John 6:60-65

THE BREAD OF LIFE, EXPLAINED

Text 6:60-65

60

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

61

But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble?

62

What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where he was before?

63

It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.

64

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.

65

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.

Queries

a.

What was hard about Jesus-' saying?

b.

Why did Jesus mention His future ascension?

c.

How do words give life?

Paraphrase

Now when the great crowds of Galilean followers heard this, many of them said, This saying is offensive and hard to tolerate. Who can be expected to accept such teaching? But Jesus, knowing within Himself that these disciples were protesting concerning His teaching, said to them, Are you stumbling and entrapping yourselves over my teaching? What then will be your reaction should you see the Son of man ascending to heaven where He was before? Eating My flesh would gain you nothing; the Spirit is that which makes alive. The words that I have spoken unto you, they are Spirit and they are Life. But some of you still refuse to trust and obey Me, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who it was that should betray Him. And He said, On account of this have I told you that no one can come to Me unless he is drawn unto Me by the Father.

Summary

The Jews openly express their repugnance to Jesus-' teaching. He, in turn, explains the real meaning behind His figurative discourse of eating His flesh. The words of Jesus are to be assimilated unto life not His literal flesh. All of this serves to emphasize the fact that only the spiritually-minded (those drawn by the Father) can come to Jesus.

Comment

The Greek word translated hard is skleros, and does not mean hard to understand, but hard to accept, intolerable, exacting. It was not that this multitude of Galilean disciples had failed to understand the implications of Jesus-' words, They were murmuring and protesting because they did understand Him to a certain degree. They understood Him to be saying, throughout the discourse, that He was the Messiah, and His kingdom was one of the Spirit, of self surrender and obedience to God's Word. They were disgusted with Him because He said, in essence, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 14:17).

We quote here some excellent comments by Barclay in his Daily Study Bible, The Gospel of John, Volume 1, page 234.

Here we come upon a truth that re-emerges in every age. Time and again it is not the intellectual difficulty of accepting Christ which keeps men from becoming Christians; it is the height of Christ's moral demand. The real difficulty of Christianity is two-fold. It demands an act of surrender to Christ, an acceptance of Him as the final authority; and it demands a moral standard wherein only the pure in heart may see God. The disciples were well aware that Jesus had claimed to be the very life and mind of God come down to earth; their difficulty was to accept that that was true, with all the implications which are in it. And to this day many a man's refusal of Christ comes, not because Christ puzzles and baffles his intellect, but because Christ challenges and condemns his life.

Some commentators find in John 6:62 a promise of Jesus intended to clarify His claims and teachings. In other words, when He is resurrected and ascended, then these disciples will have a guarantee of all His claims to be the Bread out of Heaven, and an explanation of all His teachings concerning eating and drinking His flesh and blood. The context, however, seems to indicate otherwise. They have taken offence at His presentation of Himself as having descended out of Heaven, and that He is the Bread of life which must be eaten. What then will be your reaction, says Jesus, if you see and be taught that the Son of man ascends to heaven where He was before? We know very well what their reaction was. They stumbled, took offence and hardened their hearts (cf. Acts 7:55-58).

John 6:63 is the key to this entire discourse on the Bread of Life. We present here two great commentators-' paraphrases of this passage:

Albert Barnes: 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 are gross and earthly.
William Hendriksen: My flesh as such cannot benefit you; stop thinking that I was asking you literally to eat my body or literally to drink my blood. It is my spirit, my person, in the act of giving my body to be broken and my blood to be shed, that bestows and sustains life, even everlasting life.

The more one reads this entire passage, the more he begins to see that these disciples said one thing and thought another. It seems almost certain that they did not really believe Jesus to mean literal eating and drinking flesh and blood. This was a Hebrew way of saying abiding in the words and commands of another long before Christ said it here. They knew what Jesus meant. When they expressed horror (John 6:52) at eating His flesh, it probably was a clever dodge of the real issue.

One thing is certain. Jesus makes the meaning of His entire discourse plain enough in John 6:63 that he who runs may read. The entire body of doctrine of Christ is the source of life eternal.

a.

His words shall judge us (John 12:48).

b.

His commandment is life eternal (John 12:50).

c.

His word is able to build up and give an inheritance among the saints (Acts 20:32).

d.

His word is able to save our souls (James 1:21).

e.

His word gives us a new birth (1 Peter 1:22-23).

The passage in Romans 8:1-17 offers itself as an excellent commentary of Jesus-' words in John 6:63. The summation of this passage in Romans can be made by quoting just two verses: for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, (Romans 8:13-14). We are led by the Spirit, of course, when we are led by the words of Christ and the apostles.

For Jesus-' power to read the hearts and minds of men, see our comments on John 2:23-25. This power is expressed again here in John 6:64.

And in John 6:65 Jesus again expresses the fact, as He has before in this same discourse (John 6:37; John 6:44) that men cannot come to Him unless they are spiritually drawn by the Father and by submission of their own wills (cf. our comments on John 6:37; John 6:44).

Quiz

1.

What did the disciples mean by saying, This is a hard saying, Who can hear it?

2.

What is the major barrier for most people to overcome before accepting Christ? Is it intellectual?

3.

Did the Jews take offence at the teaching of the Ascension of Christ? Give a Scriptural example.

4.

What is so outstanding about John 6:63 in this discourse?

5.

Give at least three Scriptural references to show that the Word of God is the way to Life.

6.

What connection does Romans 8:1-17 have with John 6:63?

7.

Does John 6:63 show the falseness of Transubstantiation and Sacramentalism? How?