Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
All Commentaries on John 6:60 Go To John 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
I.e. difficult to receive, too much for their weakness. They thought He spoke above Himself, and more loftily than He had a right to do; and so said they, Who can bear it? Which was answering in fact for themselves, that they could not.
The revelation however of these hidden things was a mark of His Divinity: hence the meaning of what follows; And if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before; supply, What will you say? He said the same to Nathanael, Because I said to you, Isaw you under the fig tree, believe you? You shall see greater things than these. He does notadd difficulty to difficulty, but to convince them by the number and greatness of His doctrines. For if He had merely said that He came down from heaven, without adding anything further, he would have offended His hearers more; but by saying that His flesh is the life of the world, and that as He was sent by the living Father, so He lives by the Father; and atlast by adding that He came down from heaven, He removed all doubt. Nor does He mean to scandalize His disciples, but rather to remove their scandal. For so long as they thought Him the Son of Joseph, they could not receive His doctrines; but if they once believed that He had come down from heaven and would ascend thither, they would be much more willing and able to admit them.
He tries to remove their difficulties in another way, as follows, It is the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing: that is to say, You ought to understand My words in a spiritual sense: he who understands them carnally is profited nothing. To interpret carnally is to take a proposition in its bare literal meaning, and allow no other. But we should not judge of mysteries in this way; but examine them with the inward eye; i.e. understand them spiritually. It was carnal to doubt how our Lord could give His flesh to eat. What then? Is it not real flesh? Yes, verily. In saying then that the flesh profits nothing, He does not speak of His own flesh, but that of the carnal hearer of His word.
i.e. Are spiritual, have nothing carnal in them, produce no effects of the natural sort; not being under the dominion of that law of necessity, and order of nature established on earth.
Having spoken of His words being taken carnally, He adds, But there are some of you that believe not. Some, He says, not including His disciples in the number. This insight shows His high nature.
To let you know that it was before these words, and not after, that the people murmured and were offended, the Evangelist adds, For Jesus knew from the beginning, who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.
As if He said, Men’s unbelief does not disturb or astonish Me: I know to whom the Father has given to come to Me. He mentions the Father, to show first that He had no eye to His own glory; secondly, that God was His Father, and not Joseph.
He does not say, withdrew, but went back, i.e. from being good hearers, from the belief which they once had.
But it may be asked, what reason was there for speaking words to them which did not edify, but might rather have injured them? It was very useful and necessary; for this reason, they had been just now urgent in petitioning for bodily food, and reminding Him of that which had been given to their fathers. So He reminds them here of spiritual food; to show that all those miracles were typical. They ought not then to have been offended, but should have inquired of Him further. The scandal was owing to their fatuity, not to the difficulty of the truths declared by our Lord.
This was the right way to retain them. Had He praised them, they would naturally, as men do, have thought that they were conferring a favor upon Christ, by not leaving Him: by showing, as He did, that Hedid not need their company, He made them hold the more closely by Him. He does not say, however, Go away, as this would have been to cast them off; but asks whether they wished togo away; thus preventing their staying with Him from any feeling of shame or necessity: forto stay from necessity would be the same as going away. Peter, who loved his brethren, replies for the whole number, Lord, to whom shall we go? .
A speech of the greatest love: proving that Christ was more precious to them than father or mother. And that it might not seem to be said, from thinking that there was no one whose guidance they could look to, he adds, You have the words of eternal life: which showed that he remembered his Master's words, I will raise Him up, and, has eternal life. The Jews said, Is not this the Son of Joseph? how differently Peter: We believe and are sure, that you art that Christ, the son of the living God.
Peter however having said, We believe, our Lord excepts Judas from the number of those who believed: Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? i.e. Do not suppose that, because you have followed Me, I shall not reprove the wicked among you. It is worth inquiring, why the disciples say nothing here, whereas afterwards they ask in fear, Lord, is it I? But Peter had not yet been told, Get you behind Me, Satan; and therefore had as yet no fear of this sort. Our Lord however does not say here, One of you shall betray Me, but, is a devil: so that they did not know what the speech meant, and thought that it was only a case of wickedness in general, that He was reproving. The Gentiles on the subject of election blame Christ foolishly. His election does not impose any necessity upon the person with respect to the future, but leaves it in the power of His will to be saved or perish.
