John 6:27

6:27 Jesus’ most profound gift was not physical bread, but eternal life, which the Father authorized him to give. Physical bread is perishable; the gift of Jesus, who is himself the bread of life (6:35), will last forever.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 6:27. Ἐργάζεσθε, [tractate] trade in) So τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζεσθαι, Rev 18:17. Devote your exertions [labour for, Engl. Vers.], saith He, to the everlasting food: just as you are now seeking Me with great earnestness for the sake of bread. Jesus gives no reply to the When? of the Jews [Joh 6:25, When earnest Thou hither?]: and so often in His discourses He has regard rather to those things which the series of circumstances and the state of souls require, than to the unseasonable interruptions of the speakers.—μή, not) Very similar things are opposed to one another: ch. Joh 4:10, [Jesus to the woman of Samaria] “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.”—τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, that perisheth) Joh 6:12, “Gather up the fragments—that nothing be lost; ἀπόληται:” 1Co 6:13, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and them.” The food of the body perisheth; therefore it confers not immortality.—ἥν) βρῶσιν. Ye ought not, saith He, ask from Me nutriment for the body, but for the soul. First it is set before us as food [meat], Joh 6:27; next as bread, Joh 6:32, “The true bread from heaven;” then in express terms, the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, Joh 6:51; Joh 6:53, “The bread that [will give, is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world:—Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.”—δώσει, will give) Joh 6:51.—γάρ, for) This Ætiology [enunciating not merely the proposition, but also, at the same time, the reason and cause of it] appertains to the μένουσαν, which endureth.—ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ Θεός, God the Father) Therefore Jesus Christ is the Son of God.—ἐσφράλισεν, hath sealed) Hath pointed out and distinguished Him by this very miracle, Joh 6:14 [as the anointed Prophet: “Those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world”]; as also by His whole testimony, which in its turn needed to be sealed by the faith of the hearers: Joh 6:29, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent;” ch. Joh 3:33, “He that hath received His testimony hath set to His seal that God is true.” By a seal, that which is genuine is stamped with commendation, and all that is not genuine is excluded.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_6:27. Strive to obtain, not the food which perisheth, but the food which endureth unto life eternal. The activity and labour of acquiring implied in ἐργάζεσθαι (laborando sibi comparare; comp. ἐργάζ. τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, Dem. 1358. 12; ἐργάζ. βρῶμα, Palaeph. xxi. 2; ἐργάζ. θησαυρούς, Theodot. Prov xxi. 6; see especially Stephan. Thes. Ed. Hase, III. p. 1968) consists, when applied to the everlasting food, in striving and struggling after it, without which effort Jesus does not bestow it. We must come believingly to Him, must follow Him, must deny ourselves, and so on. Then we receive from Him, in ever-increasing measure, divine grace and truth, by a spiritual appropriation of Himself; and this is the abiding food, which for ever quickens and feeds the inner man; the thing itself not being really different from the water, which for ever quenches thirst (Joh_4:14). See on βρῶσις, Joh_4:32, also, and the οὐράνιος τροφή in Philo, de profug. p. 749; Allegor. p. 92. According to this view, the thought conveyed in ἐργάζεσθαι, as thus contrasted with that of δώσει on the other side, cannot be regarded as strange (against De Wette); both conceptions rather are necessary correlatives. Php_2:12-13.

τὴν ἀπολλυμ.] not merely in its power, but in its very nature; it is digested and ceases to be (Mat_15:17; 1Co_6:13). On the contrast, τ. μένουσ. εἰς ζ. αἰ., comp. Joh_4:14, Joh_12:25.

ἐσφραγ.] sealed, i.e. authenticated (see on Joh_3:33), namely, as the appointed Giver of this food; in what way? see Joh_5:36-39.

ὁ θεός] emphatically added at the end to give greater prominence to the highest authority.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 6:27 . ἐργάζεσθε … ὑμῖν δώσει . “Work not for the meat which perisheth.” ἐργάζομαι means “I earn by working,” “I acquire,” see passages cited by Thayer in voc . The food which He had given them the evening before He called βρῶσιν ἀπολλυμένην : they were already hungry again, and had toiled after Him for miles to get another meal. Rather must they seek τὴν βρῶσιν … αἰώνιον , the food which abides εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον , that is, which is not consumed in the eating but rather grows as it is enjoyed. Cf. Joh 4:14 . This food ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει . He does not call Himself “the Prophet,” as they had called Him yesterday, because this would have excited false expectations; but in calling Himself the Son of Man He suggests His sympathy with all human wants and at the same time indicates to the initiated that He claims the Messiahship. The guarantee is given in the words τοῦτον γὰρ … ὁ θεός , “For Him hath the Father, God, sealed”. By giving the Son the miracle of the previous day and other signs to do, the Father has sealed or authenticated Him as the Giver of that which nourishes life everlasting. [For the idea, approved by Delitzsch, that the seal refers to the stamping of loaves with the name of the maker, see O. T. Student , Sept [58] , 1883, and Expositor , 1885. Elsner with more reason cites passages showing that a person ordering a banquet gave his seal to the slave or steward commissioned to provide it: and thus that Christ here declares “se a Patre constitutum esse ad suppeditandum Ecclesiae salutarem cibum”. The various meanings of the word are given by Suicer.] Some at least of the crowd are impressed; and conscious that their toil was, as Jesus said, commonly misdirected, they ask Him (Joh 6:28 ) τί ποιοῦμεν [better, ποιῶμεν ] ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ ; that is, how can we so labour as to satisfy God? What precisely is it that God waits for us to do, and will be satisfied with our doing? To which Jesus, always ready to meet the sincere inquirer, gives the explicit answer (Joh 6:29 ) τοῦτό ἐστι … ἐκεῖνος . If God has sent a messenger it is because there is need of such interposition, and the first duty must be to listen believingly to this messenger. To this demand that they should accept Him as God’s ambassador they reply (Joh 6:30 ) τί οὖν ποιεῖς … “Judaeis proprium erat signa quaerere,” 1Co 1:22 , Lampe. Grotius and Lücke think this asking for a sign could not have proceeded from those who saw the miracle of the previous day. But Lampe rightly argues that they were the same people, and that they did not consider either the miracle of the previous day or the ordinary cures wrought by Jesus to be sufficient evidence of His present claim.

[58] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bestow your labor and pain.

That is, whom God the Father hath distinguished from all other men by planting his own virtue in him, as though he had sealed him with his seal, that he might be a lively pattern and representer of him: and that more is, installed him to this office, to reconcile us men to God, and bring us to everlasting life, which is only proper to Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

which the Son of man--taking that title of Himself which denoted His incarnate life.

shall give unto you--in the sense of Joh 6:51.

him hath God the Father sealed--marked out and authenticated for that transcendent office, to impart to the world the bread of an everlasting life, and this in the character of "the Son of man."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 27. Labour not for the meat] That is, for that only, but also for the bread, c. Our Lord wills every man to be active and diligent in that employment in which providence has placed him but it is his will also that that employment, and all the concerns of life, should be subservient to the interest of his soul.

But for that meat, c.] He who labours not, in the work of his salvation, is never likely to enter into the kingdom of God. Though our labour cannot purchase it, either in whole or in part, yet it is the way in which God chooses to give salvation and he that will have heaven must strive for it. Every thing that can be possessed, except the salvation of God, is a perishing thing: this is its essential character: it can last to us no longer than the body lasts. But, when the earth and its produce are burnt up, this bread of Christ, his grace and salvation, will be found remaining unto eternal life. This is the portion after which an immortal spirit should seek.

Him hath God the Father sealed.] By this expression, our Lord points out the commission which, as the Messiah, he received from the Father, to be prophet and priest to an ignorant, sinful world. As a person who wishes to communicate his mind to another who is at a distance writes a letter, seals it with his own seal, and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written, so Christ, who lay in the bosom of the Father, came to interpret the Divine will to man, bearing the image, superscription, and seal of God, in the immaculate holiness of his nature, unsullied truth of his doctrine, and in the astonishing evidence of his miracles. But he came also as a priest, to make an atonement for sin; and the bread which nourishes unto eternal life, he tells us, Joh 6:51, is his body, which he gives for the life of the world; and to this sacrifice of himself, the words, him hath God the Father sealed, seem especially to relate. It certainly was a custom, among nations contiguous to Judea, to set a seal upon the victim which was deemed proper for sacrifice. The following account of the method of providing white bulls among the Egyptians, for sacrifices to their god Apis, taken from HERODOTUS, Euterpe, b. ii. p. 117, casts much light upon this place. "They sacrifice white bulls to Apis; and for that reason make the following trial. If they find one black hair upon him, they consider him as unclean: that they may know this with certainty, the priest appointed for this purpose views every part of the animal, both standing and lying on the ground. After this, he draws out his tongue, to see if he be clean by certain signs: in the last place, he looks upon the hairs of his tail, that he may be sure they are as by nature they should be. If, after this search, the bull is found unblemished, he signifies it by tying a label to his horns; then, having applied wax, he seals it with his ring, and they lead him away: for it is death to sacrifice one of these animals, unless he have been marked with such a seal.

The Jews could not be unacquainted with the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian worship; and it is possible that such precautions as these were in use among themselves, especially as they were so strictly enjoined to have their sacrifices without SPOT, and without blemish. Infinite justice found Jesus Christ to be without spot or blemish, and therefore sealed, pointed out and accepted him, as a proper sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the whole world. Collate with this passage, He 7:26-28; Eph 5:27; 2Pe 3:14; and especially He 9:13-14: For if the blood of BULLS and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth - how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself WITHOUT SPOT to God, purge your consciences from dead works! The rabbins talk much of the seal of God, which they suppose to be אמת emeth, or truth; and that this is a representation of the unoriginated and endless perfections of God. This doctrine is just; but their method of proving it is not so satisfactory. Aleph א, say they, is the first letter of the alphabet; mem מ the middle; and tau ת the last: these three letters make אמת emeth, TRUTH, because God is the first - there was none before him; he is the middle - none mingles with him; and he is the last-there can be none after him. Hieros. Sanhed. fol. 18. See also 1Pe 1:18-19.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Labour for food, not that which perisheth. He shows to what object our desires ought to be directed, namely, to eternal life; but because, in proportion as our understandings are gross, we are always devoted to earthly things, for this reason he corrects that disease which is natural to us, before he points out what we ought to do. The simple doctrine would have been, “Labour to have the incorruptible food;” but, knowing that the senses of men are held bound by earthly cares, he first enjoins them to be loosed and freed from those cords, that they may rise to heaven. Not that he forbids his followers to labor that they may procure daily food; but he shows that the heavenly life ought to be preferred to this earthly life, because the godly have no other reason for living here than that, being sojourners in the world, they may travel rapidly towards their heavenly country.

Next, we ought to see what is the present question; for, since the power of Christ is debased by those who are devoted to the belly and to earthly things, he argues what we ought to seek in him, and why we ought to seek it. He employs metaphors adapted to the circumstances in which his sermon was delivered. If food had not been mentioned, he would have said, without a figure, “You ought to lay aside anxiety about the world, and strive to obtain the heavenly life.” But as those men were running to their fodder like cattle, without looking to anything better, Christ presents his sermon in a metaphorical dress, and gives the name of food to everything that belongs to newness of life. We know that our souls are fed by the doctrine of the gospel, when it is efficacious in us by the power of the Spirit; and, therefore, as faith is the life of the soul, all that nourishes and promotes faith is compared to food

Which endureth to eternal life. This kind of food he calls incorruptible, and says that it endureth to eternal life, in order to inform us that our souls are not fed for a day, but are nourished in the expectation of a blessed immortality; because the Lord

commences the work of our salvation, that he may perform it till the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:6.)

For this reason we must receive the gifts of the Spirit, that they may be earnests and pledges of eternal life. For, though the reprobate, after having tasted this food, frequently reject it, so that it is not permanent in them, yet believing souls feel that enduring power, when they are made partakers of the power of the Holy Spirit in his gifts, which is not of short duration, but, on the contrary, never fails.

It is a frivolous exercise of ingenuity to infer, as some do, from the word labor or work, that we merit eternal life by our works; for Christ metaphorically exhorts men, as we have said, to apply their minds earnestly to meditation on the heavenly life, instead of cleaving to the world, as they are wont to do; and Christ himself removes every doubt, when he declares that it is he who giveth the food; for what we obtain by his gift no man procures by his own industry. There is undoubtedly some appearance of contradiction in these words; but we may easily reconcile these two statements, that the spiritual food of the soul is the free gift of Christ, and that we must strive with all the affections of our heart to become partakers of so great a blessing.

For him hath God the Father sealed. He confirms the preceding statement, by saying that he was appointed to us for that purpose by the Father. The ancient writers have misinterpreted and tortured this passage, by maintaining that Christ is said to be sealed, because he is the stamp and lively image of the Father. For he does not here enter into abstruse discussions about his eternal essence, but explains what he has been commissioned and enjoined to do, what is his office in relation to us, and what we ought to seek and expect from him. By an appropriate metaphor, he alludes to an ancient custom; for they sealed with signets what they intended to sanction by their authority. Thus Christ — that it may not appear as if he claimed anything of himself, or by private authority — declares that this office was enjoined on him by the Father, and that this decree of the Father was manifested, as if a seal had been engraven on him. It may be summed up thus: As it is not every person who has the ability or the right to feed souls with incorruptible food, Christ appears in public, and, while he promises that he will be the Author of so great a blessing, he likewise adds that he is approved by God, and that he has been sent to men with this mark, which is, as it were, God’s seal or signet

Hence it follows that the desire of those who shall present their souls to Christ, to be fed by him, will not be disappointed. Let us know, therefore, that life is exhibited to us in Christ, in order that each of us may aspire to it, not at random, but with certainty of success. We are, at the same time, taught that all who bestow this praise on any other than Christ are guilty of falsehood before God. Hence it is evident that the Papists, in every part of their doctrine, are altogether liars; for as often as they invent any means of salvation in the room of Christ, so often do they — by erasing, as it were, the impression which has been made — spoil and deface, with wicked presumption and base treachery, this seal of God, which alone is authentic. That we may not fall into so dreadful a condemnation, let us learn to keep pure and entire for Christ all that the Father has given to him.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(27) Labour not for the meat which perisheth.—This is one of the instances in which the reader of the English Bible has in the margin a much better rendering than in the text. Work not shows the verbal connection with Joh_6:28-30, which is wholly lost in “labour not.” It will be instructive to compare the other passages in this Gospel where the word occurs: Joh_3:21 (wrought in God); Joh_5:17; Joh_9:4. Work not is better than “work not for,” by which the words have been sometimes rendered The sense is, “Work not out—let it not be the result of your constant working—to have food (comp. Joh_4:32) which perisheth; but let your work be one worthy of your endeavour, food which endureth unto eternal life, which food the Son of Man will give to you.”

For him hath God the Father sealed.—The emphasis of the original is seen better by preserving the order of the words, for Him hath the Father sealed, even God. (Comp. Note on Joh_3:33.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Labour not for, &c.] Better, Work not for, &c. The translation in the margin is preferable, to keep up the connexion with Joh_6:28-30. The people keep harping on the word ‘work.’

the meat which perisheth] Better (to avoid all ambiguity), the food that perisheth: ‘meat’ in the sense of ‘flesh-meat’ is not intended. Comp. (Joh_4:13) ‘whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.’ The discourse with the Samaritan woman should be compared throughout: ‘the food which abides’ here corresponds with ‘the living water’ there; ‘the food that perisheth’ with the water of the well. ‘Perisheth’ not merely in its sustaining power, but in itself: it is digested and dispersed (Mat_15:17; 1Co_6:13).

endureth unto everlasting life] Better, abideth unto eternal life: see on Joh_1:33 and Joh_3:16.

for him hath God the Father sealed] Better (preserving the emphasis of the Greek order), for Him the Father sealed, even God. ‘Sealed,’ i.e. authenticated (Joh_3:33), as the true giver of this food (1) by direct testimony in the Scriptures, (2) by the same in the voice from Heaven at His Baptism, (3) by indirect testimony in His miracles and Messianic work.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said they unto him,.... Understanding by what he said, that they must labour and work, though not for perishing food, yet for durable food; and as they imagined, in order to obtain eternal life by working:

what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Such as are agreeable to his will, are acceptable to him, and well pleasing in his sight: they seem to intimate, as if they desired to know whether there were any other works of this kind, than what Moses had directed them to, or than they had done; and if there were, they suggest they would gladly do them; for this was the general cast and complexion of this people; they were seeking for righteousness, and life not by faith, but, as it were, by the works of the law.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Ver. 27. Labour not for the meat, &c.] When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, he answers, Pecuniam da quae permaneat, ac continuo duret, gloriam quae semper floreat. The fashion of this world passeth away, as the water of a river that runs by a city, or as a fair picture drawn upon the ice that melts away with it. Men come to the world’s felicities, as to a lottery, with heads full of hopes, but return with hearts full of blanks.

Labour for the meat that endureth] We may not dream of a delicacy in God’s ways, or think that good things will drop out of the clouds to us, as towns were said to come into Timothy’s toils while he slept. We must be at pains for heaven. Laborandum Working was one of the emperor’s mottoes, and may be every Christian’s. Strive they must even to an agony, {Αγωνιζεσθε, Luk 13:24} ere they can get into the strait gate; together with our stooping, there must be a certain stripping of ourselves.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Labour not - This does not mean that we are to make no effort for the supply of our wants (compare 1Ti 5:1; 2Th 3:10), but that we are not to manifest anxiety, we are not to make this the main or supreme object of our desire. See the notes at Mat 6:25.

The meat that perisheth - The food for the supply of your natural needs. It perishes. The strength you derive from it is soon exhausted, and your wasted powers need to be reinvigorated.

That meat which endureth - The supply of your spiritual wants; that which supports, and nourishes, and strengthens the soul; the doctrines of the gospel, that are to a weak and guilty soul what needful food is to the weary and decaying body.

To everlasting life - The strength derived from the doctrines of the gospel is not exhausted. It endures without wasting away. It nourishes the soul to everlasting life. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint,” Isa 40:31.

Him hath God the Father sealed - To seal is to confirm or approve as ours. This is done when we set our seal to a compact, or deed, or testament, by which we ratify it as our act. So God the Father, by the miracles which had been performed by Jesus, had shown that he had sent him, that he approved his doctrines, and ratified his works. The miracles were to his doctrine what a seal is to a written instrument. See the notes at Joh 3:33.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For him hath God the Father sealed. The sense seems to be, that Christ having wrought so many miracles in his Father’s name, the Father himself hath thereby given testimony in his favour, and witnessed, as it were, under his seal, that Jesus is his true Son, whom he sent into the world. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By the bread which perisheth, is not strictly to be understood bread, but whatsoever is necessary or accommodating to us in this life; all things of this nature are perishing, and perish with the using: nor is all labour as to them forbidden us; for we are to the contrary commanded, In the sweat of our face to eat our bread; and the apostle commandeth, that those that will not labour should not eat; and, Pro 31:27, the good woman is commended for not eating the bread of idleness: but excessive labour for these things is forbidden. So also is a first and greater labour for and seeking after them, than after

that meat which endureth to everlasting life; under which notion also unquestionably cometh whatsoever is necessary by God’s revealed will, that we may have in us the hopes of glory here, and may enter into the actual possession of that glory hereafter. Such as are, first, the knowledge of the gospel; then the believing of it, and the acceptance of that Saviour, and way of salvation, which God hath revealed in it for lost sinners; and that holiness of life which God hath made necessary to it. All which (saith he) I, who am the Son of man, (a name he ordinarily giveth to himself), will give unto you freely. Not that you are to do nothing; no, labour for it; though it be a gift, yet it is a gift upon labour, for all your labour will not procure it; there will be a great deal of free grace seen when you have given all diligence. And Christ must give it; for the Father, in whose hand this life is, hath (as men by their seals use to confirm the commissions they give out to any persons to do any thing for them, and in their name) confirmed Christ as his commissioner, to give out this eternal life to whomsoever he pleaseth.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Labour not—Let this clause be thus punctuated:

Labour—not for the meat which perisheth, but—for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. This makes our Lord (not to forbid labour for bodily food, but) command solely labour for eternal life. It limits his command to seeking the heavenly; it does not make him prohibit a due attention to the earthly.

Endureth unto everlasting life—Like the water springing up into everlasting life, Joh_4:14.

The Son of man—Our Lord centres his discourse on his own divine person.

Sealed—By the stupenduous miracle by which they had been so fed and startled.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Labour (work, toil, rush, as you are doing, from Bethsaida Julias to Capernaum, or from either to Jerusalem) not for the food that is perishable, which soon loses its effect and must be renewed, which is corruptible and worthless if not partaken of at once, which, like manna, may breed worms, or vanish in the sun; labour not for the merely outward and vanishing and perishable elements in my work. Christ did not mean that these multitudes were not to toil for their daily bread, which could only be secured for them by labour and the sweat of the brow; but to labour for the food which endureth (or, abideth) unto eternal life (this last clause Moulton would separate from the menousan , and considers to relate to the principal verb of the sentence; i.e. "labour for the abiding food," with a view to, or unto, eternal life). The bread that abideth unto eternal life, however, corresponds very closely with the water of life, (Joh_4:14) which, when once appropriated, flows and springs up with perennial energy within the soul, conferring the consciousness and the beginning of eternal life. There is a food which is imperishable and incorruptible, feeding the heavenly life within the soul, and which, if once assimilated, becomes Divine life itself. Labour for that life which the Son of man will give to you. This grand idea, viz. the gift of eternal life in and by Christ himself, was one of the main themes of the Gospel of John. Christ knew himself to be the Giver of eternal life a life of perfect blessedness, irrespective of time, and sense, and flesh, and the world, and death. The Lord here calls himself "Son of man," rather than "Son of God." The whole of the subsequent discourse expands and rests upon this gift of the perfect and blessed life in and by his humanity. In the previous chapter attention was called to the Divine Sonship and the Divine activity. Here equal emphasis was laid upon the human sonship and on the acceptance and assimilation by man of this supreme gift. The power or function of the Son of man to bestow this life is sustained by the assertion, For him (this very one) the Father, even God, hath sealed. Sfragizein (see Joh_3:33) means here to ratify and accredit as worthy and competent to discharge such duties, to render indubitable, to confirm by outward visible sign. or seal, as one empowered to do so Divine a thing. The Father has made "the Son of man" the steward of his bounty. The Son of man has the key to this boundless treasure, this eternal blessing. Men, however, must labour to receive so great a gift. It will prove to be a gift, even if they put forth the most strenuous energy to receive it. This first dialogue contrasts the carnal and spiritual reasons for seeking Jesus, and brings into sharp relief the Galilaean conception of the Christ, as Miracle worker, temporal Potentate, prophetic Leader of some vast host of triumphant enthusiasts, and contrasts with it the Lord"s own conception. of himself as the Giver, the Medium, the divinely appointed Almoner of a spiritual blessing, for which, while the Father-God freely and lavishly gives it, the sons of men must eagerly toil. The next question and answer bring out the moral condition on which alone the gift can be dispensed.

Fruitless and fruitful toil.

Our Lord"s miracles did not end in themselves. Out of them there often grew interviews, conversations, and discourses of the greatest interest and profit. Such was the case with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. The provision made for their bodily wants prompted the people to resort in numbers to the Prophet of Nazareth. And thus our Lord had the opportunity, which he did not fail to use, of presenting to the multitudes, upon the suggestion of the miracle he had wrought, lessons, reflections, expostulations, and appeals of vast and lasting value. Especially did he put in a true light the relative claims of the body and the soul upon the attention and the endeavours of mankind.

I AN ERROR REBUKED; i.e. the very common habit of living and working merely for the sake of the supply of bodily wants. Our Lord"s words have sometimes been misunderstood. He could not have intended to reprove poor men for labouring hard in order to secure an honest living for themselves and their families. What was it, then, which he so gravely reprehended? It must have been the concentration of all human interest and effort upon the existence and comfort of the body, upon the securing an abundance of material good, upon the attainment of opulence and the enjoyment of luxury. Such a course of life may be termed an idolatry of the body and of this passing earthly life. How many there are who pursue with all the energy of their nature the so called "good things of this life," forgetful that these things are destined to perish and to pass away! To such the ancient admonition of the prophet is applicable, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?

II AN EFFORT ENJOINED; i.e. the earnest endeavour to obtain spiritual provision.

1. Our Lord here gives a very striking and just representation of himself. He is "the Bread of life." Knowledge of him, fellowship with him, feed, nourish, strengthen, and cheer the soul. To know his truth, to feel his love, to do his will, this is an aim in life worthy of all pursuit, worthy of the nature with which the Creator has endowed us.

2. Our Lord reminds us that "labour strenuous and persevering exertion is necessary in order that we may partake of Christ, and enjoy the advantages of his spiritual fellowship. No mere passive acceptance is sufficient. The spiritual nature comes to appropriate and enjoy the Divine Saviour, through sincere and constant effort, through the study of his character, through growth into his likeness, through devotion to his cause.

III A MOTIVE PRESENTED; i.e. the assurance that this spiritual provision abideth unto eternal life. Earthly supplies can only satisfy bodily wants. The need and the provision are alike perishable and perishing. But the heavenly Bread is especially provided to feed the immortal soul; and they who eat of it shall never hunger, and shall never die. The living water springs up unto life eternal, and they who drink of this fountain shall never thirst. To the disappointed and the distressed such representations should bring comfort and inspiration. The witness of our Saviour to himself is worthy of all acceptation.

IV A PROMISE GIVEN; i.e. that the Son of man will surely give, to all those who labour to attain it, the satisfying and imperishable food of heaven. If we were convinced of the excellence and the attractiveness of the Bread of God, we might still have no belief in its accessibility to man; and in this case they would be cruel who should dwell upon the advantages of a possession which could never be appropriated. But the very purpose of Christ"s mission to earth, of his teaching and miracles, of his sufferings and death, was that he might give himself to the hungering heart of humanity. Never does he turn a deaf ear to those who believingly and humbly approach him with the entreaty, "Lord, evermore give us this bread. T.

Vers. 27-29. Working and eating.

In looking at the feeding of the five thousand, we must not allow the miraculous provision to hide the equally important element of the free donation. Jesus might have provided all this vast supply of food miraculously, and yet have said also, "Now you that can pay must pay." But all the necessities of the case required promptitude, and it was best to give freely. We see, however, that immediately the people began to draw wrong conclusions from this free giving. They wanted to make the Being of so much ready power their King, to be at their beck and call, so that the table might never be without a meal, the cupboard without a loaf. Jesus had to turn the people sharply away from these dreams of sweet nothing to do. Jesus is a Giver Giver of ample and appropriate gifts but always upon conditions. Not without great need does Jesus speak here of work. Jesus did not come into the world that men might work less, but rather all the more.

I THE AIM OF WORK ACCORDING TO GOD"S WILL. This work must be for much more than the getting of a living. Jesus sees us sweating, straining, worrying, all to support natural life; and yet this support will neither make natural life safe, nor will it stave off the decay of natural powers. The old man does not get out of bread what the young man does. Natural life is but a means to a life more precious still. We turn things upside down when we give the chief thought of life to the producing of daily bread. That is a thing we must, indeed, think about, but let it be in the right way. A joiner must think about the sharpening of his tools; if he lets them get blunt his work wilt soon come to grief. But suppose a joiner thinks so much about the sharpening of his tools as never to do anything but sharpen them; why, he will soon sharpen them out of existence altogether. He does enough when he keeps his tools sharp for their proper work. The natural exists for the spiritual. The earthly exists for the heavenly. Let there be the work that men can see, but alongside of it let there be work just as hard, just as steady, having for its aim the prosperous growth and maintenance of the life that men cannot see.

II THERE CAN BE NO SUSTAINING OF SPIRITUAL LIFE WITHOUT WORK. This point cannot be dwelt upon too much. There is no danger of us forgetting that we must work for the perishable bread. The world is full, always has been full, of them that work with their hands. Civilization means work hard, continuous work. But somehow, when we come to consider spiritual life and growth, the idea of work seems to slip out of the mind altogether. So much of our talk about spiritual life and growth is mere talk, without basis of real experience and urgent desire of the heart. Then, too, we talk so much of God"s grace, and God"s giving, and man"s inability, and the virtue of simple trust, that it is very easy to forget the need of spiritual industry. It is well, therefore, to have Jesus emphasizing this very need. Man does not leave the earth to bring forth of itself. Other things being equal, it is work that tells the most. And surely the same law may be expected to apply in our spiritual concerns. It cannot be all the same for the devout, prayerful, humble reader of his New Testament and for him who altogether neglects it.

III THE MAIN ELEMENT IN SPIRITUAL INDUSTRY. "Believe in him whom God hath sent." True faith is true work. We are apt to get confused in distinguishing between faith and works as if faith were not work, and very hard work too. Distinguish between faith and works as much as you please, but let it be a distinction between one kind of work and another. Is it to be supposed that a real, calm, intelligent, steady trust in Jesus can be got all at once? Surely it is one of the great attainments of the regenerated heart, coming after much experience, to say as Paul said, "I know whom I have believed. Y.

Never turned away.

It is the disposition of some men so to act as if they should have it written up on their doors, "Him that cometh to me I always send empty away." Others go to the opposite extreme. They have the giving disposition, but they give without judgment. Here we are directed to a Giver, a Helper, who never turns a suppliant away, never says a harsh word to him, is always both able and willing to give, if only the needy will get themselves ready for what is offered. Such are the resources of Jesus, such his sympathy, such his insight into human need, that he can ever say, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." The words are at once a fingerpost and a welcome.

I REMEMBER DISTINCTLY THE DEPENDENT CONDITION OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS. We are, constantly, every one of us going to some one or other; and just as constantly others are coming to us. The dependence is none the less real because we come with money in our hands. Life begins with dependence and ends with dependence. We are members one of another. Jesus himself was not free from this great law of reciprocity in need. It was part of the fulness of his humanity that he should come to other human beings for the supply of common wants, just like all the rest of us. Even in the higher matters connected with his great spiritual purposes, there is a coming of Jesus to us. Not only do the branches come to the vine for the life that is to make them useful, but the vine also comes to the branches to find places where it may deposit and manifest its life. So when Jesus speaks of coming to him, this great fact of human dependence should excite in all of us the deepest interest in his words.

II THE LIMITS OF THIS DEPENDENCE. There is a great difference between buying bread and begging bread. You will not be cast out as long as you have money to pay for the loaf. But go begging instead of buying, and you will soon be cast out. If you were to give to every one asking, turning not away from a single suppliant, such an army of askers would gather round you as would soon bring your giving to an end. A great deal must be done in the way of casting out for this reason, if for no other, that our resources are so limited. We are not as Elijah when he lodged with the widow at Zarephath. The secret of the unwasting barrel of meal and the unfailing cruse of oil is not with us.

III WE HAVE ONE WITH UNLIMITED SUPPLIES. Jesus spoke to those who knew the attitude of the suppliant and the needy. A great crowd had come to him, hungering for the bread that perisheth, and he had not cast them out. But now he desired them to come, seeking for a better bread. We are not as concerned about spiritual life and spiritual sustenance as we are about natural life and natural sustenance. What greater calamity can happen to the natural life of men than that bread should become dear and scarce, and those who go seeking to find it cheap and plentiful should be, as it were, cast out? Such may happen in transactions over the bread that perisheth. Here is Jesus, speaking of the bread that endures to eternal life. As the appointed Donor and Custodian of that bread, he says no one coming to him will be cast out. You dare not write such an inscription over your door. The most capable of men, the man of largest resources, understands perfectly how he is in charge, not of a fountain, but of a reservoir. Jesus only can make the declaration without limit as to numbers or to time. Coming to him, we come to One who speaks out of the infinite and the eternal.

IV THOSE WHO FAIL TO STAY WITH JESUS GO WITH A VOLUNTARY LEAVING. "Many disciples went back, and walked no more with him." But they were not driven away, cast out; they went of their own accord. Jesus never turns any one back to sole dependence on the things of time and sense. If we like to call refusal of selfish desires and discouragement of frivolous pleasures a casting out, we may do so, but that is truly no casting out which is a voluntary going out. God seems to say to us every morning after our solid, substantial breakfast, "I have given thee the natural; wilt thou not also have the spiritual?" Days will come when all the abundance of bread will do our bodies little good. The flesh will fail. The outward man will perish. Jesus makes his declaration that the inward may be renewed day by day. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

labour not for the meat which perisheth - For bodily food: not for that only not chiefly: not at all, but in subordination to grace, faith, love, the meat which endureth to everlasting life. labour, work for this; foreverlasting life. So our Lord expressly commands, work for life, as well as from life: from a principle of faith and love. Him hath the Father sealed - By this very miracle, as well as by his whole testimony concerning him. See chap. iii, 33. Sealing is a mark of the authenticity of a writing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Son of man

(See Scofield "Mat 8:20").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth. The Savior does not prohibit laboring for food, but making the acquisition of food and worldly things the leading object of life. He means: Do not manifest a chief anxiety for bodily food, for the food that perishes with the using, but rather seek the meat which endureth unto everlasting life. The food of the soul; the Bread of Life. Him hath God the Father sealed. Sealing is the mark of approval, of authority. A legal document must bear the seal of the State to give it force. The Father had commissioned, authorized, and stamped his seal upon the work of the Son. His miracles were a divine seal.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

27. ἐργάζεσθε. Work, not ‘labour,’ to keep up the connexion with Joh 6:28-30. They keep harping on the word ‘work.’ The meaning ‘work for’ is rare: ἐργ. χρήματα, Herod. I. 24. Comp. ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again’ (Joh 4:13). The discourse with the woman should be compared throughout: ‘the food which abideth’ (see on Joh 1:33) corresponds with ‘the living water’ (see on Joh 4:14); ‘the food that perisheth’ with the water of the well. ‘Perisheth’ not only in its sustaining power but in itself; it is digested and dispersed (Mat 15:17; 1Co 6:13). Comp. ‘Take no thought what ye shall eat’ (Mat 6:25). Work, however, is needed to win the food that abides. Comp. the lines of Joan. Audenus;

Mandere qui panem jubet in sudore diurnum

Non dabit aeternas absque labore dapes.

ὁ υἱὸς τ. ἀνθρ. see on Joh 1:51. It is as the perfect Man that Christ in His communion with men sustains the life which He has bestowed (Joh 5:25). Hence He says, ‘the Father’ (of men as well as of Himself, Joh 20:17), not ‘My Father.’

τοῦτον γάρ. Keep the emphatic order; for Him the Father sealed, even God. To God belongs the authority to seal: He sealed, i.e. authenticated (Joh 3:33) Christ as the true giver of the food that abideth (1) by direct testimony in the Scriptures, (2) by the same in the voice from Heaven at His Baptism, (3) by indirect testimony in His miracles and Messianic work.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27.] ἐργάζ., imperative: another instance of the construction which I have advocated in ch. 5:39.

The E. V., ‘Labour not for,’ does not give the sense of ἐργάζ. They had not laboured in this case for the βρῶσις ἀπολλυμένη, but it had been furnished miraculously. A better rendering would be, Busy not yourselves about,—Do not weary yourselves for,—which they were doing, by thus coming after our Lord: [but best of all Work not for: so as to preserve the connexion between verses 27, 29, 30.]

τὴνἀπολλ. “whose nourishing power passes away,” De Wette. Rather perhaps more literally, which perisheth, E. V.:—the useless part of it, in being cast out;—the useful, in becoming part of the body which perishes (see 1Co 6:13).

ἀλλὰ τ. βρ.] It is important to bear in mind that the ἐργάζεσθαι spoken of above, which also applies to this, was not a ‘working for,’ or ‘bringing about of,’ but a following Christ in order to obtain. So the meaning will be, but seek to obtain, by following after Me.… And thus μὴ.… ἀγγά keeps its true literal force, Do not.… but.

τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζ. αἰ.] See ch. 4:14. If this βρῶσις remains to eternal life, it must be spiritual food.

ἣν.… δώσει] See ch. 4 ib. ἥν agrees with βρῶσιν, not with ζωήν. δώσει, future, because the great Sacrifice was not yet offered: so in ch. 4.

ὁ υἱὸς τ. ἀνθρ., emphatic here and belonging to this discourse, since it is of His Flesh that He is about to speak.

τοῦτον γὰρ.…] for Him the Father sealed, even God.

ἐσφράγ., by undoubted testimony, as at His baptism; and since, by His miracles, see ch. 10:36: not, ‘stamped with the image of His Person,’ which is altogether beside the present subject, and inconsistent with the meaning of σφραγίζω.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, “work not for the food which perishes,” as even the manna did (Exo 16:20), but for the spiritual food which endures. The exhortation recalls the rebuke of Isa 55:2, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?” Cf. Ignatius (Rom_7) οὐχ ἥδομαι τροφῇ φθορᾶς, words, perhaps, suggested by the present passage.

For βρῶσις, βρῶμα, see on 4:32. א om. τὴν βρῶσιν before τὴν μένουσαν, but the sense is not affected.

τὴν μένουσαν. It is the abiding and permanent property of the spiritual food upon which stress is laid throughout the discourse; cf. vv. 35, 50, 54, 58.

εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. For this phrase, see on 4:14 and cf. 3:15.

ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. It is the Son of Man, and He alone, such is His uniqueness and mystery, who can give that spiritual food which endures “unto eternal life”; cf. v. 53. See Introd., p. cxxx.

ὑμῖν δώσει is the reading of the rec. text, with ABLWΓΔΘ but אD have δίδωσιν ὑμῖν. The future is to be preferred; cf. the parallel δώσω αὐτῷ in 4:14, and ἐγὼ δώσω in v. 51. His giving of “life” is spoken of in the present tense (v. 33; cf. 10:28), but the giving of the spiritual food, which was His Flesh, with a view to the imparting of that eternal life, was still in the future. See further on v. 51b.

τοῦτον γάρ κτλ. This is the ultimate explanation of the power vested in the Son (cf. 3:17) of imparting life: “Him did the Father seal” (see on 5:19). Cf. 5:20 ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ φιλεῖ τὸν υἱὸν κτλ., and also 5:37 ὁ … πατὴρ … μεμαρτύρηκεν περὶ ἐμοῦ.

For the frequency of the designation in Jn. of God as ὁ πατήρ, see on 4:21; here, at the end of the sentence, ὁ θεός is added, apparently for emphasis, the reference to ὁ πατήρ being unmistakable without it (cf. vv. 37, 44-46, 57, 65).

ἐσφράγισεν occurs in Jn. elsewhere only at 3:33, where it is used of an attestation by man, its usual meaning. The idea of a “sealing” by God is rare in the N.T., occurring again only in 2Co 1:22, Eph 1:13, Eph 1:4:30; and in each of these places there is an allusion, direct or implied, to the baptism of Christian converts. Here the aorist marks a Divine act at a particular moment of time, and the reference seems to be to the Baptism of Jesus and the Descent of the Spirit upon Him, which was interpreted by the Baptist as the Divine attestation of His mission (1:32f.). But cf. 5:37.

The description of baptism as a seal became common in Christian literature at an early date; cf. Hermas, Sim. ix. 16, and 2 Clem. 8. In the Odes of Solomon the “sealing” by God is explicitly mentioned: “On their faces I set my seal” (Ode viii. 16; cf. also 4:8).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meat (brwsin). See on 4 32. In Mt 6:19, 20, and there only, it is used in the sense of rust, that which eats or corrodes. Similarly, corrode is from rodo, to gnaw.

Him hath God the Father sealed. The Rev. makes the sentence culminate properly in God : "for Him the Father, even God, hath sealed." According to the strict Greek order it is : for Him the Father sealed, even God. On sealed [εσφραγισεν] see on 3 33. Wyc., betokened Him.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 27. “Work to obtain, not the food which perishes, but the food which endures to eternal life, that which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him hath the Father, God, sealed.”

Behold now the true way in which Jesus would be sought. It follows, indeed, from the contrast between ἐργάζεσθε, work, and ζητεῖτε, you seek me (Joh 6:26), that the work to which He exhorts His hearers is none other than the seeking for His person with a spiritual aim. The repast of the preceding evening had sustained them for that day. But, when the morning came, were they not obliged to eat again? That bread, miraculous as it was, had, thus, been only a temporary nourishment. What purpose would the renewal of a similar gift on this day have served? To this transient food Jesus opposes that which abides inherent in the human person as a permanent principle of life and action. The term ἐργάζεσθαι, to work, signifies here: to obtain by one’s labor (see the examples drawn from classical Greek, in Meyer).—The words: unto eternal life, designate either the effect immediately produced (Reuss) or the final limit (even to); see at Joh 4:14.

The future, shall give. is certainly the true reading; it is designed to raise the minds of the hearers to the nourishment of a higher nature which Jesus brings to the world, and of which the multiplied loaves were only the type and promise. This notion of giving seems at the first glance in contradiction to the order to work (ἐργάζεσθε). But the work by which man procures for himself this truly life-giving food does not consist in creating it, but in making himself fit to receive it, by believing on the divine messenger who brings it to him. The human work would remain useless, without the divine gift, as also the divine gift remains inefficacious without the internal work by means of which the man appropriates it to himself. The name Son of man is also in connection with the thought developed afterwards, that Jesus is Himself this celestial food; for if it is placed within the reach of faith, it is by virtue of the incarnation (Joh 6:33; Joh 6:38; Joh 6:50; Joh 6:58). The for relates to the wordwill give. Jesus is sealed, that is, personally pointed out to the world by His miracles in general, and more particularly by that of the preceding day, as the one who brings this life-giving bread to the earth and who gives it. This is the explanation, given by Jesus Himself, of the term signs. His miracles are the authentic signs of the salvation with which He is intrusted, in its different aspects. The word ὁ θεός, God, is placed at the end of the sentence to set forth distinctly the person of Him who, as possessor of supreme authority, has alone the power and the right to give such certifications.

The first dialogue has contrasted and characterized in an altogether general way the two kinds of good which may be sought from Jesus.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.