But there are some of you that believe not.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who would betray him.
All Commentaries on John 6:64 Go To John 6
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
It is the spirit which quickeneth: the flesh, Arabic, the body, &c. The Calvinists bring forward against us these words of Christ to show that in the Eucharist there is not the Flesh of Christ really and corporeally, but only spiritually and figuratively by representation and faith, because, say they, the flesh profiteth nothing. But if this be true, then in vain was the Word made Flesh, then in vain did the Flesh of Christ suffer and was crucified, and died. God forbid. And who does not see that the Flesh of Christ is more profitable than the mere bread of Calvin, even though it were seasoned with sugar and honey out of Calvin"s throat? For in his bread there is no spirit, except the spirit of error and satanic madness.
First then SS. Cyril and Austin learnedly expound these words, thus: they are as if Christ said, "My Flesh alone profits not to preserve him who eats It unto life eternal, because it is not My mere Flesh which confers life and resurrection, but it is the Spirit, i.e, My Divinity united to the Flesh which quickens first the soul, and then the body at the Resurrection. And thus My Flesh profiteth very exceedingly, forasmuch as being united to the Spirit of the Word, it derives from It its quickening power." By a similar form of speech we are wont to say, The eye doth not see, the ear doth not hear, nor the body feel, but it is the spirit i.e, the soul, which sees through the eye, and hears through the ear. Consequently, the words, i.e, the reality and the mystery of My Flesh to be eaten in the Eucharist, which I speak unto you are spirit and life. That Isaiah , My Deity, which is a pure Spirit, is a living and quickening Spirit. For It will give you life in the- Eucharist, not My bare Flesh. So S. Augustine says, "This Flesh alone profiteth not, but let the Spirit be joined to the Flesh, and It profiteth greatly. For if the Flesh profiteth nothing, the Word would not have become Flesh." The same (lib10 , de. Civit. Dei) says, "The Flesh of itself cleanseth not, but through the Word by which it hath been assumed." And S. Cyril, "If the Flesh be understood alone, it is by no means able to quicken, forasmuch as it needs a Quickener, but because it is conjoined with the life-giving Word, the whole is made life-giving. For the Word of God being joined to the corruptible nature does not lose Its virtue, but the Flesh itself is lifted up to the power of the higher nature. Therefore, although the nature of flesh as flesh cannot quicken; still it doth this because it hath received the whole operation of the Word."
For Christ is here making answer to the Capharnaites murmuring as to how Christ"s Flesh being eaten could give eternal life. But He gave this answer because they had murmured still more concerning the eating the flesh of Christ, and the method of doing Song of Solomon , which they thought of as something carnal and barbarous, as is seen by verses52,60 , and61. For it seems something savage and inhuman to tear like wolves, and devour the human flesh of Christ. Hence secondly,
More aptly and naturally, the flesh, i.e, the carnal understanding, by which in sooth ye suppose that My Flesh is to be visibly cut and eaten like the flesh of sheep, profits nothing for the bestowal of everlasting life: but the spirit and the spiritual intelligence, by which we believe that the Flesh of Christ united to His spiritual Divinity, i.e, in a sacramental manner, veiled and hidden in the Eucharist under the species of bread and wine, is to be eaten- this gives life to soul and body. So S. Chrysostom, &c. No otherwise is S. Augustine"s meaning on the98th Ps. (Vulg.), if he be carefully read: He says, "It is not this body which ye see nor the blood which those who crucify Me will shed, that ye are about to eat and drink. I commend unto you a sacrament which spiritually understood will quicken you. And although it be necessary that it be visibly celebrated, yet it ought to be understood in an invisible sense." These words the Calvinists understood thus, that in the Eucharist we eat the Flesh of Christ not really, but figuratively and mystically by faith. But they are in error. For the meaning of S. Augustine Isaiah , In the Eucharist we do not eat the Flesh of Christ by visibly cutting and masticating it as the Capharnaites supposed, but under a sacrament, i.e, sacramentally and invisibly, lying hid under the species of bread and wine. For if understood otherwise, S. Augustine would conflict with himself (Serm1. in Ps. xxxiii. and Lib22 , Civit. c8 , and elsewhere), where he manifestly upholds the truth of Christ"s Body in the Eucharist.
Wherefore Christ subjoins, the words which I speak, &c.: Spirit, i.e, are spiritual, and must be understood spiritually, i.e, Sacramentally, in the manner in which I have now explained, and not carnally, as ye Capharnaites, like butchers, understand them. So they are life, i.e, vital, and bestow life on him who heareth and eateth Me. There is a hebraism, by which the abstract is put for the concrete. Thus frequently elsewhere the flesh and spirit are put for the carnal and spiritual understanding and sense. Thus2Cor. iii6 , "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Matthew 16:17, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee." Moreover it is common in Scripture to play upon the meanings of words. Wherefore it is not surprising that flesh is to be understood differently from what it is in verse56 , &c. My Flesh is truly Food. For there real, but here figurative flesh is meant. So Christ plays upon the meaning of water (c. iv.), rising from the corporeal to the spiritual sense. So the Apostle plays upon the word sin ( 2 Corinthians 5:21), "He who knew no sin, was made sin," i.e, a Victim for sin, "for us."
Thirdly, the fullest sense will be if we join both meanings previously given, and with Bede unite them into one, thus- The virtue of giving life which My Flesh eaten in the Eucharist possesses, is not derived so much from the flesh as from the Spirit of the Word which is living and life-giving. And consequently this eating of My Flesh is not to be taken in the carnal manner of butchers, but in a spiritual manner, and accommodated to the spirit, that is to say in a hidden and sacramental manner. For from the words of Christ ignorantly understood the Capharnaites alleged the contrary of both, and turned away, as is plain from the words. And so this spiritual, i.e, sacramental, manner of eating the Flesh of Christ by taking the species of bread and wine, under which in reality lie hid the Body and Blood of Christ and His Divinity Itself, occasions no horror to the eater, and causes no wounding or harm to the Flesh of Christ which is eaten. For here Christ lies hid, and is invisible and indivisible like an angel. So Euthymius says, "They are things spiritual and life-giving. For we ought not simply to look at them (for that is carnally to understand them), but we ought to suppose something else, and to look upon them as mysteries with our inward eyes."
