SECOND SECTION: 6:1-7. THE GREAT MESSIANIC TESTIMONY AND THE CRISIS OF FAITH IN GALILEE. THE war is now declared in Judea; the thread of the narrative is outwardly broken. John does not mention the return of Jesus to Galilee. But it is there that we find Him again at the beginning of chap. 6, and H... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _After these things, Jesus withdrew to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias._ 2. _And a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on the sick._ ” If the facts related in chap. 5 really occurred at the feast of Purim, those which are repo... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples._ 4. _Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand._ ” The expression, _the mountain_, denotes not a particular mountain, which was in the region (for the locality has not been designated), but the mountainous... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore, lifting up His eyes and seeing a great multitude coming to Him, says to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?_ 6. _Now this he said to prove him; for_, _as for himself, he knew what he was going to do._ 7. _Philip answered him: Two hundred denarii-worth of bread... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, says to him:_ 9. _There is a lad here, who has five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are these for so many?_ ” John mentions, first, in an indefinite way, one disciple; then he makes a precise statement: “It was Andrew.” We can believe th... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 10. “ _But Jesus said: Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men sat down, therefore, in number about five thousand._ ” In these scanty provisions Jesus has found that which He needs, the material on which omnipotence can work. Now, in His view, the banquet is pre... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 11. “ _Then Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; and likewise of the fishes, as much as they wished._ ” This was the solemn moment. Jesus takes in the midst of this multitude the position of the father of a family, as in an ordinary supper... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Then, when they were filled, he says to his disciples: Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost._ 13. _So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves which remained over to those who had eaten._ ” In the Synoptics, the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The people therefore, having seen the miracle which He did_, _said: This is of a truth the prophet that should come into the world._ 15. _Jesus therefore, knowing that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him King_, _withdrew again into the mountain Himself alone._ ” Here is the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _When the evening was come, his disciples went down to the seashore;_ 17 _and having entered into the boat, they were crossing the sea towards Capernaum; and it was already dark and Jesus had not come to them. And the sea was agitated by a strong wind._ ” The word _went down_ does not imply that t... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. Vv. 16-21 contain the account of the second miracle mentioned in this chapter. This miracle is inserted between the first miracle and the discourse which followed on the next day. If the narrative is viewed simply in the light of biography, the reason why the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _When, therefore, they had gone about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat, and they were afraid._ 20. _But he says to them: It is I, be not afraid._ 21. _And as they were willing to receive him into the boat, immediately the boat reac... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _On the morrow, the multitude who stood on the other side of the sea and who had seen that there was no other boat there but one_, _that into which the disciples had entered, and that Jesus entered not with his disciples into this boat_, _but that his disciples went away alone_ 23 _but there came... [ Continue Reading ]
II. THE DISCOURSES: JOHN 6:22-65. This section contains, first an historical introduction (John 6:22-24), then a series of conversations and discourses (John 6:25-65).... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _And having found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him: rabbi, when camest thou hither?_ 26. _Jesus answered them and said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me, not because you saw signs_, _but because you did eat of those loaves and were filled._ ” We have seen that the m... [ Continue Reading ]
1. VV. 25-40. This first phase is made up of four brief dialogues, each including a question of the Jews and an answer of Jesus. The last of these answers is more fully developed; Jesus expresses in it, with restrained emotion, the impressions with which the condition of His hearers filled His soul... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 27. “ _Work to obtain, not the food which perishes, but the food which endures to eternal life, that which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him hath the Father, God, sealed._ ” Behold now the _true_ way in which Jesus would be sought. It follows, indeed, from the contrast between ἐργάζεσ... [ Continue Reading ]
The brief dialogue which follows bears upon the true _means_ of obtaining this really desirable good, the food which abides; it is the true mode of ἐργάζεσθαι (_working_). VV. 28, 29. “ _They said therefore to Him: What must we do_, _to do the works of God?_ 29. _Jesus answered and said to them: Th... [ Continue Reading ]
3. VV. 30-33. The way to reach faith. VV. 30, 31. “ _Then they said to Him: What sign doest thou then, that we may see, and believe in thee? What work dost thou do?_ 31. _Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, according as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat._ ” It is difficu... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore said to them: Verily, verily, I say unto you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread;_ 33 _for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world._ ” Until this point, the thought... [ Continue Reading ]
VV. 33 applies this idea of true _bread from heaven_, to Jesus, but for the moment in obscure words. The difficulty of this verse is that the words _descending from heaven_, which are the paraphrase of the term _bread from heaven_, should be logically joined to the subject which is to be defined, an... [ Continue Reading ]
4. VV. 34-40. The two classes of hearers, the unbelievers and the believers. VV. 34, 35. “ _They said therefore to him: Lord, evermore give us this bread._ 35. _But Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life; he that comes to me shall never hunger_, _and he that believes on me shall never thirst._... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 36. “ _But I said unto you: you have seen me_, _and yet you do not believe._ ” They had asked to _see_ in order to believe (John 6:30). But this condition was long since fulfilled: they have seen Him in all His greatness and goodness, as much as was necessary to believe, and yet the effect is n... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _All that which the Father gives me shall come unto me; and him who comes to me I will in no wise cast out;_ 38 _for I am come down from heaven to do_, _not my own will, but the will of him who sent me._ ” By the words: _All that which the Father gives me_, Jesus strongly contrasts the believers... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 39. “ _Now this is the will of him who sent me_, _that I should lose nothing of all that which he has given me, but that I should raise it up at the last day._ ” The δέ is progressive: _now._ The will of the Father is not only that Jesus should receive, but also that He should _keep_ those who... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 40. “ _For this is the will of my Father_, _that whosoever beholds the Son and believes on him has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day._ ” This verse reproduces, either by confirming it (_for_, according to the Alexandrian authorities and the ancient versions), or by completin... [ Continue Reading ]
2. VV. 41-51. A murmur which rises in the assembly (John 6:41-42) forces Jesus to declare to the Jews distinctly their incompetency in this matter (John 6:43-46); after which, with an increasing solemnity, He again affirms Himself to be the bread of life (John 6:47-51); and this while adding in the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said: I am the bread which came down from heaven._ 42. _And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we ourselves know? How then does he say:I came down from heaven?_ ” The term: _murmured_, must denote an unfa... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore answered and said to them: Murmur not among yourselves:_ 44. _No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day._ ” In other words: “A truce to these murmurs; it is not my word that is absurd; it is you who are incapable of compr... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _It is written in the prophets: And they shall be all taught of God. Every one_, _who has heard the Father, and has learned from Him, comes to me:_ 46 _not that any one has seen the Father, except he who is from God_, _he has seen the Father._ ” This passage presents a remarkable example of the m... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 46. The phrase οὐχ ὅτι, _not that_, marks a restriction. This restriction can only refer to the term _teaching_ (John 6:45). The notion of teaching seems to imply a direct contact between the disciple and the Master. Now no other but Jesus has possessed and possesses the privilege of immediate... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Verily, verily, I say unto you: He who believes on me has eternal life._ 48. _I am the bread of life._ 49. _Your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and they are dead. John 6:50_. _This is the bread that comes down_ _from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die._ 51. _I am the liv... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 48. The affirmations follow each other in the way of _asyndeton_, like oracles. That of John 6:48 justifies that of John 6:47. By that of John 6:49 He gives back to His hearers their own word of John 6:31. The manna which their fathers ate was so far from the bread of life that it did not preve... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 50. “Here is the bread which will truly accomplish the result that you desire.” The ἵνα, _in order that_, might depend on ὁ καταβαίνων, _which comes down_, but it is better to make it depend on the principal idea: “It is here... _in order that_ one may eat of it and not die,” for: “in order tha... [ Continue Reading ]
The affirmation of John 6:51 a is the summing up of all that precedes, with the design of passing to a new idea (51b). The epithet ὁ ζῶν, _the living bread_, declares even more clearly than the expression _bread of life_ (John 6:48), that Jesus is not only the bread which gives life, but that He is... [ Continue Reading ]
APPENDIX ON JOHN 6:51; JOHN 6:51. What does Jesus mean by the expressions: _to eat His flesh, to drink His blood?_ 1. Many interpreters see here only a _metaphor_, designating the act by which faith morally unites itself with its object. According to some (_de Wette, Reuss_), this object is the _hi... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 52. “ _The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can he give us his flesh to eat?_ ” The term ἐμάχοντο, _strove_, goes beyond the ἐγόγγυζον, _murmured_, of John 6:41; it is now a violent debate following after a whispered murmuring. The words _among themselves_ seem to contradict... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus therefore said to them: Verily, verily, I say to you, that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves._ 54. _He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day._ 55. _For my flesh is tr... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 54. After having given this explanation in a negative form (without this eating and this drinking, impossibility of living), Jesus completes the expression of His thought by adding: By this eating and this drinking, assured possession of life. Then He raises the eye of the believer even to the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him._ 57. _As the living Father sent me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live by me._ ” By drinking through faith at the fountain of the expiation obtained by the blood of Christ and by nourishing oneself t... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 57. To be in communion with Jesus is to live, because Jesus has access Himself to the highest source of life, namely, God. “Life passes from the Son to the believer, as it passes from the Father to the Son,” (_Weiss_). This second transmission is at once the model (καθώς, _as_) and the principl... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 58. “ _This is the bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat the manna and are dead; he who eats this bread shall live forever._ ” The pronoun οὖτος does not mean: “ _Such_ is the bread” (_Reuss, Keil_); but “ _This bread_ (John 6:57) is that which came down,” that which t... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 59. “ _These things said Jesus, as he taught in the synagogue, at Capernaum._ ” There was a regular meeting in the synagogue on the second, fifth and seventh days of the week (Monday, Thursday and Saturday). The day of the Passover must have fallen in the year 29, on Monday, April 18th (see Cha... [ Continue Reading ]
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 impli... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them: Does this word offend you?_ 62. _And if you shall see the Son of man ascending where he was before?_ 63. _It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words which I speak unto you are spirit and... [ Continue Reading ]
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 _figu... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _But there are among you some 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 him by my Father._ ” To the exclamation... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 66. “ _From that moment many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him._ ” In the picture which the Synoptics have drawn for us of the Galilean ministry, particularly in that of St. Luke, Jesus shows Himself often preoccupied with the necessity of making a selection among those cr... [ Continue Reading ]
ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. Vv. 66-71. 1. The design of the discourse of this sixth chapter, so far as the apostles were concerned, was undoubtedly to strengthen their faith by calling their thoughts to the mystery of the union of the soul with Christ. We have in this chapter the two... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus said therefore unto the Twelve: And you, you will not also go away?_ 68. _Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of eternal life;_ 69 _and as for us, we have believed and have known that thou art the Holy One of God._ ” At the sight of this increasing desertio... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 69. The pronoun ἡμεῖς, _we_, sets the apostles in marked contrast with the disciples who had just deserted Jesus. The verbs in the perfect tense _have believed, known_, indicate things gained for the future and which are not necessary to be reconsidered. Jesus may declare in their presence the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ _Jesus answered them: Is it not I who have chosen you the Twelve?And one of you is a devil! Now he spoke of Judas_, _the son of Simon, Iscariot, for he it was that should betray him, he, one of the Twelve._ ” Peter had spoken in the name of all; Jesus tears off the veil which this profession, app... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 71. At the moment, no one of the disciples, unless perhaps John and Judas himself, understood to whom these words applied. The almost certain etymology of the word ᾿Ισκαριώτης is Ish-Kerioth, _man of Kerioth;_ this was the name of a town in the tribe of Judah (Jos 15:25). According to all appea... [ Continue Reading ]