John 6:63

6:63 The essence of Jesus’ gift is found in the Holy Spirit alone, not in human effort (literally the flesh). Life and understanding come through the gift of the Spirit (see 14:15-20; 20:21-22). True life can be found only when the Holy Spirit infuses human life.

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

Joh 6:63. Τὸ πνεῦμα, the spirit) It is not the Godhead alone of Christ, nor the Holy Spirit alone, which is meant, but universally the Spirit, in contradistinction to the flesh. That, which is spirit, is life-giving.—ἡ σάρξ, the flesh) His speech is not in this passage concerning the corrupt flesh, concerning which no one doubts, but that it profits nothing: nor yet does Jesus take away from His own flesh the power of giving life; otherwise He would set aside His whole discourse, just delivered, which for certain refers to His flesh, Joh 6:51; Joh 6:53-56, as also the whole mystery of the incarnation: but the sense is, mere flesh profiteth nothing, namely, such as the Jews were supposing that flesh to be, of which Jesus was speaking. Comp. 2Co 5:16, “Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.” He speaks supposing a condition, and that supposed condition an impossible one, if He were mere flesh; as also He speaks [supposing a contingency impossible to arise], Joh 6:38, as to His own will, “I came not to do Mine own will, but,” etc. Comp. note on ch. Joh 5:31; Joh 5:19; Joh 5:22. The flesh is the vehicle of all Divine life-giving virtue, in the case of Christ and of believers; and Christ, after He was put to death in the flesh, and quickened in the Spirit, especially put forth His efficacious power; 1Pe 3:18, “Christ suffered for sins—that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit;” Joh 12:24, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit;” Joh 16:7, “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.”—οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν, profiteth nothing) for quickening. Where the life is not from God, there no real profit is derived.—τὰ ῥήματα) הדברים, the words, and the things comprehended in them. The correlatives are, the words and to believe: Joh 6:64, “Some of you—believe not.”—λελαληκα, I have spoken) He does not say, I speak, but I have spoken [Engl. Vers. loses this, “I speak”]. For already they were disaffected towards [turned away from] Him, Joh 6:60-61.—πνεῦμα, spirit) although they [the words] speak of the flesh.—καί, and) and so therefore.

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

Joh_6:63-64. Instead of appending to the foregoing protasis its mournful apodosis (see on Joh_6:62), Jesus at once discovers to His disciples with lively emotion (hence also the asyndeton) the groundlessness of the offence that was taken. It is not His bodily form, the approaching surrender of which for spiritual food (Joh_6:51) was so offensive[250] to them, but His spirit that gives life; His corporeal nature was of no use towards ζωοποιεῖν. But it was just His bodily nature to which they ascribed all the value, and on which they built all their hope, instead of His life-giving Divine Spirit, i.e. the Holy Spirit given Him in all fulness by the Father (Joh_3:34), who works in believers the birth from above (Joh_3:6), and with it eternal life (comp. Rom_8:2; 2Co_3:6). Hence His death, through which His σάρξ as such would disappear, was to them so offensive a ΣΚΆΝΔΑΛΟΝ. Observe further, that He does not say ΤῸ ΠΝΕῦΜΆ ΜΟΥ and Ἡ ΣΆΡΞ ΜΟΝ, but expresses the above thought in a general statement, the personal application of which is to be to Himself. Comp. Hofmann, II. 2, p. 252. Note once again that ἡ σάρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν does not contradict what was previously said of the life-giving participation in the flesh of Jesus; for this can take place only by the appropriating of the spirit of Christ by means of faith, and apart from this it cannot take place at all. Rom_8:2; Rom_8:6; Rom_8:9; Rom_8:11; 1Co_6:17. Comp. 1Jn_3:24. The flesh, therefore, which profiteth nothing, is the flesh without the Spirit; the Spirit which quickeneth is the Spirit whose dwelling-place is the flesh, i.e. the corporeal manifestation of Christ, the corporeity which must be offered up in His atoning death (Joh_6:51), in order that believers might experience the full power of the quickening Spirit (Joh_7:39). When Harless, following Luther, understands by the flesh which profiteth nothing, the σάρξ of Christ in His humiliation, and by the quickening Spirit, the spirit which perfectly controls the flesh of the glorified Son of man, he imports the essential point in his interpretation, and this, too, in opposition to the N. T., according to which the conception of σάρξ is quite alien to the ΣῶΜΑ Τῆς ΔΌΞΗς of the Lord, Php_3:21; see 1Co_15:44-50; so that the ΣῶΜΑ ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙΚΌΝ cannot possibly be regarded as flesh pervaded by spirit (comp. 2Co_3:18). In no form is ΣΆΡΞ ever ascribed to the exalted Lord. The antithesis here is not between carnal flesh and glorified flesh, but simply between flesh and spirit. According to others, τὸ πνεῦμα is the human soul, which makes the body to have life (Beza, Fritzsche in his Nov. Opusc. p. 239). But ζωοποιοῦν must, according to the import of the preceding discourse, be taken in a Messianic sense. Others say: τὸ πνεῦμα is the spiritual participation, ἡ σάρξ the material (Tertullian, Augustine, Rupertius, Calvin, Grotius, and most others; also Olshausen, comp. Kling and Richter); but thus again the peculiar element in the exposition, viz. the partaking of the Lords Supper, is foisted in.[251] Others, interpolating in like manner, interpret τὸ πνεῦμα as the spiritual, and Ἡ ΣΆΡΞ as the unspiritual, sensuous understanding (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Mosheim, Lampe, Klee, Ammon, etc.[252]); comp. Tholuck. Others differently still.[253] Quantopere sit hic locus variis expositionibus exagitatus, vix credibile est, Beza.

τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ, κ.τ.λ.] This does not mean that we are to hold to His words instead of to His corporeal flesh (Rückert, Keim), His words which remain as a compensation to us after His death (Lücke, De Wette, B. Crusius). It stands (seeing that σάρξ has already its full antithesis in what precedes) in close connection with the following ἀλλʼ εἰσὶν ἐξ ὑμῶν τινες οἱ οὐ πιστ., and therefore a comma only is to be placed after ζωή ἐστιν. The words which I have spoken unto you (meaning the discourse in the synagogue just ended[254]), so far from containing any real ground for σκάνδαλον, are rather spirit and life, i.e. containing and revealing the divine spirit in me, and the Messianic life brought about by me; but the real guilt of the offence lies with you, for among you are many who believe not. He, namely, who does not believe in Him as the true Messiah, who secures by His death the life of the world, but expects Messianic salvation by His corporeal manifestation alone, which is not to die, but to triumph and reignto him who is such a μαθητὴς of Jesus the discourse concerning feeding upon His flesh and blood can only be a stumbling-block and an offence. And of such τινές there were πολλοί, Joh_6:60.

ἐγώ and ἐξ ὑμῶν stand in emphatic antithesis.

πνεῦμα ἐστι καὶ ζωή ἐστιν] The two predicates are thus impressively kept apart, and the designation by the substantive is fuller and more exhaustive (comp. Joh_3:6; Rom_8:10) than would be that by the adjective (πνευματικὰ καὶ ζωηρά, Euthymius Zigabenus).

ᾔδει γάρ, κ.τ.λ.] an explanation added by John himself of the preceding words, ἀλλʼ εἰσὶν, κ.τ.λ., which imply a further knowledge; comp. Joh_2:24-25.

οἳ οὐ πιστεύουσιν] result of their wavering; for they are μαθηταί, who, from an imperfect and inconstant faith, have at last come to surrender faith altogether. They had been πρόσκαιροι (Mat_13:21). Here we have οὐ with the relative, then μή with the participle accompanied by the article (Joh_3:18), both quite regular.

ἐξ ἀρχῆς] neither from the first beginning (Theophylact, Rupertius); nor before this discourse, and not for the first time after the murmuring (Chrysostom, Maldonatus, Jansenius, Bengel, etc.); nor even from the beginning of the acquaintance then existing (Grotius, De Wette, B. Crusius, Maier, Hengstenberg, etc.; comp. Tholuck, from the very time of their call); but, as the context shows (see especially καὶ τίς ἐστιν, κ.τ.λ.), from the beginning, when He began to gather disciples around Him (comp. Joh_1:43; Joh_1:48, Joh_2:24), consequently from the commencement of His Messianic ministry. Comp. Joh_16:4, Joh_15:27. From His first coming forth in public, and onwards, He knew which of those who attached themselves to Him as μαθηταί did not believe, and in particular who should be His future betrayer. On this last point, see the note following Joh_6:70. Were we, with Lange and Weiss, to render: from the beginning of their unbelief, this would apply only to disciples in constant intercourse with Him, whom He always could observe with heart-searching eye,a limitation, however, not justified by the text, which rather by the very example of Judas, as the sole unbeliever in the immediate circle of His disciples, indicates a range beyond that inner circle.

[250] Godet, according to his rendering of ver. 62: which you will see to vanish at my ascension.

[251] Kahnis (Abendm. p. 122) has explained the passage in this sense seemingly in a manner most in keeping with the words: What imparts the power of everlasting life to them who feed upon my flesh, is not the flesh as such, but the spirit which pervades it. According to this view, the glorified flesh of Christ, which is eaten in the Supper, would be described as the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, and the latter, not the flesh itself, as that which gives life. Comp. also Luthardt. But it is self-evident that the thought of glorified flesh has to be imported from without.

[252] So also Luther: Ye must indeed have the Spirit likewise, or obtain a spiritual understanding, because it is too high and inconceivable for the flesh. See the striking remarks of Calovius against this interpretation.

[253] Wieseler, on Gal. p. 446, takes σάρξ in the sense of original sin; sinful human nature can do nothing for mans salvation; the Spirit of God produces this. But σάρξ must take its stricter definition from the foregoing discourse; and if it were intended as in Joh_3:6, οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν would be far too little to say of it. This also tells against the similar interpretation of Hengstenberg: The πνεῦμα is the Spirit represented through Christ, and incarnate in Him, and the σάρξ humanity destitute of the Spirit.

[254] The usual but arbitrarily general rendering brought with it the reading λαλῶ. Tholuck and Ebrard have the right reference. Comp. εἴρηκα, ver. 65.

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.

Spirit, that is, that power which floweth from the Godhead, causeth the flesh of Christ, which otherwise were nothing but flesh, but to live in itself, and to give life to us.

The flesh of Christ doth therefore quicken us, because that he that is man, is God: which mystery is only comprehended by faith, which is the gift of God, properly only to the elect.

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

the flesh profiteth nothing--Much of His discourse was about "flesh"; but flesh as such, mere flesh, could profit nothing, much less impart that life which the Holy Spirit alone communicates to the soul.

the words that I speak . . . are spirit and . . . life--The whole burden of the discourse is "spirit," not mere flesh, and "life" in its highest, not its lowest sense, and the words I have employed are to be interpreted solely in that sense.

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 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth] It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through which life is to be attained, 2Co 3:6. Such only as eat and drink what I have mentioned, in a spiritual sense, are to expect eternal life.

The flesh profiteth nothing] If ye could even eat my flesh and drink my blood, this would not avail for your salvation. These words contain a caution that the hearers should not understand his words in the strict literal sense, as if his body were really BREAD, and as if his flesh and blood were really to be eaten and drank.

The words that I speak Or, I have spoken. Instead of λαλω, I speak, I read λελαληκα, I have spoken, on the authority of BCDKLT, thirteen others; the Syriac, all the Arabic, all the Persic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Gothic, Slavonic, Vulgate, all the Itala; Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Tertullian, Ambrosias, Augustin, Gaudentius, and Vigilius Taps. This is an important reading, and plainly shows that our Lord's words here do not refer to any new point of doctrine which he was then inculcating, but to what he had spoken concerning his being the living bread, and concerning the eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, in the preceding verses.

Are spirit, and they are life.] As my words are to be spiritually understood, so the life they promise is of a spiritual nature: see Bishop Pearce.

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

63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth. By these words Christ shows the reason why the Jews did not profit by his doctrine to be, that, being spiritual and quickening, it does not find ears well prepared. But as this passage has been variously expounded, it will be of importance first to ascertain the natural meaning of the words; from which it will be easy to perceive Christ’s intention. When he affirms that the flesh profiteth nothing, Chrysostom improperly, in my opinion, refers it to the Jews, who were carnal I readily acknowledge that in heavenly mysteries the whole power of the human mind is utterly unavailing; but the words of Christ do not bear that meaning, if they be not violently tortured. Equally forced would be that opinion, as applied to the apposite clause; namely, it is the illumination of the Spirit that quickeneth. Nor do I approve of the views of those who say, that the flesh of Christ profiteth, so far as he was crucified, but that, when it is eaten, it is of no advantage to us; for, on the contrary, we must eat it, that, having been crucified, it may profit

Augustine thinks that we ought to supply the word only, or by itself, as if it had been said, “The flesh alone, and by itself, profiteth not,” because it must be accompanied by the Spirit This meaning accords well with the scope of the discourse, for Christ refers simply to the manner of eating. He does not, therefore, exclude every kind of usefulness, as if none could be obtained from his flesh; but he declares that, if it be separated from the Spirit, it will then be useless. For whence has the flesh power to quicken, but because it is spiritual? Accordingly, whoever confines his whole attention to the earthly nature of the flesh, will find in it nothing but what is dead; but they who shall raise their eyes to the power of the Spirit, which is diffused over the flesh, will learn from the actual effect and from the experience of faith, that it is not without reason that it is called quickening

We now understand in what manner the flesh is truly food, and yet it profiteth not It is food, because by it life is procured for us, because in it God is reconciled to us, because in it we have all the parts of salvation accomplished. It profiteth not, if it be estimated by its origin and nature; for the seed of Abraham, which is in itself subject to death, does not bestow life, but receives from the Spirit its power to feed us; and, therefore, on our part also, that we may be truly nourished by it, we must bring the spiritual mouth of faith.

As to the sentence breaking off in so abrupt a manner, it is probable that this was done because Christ saw that it was necessary to act in this manner towards unbelievers. By this clause, therefore, he suddenly closed the sermon, because they did not deserve that he should speak to them any longer. Yet he did not overlook those who are godly and teachable; for they have here, in a few words, what may abundantly satisfy them.

The words which I speak to you. This is an allusion to the preceding statement, for he now employs the word Spirit in a different sense. But as he had spoken of the secret power of the Spirit, he elegantly applies this to his doctrine, because it is spiritual; for the word Spirit must be explained to mean spiritual Now the word is called spiritual, because it calls us upwards to seek Christ in his heavenly glory, through the guidance of the Spirit, by faith, and not by our carnal perception; for we know that of all that was said, nothing can be comprehended but by faith. And it is also worthy of observation, that he connects life with the Spirit He calls his word life, from its effect, as if he had called it quickening; but shows that it will not be quickening to any but those who receive it spiritually, for others will rather draw death from it. To the godly, this commendation bestowed on the Gospel is most delightful, because they are certain that it is appointed for their eternal salvation; but at the same time, they are reminded to labor to prove that they are genuine disciples.

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.

(63) It is the spirit that quickeneth.—The word “quickeneth,” though it has almost passed from everyday use, will probably hold its place in theological use, and convey for the most part the true meaning. If it is retained here, it must, however, be noted that it is a compound of the word rendered “life” at the close of the verse. “It is the spirit that giveth life . . . the words . . . are spirit and are life.” These words are immediately connected with the thought of the Ascension, which was to precede the gift of the Spirit. (Comp. Joh_7:39; Joh_16:7 et seq.). We are to find in them, therefore, a deeper meaning than the ordinary one that His teaching is to be, not carnally, but spiritually under-stood. They think of a physical eating of His flesh, and this offends them; but what if they, who have thought of bread descending from heaven, see His body ascending into heaven? They will know then that He cannot have meant this. And the Descent of the Spirit will follow the Ascension of the Son, and men full of the Holy Spirit will have brought to their remembrance all these words (Joh_14:26), and they will then know what the true feeding on Him is, and these very words which He has spoken will carry their lessons to the inmost being, and be realised, not simply in a spiritual sense, but as spirit and as life.

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

63. that quickeneth] Literally, that maketh alive or giveth life. The latter would perhaps be better to bring out the connexion with ‘they are life’ at the end of the verse.

the flesh] Not, ‘My Flesh,’ which would contradict Joh_6:51. The statement is a general one, but has reference to Himself. ‘My Flesh’ in Joh_6:51 means ‘My death’ to be spiritually appropriated by every Christian, and best appropriated in the Eucharist. ‘The flesh’ here means the flesh without the Spirit, that which can only be appropriated physically, like the manna. Even Christ’s flesh in this sense ‘profiteth nothing.’ (Comp. Joh_3:6.) Probably there is a general reference to their carnal ideas about the Messiah: it is “in our Lord’s refusal to assume the outward insignia of the Messianic dignity, and in His persistent spiritualisation of the Messianic idea” that we must seek “the ultimate cause” of the defection of so many disciples. S. pp. 141, 142.

the words] Or, the sayings: see on Joh_5:47.

that I speak] The true reading is; that I have spoken, in the discourse just concluded.

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.

And he said, therefore said I unto you,.... Referring to Joh 6:44, where the substance of what is here said, is there delivered; though the Ethiopic version reads, therefore I say unto you, what follows:

that no man can come to me, except it be given him of my Father; which is the same, as to be drawn by the Father; for faith in Christ is the gift of God, and coming to him, is owing to efficacious grace, and is not the produce of man's power and freewill; See Gill on Joh 6:44.

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

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.

Ver. 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth] Had those carnal Capernaites but stayed out our Saviour’s sermon, they might have been satisfied for the sense of his words, that they so stumbled at, and had not patience to hear him here expounding himself. Quoniam Christiani (Pontificii) manducant Deum, quem adorant, sit anima mea cum philosoplis, said Averroes; who, had he consulted with sound divines, might have known more.

It is the Spirit that quickeneth] i.e. The Godhead united to the hmnan nature conveyeth life to the believer. That being the fountain, this the conduit; and union being the ground of communion. Wicked men want the spirit and life of Christ, who though he took every man’s flesh, yet that of itself profiteth them nothing. A communione naturae ad communicationem gratiae non valet argumentum.

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.

It is the Spirit that quickeneth - These words have been understood in different ways. The word “Spirit,” here, evidently does not refer to the Holy Spirit, for he adds, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit.” He refers here, probably, to the doctrine which he had been teaching in opposition to their notions and desires. “My doctrine is spiritual; it is fitted to quicken and nourish the soul. It is from heaven. Your doctrine or your views are earthly, and may be called flesh, or fleshly, as pertaining only to the support of the body. You place a great value on the doctrine that Moses fed the body; yet that did not permanently profit, for your fathers are dead. You seek also food from me, but your views and desires are gross and earthly.”

Quickeneth - Gives life. See the notes at Joh 5:21.

The flesh - Your carnal views and desires, and the literal understanding of my doctrine. By this Jesus shows them that he did not intend that his words should be taken literally.

Profiteth nothing - Would not avail to the real needs of man. The bread that Moses gave, the food which you seek, would not be of real value to man’s highest wants.

They are spirit - They are spiritual. They are not to be understood literally, as if you were really to eat my flesh, but they are to be understood as denoting the need of that provision for the soul which God has made by my coming into the world.

Are life - Are fitted to produce or give life to the soul dead in sins.

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

If then you shall see, &c. Christ, by mentioning his ascension, by this instance of his power and divinity, would confirm the truth of what he had before asserted; at the same time, correct their gross apprehension of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, in a vulgar and carnal manner, by letting them know he should take his whole body living with him to heaven; and consequently not suffer it to be, as they supposed, divided, mangled, and consumed upon earth. (Challoner) --- The sense of these words, according to the common exposition, is this: you murmur at my words, as hard and harsh, and you refuse now to believe them: when I shall ascend into heaven, from whence I came into the world, and when my ascension, and the doctrine that I have taught you, shall be confirmed by a multitude of miracles, then shall you and many others believe. (Witham)

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

As it is not the bread or flesh that a man eateth for the sustenance of his animal or natural life, that doth the main work, but the soul of a man within him, which putteth forth its virtues and powers in causing the digestion, concoction, and alteration of it, without which it nourisheth not the body; so the flesh of Christ eaten carnally can be of no profit for the nourishment of the soul: nor can the flesh of Christ considered alone, or by any virtue in it, profit; it only profiteth by virtue of the Divine nature, which being personally united to the human nature, addeth all the virtue and merit to the sufferings and actions of the human nature; so as the human nature of Christ hath all its quickening virtue from the Divine nature. It is not therefore the carnal eating of my flesh that I intended, that is a very gross conception of yours; nor can any such thing as that do you good: but the words that I speak to you, they are spiritual, and such by the belief of which you may obtain a spiritual and eternal life; for by believing those words, and obeying them, you shall come to believe in me, which is that eating my flesh and drinking my blood which I intended, not any corporeal or carnal eating.

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

63. The spirit that quickeneth—It is the inspired Power, the impregnating Spirit, in his words, by which their souls ought to be quickened and rise into a living faith.

The flesh—The carnality which the sensual perverts would put into his words.

Profiteth nothing—Being akin to their vain expectation to be fed in the body by the Messiah’s constant miracle.

The words… are spirit—And should be interpreted in the highest sense of the Spirit, not by the low demands of appetite.

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

It is the spirit that quickeneth (the to , though omitted by a*, is retained by all the principal editors); the flesh profiteth nothing; i.e. the "flesh" taken by itself, and apart from the life-giving Spirit which is its principium. The antithesis between "flesh" and "spirit" occurs frequently in the Gospel, and is one of the great points of Pauline doctrine. The Lord does not introduce the pronoun mou to to pneuma or h sarx . The statement is generalized, though having special reference to himself, or to the spirit and flesh of the Son of man. "Flesh," in neither St. Paul nor St. John, means the sensuous nature as opposed to the intellectual nature; nor does it mean the "body" as antithetic to the "soul the organized material frame, to which the Jews were attributing so much and felt to be the guarantee and seal of his spiritual efficiency (Meyer) but the "creaturely nature," the "humanity" per se in all its parts. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Christ qua his humanity was fashioned by the Spirit, and the Spirit dwelt upon him with iron measurable potence. "The Logos became flesh," but that flesh itself was so ordered and prepared by the Holy Spirit as that it should sustain this lofty companionship. Christ"s own flesh, his nature, his humanity per se, and apart from the fulness of the Spirit, profiteth nothing. The mere human life, however spotless and ideal, could not be "eaten," i.e. could not be assimilated, though to some extent it might be imitated; but imitation is not faith. The "glory" that the apostles saw "of the Only Begotten of the Father, the fulness of grace and truth," in and through that wondrous life of Christ, was the glory given to his humanity by the creative Spirit. Apart from this consideration, a manducation of his flesh, even were it physically possible, was useless. It was not possible to participate in his humanity save through the Holy Spirit which generated him and regenerates us. The sentence doubtless points back to the original constitution of man, the specialty of whose life is that it was inbreathed by the Lord God himself. The use of the saying here was to make it still more clear that he gave his flesh to eat, not through any physical process, not through any sacramental rite, but through the Spirit to our spirit. Mr. Sadler, who takes the strong sacramental view of the entire passage, says, however, wisely and forcibly here, "Even flesh cannot be given to a corpse." We receive the gift, we know the love of God, whether sacramentally or not, through the Spirit. Christ does not deny or retract the statement, "Except ye eat the flesh," etc. He simply shows in what sense he meant the whole mutual indwelling of himself and his people to be understood. The Spirit is the Quickener. The Spirit is the life-fashioning, life-pre-serving Energy. The flesh, the human manifestation, apart from the Spirit which makes that human life the centre of Divine effluence, the focus for its Divine energy, profiteth nothing. Some have taken these words (like Chrysostom) as a contrast between a spiritual and literal interpretation of Christ"s words. Luther and many Lutherans have urged the contrast between a right celebration and a merely material use of the sacrament. So more or less Augustine and Olshausen. Canon Westcott seems to limit the original meaning of "flesh" and "spirit," the one to the visible, temporal, corporeal only, and the other to the unseen eternal order of things, and he does not give to "flesh" here the fulness of meaning which it bears in the New Testament; but he says that this utterance is not limited to either of the views just referred to, though it may include them. Archdeacon Watkins remarks, "They think of a physical eating of his flesh, and this offends them; but what if they, who have thought of bread descending from heaven, see his body ascending into heaven? They will know then he cannot have meant this. The descent of the Spirit will follow the ascent of the Son.

The words that I have spokenunto you are spirit and are life. The words which I have now uttered, these teachings of mine concerning myself, are (not merely "spiritual" or "life-giving," but) spirit and life, i.e. the way and method in which the Spirit can convey to you the life eternal. The words which I have spoken at all times have been the effulgence of my glory, the effluence of my Spirit. The seed of the kingdom is the Word of God. The contact of the Divine Spirit with the human spirit is not through teeth and palate, but through mental and moral processes. "Thou hast the words of eternal life," said Peter (ver. 68). Christ thus works his way back again to the receptivity of the mind and heart of his disciples. Believing is not only "coming," but, as he has before implied, it is the identical process which he has called "eating his flesh and drinking his blood." Christ"s words are the ministry of himself, because the chief method of communicating his life-giving Spirit. In Joh_15:4, 7 the Lord used both expressions, "I" and "my words," in identical relations: "Abide in me, and I in you;" "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you," etc.

The flesh and the Spirit.

Our Lord here teaches a great lesson which he several times repeated in the course of his ministry, and which is most emphatically inculcated by the Apostle Paul, especially in his Epistles to the Corinthians. There are two different principles of religion one carnal, i.e. earthly and human; the other spiritual, i.e. heavenly and Divine; and of these the second is the true and satisfactory principle. "The flesh profiteth nothing the religion which is external and ceremonial, which rules itself by the letter, is vain; "the Spirit quickeneth the religion which begins with the inner nature, and lays all stress upon the laws and the life of the soul, is Divine, acceptable, and enduring.

I THE SUPERIORITY OF THE SPIRIT TO THE FLESH IS APPARENT IN THE VITAL QUESTION AS TO THE NATURE OF THE UNION OF THE CHRISTIAN WITH CHRIST. The religion of the flesh teaches that, if a man could only eat the Lord"s body and drink his blood, he must be saved. The religion of the Spirit tells us that physical contact in itself is worthless; and that the matter of all importance is the spiritual connection between the believer and the Saviour.

II SPIRITUAL WORSHIP IS BETTER THAN MERE BODILY OBSERVANCES. There is a very powerful tendency in human nature to lower religion into a system of form and ceremony. Many under the Mosaic economy were carried away by this tendency, whilst the more spiritual Jews saw clearly into the true nature of acceptable worship. On this point our Lord"s language is most explicit, especially in his conversation with the woman of Samaria. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

III A SPIRITUAL CONCEPTION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS SUPERIOR TO ONE THAT IS CARNAL. It is often regarded as something of the nature of a human organization; yet our Lord"s parables should convince the student that there is a kingdom altogether different from any human institution, whether political or ecclesiastical. Many are the mischiefs, as Church history abundantly teaches us, which have flowed from the fountain error of regarding the Divine kingdom according to "the flesh,

IV THE SACRAMENTS THEMSELVES ARE ONLY RIGHTLY DEEMED OF WHEN THEY ARE VIEWED IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT. The outward observances, the visible signs, are valuable and necessary. But they are material expressions of spiritual truth and reality; they are earthly means to spiritual ends.

V CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE IS THAT WHICH IS RENDERED, NOT SIMPLY BY THE BODILY NATURE, BUT BY THE SPIRIT. Christ is a Master who asks not mere outward homage or conformity, but the reverential subjection, the cheerful obedience, of the whole nature. Let the spirit serve him, and the devotion of the bodily powers will follow, to prove the sincerity of love. T.

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

It is the Spirit - The spiritual meaning of these words, by which God giveth life. The flesh - The bare, carnal, literal meaning, profiteth nothing. The words which I have spoken, they are spirit - Are to be taken in a spiritual sense and, when they are so understood, they are life - That is, a means of spiritual life to the hearers.

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

To convince the Jews that our Saviour did not mean a carnal and fleshly eating of his body, he tells them, That such an eating would profit nothing; but it is a spiritual eating of him by faith, that bringeth that quickening life of which he had spoken. It is the spirit, or divine nature, that quickeneth; the flesh, or human nature, alone, separated from his godhead, profiteth nothing, and can give no life.

Learn hence, That it is the godhead of Christ united to the human nature, which adds all virtue, efficacy, and merit, to the obedience and sufferings of the human nature. It is the spirit, or divine nature of Christ, that quickeneth; the flesh, or human nature alone, profiteth nothing; and therefore the carnal eating of his flesh would do no good.

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

63. It is the spirit that quickeneth. We may paraphrase this verse thus: I shall ascend to heaven so that my body cannot be literally eaten; the flesh literally profits nothing. It is the spirit that makes alive. The spirits of men must feed upon me by faith, that they may be made alive. My words are spirit and life. He who feeds upon them will be made alive.

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.

63. λελάληκα for λαλῶ, with all the oldest MSS., versions, and Fathers.

63. τὸ ζωοποιοῦν] That maketh to live or giveth life. ‘Quickeneth’ obscures the connexion with ζωή ἐστιν.

ἡ σάρξ. Not ἡ σάρξ μου, which would contradict Joh 6:51. The statement is quite general, affirming the superiority of what is unseen and eternal to what is seen and temporal (2Co 4:18; 2Co 3:6; 1Co 15:45), but with a reference to Himself. ‘My flesh’ in Joh 6:51 means ‘My human nature sacrificed in death,’ to be spiritually appropriated by every Christian, and best appropriated in the Eucharist. ‘The flesh’ here means the flesh without the spirit; that which can only be appropriated physically, like the manna. In this sense even Christ’s flesh ‘profiteth nothing.’ “The flesh was a vessel,” says S. Augustine; “consider what it held, not what it was.” Comp. Joh 3:6. Perhaps there is a reference to their carnal ideas about the Messiah.

τὰ ῥήματα. See on Joh 3:34. The authoritative ἐγώ, so frequent throughout this discourse (Joh 6:35; Joh 6:40-41; Joh 6:44; Joh 6:48; Joh 6:51; Joh 6:54), appears again: I, in contrast to mere human teachers. Λελάληκα, have spoken, in the discourse just concluded.

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.

63.] πνεῦμα, σάρξ, do not mean the spiritual and carnal sense of the foregoing discourse, as many Commentators explain them: for our Lord is speaking, not of teaching merely, but of vivifying: He is explaining the life-giving principle of which He had been before speaking. ‘Such eating of My flesh as you imagine and find hard to listen to, could profit you nothing,—for it will have ascended up, &c.; and besides, generally, it is only the Spirit that can vivify the spirit of man: the flesh (in whatever way used) can profit nothing towards this.’ He does not say ‘My Flesh profiteth nothing,’ but ‘the flesh.’ To make Him say this, as the Swiss anti-sacramentalists do, is to make Him contradict His own words in ver. 51.

τὰ ῥήμ. ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα—viz. the words μου τὴν σάρκα and μου τὸ αἷμα, above. They are πνεῦμα and ζωή:—spirit, not flesh only:—living food, not carnal and perishable. This meaning has been missed by almost all Commentators: Stier upholds it, iv. 281 (2nd edn.): and it seems to me beyond question the right one. The common interpretation is, ‘the words which I have spoken,’ i.e. ‘My discourses,’ are πνεῦμα, ‘to be taken in a spiritual sense,’ (? this sense of πνεῦμα,) ‘and are life.’ But this is any thing but precise, even after the forcing of πνεῦμα.

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

63. τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ ζωοποιοῦν. See for ζωοποιεῖν as applied to the work of Christ, 5:21; and note 1Co 15:45.

The contrast between flesh and spirit has already been before us in 3:6, where see the note; cf. also Mar 14:38, 1Pe 3:18, 1Pe 4:6.

ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν, “flesh avails nothing.” For ὠφελεῖν, cf. 12:19. There is no contradiction with what has been said before (v. 51), for Jesus does not say “my flesh” here. In every case is it true that flesh, without spirit, cannot quicken to eternal life.1

τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα. So אBCDLNWΘ, as against λαλῶ of the rec. text. The “words” in question are the words of the preceding discourse. For τὰ ῥήματα (never in the sing. in Jn.), see on 3:34. The ῥήματα of Christ are words of God (8:47, 17:8), and as such belong to the sphere of spiritual realities, for God is Spirit (4:24), and of essential being, that is, of true life. They are spirit and they are life.

For λαλεῖν, see on 3:11; and cf. 8:20.

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

Ver. 63. The first proposition is a general principle, from which they should have started and which would quite naturally exclude the mistake which they commit. Chrysostom, Luther, Reuss give to the word flesh here the sense of grossly literal interpretation and to the word spirit that of figurative interpretation. But the opposite of the spirit in this sense would be the letter, rather than the flesh; and the word flesh cannot be taken here all at once in a different sense from that which it has had throughout the whole preceding discourse. “The Spirit alone gives life,” Jesus means to say; “as to the material substance, whether that of the manna, or that of my own body, it is powerless to communicate it.” Does this saying exclude the substantial communication of the Lord’s body, in the Lord’s Supper? No, undoubtedly, since the Lord, as He communicates Himself to believers, through faith, in the sacrament, is life-giving Spirit, and the flesh and blood no longer belong to the substance of His glorified body (1Co 15:50).

From this general principle Jesus infers the true sense of His words. If He said simply: My words are spirit, one might understand these words with Augustine in the sense: My words are to be understood spiritually. But the second predicate: and life, does not allow this explanation. The meaning is therefore: “My words are the incarnation and communication of the Spirit; it is the Spirit who dwells in them and acts through them; and for this reason they communicate life” (according to the first clause of the verse). From this spiritual and life-giving nature of His words results the manner in which they are to be interpreted.

The Alexandrian reading: “the words which I have spoken,” is adopted as unquestionable by Tischendorf, Westcott, Weiss, Keil, etc., on the evidence of the most ancient Mjj. And one seems to be setting oneself obstinately against the evidence in preferring to it the received reading: “the words which I speak (in general),” which has in its favor only the St. Gall MS. and nine others of nearly the same time (9th century). My conviction is, nevertheless, that this is indeed the true reading. The first reading would restrict the application of these words to the sayings which Jesus has just uttered on this same day, while the pronoun ἐγώ, I, by making the nature of the sayings depend on the character of Him who utters them, gives to this affirmation a permanent application: “The words which a being such as I am, spiritual and living, utters, are necessarily spirit and life.” Weiss does not appear to me to have succeeded in accounting for this pronoun ἐγώ, when he adopts the Alexandrian reading.

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.