John 6:41

FEEDING UPON CHRIST (John 6:41-71)

At this point our Lord's discourse is interrupted. Hitherto he had been addressing the multitude; now for the first time we read "the Jews," which, as already explained, means adherents of the ruling party which was violently hostile to Christ. Whether these Jews were among the multitude hitherto addressed in this discourse we cannot tell. If so, they had not made themselves prominent and were lost in the crowd. It may be that the regular discourse in the synagogue ended with verse 40, that these official "Jews" were not present, but were soon informed of what he said, and came with their objections. Or, they may have been in the synagogue and kept silence to this point. They may have been sent from Jerusalem to watch Jesus. Mark 3:22; Mark 7:1 distinctly intimate that Scribes came from Jerusalem to Galilee, and the phrase "the Jews" seems to convey. kind of official meaning. Since the term "Jews" describes, not Galileans, but natives of Judea, it is applied by John, almost without exception, to those connected in some way with the authorities at Jerusalem, and since also, we learn from the passages just cited that officials came from Jerusalem to take note of the words and acts of the Galilean prophet, it is probable that these "Jews" were representatives of the authorities at the Capital. If this view is correct, of which there can hardly be. doubt, it shows the jealousy with which the Sanhedrim watched over Jesus during his entire ministry in Galilee, as well as Judea.

41. The Jews murmured.

They found fault and tried to raise discontent among those who had listened willingly to Christ.