John 6:51

51 Omit ἥν ἐγὼ δώσω after ἐστίν, with אBCDLT against the mass of later MSS. A is defective here.

51. ὁ ζῶν. Τῆς ζωῆς referred to its effects, like the Tree of Life, which was a mere instrument; ὁ ζῶν refers to its nature; not merely the Bread of life (John 6:48), the life-giving Bread, but the living Bread, having life in itself, which life is imparted to those who partake of the Bread.

ὁ ἐκ τ. οὐρ. καταβάς. At the incarnation. Now that the Bread is identified with Christ, we have the past tense of what took place once for all. Previously (John 6:33; John 6:50) the present tense is used of what is continually going on. In one sense Christ is perpetually coming down from heaven, in the other He came but once. He is ever imparting Himself to man; He only once became man.

ζής. εἰς τ. αἰῶνα. Just as ὁ ζῶν is stronger than τῆς ζωῆς, so ζής. εἰς τ. αἰῶνα is stronger than μὴ�. With ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τ. οὐρ. κ., ὃν ἐγὼ δώσω comp. γευσαμένους τ. δωρεᾶς τ. ἐπουρανίου, Hebrews 6:4.

ἡ σάρξ μου ἐστίν. The Sinaiticus transfers these words to the end of the verse to avoid the harsh construction. Later MSS. insert ἣν ἐγὼ δώσω between ἐστίν and ὑπέρ, with the same object. Both are corruptions of the true text, which is quite in S. John’s style, ὑπὲρ τ. τ. κ. ζωῆς being an expansion of what is expressed in the main sentence. Note the καὶ … δὲ … But, moreover, or Yea and indeed (He will tell them this startling truth right out to the end) the Bread which I will give you is my Flesh,—for the life of the world. Comp. John 8:16-17; John 15:27; and esp. 1 John 1:3. Note also the emphatic ἐγώ; ‘I, in contrast to Moses.’ That in these words Christ looked onwards to the Eucharist, and that in thus speaking to believers throughout all time He included a reference to the Eucharist, has already been stated to be highly probable. (See above, Introduction to 26–58.) But that the reference is not exclusively nor even directly to the Eucharist is shewn from the use of σάρξ and not σῶμα. In all places where the Eucharist is mentioned in N.T. we have σῶμα, not σάρξ; Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24 ff. Moreover the words must have had some meaning for those who heard them at Capernaum. Evidently they have a wider range than any one Sacrament. Christ promises to give His Flesh (by His bloody death soon to come) for the benefit of the whole world. But this benefit can only be appropriated by the faith of each individual; and so that which when offered by Christ is His Flesh appears under the figure of bread when partaken of by the believer. The primary reference therefore is to Christ’s propitiatory death; the secondary reference is to all those means by which the death of Christ is appropriated, especially the Eucharist.

ἡ σάρξ. Human nature regarded from its lower side (see on John 1:14): here it is Christ’s perfect humanity given to sustain the spiritual life of mankind. He proceeds to state (53–58) how it is given.

τοῦ κόσμου. The true Paschal Lamb is for the whole human race: contrast, ‘There shall no stranger eat thereof’ (Exodus 12:43-45).