John 6:60

We have here an account of the effects of Christ's discourse. Some were offended and others edified by it; some driven from him and others brought nearer to him.

I. To some it was a savour of death unto death; not only to the Jews, who were professed enemies to him and his doctrine, but even to many of his disciples, such as were disciples at large, who were his frequent hearers, and followed him in public; a mixed multitude, like those among Israel, that began all the discontents. Now here we have,

1. Their murmurings at the doctrine they heard (Joh 6:60): This is a hard saying, who can hear it? (1.) They do not like it themselves: "What stuff is this? Eat the flesh, and drink the blood, of the Son of man! If it is to be understood figuratively, it is not intelligible; if literally, not practicable. What! must we turn cannibals? Can we not be religious, but we must be barbarous?" Si Christiani adorant quod comedunt (said Averroes), sit anima mea cum philosophis - If Christians adore what they eat, my mind shall continue with the philosophers. Now, when they found it a hard saying, if they had humbly begged of Christ to have declared unto them this parable, he would have opened it, and their understandings too; for the meek will he teach his way. But they were not willing to have Christ's sayings explained to them, because they would not lose this pretence for rejecting them - that they were hard sayings. (2.) They think it impossible that any one else should like it: "Who can hear it? Surely none can." Thus the scoffers at religion are ready to undertake that all the intelligent part of mankind concur with them. They conclude with great assurance that no man of sense will admit the doctrine of Christ, nor any man of spirit submit to his laws. Because they cannot bear to be so tutored, so tied up, themselves, they think none else can: Who can hear it? Thanks be to God, thousands have heard these sayings of Christ, and have found them not only easy, but pleasant, as their necessary food.

2. Christ's animadversions upon their murmurings.

(1.) He well enough knew their murmurings, Joh 6:61. Their cavils were secret in their own breasts, or whispered among themselves in a corner. But, [1.] Christ knew them; he saw them, he heard them. Note, Christ takes notice not only of the bold and open defiances that are done to his name and glory by daring sinners, but of the secret slights that are put upon his doctrine by carnal professors; he knows that which the fool saith in his heart, and cannot for shame speak out; he observes how his doctrine is resented by those to whom it is preached; who rejoice in it, and who murmur at it; who are reconciled to it, and bow before it, and who quarrel with it, and rebel against it, though ever so secretly. [2.] He knew it in himself, not by any information given him, nor any external indication of the thing, but by his own divine omniscience. He knew it not as the prophets, by a divine revelation made to him (that which the prophets desired to know was sometimes hid from them, as Kg2 4:27), but by a divine knowledge in him. He is that essential Word that discerns the thoughts of the heart, Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13. Thoughts are words to Christ; we should therefore take heed not only what we say and do, but what we think.

(2.) He well enough knew how to answer them: "Doth this offend you? Is this a stumbling-block to you?" See how people by their own wilful mistakes create offences to themselves: they take offence where there is none given, and even make it where there is nothing to make it of. Note, We may justly wonder that so much offence should be taken at the doctrine of Christ for so little cause. Christ speaks of it here with wonder: "Doth this offend you?" Now, in answer to those who condemned his doctrine as intricate and obscure (Si non vis intelligi, debes negligi - If you are unwilling to be understood, you ought to be neglected),

[1.] He gives them a hint of his ascension into heaven, as that which would give an irresistible evidence of the truth of his doctrine (Joh 6:62): What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? And what then? First, "If I should tell you of that, surely it would much more offend you, and you would think my pretensions too high indeed. If this be so hard a saying that you cannot hear it, how will you digest it when I tell you of my returning to heaven, whence I came down?" See Joh 3:12. Those who stumble at smaller difficulties should consider how they will get over greater. Secondly, "When you see the Son of man ascend, this will much more offend you, for then my body will be less capable of being eaten by you in that gross sense wherein you now understand it;" so Dr. Whitby. Or, Thirdly, "When you see that, or hear it from those that shall see it, surely then you will be satisfied. You think I take too much upon me when I say, I came down from heaven, for it was with this that you quarrelled (Joh 6:42); but will you think so when you see me return to heaven?" If he ascended, certainly he descended, Eph 4:9, Eph 4:10. Christ did often refer himself thus to subsequent proofs, as Joh 1:50, Joh 1:51; Joh 2:14; Mat 12:40; Mat 26:64. Let us wait awhile, till the mystery of God shall be finished, and then we shall see that there was no reason to be offended at any of Christ's sayings.

[2.] He gives them a general key to this and all such parabolical discourses, teaching them that they are to be understood spiritually, and not after a corporal and carnal manner: It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, Joh 6:63. As it is in the natural body, the animal spirits quicken and enliven it, and without these the most nourishing food would profit nothing (what would the body be the better for bread, if it were not quickened and animated by the spirit), so it is with the soul. First, The bare participation of ordinances, unless the Spirit of God work with them, and quicken the soul by them, profits nothing; the word and ordinances, if the Spirit works with them, are as food to a living man, if not, they are as food to a dead man. Even the flesh of Christ, the sacrifice for sin, will avail us nothing unless the blessed Spirit quicken our souls thereby, and enforce the powerful influences of his death upon us, till we by his grace are planted together in the likeness of it. Secondly, The doctrine of eating Christ's flesh and drinking his blood, if it be understood literally, profits nothing, but rather leads us into mistakes and prejudices; but the spiritual sense or meaning of it quickens the soul, makes it alive and lively; for so it follows: The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. To eat the flesh of Christ! this is a hard saying, but to believe that Christ died for me, to derive from that doctrine strength and comfort in my approaches to God, my oppositions to sin and preparations for a future state, this is the spirit and life of that saying, and, construing it thus, it is an excellent saying. The reason why men dislike Christ's sayings if because they mistake them. The literal sense of a parable does us no good, we are never the wiser for it, but the spiritual meaning is instructive. Thirdly, The flesh profits nothing - those that are in the flesh (so some understand it), that are under the power of a carnal mind, profit not by Christ's discourses; but the Spirit quickeneth - those that have the Spirit, that are spiritual, are quickened and enlivened by them; for they are received ad modum recipientis - so as to correspond with the state of the receiver's mind. They found fault with Christ's sayings, whereas the fault was in themselves; it is only to sensual minds that spiritual things are senseless and sapless, spiritual minds relish them; see Co1 2:14, Co1 2:15.

[3.] He gives them an intimation of his knowledge of them, and that he had expected no better from them, though they called themselves his disciples, Joh 6:64, Joh 6:65. Now was fulfilled that of the prophet, speaking of Christ and his doctrine (Isa 53:1), Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Both these Christ here takes notice of.

First, They did not believe his report: "There are some of you who said you would leave all to follow me who yet believe not;" and this was the reason why the word preached did not profit them, because it was not mixed with faith, Heb 4:2. They did not believe him to be the Messiah, else they would have acquiesced in the doctrine he preached, and not have quarrelled with it, though there were some things in it dark, and hard to be understood. Oportet discentum credere - Young beginners in learning must take things upon their teacher's word. Note, 1. Among those who are nominal Christians, there are many who are real infidels. 2. The unbelief of hypocrites, before it discovers itself to the world, is naked and open before the eyes of Christ. He knew from the beginning who they were of the multitudes that followed him that believed, and who of the twelve should betray him; he knew from the beginning of their acquaintance with him, and attendance on him, when they were in the hottest pang of their zeal, who were sincere, as Nathanael (Joh 1:47), and who were not. Before they distinguished themselves by an overt act, he could infallibly distinguish who believed and who did not, whose love was counterfeit and whose cordial. We may gather hence, (1.) That the apostasy of those who have long made a plausible profession of religion is a certain proof of their constant hypocrisy, and that from the beginning they believed not, but is not a proof of the possibility of the total and final apostasy of any true believers: such revolts are not to be called the fall of real saints, but the discovery of pretended ones; see Jo1 2:19. Stella cadens non stella fuit - The star that falls never was a star. (2.) That it is Christ's prerogative to know the heart; he knows who they are that believe not, but dissemble in their profession, and yet continues them room in his church, the use of his ordinances, and the credit of his name, and does not discover them in this world, unless they by their own wickedness discover themselves; because such is the constitution of his visible church, and the discovering day is yet to come. But, if we pretend to judge men's hearts, we step into Christ's throne, and anticipate his judgment. We are often deceived in men, and see cause to change our sentiments of them; but this we are sure of, that Christ knows all men, and his judgment is according to truth.

Secondly, The reason why they did not believe his report was because the arm of the Lord was not revealed to them (Joh 6:65): Therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me, except it be given unto him of my Father; referring to Joh 6:44. Christ therefore could not but know who believed and who did not, because faith is the gift and work of God, and all his Father's gifts and works could not but be known to him, for they all passed through his hands. There he had said that none could come to him, except the Father draw him; here he saith, except it be given him of my Father, which shows that God draws souls by giving them grace and strength, and a heart to come, without which, such is the moral impotency of man, in his fallen state, that he cannot come.

3. We have here their final apostasy from Christ hereupon: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him, Joh 6:66. When we admit into our minds hard thoughts of the word and works of Christ, and conceive a secret dislike, and are willing to hear insinuations tending to their reproach, we are then entering into temptation; it is as the letting forth of water; it is looking back, which, if infinite mercy prevent not, will end in drawing back; therefore Obsta principiis - Take heed of the beginnings of apostasy. (1.) See here the backsliding of these disciples. Many of them went back to their houses, and families, and callings, which they had left for a time to follow him; went back, one to his farm and another to his merchandise; went back, as Orpah did, to their people, and to their gods, Rut 1:15. They had entered themselves in Christ's school, but they went back, did not only play truant for once, but took leave of him and his doctrine for ever. Note, The apostasy of Christ's disciples from him, though really a strange thing, yet has been such a common thing that we need not be surprised at it. Here were many that went back. It is often so; when some backslide many backslide with them; the disease is infectious. (2.) The occasion of this backsliding: From that time, from the time that Christ preached this comfortable doctrine, that he is the bread of life, and that those who by faith feed upon him shall live by him (which, one would think, should have engaged them to cleave more closely to him) - from that time they withdrew. Note, The corrupt and wicked heart of man often makes that an occasion of offence which is indeed matter of the greatest comfort. Christ foresaw that they would thus take offence at what he said, and yet he said it. That which is the undoubted word and truth of Christ must be faithfully delivered, whoever may be offended at it. Men's humours must be captivated to God's word, and not God's word accommodated to men's humours. (3.) The degree of their apostasy: They walked no more with him, returned no more to him and attended no more upon his ministry. It is hard for those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted the good word of God, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, Heb 6:4-6.

II. This discourse was to others a savour of life unto life. Many went back, but, thanks be to God, all did not; even then the twelve stuck to him. Though the faith of some be overthrown, yet the foundation of God stands sure. Observe here,

1. The affectionate question which Christ put to the twelve (Joh 6:67): Will you also go away? He saith nothing to those who went back. If the unbelieving depart, let them depart; it was no great loss of those whom he never had; lightly come, lightly go; but he takes this occasion to speak to the twelve, to confirm them, and by trying their stedfastness the more to fix them: Will you also go away? (1.) "It is at your choice whether you will or no; if you will forsake me, now is the time, when so many do: it is an hour of temptation; if you will go back, go now." Note, Christ will detain none with him against their wills; his soldiers are volunteers, not pressed men. The twelve had now had time enough to try how they liked Christ and his doctrine, and that none of them might afterwards say that they were trepanned into discipleship, and if it were to do again they would not do it, he here allows them a power of revocation, and leaves them at their liberty; as Jos 24:15; Rut 1:15. (2.) "It is at your peril if you do go away." If there was any secret inclination in the heart of any of them to depart from him, he stops it with this awakening question, "Wilt you also go away? Think not that you hang at as loose an end as they did, and may go away as easily as they could. They have not been so intimate with me as you have been, nor received so many favours from me; they are gone, but will you also go? Remember your character, and say, Whatever others do, we will never go away. Should such a man as I flee?" Neh 6:11. Note, The nearer we have been to Christ and the longer we have been with him, the more engagements we have laid ourselves under to him, the greater will be our sin if we desert him. (3.) "I have reason to think you will not. Will you go away? No, I have faster hold of you than so; I hope better things of you (Heb 6:9), for you are they that have continued with me," Luk 22:28. When the apostasy of some is a grief to the Lord Jesus, the constancy of others is so much the more his honour, and he is pleased with it accordingly. Christ and believers know one another too well to part upon every displeasure.

2. The believing reply which Peter, in the name of the rest, made to this question, Joh 6:68, Joh 6:69. Christ put the question to them, as Joshua put Israel to their choice whom they would serve, with design to draw out from them a promise to adhere to him, and it had the like effect. Nay, but we will serve the Lord, Peter was upon all occasions the mouth of the rest, not so much because he had more of his Master's ear than they, but because he had more tongue of his own; and what he said was sometimes approved and sometimes reprimanded (Mat 16:17, Mat 16:23) - the common lot of those who are swift to speak. This here was well said, admirably well; and probably he said it by the direction, and with the express assent, of his fellow-disciples; at least he knew their mind, and spoke the sense of them all, and did not except Judas, for we must hope the best.

(1.) Here is a good resolution to adhere to Christ, and so expressed as to intimate that they would not entertain the least thought of leaving him: "Lord, to whom shall we go? It were folly to go from thee, unless we knew where to better ourselves; no, Lord, we like our choice too well to change." Note, Those who leave Christ would do well to consider to whom they will go, and whether they can expect to find rest and peace any where but in him. See Psa 73:27, Psa 73:28; Hos 2:9. "Whither shall we go? Shall we make our court to the world? It will certainly deceive us. Shall we return to sin? It will certainly destroy us. Shall we leave the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns?" The disciples resolve to continue their pursuit of life and happiness, and will have a guide to it, and will adhere to Christ as their guide, for they can never have a better. "Shall we go to the heathen philosophers, and become their disciples? They are become vain in their imaginations, and, professing themselves to be wise in other things, are become fools in religion. Shall we go to the scribes and Pharisees, and sit at their feet? What good can they do us who have made void the commandments of God by their traditions? Shall we go to Moses? He will send us back again to thee. Therefore, if ever we find the way to happiness, it must be in following thee." Note, Christ's holy religion appears to great advantage when it is compared with other institutions, for then it will be seen how far it excels them all. Let those who find fault with this religion find a better before they quit it. A divine teacher we must have; can we find a better than Christ? A divine revelation we cannot be without; if the scripture be not such a one, where else may we look for it?

(2.) Here is a good reason for this resolution. It was not the inconsiderate resolve of a blind affection, but the result of mature deliberation. The disciples were resolved never to go away from Christ,

[1.] Because of the advantage they promised themselves by him: Thou hast the words of eternal life. They themselves did not fully understand Christ's discourse, for as yet the doctrine of the cross was a riddle to them; but in the general they were satisfied that he had the words of eternal life, that is, First, That the word of his doctrine showed the way to eternal life, set it before us, and directed us what to do, that we might inherit it. Secondly, That the word of his determination must confer eternal life. His having the words of eternal life is the same with his having power to give eternal life to as many as were given him, Joh 17:2. He had in the foregoing discourse assured eternal life to his followers; these disciples fastened upon this plain saying, and therefore resolved to stick to him, when the others overlooked this, and fastened upon the hard sayings, and therefore forsook him. Though we cannot account for every mystery, every obscurity, in Christ's doctrine, yet we know, in the general, that it is the word of eternal life, and therefore must live and die by it; for if we forsake Christ we forsake our own mercies.

[2.] Because of the assurance they had concerning him (Joh 6:69): We believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ. if he be the promised Messiah, he must bring in an everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24), and therefore has the words of eternal life, for righteousness reigns to eternal life, Rom 5:21. observe, First, The doctrine they believed: that this Jesus was the Messiah promised to the fathers and expected by them, and that he was not a mere man, but the Son of the living God, the same to whom God had said, Thou art my Son, Psa 2:7. In times of temptation to apostasy it is good to have recourse to our first principles, and stick to them; and, if we faithfully abide by that which is past dispute, we shall be the better able both to find and to keep the truth in matters of doubtful disputation. Secondly, The degree of their faith: it rose up to a full assurance: We are sure. We have known it by experience; this is the best knowledge. We should take occasion from others' wavering to be so much the more established, especially in that which is the present truth. When we have so strong a faith in the gospel of Christ as boldly to venture our souls upon it, knowing whom we have believed, then, and not till then, we shall be willing to venture every thing else for it.

3. The melancholy remark which our Lord Jesus made upon this reply of Peter's (Joh 6:70, Joh 6:71): Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? And the evangelist tells us whom he meant: he spoke of Judas Iscariot. Peter had undertaken for them all that they would be faithful to their Master. Now Christ does not condemn his charity (it is always good to hope the best), but he tacitly corrects his confidence. We must not be too sure concerning any. God knows those that are his; we do not. Observe here, (1.) Hypocrites and betrayers of Christ are no better than devils. Judas not only had a devil, but he was a devil. One of you is a false accuser; so diabolos sometimes signifies (Ti2 3:3); and it is probable that Judas, when he sold his Master to the chief priests, represented him to them as a bad man, to justify himself in what he did. But I rather take it as we read it: He is a devil, a devil incarnate, a fallen apostle, as the devil a fallen angel. He is Satan, an adversary, an enemy to Christ. He is Abaddon, and Apollyon, a son of perdition. He was of his father the devil, did his lusts, was in his interests, as Cain, Jo1 3:12. Those whose bodies were possessed by the devil are never called devils (demoniacs, but not devils); but Judas, into whose heart Satan entered, and filled it, is called a devil. (2.) Many that are seeming saints are real devils. Judas had as fair an outside as many of the apostles; his venom was, like that of the serpent, covered with a fine skin. He cast out devils, and appeared an enemy to the devil's kingdom, and yet was himself a devil all the while. Not only he will be one shortly, but he is one now. It is strange, and to be wondered at; Christ speaks of it with wonder: Have not I? It is sad, and to be lamented, that ever Christianity should be made a cloak to diabolism. (3.) The disguises of hypocrites, however they may deceive men, and put a cheat upon them, cannot deceive Christ, for his piercing eye sees through them. He can call those devils that call themselves Christians, like the prophet's greeting to Jeroboam's wife, when she came to him in masquerade (Kg1 14:6): Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam. Christ's divine sight, far better than any double sight, can see spirits. (4.) There are those who are chosen by Christ to special services who yet prove false to him: I have chosen you to the apostleship, for it is expressly said that Judas was not chosen to eternal life (Joh 13:18), and yet one of you is a devil. Note, Advancement to places of honour and trust in the church is no certain evidence of saving grace. We have prophesied in thy name. (5.) In the most select societies on this side heaven it is no new thing to meet with those that are corrupt. Of the twelve that were chosen to an intimate conversation with an incarnate Deity, as great an honour and privilege as ever men were chosen to, one was an incarnate devil. The historian lays an emphasis upon this, that Judas was one of the twelve that were so dignified and distinguished. Let us not reject and unchurch the twelve because one of them is a devil, nor say that they are all cheats and hypocrites because one of them was so; let those that are so bear the blame, and not those who, while they are undiscovered, incorporate with them. There is a society within the veil into which no unclean thing shall enter, a church of first-born, in which are no false brethren.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh_6:60-65

Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?

The defection of the disciples

I. OCCASIONED BY A HARD SAYING (Joh_6:60). It was unquestionably hard (Joh_6:51; Joh_6:53; Joh_6:57).

1. Difficult to understand even for Christians (Joh_14:17; Joh_14:26; 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27), but especially for unbelievers (1Co_2:14).

2. Difficult to receive, demanding humility, self-abnegation (Mat_16:24), whole-hearted surrender (Rom_13:14; Eph_4:22; Col_3:8), none of which is easy for the unrenewed.

3. Difficult to practice.

II. ARRESTED BY A HIGH SAYING (Joh_6:62).

1. Retrospective (Joh_3:13; Joh_6:38; Joh_6:51; Joh_7:29; Joh_8:38); referring to His preexistent condition.

2. Predictive; foretelling His ascension.

3. Anticipative; cherishing the hope that His exaltation would resolve difficulties (Mat_28:17).

III. INSTRUCTED BY A DEEP SAVING (Joh_6:63).

1. The announcement of a truth. Only spirit can impart life.

2. The removal of an error that literal eating was meant.

3. The illustration of a principle. Wrong understanding a stumbling block; right understanding of the same words life.

IV. WARNED BY A SHARP SAYING (Joh_6:64).

1. Discriminating. Christ, then as now, distinguished between those who believed and those who believed not.

2. Informing. Christ, then as now, showed that He was perfectly acquainted with characters, works, and ways (Rev_2:2; Rev_2:9; Rev_2:13; Rev_2:19; Rev_3:1; Rev_3:8; Rev_3:15) of His professed followers.

3. Reproving of their guilt. Christ never regarded unbelief as an accident, misfortune, disease, but always as a sin.

4. Sorrowing (Mar_3:5; Mar_6:6).

V. EXPLAINED BY A DARK SAYING (Joh_6:65).

1. A rebuke to their self-sufficiency. They deemed themselves competent to pronounce judgment on Christ, to gauge His utterances, to estimate the value of His teaching, and to determine His position in Gods kingdom. Christ assures them they could do none of these things without Divine assistance.

2. A declaration of their irreligion. They were yet in their uurenewed condition, and therefore incapable of receiving the truth.

Learn

1. The sin of stumbling at Christs words.

2. To wait for further light on religious difficulties.

3. The danger of literalism.

4. The propriety of self-examination as to whether one truly believes.

5. The possibility of repeating the sin of Judas.

6. The need of daily prayer for Divine grace. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Hard sayings

I. For the SELF-RIGHTEOUS to feel he deserves eternal punishment.

II. For the LAODICEAN increased in goods to feel that he is a beggar.

III. For the WISE AND PRUDENT to believe he is a fool.

IV. For the MAN OF PLEASURE to believe that he is selling his soul for ashes.

V. For THE CARNAL MIND to know that he must owe his salvation to the blood of a crucified Galilean. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

Doth this offend you?--

A certain test

I. OF WHAT IS GOOD? That which the unrenewed hate to do.

II. OF WHAT IS TRUE? That which the unrenewed hate to hear.

III. OF WHAT IS HEAVENLY? That which the unrenewed hate to become. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life

Christianity a vital force

Christianity is a latent spiritual power, designed and adapted to translate men from a lower and physical life into a higher and spiritual life. If this be so

I. WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN LIFE?

1. It is the life of the human soul, derived not from natural laws, or the incitements of society, nor from any human causes, but distinctively a life derived from God; not an occasional excitement, but the indwelling of a Divine influence.

2. Under such influence is developed a personal experience differing from any that could otherwise be developed, which awakens in us a likeness to Christs nature and habits in

(1) Purity;

(2) Love;

(3) Activity.

II. SOME GOOD REASONS WHY ONE SHOULD ENTER IN THIS LIFE. Most have some conception of a character. With one it is wealth, with another learning, with others art, eloquence, home life. But these are not you. There is a living, controlling being behind all achievements: character is the fashioning of that. I urge you, therefore, to accept the Christian ideal--the man in Christ Jesus--because

1. The Divine power, as a living influence on your souls, is the only reconstructive force adequate to your needs. Those ideals which men form, exterior to themselves, have no transforming power upon their dispositions. What man needs is a perfect control of his animal nature, his selfishness, pride, sensuality.

2. This developing power reveals the only harmonizing elements around which all of a mans nature can reorganize itself. Love is the only point of crystallization.

(1) Crown pride and there are many faculties which say, I will not bow down to pride.

(2) Crown vanity, and many parts of the soul will say, I am higher than thou.

(3) Crown reason, and many feelings will rebel.

(4) Crown beauty, and there is not one faculty that under stress of trial will cry, O Beauty, save me!

(5) Crown conscience, and many faculties indeed will follow; but conscience is a despot.

(6) But crown love, and all will acknowledge his supremacy.

3. It is only in a character fashioned on the model of Christ that we can find relief from things seemingly or really antagonistic.

(1) Aspiration and content.

(2) Conscience and peace.

(3) Hope and fear.

4. The Divine power in the soul harmonizes man with his fellow-men.

5. This Divine power gives to the whole economy of life and flow of events a reconciliation which nothing else can. Christ is not working for results that appear in this life alone, but for those that shall appear in the life hereafter. You do not care what befalls you, so long as you have the certainty that the end of it shall be right. This redeems death from being a catastrophe, and exalts it into a victory.

Conclusion: If this view be correct

1. There is a very great difference between reasoning upon Christianity and testing Christianity. No man is competent to determine questions in regard to it until he has put his whole soul into the attitude of Christ. There are multitudes asking for arguments; Christ says, The words that I speak unto you, etc.

2. Is there not reason to fear that many persons who believe themselves to be safe come far short of true Christian life? No man is a Christian, whatever his morality, etc., until Christs Spirit dwells in him.

3. No man can come into this position by his own power. But open your heart and the Spirit will come in with His vivific power. (H. W. Beecher.)

The influence of the Spirit

I. EXPLAIN THE PASSAGE. When it is said, It is the spirit that quickeneth

1. It is not to be understood of the Holy Spirit exclusively, for the same work is ascribed to the Father and the Son.

2. The spirit does not quicken universally. The wind bloweth where it listeth; we read of those who were full of the Holy Ghost, and of others which were sensual, not having the Spirit.

3. Yet the Holy Spirit quickens all who are quickened (Eze_37:7; Rom_8:12).

4. He quickens men in their several stations: ministers to preach with clearness and fervour; private Christians to hear, receive, and do.

5. Though the Spirit can do this immediately, yet He generally does it by the use of means, and principally by the Word.

II. THE SUBJECTS OF HIS INFLUENCE He quickens

1. Our attention, as in the case of Lydia.

2. Our judgment (Isa_4:4). He leads us to distinguish between good and evil, to discern the reality of grace.

3. The will, to choose, embrace and cleave to that which is good.

4. The conscience, stirring it up to the faithful and vigorous discharge of duty.

5. The memory, to receive and retain Divine truths, to recollect Gods dealings with us and our conduct towards Him.

6. The gifts of ministers and private Christians, that they may be ready in prayer, preaching, and conference, and also those graces which He has implanted--fear, love, faith, zeal, etc.

7. The dead bodies of the saints (Rom_8:11).

III. THE ENDS FOR WHICH HE QUICKENS.

1. To consideration, without which we should be utterly thoughtless about our spiritual concerns (Jer_23:20).

2. To useful inquiries.

3. To fervent and importunate prayer.

4. To holiness of heart and newness of life.

5. To all acts of evangelical obedience.

IV. IMPROVEMENT.

1. Learn the proper Deity of the Spirit. He that doeth the works of Deity must have the perfections of Deity.

2. See why Gods words and ordinances have no greater efficacy. The most persuasive address is not sufficient without the influence of the Spirit.

3. Let us earnestly pray for His quickenings.

4. Let us join in the use of means.

5. Grieve not the Spirit. (B. Beddome, M. A.)

The necessity of the Holy Spirit

However learned, godly, and eloquent a minister may be, he is nothing without the Holy Spirit. The bell in the steeple may be well hung, fairly fashioned, and of soundest metal, but it is dumb until the ringer makes it speak; and in like manner the preacher has no voice of quickening for the dead in sin, of comfort for living saints until the Divine Spirit gives him a gracious pull, and bids him speak with power. Hence the need of prayer from both preacher and hearers. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The Spirit a Quickener

I. IN THE PHYSICAL CREATION. He brooded over dark chaos and quickened it into life, order, beauty, and fruitfulness. This vitalizing power has never left His realm.

II. IN THE MORAL WORLD. The inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. He implants instincts and affinities that respond to the touch of God.

III. IN THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. He inspired poets to sing, prophets to teach, judges to rule, and warriors to fight.

IV. IN THE REVELATION OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH. Eye and ear are inadequate vehicles.

1. He was the efficient Agent in the Incarnation, and from that hour until now if Christ is born in a soul, the hope of glory, it is by the same Spirit.

2. Like a dove He descended on Jesus at His baptism, fitting Him for all His future work.

3. In bringing Him from the dead (Rom_8:11), and in the impartation of Pentecostal power the same fact is corroborated.

4. The personal and local Christ departed, for it was expedient for Him to give way for the Spirit. The dull eyes of the disciples were opened, and they were transformed into heroes of faith.

5. Your bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, therefore your dust will be re-animated by Deity. Conclusion: The highest need of the Church is the overjoying power of the Holy Ghost. (J. S. Kennard, D. D.)

The Spirit and Life

I. THE LIFE OF THE SOUL IS DERIVED FROM A SPIRITUAL SOURCE.

1. The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is the Communicator of life

(1) Physical (Gen_1:2; Psa_33:6).

(2) Intellectual (Pro_8:12; Pro_8:14; Job_32:8).

(3) Spiritual (Act_2:36-38).

2. The spirit of the new man inspires him to attend to the things that are appropriate to his life, and so he grows in grace (Rom_8:5).

3. A careful consideration of the ordinances of Christianity, anal their underlying truths, are conducive to spiritual results.

(1) Baptism, the symbol of death to sin, separation from the world, and the commencement of a new life.

(2) The Lords Supper, the memorial of the sublimest self-sacrifice.

(3) The Scriptures, which contain the will of God and eternal life.

II. LIFE FROM THE FLESH IS IMPOSSIBLE (Gal_5:17).

1. However imperceptible the path of a soul under the control of the unregenerate senses is a downward one (Rom_8:8).

2. The fleshly spirit divided Jewish society into hypocritical formalists and icy sceptics; and the same spirit has continued to work in priestly corruptions and theoretical and practical infidelity within and without the Church.

III. THE POWER OF CHRISTS WORDS IS SPIRITUAL.

1. They are spiritual in their nature.

2. They are life-giving. Flesh and Spirit.

(1) Flesh here means the outward and sensuous, which appeals to the eye, ear, etc. There was much of this in the old Jewish faith; but whenever they rested in it, it profited them nothing.

(2) Spirit does not mean the Holy Spirit, but the inward part of religion which the soul understands and lives upon.

I. THE UNPROFITABLE FLESH. The external observances of religion in themselves.

1. The real Presence. If Christ were really eaten carnally, then He could only profit carnally like other food. Does grace operate through the stomach? On the contrary, the real reception consists in belief in the Incarnation, trust in the death, realization of the spiritual indwelling of Christ.

2. Baptism. The putting away of the filth of the flesh is nought, the answer of a good conscience towards God is the vitality of baptism.

3. Apostolical succession. The mere fleshly connection between bishop and bishop, established by successive laying on of hands, supposing it could be proved, is valueless: the apostles successors are those who preach apostolic doctrine, display apostolic piety, and do apostolic work.

4. The value of ornate worship must be determined by what in it is sensuous and what spiritual.

5. The same applies to architecture and symbolism: do they gratify a carnal taste or minister to spiritual life?

6. Eloquence often excites the same emotions as the theatre is as sounding brass, and only profits as the vehicle of a truth that moves the inmost soul.

7. Revivalistic movements frequently engender a mere carnal enthusiasm, and, unless their excitements stir the spirits of a man towards God and holiness, they are based upon a lie.

8. Prayer and ordinances of any kind as mere matters of form and habit profit nothing. Their power lies wholly in their spirituality.

II. THE QUICKENING SPIRIT.

1. It is the spiritual nature which quickens a man. He who has not received this from the Holy Ghost is dead in trespasses and sins.

2. This quickens all ordinances and makes them vitalizing means of grace.

3. So with spiritual acts and moral duties.

4. This spiritual nature has for its Author the Divine Father and is the actual operation of the Holy Spirit.

5. The mark by which it is discovered is faith. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Spirit and life

I. THE WORDS OF CHRIST PERTAIN TO AND REVEAL THE SPIRITUAL AND ETERNAL.

1. Spirit and life are closely related to each other. The Spirit originates, the life perpetuates.

2. Words strictly speaking cannot be Spirit; they represent or manifest; as Christ said, I am the Door. The words of man express his thoughts and reveal his inmost being, How easy to detect the style of Johnson, Macaulay, or Carlyle. The words of Christ reveal His Spirit of wisdom and love.

3. Valuable as are the works of literature, etc., Christs words do not pertain to them. They are of a prior and higher realm. They do not teach science, but they give light and life to men that he may pursue the most profound investigations. Hence under the shadow of the Cross alone flourish literary and scientific institutions of the highest character.

II. THE WORDS OF CHRIST ARE ACCOMPANIED BY AN UNSEEN SPIRITUAL POWER, which is indissolubly joined to them, and thus they become spirit and life. How the spiritual can be joined to the material we cant explain. Where are the cords which bind this earth to yonder sun? What is it that gives the minute seed the power to develop? Life. But what is life? The chemist says a grain of wheat is so much carbon, etc. I ask him to make one, and he takes the various substances in their due proportions, and the result looks like a grain of wheat. It has the same colour, weight, form. But plant it--it will not grow. But the grain that God made, though kept in Egypts catacombs for three thousand years, will, because it has life. So with the words of Christ. They are like other words, but God has joined with them a spirit and life which affect the heart of man.

III. THE POWER OF THIS WORD IS SEEN IN THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE.

1. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made. The great worlds are Gods conceptions materialized that finite minds may catch a glimpse of His almightiness and wisdom. Think of all this as the product of a word and who can estimate its power?

2. More than this, He upholdeth all things by the word of His power.

3. Great as is the creation and preservation of worlds there is something higher in life. The one is passive the other active. In Christ was life and He breathed into man a living soul. His Word perpetuates natural life, and how numberless are its forms and varieties! What endless gradations in the character of that life from the worm to the man, from life for a moment to life everlasting.

IV. The text, however, refers to SPIRITUAL LIFE AND DECLARES THAT THE WORDS OF CHRIST ORIGINATE AND PERPETUATE THAT LIFE.

1. Were there no such declaration we might infer it. Unless needed to awaken mans sensibilities, why did God stoop to Mount Sinai and Christ to the manger and the cross?

2. Everywhere religion is spoken of as life. Ezekiels mystic river and valley of dry bones.

3. The words of great men have frequently given to nations increasing influences: Homer, Aristotle, etc., for Greece; Bacon, Shakespeare, etc., for England. But if God speaks, how powerful must His words effect the hearts and lives of men! Even fancied Divine words, as of the oracle to Alexander or of the imaginings of Joan of Arc inspired almost irresistible power.

4. During His earthly abode, Jesus showed how truly His words were spirit and life. He healed the sick and raised the dead with a word. And how simple were His words, apparently without any effort. How quietly he calmed the winds and multiplied the bread. And His words reached spirit as well as matter. Whether is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee, etc.

5. The same power accompanies His words as spoken by His servants. They have revolutionized the world, Idolatry disappeared before the Bible. The Cross was exalted above the eagle. Great reforms have always been preceded and accompanied by the study of Gods Word. (Bp. M. Simpson.)

Christs great ideas

Christ came into the world to introduce three great ideas, into which all His teachings could be classified.

I. The first was simple in form and sublime in sentiment; He came into the world to teach THAT GOD IS OUR FATHER, and urged that idea continually. Over all things was a sustaining power, and this over the most precious of all truths in regard to the being of God. The only prayer Christ ever taught began, Our Father which art in heaven.

II. THE IDEAL OF A TRUE MAN. No one else ever did that or had ever attempted it--even in outline. He could tell us what a true man was because He was Himself a True Man. Eighteen centuries have criticised that life only to render it more radiant and excellent.

III. THE PERFECTIBILITY OF SINFUL MAN. No one had so clearly shown that man was a sinful being, or been more outspoken in regard to the awful consequences of wrong doing, and yet He affirms that fallen humanity can be lifted up and made holy. Sin was an obstacle to eternal life, but Jesus Christ had pledged Himself to remove it. He promises ,that if we will come to Him our sins shall be forgiven; that they shall be flung far from remembrance into the backward depths of space. His words will live and never change. (H. M. Scudder, D. D.)

The honesty of Jesus

1. Christs teaching was honesty itself compared with that of the scribes; and now no book has a ring so decidedly clear and genuine as the New Testament.

2. Yet honesty is not the whole of the significant quality of Christs life and words. A man may be quite honest but greatly mistaken. It is a great thing to have a candid mind not obscured by prejudice or broken by passion.

3. But this is not enough. The position of a mirror in the light, and its angle towards the object to be seen in it is as important as its clearness. We cannot hope to gain true representations if we persist in holding ourselves at a wrong personal angle towards truths. But Jesus always kept Himself in a relation so true to men that in His thoughts and judgments, all objects are represented in their simple reality. His words are not only clear and honest, they correspond to the truth of things.

I. Let me DESCRIBE THIS CHARACTERISTIC.

1. In the conversations of Jesus. He quietly brushes aside Jewish notions and personal deceptions and touches with saving power the real lives of the people. They might for years have concealed their real self, but when Jesus came they became real. It was so with Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, the publican, the Pharisee, the disciples.

2. In the teachings of Jesus.

(1) They went to the moral core of their being, and insisted on their becoming true men at heart.

(2) His doctrine of God has the same practical relation to human life. The doctrine of Jesus means real righteousness, justice, love, in God as in man. He did not come to teach a comprehensive system of philosophy, a subtle science of nature, or some perfect scheme of divinity. He represented God on earth, and realized in His life and death the whole eternal disposition of God towards man.

II. Some pertinent APPLICATIONS OF THIS TRUTH. Two facts are forcing themselves on our notice.

1. Ecclesiastical Christianity and dogmatic Christianity have less influence to-day than ever they had.

2. Never has a real Christianity of real life been more honoured or loved.

3. It requires therefore no prophet to predict that the church of the future will not be altogether the church of the past. It will not be a church of vested ecclesiastical pretension or formal and one sided orthodoxism, but a gospel of the Son of God in the hearts of men, preached through the conduct of life.

4. If we have any doubt as to what this real gospel is we may find it in the New Testament, if we read it with a willing mind; but to practice it means something much harder than coming to church, singing hymns or discussing doctrines. It is Christ loved, chosen, and obeyed as Saviour and Lord. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 6:60. Many of his disciples — That is, of those who followed him as such; when they had heard this — Had heard the above discourse; said, This is a hard saying — A strange discourse, a doctrine difficult to be believed. Hard indeed it must have appeared, as it does still appear, to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely even to the apostles in private. Who can hear it — Who can understand, believe, and obey it? “Most of the metaphors in this discourse (and particularly that of food, to signify doctrine, and of eating and drinking, to signify believing) were abundantly easy, and might have been understood at the very first by the Jews, being found in their Scriptures, and used in their schools. Only, not being able to comprehend what he meant by his flesh, they took the whole literally, and were so offended at the thought of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, a thing not only prohibited by Moses, but repugnant to the customs of all civilized nations, that many of them who were his disciples, when they heard it, said it was absurd.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 15

THE CRISIS IN GALILEE.

Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? But Jesus knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble? What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where He was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray Him. And He said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it be given unto him of the Father. Upon this many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away? Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God. Jesus answered them, Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now He spake of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve.- Joh_6:60-71.

The situation in which our Lord found Himself at this stage of His career is full of pathos. He began His ministry in Judæa, and His success there seemed to be all that could be desired. But it soon became apparent that the crowds who followed Him misunderstood or wilfully ignored His purpose. They resorted to Him chiefly, if not solely, for material advantages and political ends. He was in danger of being accounted the most skilful metropolitan physician; or in the greater danger of being courted by politicians as a likely popular leader, who might be used as a revolutionary flag or party cry. He, therefore, left Jerusalem at an early period in His ministry and betook Himself to Galilee; and now, after some months preaching and mingling with the people, things have worked round in Galilee to precisely the same point as they had reached in Judæa. Great crowds are following Him to be healed and to be fed, while the politically inclined have at last made a distinct effort to make Him a king, to force Him into a collision with the authorities. His proper work is in danger of being lost sight of. He finds it necessary to sift the crowds who follow Him. And He does so by addressing them in terms which can be acceptable only to truly spiritual men-by plainly assuring them that He was among them, not to give them political privileges and the bread that perisheth, but the bread that endureth. They found Him to be what they would call an impracticable dreamer. They profess to go away because they cannot understand Him; but they understand Him well enough to see He is not the person for their purposes. They seek earth, and heaven is thrust upon them. They turn away disappointed, and many walk no more with Him. The great crowd melts away, and He is left with His original following of twelve men. His months of teaching and toil seem to have gone for nothing. It might seem doubtful if even the twelve would be faithful-if any result of His work would remain, if any would cordially and lovingly adhere to Him.

One cannot, I think, view this situation without perceiving how analogous it is in many respects to the aspect of things in our own day. In all ages of course this sifting of the followers of Christ goes on. There are experiences common to all times and places which test mens attachment to Christ. But in our own day exceptional causes are producing a considerable diminution of the numbers who follow Christ, or at least are altering considerably the grounds on which they profess to follow Him. When one views the defection of men of influence, of thought, of learning, of earnest and devout spirit, one cannot but wonder what is to be the end of this, and how far it is to extend. One cannot but look anxiously at those who seem to remain, and to say, Will ye also go away? No doubt such times of sifting are of eminent service in winnowing out the true from the mistaken followers, and in summoning all men to revise the reason of their attachment to Christ. When we see men of serious mind and of great attainments deliberately abandoning the Christian position, we cannot but anxiously inquire whether we are right in maintaining that position. When the question comes to us, as in Providence it does, Will ye also go away? we must have our answer ready.

The answer of Peter clearly shows what it was that bound the faithful few to Jesus; and in his answer three reasons for faith may be discerned.

1. Jesus satisfied their deepest spiritual wants. They had found in Him provision for their whole nature, and had learned the truth of His saying, He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst. They could now say, Thou hast the words of eternal life. His words made water into wine, and five loaves into five thousand, but His words did what was far more to their purpose,-they fed their spirit. His words brought them nearer to God, promised them eternal life, and began it within them. From the lips of Jesus had actually fallen words which quickened within them a new life-a life which they recognised as eternal, as lifting them up into another world. These words of His had given them new thoughts about God and about righteousness, they had stirred hopes and feelings of an altogether new kind. And this spiritual life was more to them than anything else. No doubt these men, like their neighbours, had their faults, their private ambitions, their hopes. Peter could not forget that he had left all for his Master, and often thought of his home, his plentiful table, his family, when wandering about with Jesus. They all, probably, had an expectation that their abandonment of their occupations would not be wholly without compensation in this life, and that prominent position and worldly advantage awaited them. Still, when they discovered that these were mistaken expectations, they did not grumble nor go back, for such were not their chief reasons for following Jesus. It was chiefly by His appeal to their spiritual leanings that He attracted them. It was rather for eternal life than for present advantage they attached themselves to Him. They found more of God in Him than elsewhere, and listening to Him they found themselves better men than before; and having experienced that His words were spirit and life (Joh_6:63), they could not now abandon Him though all the world did so.

So is it always. When Christ sifts His followers those remain who have spiritual tastes and wants. The spiritual man, the man who would rather be like God than be rich, whose efforts after worldly advancement are not half as earnest and sustained as His efforts after spiritual health; the man, in short, who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and lets other things be added or not to this prime requisite, cleaves to Christ because there is that in Christ which satisfies his tastes and gives him the life he chiefly desires. There is in Christ a suitableness to the wants of men who live in view of God and eternity, and who seek to adjust themselves, not only to the world around them so as to be comfortable and successful in it, but also to the things unseen, to the permanent laws which are to govern human beings and human affairs throughout eternity. Such men find in Christ that which enables them to adjust themselves to things eternal. They find in Christ just that revelation of God, and that reconcilement to Him, and that help to abiding in Him, which they need. They cannot imagine a time, they cannot picture to themselves a state of society, in which the words and teaching of Jesus would not be the safest guide and the highest law. Life eternal, life for men as men, is taught by Him; not professional life, not the life of a religious rule that must pass away, not life for this world only, but life eternal, life such as men everywhere and always ought to live-this is apprehended by Him and explained by Him; and power and desire to live it is quickened within men by His words. Coming into His presence we recognise the assuredness of perfect knowledge, the simplicity of perfect truth. That which outrides all such critical times as the disciples were now passing through is true spirituality of mind. The man who is bent on nourishing his spirit to life everlasting simply cannot dispense with what he finds in Christ.

We need not then greatly fear for our own faith if we are sure that we covet the words of eternal life more than the path to worldly advantage. Still less need we tremble for the faith of others if we know that their tastes are spiritual, their leanings Godward. Parents are naturally anxious about their childrens faith, and fear it may be endangered by the advances of science or by the old props of faith being shaken. Such anxiety is in great measure misdirected. Let parents see to it that their children grow up with a preference for purity, unselfishness, truth, unworldliness; let parents set before their children an example of real preference for things spiritual, and let them with Gods aid cultivate in their children an appetite for what is heavenly, a craving to live on terms with God and with conscience; and this appetite will infallibly lead them to Christ. Does Christ supply the wants of our spirits? Can He show us the way to eternal life? Have men found in Him all needed help to godly living? Have the most spiritual and ardent of men been precisely those who have most clearly seen their need of Him, and who have found in Him everything to satisfy and feed their own spiritual ardour? Has He, that is to say, the words of eternal life? Is He the Person to whom every man must listen if he would find his way to God and a happy eternity? Then, depend upon it, men will believe in Christ in every generation, and none the less firmly because their attention is called off from non-essential and external evidences to the simple sufficiency of Christ.

2. Peter was convinced not only that Jesus had the words of eternal life, but that no one else had. To whom shall we go? Peter had not an exhaustive knowledge of all sources of human wisdom; but speaking from his own experience he affirmed his conviction that it was useless to seek life eternal anywhere else than in Jesus. And it seems equally hopeless still to look to any other quarter for sufficient teaching, for words that are spirit and life. Where but in Christ do we find a God we can accept as God? Where but in Him do we find that which can not only encourage men striving after virtue, but also reclaim the vicious? To put anyone alongside of Christ as a revealer of God, as a pattern of virtue, as a Saviour of men, is absurd. There is that in Him which we recognise as not merely superior, but of another kind. So that those who reject Him, or set Him on a level with other teachers, have first of all to reject the chief part of what His contemporaries were struck with and reported, and to fashion a Christ of their own.

And it should be observed that Christ claims this exceptional homage from His people. The following He requires is not a mere acceptance of His teaching alongside of other teaching, nor an acceptance of His teaching apart from Himself, as if a man should listen to Him and go home and try to practise what he has heard; but He requires men to form a connection with Himself as their King and Life, as that One who can alone give them strength to obey Him. To call Him the Teacher, as if this were His sole or chief title, is to mislead.

The alternative, then, as Peter saw, was Christ or nothing. And every day it is becoming clearer that this is the alternative, that between Christianity and the blankest Atheism there is no middle place. Indeed we may say that between Christianity, with its supernatural facts, and materialism, which admits of no supernatural at all, and of nothing spiritual and immortal, there is no logical standing-ground. A mans choice lies between these two-either Christ with His claims in all their fulness, or a material universe working out its life under the impulse of some inscrutable force. There are of course men who are neither Christians nor materialists; but that is because they have not yet found their intellectual resting-place. As soon as they obey reason, they will travel to one or other of these extremes, for between the two is no logical standing-ground. If there is a God, then there seems nothing incredible, nothing even very surprising, in Christianity. Christianity becomes merely the flower or fruit for which the world exists, the element in the worlds history which gives meaning and glory to the whole of it: without Christianity and all it involves the world lacks interest of the highest kind. If a man finds he cannot admit the possibility of such an interference in the worlds monotonous way as the Incarnation implies, it is because there is in his mind an Atheistic tendency, a tendency to make the laws of the world more than the Creator; to make the world itself God, the highest thing. The Atheists position is thoroughgoing and logical; and against the Atheist the man who professes to believe in a Personal God and yet denies miracle is helpless. And in point of fact Atheistic writers are rapidly sweeping the field of all other antagonists, and the intermediate positions between Christianity and Atheism are becoming daily more untenable.

Any one then who is offended at the supernatural in Christianity, and is disposed to turn away and walk no more with Christ, should view the alternative, and consider what it is with which he must throw in his lot. To retain what is called the spirit of Christ, and reject all that is miraculous and above our present comprehension, is to commit oneself to a path which naturally leads to disbelief in God. We must choose between Christ as He stands in the gospels, claiming to be Divine, rising from the dead and now alive; and a world in which there is no God manifest in the flesh or anywhere else, a world that has come into being no one knows how or whence, and that is running on no one knows whither, unguided by any intelligence outside of itself, wholly governed by laws which have grown out of some impersonal force of which nobody can give any good account. Difficult as it is to believe in Christ, it is surely still more difficult to believe in the only alternative, a world wholly material, in which matter rules and spirit is a mere accident of no account. If there are inexplicable things in the gospel, there are also in us and around us facts wholly inexplicable on the atheistic theory. If the Christian must be content to wait for the solution of many mysteries, so certainly must the materialist be content to leave unsolved many of the most important problems of human life.[26]

3. The third reason which Peter assigns for the unalterable loyalty of the Twelve is expressed in the words, We have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God. By this he probably meant that he and the rest had come to be convinced that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the consecrated One, whom God had set apart to this office. The same expression was used by the demoniac in the synagogue at Capernaum.[27] But although the idea of consecration to an office rather than the idea of personal holiness is prominent in the word, it may very well have been the personal holiness of their Master which bore in upon the minds of the disciples that He was indeed the Messiah. By His life with them from day to day He revealed God to them. They had seen Him in a great variety of circumstances. They had seen His compassion for every form of sorrow and misery, and His regardlessness of self; they had marked His behaviour when offered a crown and when threatened with the cross; they had seen Him at table in gay company, and they had seen Him fasting and in houses of mourning, in danger, in vehement discussion, in retirement; and in all circumstances and scenes they had found Him holy, so holy that to turn from Him they felt would be to turn from God.

The emphasis with which they affirm their conviction is remarkable: We have believed and we know. It is as if they felt, We may be doubtful of much and ignorant of much, but this at least we are sure of. We see men leaving our company who are fit to instruct and guide us in most matters, but they do not know our Lord as we do. What they have said has disturbed our minds and has caused us to revise our beliefs, but we return to our old position, We have believed and we know. It may be true that devils have been cast out by the prince of the devils; we do not know. But a stainless life is more miraculous and Divine than the casting out of devils; it is more unknown in the world, referrible to no freak of nature, accomplished by no sleight of hand or jugglery, but due only to the presence of God. Here we have not the sign or evidence of the thing but the thing itself, God not using man as an external agent for operating upon the material world, but God present in the man, living in his life, one with him.

Upon our faith nothing is more influential than the holiness of Christ. Nothing is more certainly Divine. Nothing is more characteristic of God-not His power, not His wisdom, not even His eternal Being. He who in his own person and life represents to us the holiness of God is more certainly superhuman than he who represents Gods power. A power to work miracles has often been delegated to men, but holiness cannot be so delegated. It belongs to character, to the mans self; it is a thing of nature, of will, and of habit; a king may give to his ambassador ample powers, he may fill his hands with credentials, and load him with gifts which shall be acceptable to the monarch to whom he is sent, but he cannot give him a tact he does not naturally possess, a courtesy he has not acquired by dealing with other princes, nor the influence of wise and magnanimous words, if these do not inherently belong to the ambassadors self. So the holiness of Christ was even more convincing than His power or His message. It was such a holiness as caused the disciples to feel that He was not a mere messenger. His holiness revealed Himself as well as Him that sent Him; and the self that was thus revealed they felt to be more than human. When, therefore, their faith was tried by seeing the multitudes abandon their Lord, they were thrown back on their surest ground of confidence in Him; and that surest ground was not the miracles which all had seen, but the consecrated and perfect life which was known to them.

To ourselves, then, I say, by the circumstances of our time this question comes, Will ye also go away? Will you be like the rest, or will exceptional fidelity be found in you? Is your attachment to Christ so based on personal conviction, is it so truly the growth of your own experience, and so little a mere echo of popular opinion, that you say in your heart, Though all men should forsake Thee, yet will not I? It is difficult to resist the current of thought and opinion that prevails around us; difficult to dispute or even question the opinion of men who have been our teachers, and who have first awakened our mind to see the majesty of truth and the beauty of the universe; it is difficult to choose our own way, and thus tacitly condemn the choice and the way of men we know to be purer in life, and in every essential respect better than ourselves. And yet, perhaps, it is well that we are thus compelled to make up our own mind, to examine the claims of Christ for ourselves, and so follow Him with the resolution that comes of personal conviction. It is this our Lord desires. He does not compel nor hasten our decision. He does not upbraid His followers for their serious misunderstandings of His person. He allows them to be familiar with Him even while labouring under many misconceptions, because He knows that these misconceptions will most surely pass away in His society and by further acquaintance with Him. One thing He insists upon, one thing He asks from us-that we follow Him. We may only have a vague impression that He is quite different from all else we know; we may be doubtful, as yet, in what sense some of the highest titles are ascribed to Him; we may be quite mistaken about the significance of certain important parts of His life; we may disagree among ourselves regarding the nature of His kingdom and regarding the conditions of entrance into it; but, if we follow Him, if we join our fortunes to His, and wish nothing better than to be within the sound of His voice and to do His bidding; if we truly love Him, and find that He has taken a place in our life we cannot ever give to another; if we are conscious that our future lies His way, and that we must in heart abide with Him, then all our slowness to understand is patiently dealt with, all our underrating of His real dignity is forgiven us, and we are led on in His company to perfect conformity, perfect union, and perfect knowledge.

All that He desires, then, is, in the first place, not something we cannot give, not a belief in certain truths about which doubt may reasonably be entertained, not an acknowledgment of facts that are as yet beyond our vision; but, that we follow Him, that we be in this world as He was in it. Shall we, then, let Him pursue His way alone, shall we do nothing to forward His purposes, shall we show no sympathy, address no word to Him, and pretend not to hear when He speaks to us? To drag ourselves along murmuring, doubting, making difficulties, a mere dead weight on our Leader, this is not to follow as He desires to be followed. To take our own way in the main, and only appear here and there on the road He has taken; to be always trying to combine the pursuit of our own private ends with the pursuance of His ends, is not to follow. Had we seen these men asking leave of absence two or three times a month to go and look after the fishing, even though they promised to overtake their Master somewhere on the road, we should scarcely have recognised them as His followers. Had we found them, on reaching a village at night, leaving Him, and preferring to spend their leisure with His enemies, we should have been inclined to ask an explanation of conduct so inconsistent. Yet is not our own following very much of this kind? Is there not too little of the following that says, What is enough for the Lord is enough for me; His aims are enough for me? Is there not too little of the following that springs from a frank and genuine dealing with the Lord from day to day, and from a conscientious desire to meet His will with us, and satisfy His idea of how we should follow Him? May we each have the peace and joy of the man who, when this question, Will ye also go away? comes to him, quickly and from the heart responds, I will never forsake Thee.

[26] Those who turn their backs on the Eternal Son must understand, then, that they are on their way to a creed which denies an Eternal Father, and puts in His place an unconscious impersonal soul of nature, a dead central force, of which all the forces in the universe are manifestations; or an unknown, unknowable cause, remaining to be postulated after the series of physical causes has been traced as far back as science can go; and which robs mortal man of the hope that the seed sown in the churchyard shall one day be reaped in the harvest of the resurrection.... Your so-called Christianity independent of dogmas is but the evening twilight of faith, the light which lingers in the spiritual atmosphere after the sun of truth has gone down.-Dr. Bruce, Training of the Twelve, p. 154, a book to which I am greatly indebted here and elsewhere.

[27] Mar_1:24.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

6:60-61 Jesus’ language (6:53-58) was shocking, offensive (see Gen 9:4-5), and hard to understand for his disciples, just as it was to the crowd. Were they to take him literally? How would they eat his flesh? Jesus’ answer is in John 6:63.

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

Joh 6:60. Σκληρός, hard) There are no doubt many things which the carnal nature cannot but shrink from in this discourse, which is, if considered by itself, a most delightful one. His discourse is difficult, not hard [harsh]: whereby the evil are deterred; but genuine disciples are proved, disciplined, and established. Hardly anywhere can you see a passage where the Lord spake more sublimely, even when apart from the multitude with His apostles. Let us receive it with pious admiration!—τὶς δύναται, who can) Very differently Peter thought, Joh 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”—αὐτοῦ, Him [Engl. Vers. it]) They seem to mean this: who can hear Jesus? Comp. ch. Joh 10:20, “He hath a devil, and is mad. Why hear ye Him?” This is the head and crowning point of their misery, to refuse to hear.

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

Joh_6:60. Πολλοὶ οὖν] Many therefore, for in Capernaum He had many adherents (μαθηταί is here used in the wider sense, not of the apostles; see Joh_6:67).

σκληρός] hard, harsh, the opposite of μαλακός (Plat. Legg. x. p. 892 B; Prot. p. 331 D);in a moral sense, Mat_25:24; Sir_3:24; Sirach 3 Esdr. 2:27; Soph. Oed. R. 36, Aj. 1340; Plat. Locr. p. 104 C, and often;of speeches, comp. Soph. Oed. C. 778: σκληρὰ μαλθακῶς λέγων; Gen_42:7; Gen_21:11, Aq.; Pro_15:1. It here denotes what causes offence (σκανδαλίζωι, Joh_6:61), does not comply with preconceived views, but is directly antagonistic, the relation in which the assurances and demands of Jesus from Joh_6:51 stood to the wishes and hopes of His disciples.[246] He had, indeed, from Joh_6:51 onwards, required that they should eat His flesh (which was to be slain), and drink His blood (which was to be shed), in order to have life. By thiswhether they rightly understood it or notthey felt sorely perplexed and wounded. The bloody death, which was certainly the condition of the eating and drinking, was an offence to them, just as in that lay the lasting offence of the Jews afterwards, Joh_12:34; 1Co_1:23; Gal_5:11; comp. also Mat_16:21 ff. The explanation difficult to be understood (Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus, Grotius, Olshausen) lies neither in the word nor in the context, for τίς δύναται, κ.τ.λ. affirms: it is a thing not to be borne, to listen to the discourse, such insuperable offence does it excite. Tholuck, following early writers, finds the offence to be that Jesus seemed arrogant in making life dependent upon participation in His flesh and blood. But it was not the arrogant, it was the lowly and suffering, Messiah that was a σκάνδαλον to the Jew. As little did the offence consist in the requirement that Christ would be all, and they were to be nothing (Hengstenberg), which, indeed, is only an abstract inference subsequently drawn from His discourse.

[246] Not as if they had understood the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood in a literal and material sense (hence the expression manducatio Capernaitica), and so nonsensical an affirmation had provoked them (Augustine, Grotius, Lücke, Keim, and many others). The speakers are μαθηταί; but not even the Ἰουδαῖοι, ver. 52, so grossly misunderstood Jesus.

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 6:60-71 . The crisis in Galilee .

Joh 6:60 . Πολλοὶ οὖν … ἀκούειν ; many of His disciples [ i.e. , of the larger and more loosely attached circle of His followers, as distinct from the Twelve, Joh 6:67 ] having heard the foregoing utterances, said Σκληρός ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ λόγος . Σκληρός is rather “hard to receive” than “hard to understand”. Abraham found the command to cast out Hagar σκληρός , Gen 21:11 . Euripides opposes σκληρʼ ἀληθῆ , distasteful, uncompromising truths to μαλθακὰ ψευδή , flattering falsehoods ( Frag. , 75, Wetstein). The λόγος referred to was especially, Joh 6:58 , οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς as is proved by Joh 6:61-62 . But this must be taken together with His statement in Joh 6:51 , that He would give His flesh, and the development of this idea in Joh 6:53-54 , τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν ; “who can listen to Him?”

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

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 60-65. The very difficulty in the way of understanding, which has just been referred to, caused the division between the temporary and permanent disciples—the true and the false ones—which needed to be made. The temporary and false ones went back because of the hard saying. The principal question connected with these verses is that of Joh 6:62. With reference to this question the following points may be noticed: (a) If λόγος of Joh 6:60 refers, as the connection would seem to show that it does, to what had been said about eating His flesh, etc., the point now in mind must be the same: If you are offended by this which I have said, how will it be if, etc.—(b) The words “ascending where I was before” are most naturally contrasted with His present condition, and thus refer to the time of and after His ascension.—

(c) The 63d verse shows that the purpose of Jesus was to bring the minds of these professed disciples to interpret His words spiritually, and to see that His teaching and the life of which He spoke were wholly in the spiritual sphere.— (d) Joh 6:64-65 present again the absence of faith and of the divine drawing as the foundation of their whole difficulty.—In view of these considerations two conclusions may be drawn: (x) that the thought of Joh 6:62 is of a greater difficulty in the matter of comprehension, when He should have passed away from earth to heaven, rather than a less one; and (y) that the cause of this greater difficulty would be the entire removal of the earthly and physical element. Like the discourse which precedes, therefore, these verses are intended to be a demand upon these hearers to rise into a higher sphere of thought, and place themselves face to face with the Divine truth.

Ver. 60. “After having heard him speak thus, many of his disciples said. This saying is a hard one; who can listen to it?”

According to de Wette and Meyer, this exclamation relates to the idea of the bloody death of the Messiah, the great cause of stumbling to the Jews, which had been implied in the preceding declarations; according to Weiss, to the overthrow of all their Messianic hopes which resulted from all these discourses; according to Tholuck and Hengstenberg, to the apparent pride with which Jesus connected the salvation of the world with His own person, according to several of the older writers, Lampe and others, to the claim of Jesus to be a personage who had come down from heaven.

Undoubtedly all these ideas are expressed in what precedes; but the most striking idea was evidently the obligation to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have life, and there was here indeed, also, the most paradoxical and most offensive idea. Grossly understood, it might indeed be revolting even to the disciples, and might force from them the cry: This is going too far; He talks irrationally! The term μαθηταί, disciples, here denotes persons who attached themselves to Jesus, who followed Him habitually, and who had even broken off from their ordinary occupations in order to accompany Him (Joh 6:66); it was from among them that Jesus had, a short time before, chosen the Twelve. Some of them were afterwards found undoubtedly among the five hundred of whom Paul speaks (1Co 15:6). Σκληρός (properly, hard, tough), does not here signify obscure (Chrysostom, Grotius, Olshausen), but difficult to receive. They think they understand it, but they cannot admit it.— Τίς δύναται, “who has power to ...?”— ᾿Ακούειν, “to listen calmly, without stopping the ears.”

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.

The reason of man cannot comprehend the uniting of Christ and his members: therefore let it worship and reverence that which is better than itself.

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

Many . . . of his disciples--His pretty constant followers, though an outer circle of them.

hard saying--not merely harsh, but insufferable, as the word often means in the Old Testament.

who can hear--submit to listen to it.

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 60. Many therefore of his disciples] So it appears that he had many more than the twelve, who constantly accompanied him.

This is a hard saying; who can hear it?] Who can digest such doctrine as this? It is intolerable: it is impracticable. There is a similar saving in Euripides, to the σκληρος λογος of the evangelist. Ποτερα θελεις σοι μαλθακα ψευδη λεγω, η σκληρ' αληθη, φραζε; Tell me whether thou wouldst that I should speak unto thee, a SOFT LIE, or the HARSH TRUTH? The wicked word of a lying world is in general better received than the holy word of the God of truth!

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

60. This is a harsh saying. On the contrary, it was in their hearts, and not in the saying, that the harshness lay. But out of the word of God the reprobate are thus accustomed to form stones to dash themselves upon, and when, by their hardened obstinacy, they rush against Christ, they complain that his saying is harsh, which ought rather to have softened them. For whoever shall submit with true humility to the doctrine of Christ will find nothing in it harsh or disagreeable; but to unbelievers, who oppose themselves with obstinacy, it will be a hammer which breaketh the rocks in pieces, as the Prophet calls it, (Jeremiah 23:29.) But since the same hardness is natural to us all, if we judge of the doctrine of Christ according to our feelings, his words will be just so many strange and incredible statements. All that remains for us, therefore, is, that every one commit himself to the guidance of the Spirit, that he may inscribe on our hearts what otherwise would never have even entered into our ears.

Who can hear it? Here we see the awful wickedness of unbelief; for they who impiously and basely reject the doctrine of salvation, not satisfied with excusing themselves, have the hardihood to put the Son of God in their room as if he were guilty, and to declare that he is unworthy of being heard Thus, in the present day, Papists not only reject the Gospel in a daring manner, but likewise break out into horrid blasphemies, that it may not be thought that they have no good reason for opposing God. And, indeed, since they desire darkness, we need not wonder if Satan deceives them by strange monsters, where there is nothing but the open highway. But that which they, through their rage and fury, cannot endure will not only be tolerable to modest and teachable persons, but will support and comfort them. Yet the reprobate, by their obstinate slanders, will do nothing more than bring down on themselves more dreadful condemnation.

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.

(60) Many therefore of his disciples—i.e., of the disciples in the wider sense; those who more or less fully were accepting His teaching, and were regarded as His followers. From Joh_6:64, the Apostles would seem to be included in the more general designation. In Joh_6:67 they are separately addressed.

This is an hard saying; who can hear it?—i.e., not hard to be understood, but hard to hear, a stumbling-block in the way of their faith. For the word itself, comp. Mat_25:24. His meaning was, indeed, not read by them, but the literal meaning was painfully clear, and one to which they will not listen. (Comp. Joh_10:20.) They do not raise any formal objection to Him, but friends and companions who had talked together of the Teacher and His teaching before, talk again now, and many of them who have followed Him up to this point can follow Him no more.

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

60–71. Opposite Results of the Discourse

60. Many therefore of his disciples] Including many more than the Apostles.

This is a hard saying] Or, Hard is this speech. Not hard to understand, but hard to accept. The word for ‘hard’ means originally ‘dry,’ and so ‘rough;’ and then in a moral sense, ‘rough, harsh, offensive.’ Nabal the churl has this epithet, 1Sa_25:3; and the slothful servant in the parable of the Talents calls his master a ‘hard man,’ Mat_25:24. Here the meaning is: ‘This is a repulsive speech; who can listen to it?’ It was the notion of eating flesh and drinking blood that specially scandalized them. See on Joh_5:47.

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.

What and if ye shall see the son of man,.... Meaning himself then in a state of humiliation, and was taken for a mere man, though the true Messiah, and Son of God:

ascend up where he was before? for Christ was, he existed before his incarnation, and he was in heaven before; not in his human nature, but as the word and Son of God: and he intimates, that when he had done his work, and the will of his Father, for which he came down from heaven, by the assumption of the human nature, he should ascend up thither again; and which would be seen, as it was, by his apostles; and which would prove that he came down from heaven, as he had asserted; see Eph 4:9; and that his flesh and blood were not to be eaten in a corporeal sense; in which sense they understood him: and he hereby suggests, that if it was difficult to receive, and hard to be understood, and was surprising and incredible, that he should come down from heaven, as bread, to be eat and fed upon; it would be much more so to them to be told, that he who was in so mean and lowly a form, should ascend up into heaven.

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

60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

Ver. 60. This is an hard saying] The hardness was in themselves, not in the word; but that must bear the blame howsoever; as she in Seneca that was stricken with sudden blindness, and then cried out of the light. A hypocrite is not discovered, till upon some critical point. If it come to a matter of cost, he cries, "What needs this waste?" if of pains, "This is an hard saying."

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.

Many of his disciples - The word “disciple” means “learner.” It was applied to the followers of Christ because they were taught by him. It does not imply, of necessity, that those to whom it was given were real Christians, but simply that they were under his teaching, and were professed learners in his school. See Mat 17:16; Mar 2:18; Joh 9:28; Mat 10:24. It is doubtless used in this sense here. It is, however, often applied to those who are real Christians.

This is an hard saying - The word “hard” here means “offensive, disagreeable” - that which they could not bear. Some have understood it to mean “difficult to be understood,” but this meaning does not suit the connection. The doctrine which he delivered was opposed to their prejudices; it seemed to be absurd, and they therefore rejected it.

Saying - Rather doctrine or speech - Greek, λόγος logos. It does not refer to any particular part of the discourse, but includes the whole.

Who can hear it? - That is, who can hear it patiently - who can stay and listen to such doctrine or believe it. The effect of this is stated in Joh 6:66. The doctrines which Jesus taught that were so offensive appear to have been:

1.That he was superior to Moses.

2.That God would save all that he had chosen and those only.

3.That he said he was the bread that came from heaven.

4.That it was necessary to partake of that; that it was necessary that an atonement should be made, and that they should be saved by that.

These doctrines have always been among the most offensive that men have been called on to believe, and many, rather than trust in them, have chosen to draw back to perdition.

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

His disciples; his followers, not those that were his disciples indeed, but in name; for many followed him that did not believe in him; and many (in a sense) believed, to whom he did not commit himself, Joh 2:23,24. Now, many of these disciples, having heard these sayings, and being no way able to comprehend so great mysteries, nor having their eyes opened by the Spirit of illumination, said within themselves, These are sayings hard, or impossible, to be understood; who is able to hear or to understand them? or who is able to bear them?

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

60. His disciples—Second of the three groups distinguished in our note on Joh_6:34. These are in the background thus far, though they may have mingled somewhat with group first in the foreground. See note on 52. They are distinct from group third, 67, his

apostles. Hard saying—Not so much hard to understand as hard to accept, or willingly receive. The hard points especially were two: 1. The good offered by Christ was not as they desired, temporal, but eternal. It was not a miraculous feeding and earthly emolument, but a glorious resurrection upon their faith in him. 2. The awful interpretation that the unscrupulous Jews, (Joh_6:41,) in the foreground, were able to put upon his last mysterious sentences, made them feel (before its day) the offence of the cross. It was not, perhaps, what they so much felt themselves, as what others might say! Such discourse, say they, so persevered in, was unnecessary; it was imprudent; it was susceptible of a very horrible interpretation. Henceforth the current will be against us if we make ourselves responsible for him.

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

Vers. 60-71. (4) The twofold effect of these instructions.

Vers. 60-66. (a) The unbelief of some, which led him to predict the ascension of his humanity to where HE was before.

Many therefore of his disciples. This word is used in a wider sense than of the twelve. The synoptists tell us of much labour already done in this neighbourhood, and a considerable harvest of souls reaped, so far as a general acknowledgement of his claims and an expectation that he was the Messiah was involved: When they heard it (i.e. the entire instruction given in open synagogue), said, This is a hard saying (logov cannot or need not be confined to any one of these rhmata , but may easily embrace them all). The discourse was sclhrov , harsh, the opposite of malakov , a word used by the unprofitable servant of his master. (Mat_25:24) It does not mean "hard to be understood," but difficult to accept or be content with. Luthardt here reiterates his conviction that there is no reference in it to the death of Christ, and that the disciples were simply unwilling to accept the idea of his supreme claims and his constant return to the. eating and drinking of his flesh and blood and identification of this eternal life with participation in his corporality. But surely Meyer and Wcstcott, etc., are far nearer to the truth in referring the expression to their unwillingness to accept the bloody death of their Messiah, or to entrust themselves to a Divine Personality whose most distinctive act would be his sacrifice. This was the gross and terrible offence which made the cross a stumbling block to the Jew. (see Joh_12:34 1Co_1:23 Gal_5:11 Mat 16:2l, etc.) Who is able to listen to him? This seems not only to be the possible, but most probable, translation of the genitive with akouw . It was the language, not of "the Jews," but of "the disciples.

Vers. 60-65. The growth of discontent and unbelief among his disciples.

The burden of this teaching was too heavy to be borne, even by those disciples who followed Jesus for a time, without realizing the true conditions of discipleship.

I THE TRIAL OF THEIR FAITH. "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a bard saying; who can hear it?

1. The saying was hard, not in the sense of being obscure, but Offensive to their judgment.

2. The ground of offence was not

(1) the bloody death of the Messiah;

(2) nor the assumption on the part of Jesus that the salvation of the world was linked with his Person;

(3) nor his claim to have come down from heaven;

(4) but the statement of the paramount need of their eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of man. To their vulgar perception it was repugnant to the moral sense.

II OUR LORD"S ANSWER TO THEIR MURMURED DISCONTENT, "Doth this offend you? What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?

1. The words refer to his ascension up to heaven after death.

2. It would then be manifest in what sense they would eat his flesh, for it would be impossible to eat it, in their gross sense, after his ascension to glory. 3, The words imply Christ"s previous existence in heaven.

3. Explanation of the nature of the life-giving principle. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.

(1) Jesus asserts that the life-giving principle is not in the material substance of the flesh, which would, indeed, after the ascension, be beyond the reach of man.

(2) The great reality was the forthcoming Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit.

(a) Thus the second Adam becomes a quickening Spirit. (1Co_15:45)

(b) Thus the words that Jesus speaks "are spirit and life," that is, they are "the pure incarnation of the Spirit and the vehicle of life.

III YET SOME ARE INACCESSIBLE TO THIS LIFE-GIVING INFLUENCE BY THEIR UNBELIEF. "But there are some of you that believe not.

1. They were, perhaps, but a small portion of his disciples.

2. Yet their unbelief was no surprise to one gifted with omniscience. "For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him.

3. The explanation of their unbelief. "Therefore I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

(1) It is impossible to understand the interaction of the will of God and the will of man in salvation;

(2) yet our Lord asserts plainly that, as faith is God"s gift, the salvation of man depends upon his efficacious grace.

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

This is a hard saying - Hard to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely, even to the apostles in private. Who can hear - Endure it?

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

The Offense of Many Disciples.

The disciples murmur:

v. 60. Many; therefore, of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

v. 61. When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?

v. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?

v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

v. 64. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.

v. 65. And He said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me except it were given unto him of My Father.

Jesus had gained a considerable number of followers in Galilee, people that were impressed by both His miracles and His preaching and therefore accompanied Him whenever they could. These people had just heard a wonderful sermon out of the mouth of the Master. They had learned that faith is a work which God desires of men, that Jesus is the Life-giver, that the grace of God in Jesus is universal, and that none is refused, that there is an election of grace by which those whom God has given to the Son become partakers of grace, that faith is the work of God, who draws to Christ, that the believers are sure of everlasting life, that there is. a communication of attributes in the Godhead, between the divine and the human nature of Christ, that there is a mystical union between God the Father and the Son and the believers. And yet some of these disciples were offended; they found it a hard saying that the flesh and blood of this Man should give eternal life. Although this dissatisfied grumbling went on softly, the omniscience of Jesus was fully aware of it and reproved them for taking occasion to stumble here. When they would see Him ascending up into heaven, whence He came down, they would either be scandalized all the more, or they would have to be convinced. They would then also understand what He meant when He said that they must eat His flesh. For then His weak human nature would be forever imbued and united with the divine, with the heavenly manner of being. His flesh would then be spiritualized, His body glorified. That would be a visible proof of the fact that He came down from heaven. Knowing this in advance, they should remember that the spirit is life-giving, that the flesh has no value. All material, earthly things that are associated with the sinful derivation of man have no value for spiritual life. Only the words of Christ contain spirit and life, give spirit and life. The reason for their offense therefore lies not in Christ, but in themselves: they do not believe. They depend upon human, carnal understanding and interpretation of everything about them; they refuse to let the Spirit of Christ work in them and give them life. From the beginning Jesus knew that there were such among His disciples as were no true believers; from the beginning also He knew His betrayer. Once more His earnest warning goes out to them that coming to Christ is a gift of God, who draws men through faith. The fact that there are unbelievers even among the disciples is a proof of the statement that no one can believe unless he receives this faith from the Father, that no one can come to Christ by his own strength: Note: The result of freely preaching the Gospel of the unvarnished truth as to the way of salvation is ever this, that some are offended; their self-righteousness and pride rebels against the idea of free grace and mercy.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The foregoing doctrine of our Saviour concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood, sounded so very harshly, that not only the common multitude, but some of them that had been his disciples, that is, who had given up their names to follow him, could not tell how to hear it. Our Saviour reproves their unjust stumbling at what he had said, that he was the bread which came down from heaven, and tells them, that his ascension into heaven should prove the truth of his descent from heaven.

Hence we learn, That Christ’s arising from the grave, and ascending into heaven, by his own power is an evident proof of his godhead, and that he really came down from heaven, in respect of his divine nature, which condescended to be clothed with our flesh. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

60. This is a hard saying. About eating and drinking his flesh and blood. They could not comprehend.

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.

Connecting Statement:

Some of the disciples ask a question and Jesus responds, as he continues speaking to the crowd.

who can accept it?

This remark appears in the form of a question to emphasize that the disciples have difficulty understanding what Jesus has said. AT: "no one can accept it!" or "it is too hard to understand!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

Does this offend you?

"Does this shock you?" or "Does this upset you?"

translationWords

disciple

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

60–71. OPPOSITE RESULTS OF THE DISCOURSE

60. τῶν μαθητῶν. The more numerous and somewhat shifting company out of which He had chosen the Twelve.

σκληρός. Not hard to understand, but hard to accept: σκληρός (σκέλλω) means originally ‘dry’ and so ‘rough;’ and then in a moral sense, ‘rough, harsh, offensive.’ Nabal the churl is σκληρός, 1Sa 25:3, and the slothful servant calls his master σκληρός, Mat 25:24. Λόγος is more than ‘saying’ (Joh 3:34), and might cover the whole discourse. It was the notion of eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood that specially scandalized them: ‘This is a revolting speech; who can listen to it?’ Αὐτοῦ no doubt refers to λόγος; but it might mean ‘listen to Him.’ A century later we find the same thing: not only opponents but disciples take offence at such language; “They abstain from (public) thanksgiving and prayer, because they allow not that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which Flesh suffered for our sins.” Ignat. Smyrn. VI.

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.

60-65.] Murmuring of some of the disciples at the foregoing discourse, and the answer of Jesus to them.

60.] Lampe shews by reff. and other citations that σκληρός “non tam absurditatem quam impietatem designat.” It seems clear that it was not the difficulty, so much as the strangeness of the saying, which scandalized them. It is the whole discourse,—the turn given to it,—the doctrine of the Bread of Life,—the giving His Flesh and Blood to eat,—at which they take offence.

ἀκούειν, to listen to it—‘Who can stay and hear such sayings as this?’ not, ‘to understand it.’

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

60. πολλοί … ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, including not only the Twelve, but those who were of the outer circle of His disciples (cf. v. 66, and see on 2:2); some of the Twelve may well have been among those who found the teaching of Jesus difficult.

σκληρός is not used again by Jn. It means harsh or hard to accept (not difficult to understand; cf. Gen 21:11 and Jud 1:15).

ὁ λόγος οὗτος (אBCDLNW) is the true order of words, as against οὗτος ὁ λ. of the rec. text (Θ).

τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν; “Who can hear it?” sc. with appreciation. See on 3:8 for ἀκούειν with a genitive in Jn.

What was the harsh or strange saying to which the questioners referred? The whole of the discourse from v. 51 onward might be described as σκληρός, and exception had already been taken to the early part of it: “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” (v. 52). But the statement which seems to be challenged particularly at this point is v. 58, “This is the Bread which descended from heaven; he that eats of it shall live for ever”; which Jesus applied to Himself, for the answer in v. 62 has special reference to it. What would they say if they saw Him ascending? Flesh cannot give eternal life, but spirit can do so.

For λόγος used of a saying of Jesus, see on 2:22.

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

Hard [σκληρος] . See on Mt 25:24; Jude 1:14. According to the Greek order, hard is this saying.

Hear it [αυτου ακουειν] . Aujtou may be rendered Him, but this is not probable. Hear means a docile hearing, with a view to receiving what is heard. Compare Joh 10:3, 16, 27; Joh 12:47; Joh 18:37.

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