by God to eternal life; for it is apparent, and expressly affirmed of one of this number, that he was finally lost; Those whom thou gavest me, saith Christ, I have kept, and none of them is lost, save the son of perdition, John xvii. 12, where, through his own wretched default, one of those who had by God been given to Christ, totally and finally departed, and was lost from him. Secondly, not those that are already actually believers, or by God looked upon as such; for of these that are here given to Christ, it is said, πρὸς ἐμὶ ἤξει, they shall come unto me: where coming to Christ is believing on him, and is a consequent of God’s giving them to Christ, not antecedent to it; and therefore when they are given to Christ, they are not looked upon as believers already, but those which will be such. By these negative considerations the positive will, I suppose, be best collected, that they that are so qualified and disposed, as that Christ being proposed and revealed to them, they will follow him, come to him, become his disciples, those are they whom God gives to Christ. For there is a sort and temper of mind, which is most agreeable and proportionable to the believing on or receiving of Christ, which they that have are said to be εὔθεται εἰς βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, fit, or prepared, or disposed, for the kingdom of God, Luke ix. 62. (such as in that place are ready and willing to undergo Christ’s conditions, to part with all and follow him; and contrary to these are they that are not worthy of eternal life, Acts xiii. 46.) and of such Christ saith that they are not far from the kingdom of God, and that of such is the kingdom of heaven; and St. Luke, that they are τεταγμένοι, disposed, in a readiness for eternal life; see note [i] Acts xiii. If it be demanded what temper this is, I answer, it is the honest heart described in the parable of the seed, desiring sincerely to know the truth, and to do God’s will, ch. vii. 17, probity of mind, and an eminent branch of that, humility, the temper resembled by the little children, whose innocence and humility is so remarkable; and of those poor in spirit is the kingdom of God (the Christian state) made up, Matt. v. 3; and those are evangelized peculiarly, that is, wrought on by the preaching of the gospel; and God gives grace to the humble, but

John 6:40

That being also another part of his commission to me, that whosoever believeth in his Son should not perish, but, whatever by so doing befall him here, inherit everlasting life in that other world.

by what he said of himself, he pretended to come from heaven, whereas they knew his birth here on earth, and his parentage, which they conceived to be contrary to his coming down from heaven.

John 6:43

To this muttering of theirs Jesus replied, I have said nothing which it is reasonable for you to murmur at.

John 6:44

It is not possible you should believe aright that are so in love with the praise of men, as to take him for a prophet who hath no other testimony that he is so but his own, or the voice of other men, and

dare not believe on me, the rulers for fear of displeasing the people and the people, the rulers; and

meanwhile both contemn the favour and approbation of God, and set his testimony at nought, reject me, who come authorized with that.

It is true there is some pretence for these vulgar prejudices against me, which would make it impossible for those that look no farther to become my followers, (and therefore this makes it so unfit and unsafe for you to fix your eyes so wholly on this.) And it is an effect of my Father’s preventing grace to fit men’s hearts to be ready and willing to come to me, (see note [d]), and without this work first wrought, and that probity and humility, which qualifies men to receive my doctrine, I do not expect that any man should believe on me, and therefore I attribute it to that, (see ver. 65,) when any one doth (as, on the other side, to your obdurate hearts, that you do not) come unto me. And for every one that doth thus come, and therein obey my call, and follow the duct of my Father, on him most certainly will I bestow everlasting life.

John 6:45

It is not so much I to whom you have done this affront, and therefore I shall not need to bring any complaint or indictment against you before my Father; but it is our own prophet Moses, on whom you pretend to depend so much, and he will rise up to testify against you.

The sum of what I thus say hath been obscurely delivered to you by the prophets of old: for they, for example Isaiah liv. 13, speaking of these times, have foretold, that God will dispose and prepare the hearts of many men to be fit or ready to receive Christ,

John 6:46

Had you but heeded and believed Moses, that prophet so valued by you, his predictions and typical representations would have led you to believe on me, in whom they all are fulfilled.

Where yet that of learning, or being taught of God, doth not imply his seeing or talking with my Father, and being so taught by him: for this is proper and peculiar to me, who am therefore qualified to reveal his will to all that come unto me. 47, 48. He that embraceth my doctrine, and is sincerely my disciple, to believe and practise what I command him, shall undoubtedly live for ever, as having fed on that enlivening bread, ver. 33, receiving me his spiritual food, by his faith into his soul. 49—51. The manna given in the desert did not make them immortal which did eat of it. But the bread which is now sent you down from heaven will give immortality to them that feed on it, that is, to all that truly believe in Christ, that receive his doctrine, and digest it into the food and nourishment of their souls; and this is offered and prepared for every man, not only for you Jews. Manna was bread indeed, but, first, dead, not living; secondly, it came not down from heaven properly so called, ver. 32; and thirdly, they which did eat of it afterwards died; fourthly, their manna was contradistinct from their quails, that bread from that flesh; fifthly, that was given for the preserving the life only of one nation. But contrariwise, by these so many ways of excellency above that manna, I am, first, living bread; secondly, I came down from heaven, properly so called, the highest heaven; thirdly, whosoever feedeth, that is, believeth on me, embraceth my doctrine, and practiseth accordingly, shall not die, the soul whose food I am shall become immortal in bliss; fourthly, this bread which I speak of is very flesh, even my flesh, which I will give to be crucified for the life of the world, by that death of mine purchasing grace and pardon for sin, which are the foundation of immortality; fifthly, this world is the whole world, all mankind, not only that one nation of the Jews, which received benefit by that.

John 6:47

But if your own Moses cannot be heard by you, I cannot expect to have that authority with you. ### CHAP. VI. a lake of Gennesaret in Galilee, to that part of it which is near the city Tiberias: see note [c] Luke viii. b the miraculous cures which he wrought on them that were diseased. c mountainous desert part, belonging to the city Bethsaida, Luke ix. 10, and there he sat— d Where shall we have money with which we may buy bread enough to feed all this multitude?

John 6:52

Hereupon the Jews disputed about this saying of his, how it is possible that men should feed on his flesh.

John 6:53

[e] eat the flesh of the Son of man, and—] What is meant here by the flesh and blood of the Son of man must briefly be explained, and that first by taking notice of a figure or idiom frequent in these writers, whereby the parts set down separately do signify the whole, which consists of those parts. So is the heaven and the earth set to signify the whole compages of the (sublunary) world, (see note [e] 2 Pet. iii.) and many the like. And so Christ’s body and flesh and bones, Eph. v. 30; and here, the flesh and blood of the Son of man is the Son of man, or Christ himself. Secondly, by observing the notion of flesh and blood, frequently used not only to signify our mortal condition, which this our flesh and blood is subject to, (whereupon, when St. Paul saith, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he adds, neither can corruption inherit incorruption, (see note [e] Matt. xvi.) but also this mortal nature, as it is subject to much weakness, and afflictions, &c. as Isaiah xxxi. 3, the Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit, that is, weak helpers, unfit to be trusted in, ver. 1. So when St. Paul saith, that through the infirmity of the flesh, that is, in many afflictions and persecutions, he preached unto them.

John 6:55

For I that am thus sent in the flesh to die for the world, am such food as will feed you to everlasting life, and so am eminently that which food is said to be, yea, in a much higher degree; food doth not first give, but only continues and preserves life, but my flesh shall give life to the world.

John 6:56

He that thus feedeth or believeth on me, that resigns himself up to be ruled by me, in the same manner as he abides in me hath me abiding in him, is so made a member of me, that by the life which is in me he shall also be enlivened by God, by whom I live (see note [c] ch. xiv.); and this is one preeminence over corporal food, which corrupts in the stomach before it nourishes any man.

John 6:57

For as I, that came down from the Father, the fountain of life, his Son by eternal generation, must needs derive life from him, so also he that believeth on me, and so hath digested my precepts as the nourishment of his soul, must needs derive life from me.

John 6:58

This bread from heaven is not like that manna, which they that eat did die for all that: he that eateth of this bread—

John 6:60

Many therefore of those that had hitherto followed him, said, This doctrine of his is very hard and unintelligible, how he should be said really to have come down from heaven, and how his flesh should feed men to life eternal. ‘Doth this deter you from my doctrine?

John 6:62

And asked them, whether it were not as credible that he should have come from heaven as that he should go up thither; telling them that they should ere long see him do so, and that in reason would assure them that he came down from thence.

John 6:63

And for the other particular of eating his flesh, he tells them they cannot but know, that it is the soul that enliveneth, and not the body; and agreeably, that it is not the gross carnal eating of his body of flesh that he could speak of, when he talked of their eating, and his feeding them to life eternal, (see note

John 6:64

But for this spiritual feeding, sinking down this spiritual food into your hearts, there are some of you that are far enough from doing so. For Jesus knew at first, before he received them as disciples, whether they believed sincerely or no, and also which of them would prove false to him, and conspire with the Jews to put him to death.

John 6:65

And indeed this was the reason that I told you, ver. 44, that no man cometh to the faith of Christ sincerely, or continues steadfast in it, but he that by God’s preventing grace is qualified and disposed for it, (see note [d],) because I saw that many that follow me do not truly believe on me, that is, do not intend to live as I command them, but one keeps his love of money, and for that will betray me, and others retain their other interests and their other sins.

John 6:66

This speech of Christ’s made many of his followers forsake him, seeing he was not such a Messias as they looked for, and would not be content with every kind of following him.

ᵛ thy words, as was said by thee, ver. 63, will to those that obey thee, and keep close to them, be a means to bestow eternal life.

John 6:69

And thou hast demonstrated to us, that thou art the Messias, the eternal Son of God, and therefore it is not possible there should be any other fit to draw us from thee to him.

ˣ I have, of all the followers that have believed on me, chosen but twelve to be my constant attendants, and one of them proves a traitor, a false treacherous person, that will join with my enemies against me: (see note [a] Matt. iv.)

John 6:71

He spake of Judas, for Christ foresaw (that though perhaps yet he did no such thing, yet) he would deliver him to the Jews, and to that end combine with them, which was the greatest falseness

¹⁸ it was that would deliver him up, ἐστιν ²⁰ be, ᾖ. ²¹ from, &c. ²² deliver him