John 6:41. The Jews then murmured at him,
That is, at our blessed Lord: «The Jews then murmured at him,»
John 6:41-42. Because he said, I am the bread which came down from heavens. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven!
There are always some who complain that the gospel is «too commonplace, too well-known.» They already know all that is to be known about it, just as these people knew the mother and father of our Lord Jesus. How could he, who was the son of the carpenter, have come down from heaven? But this ought to have commended him to them that though he was divine, he became so truly human, and so perfectly took upon himself our nature as to be the son of Joseph, one whose father and mother they knew; and ought we not to be glad of a gospel plain enough for a child to grasp, simple enough for the most ignorant to be saved by it? Let us not seek after signs and mysteries, but graciously accept the gospel which the Lord himself gives us.
John 6:43-44. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and will raise him up at the last day.
This was high ground for Christ to take; it was as much as to say, «You need not murmur; I did not expect that you would believe in me. I know that human nature is such that, without a divine work upon the heart, man cannot come to me, and will not believe in me. I am not disappointed, or deceived, when you murmur among yourselves, ‘No mall can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.';
John 6:45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Nobody else will come to Christ; there is no real Christian in the world but is of God's making. A Christian is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost has made him so. It takes as much of God's omnipotence to make a believer as to make a world; and only he that created the heavens and the earth can create even as much as a grain of true faith in the heart of man.
John 6:46. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
The Divine Son hath seen the Father; you and I are to believe, we cannot see as yet.
John 6:47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
He has it even now in possession; a life that can never die out is in the breast of every man who believes in Christ. Oh, what a joy is this!
John 6:48. I am that bread of life.
Jesus is that bread which feeds the spiritual life, and sustains the everlasting life.
John 6:49-50. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
The bread that feeds the undying life is Christ Jesus himself, whom we do spiritually feed upon, and who is the nourishment of our souls.
John 6:51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Christ God incarnate is the nourishment of faith, the spiritual food of the everlasting life. The new life which God puts into us is not natural, so as to be fed upon natural food, like bread and meat; but it is spiritual, and it must live upon spiritual food. That food is nothing less than Christ Jesus himself.
John 6:52-56. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
These Jews would not understand Christ when he spoke very plainly. He did not therefore retract a single word that he had said, but as the first light had dazzled them, and willingly were they dazzled by it, he turned the lantern full upon their faces, and made them blind, for the excessive light of the explanation was too much for them. It was not Christ's intent to save them; he was making the light itself to be blindness to them, because they had already refused him, and now the time was come when the heart of these people must be made yet more gross, that they should not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears. May the Lord never give us up to such a fate as that! It is a dreadful thing when the light of the gospel becomes the instrument of blinding men, and it does so still After a certain degree of willful rejection of it, that which would have been a savor of life unto life can be turned into a savor of death unto death by men's closing their hearts against it. Yet I wonder and am astonished at our Lord and Master's course of proceeding, that here, when the men do not and will not see, he does but speak the truth the more boldly. Let no man think that Jesus was here alluding to the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine in the Lord's supper; that ordinance was not instituted at that time, and there could be no allusion to what did not then exist. It is quite in another sense, in a high spiritual sense, that our mind feeds upon the flesh and blood of Christ. That is to say, the fact that God was made flesh, the fact that Christ died for sin, these are the food of our souls, and thereon our faith grows, and our spirit is strengthened.
John 6:57-58. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which camte down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
This is spiritual feeding upon spiritual truth.
John 6:59-62. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Let our Master teach us what he pleases, nothing ought to offend a disciple of Christ. It is ours to sit at his feet, and receive all his words without cavilling. But if we do not believe what he tells us upon some elementary points, what should we do if he were to reveal something more to us, and lead us into the higher and deeper doctrines of his Word?
John 6:63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing:
That is to say, it is the meaning of Christ's words that gives life, not the words themselves; and if we stumble at the letter, and begin to ask, «How can we eat the flesh of Christ?» taking that expression literally, it will kill us. We need to get into the spirit of what he says, the true spiritual meaning of it, for that is where the life lies.
John 6:63-64. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not.
Could that be truly said of any here? «There are some of you that believe not.» If so, you know what becomes of unbelievers; you certainly cannot attain the blessings promised to faith. May God grant that, ere this day is quite over, there may not be left one among you that believes not!
John 6:64-66. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
So it seems that a man may be recognized as a disciple of Christ, and yet he may go back, and walk no more with him. Oh, that we may be real disciples disciples indeed! Oh, that we may be part and parcel of Christ, true branches of the true Vine, living members of the living body of Christ!
John 6:67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve,-The choice and pick of all his followers:
«Then said Jesus unto the twelve,»
John 6:67-68. Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter
Who was the ready tongue of the apostles: «Then Simon Peter»
John 6:68. Answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
That was a very conclusive way of answering one question by another: «Will ye also go away?» «Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.» Brother, sister, if we wandered from Christ, where could we go? And how can we leave him when he has the words of eternal life?
John 6:69-71. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon : for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.