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describe the properties of the celestial bread, were greatly struck with the thoughts of it, and expressed an earnest, desire to be fed with it always. John vi. 34. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: I am the bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. He that cometh to me for the sustenance of his life, shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst: because I am the bread of life, they who believe on me shall in due time be raised to the enjoy ment of a life free from all the painful appetites and sensations which accompany mortality, and shall be made immortal and perfectly happy. Thus he assigned one of the many reasons, why he called himself the bread of life, (see verses 47, 48, 51.) The conclusion from this part of his discourse was so evident, that he left his hearers to draw it for themselves. It was this; since matters are so, I am evidently greater than Moses, even in respect of that for which you extol him most. He gave your fathers manna, which was a bodily food only, and nourished nothing but the natural life. But I am myself the bread of life and food of the soul, making men both immortal and happy.-He next turned his discourse to those of his hearers who did not possess that goodness of heart which the former had expressed. 36. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me and believe not: ye ask me to shew you a sign, that ye may see and believe me, (ver. 30.) Why truly I must tell you, that you have seen me, seen my character and mission in the miracles which I have performed already, that is, you have seen me perform many signs sufficient to convince you that I am the Messiah. Nevertheless, you do not believe that I am he, but reject me as an impostor. Therefore your infidelity proceeds, not from want of evidence, as you pretend, (ver. 30.) but from the perverseness of your own disposition, which perhaps in time may be overcome. For, 37. All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me, that is, shall believe on me, (ver. 35.) There have been many disputes about the meaning of the Father's giving men to Christ. I think our Lord himself has determined it by the parallel expression, ver. 44. "No man can come to me except the Father draw him.” To give men to Christ, therefore, is to draw men to Christ. If so, the sense of the passage is, all that the Father draweth to me (see on ver. 44.) shall believe on me, however obstinate they may be for a season. This was fit matter of comfort to Jesus, under the present infidelity of the Jews. By this likewise he encouraged his disciples who had already believed on him. In the mean time he invited those who were disposed to believe, from the consideration that he would not reject them, however low their circumstances might be, however vile they might appear in their own eyes, or however much they might have formerly injured

him, by speaking evil of him, and opposing him. And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me: I came not to act according to the bent of human passions, which lead men to return whatever injuries are done them; and therefore I will not instantly leave off exhorting those who at first reject me, neither will I inflict immediate punishment on them; but I will bear with them, and try all possible means to bring them to repentance, that they may be saved; for I am come to do the will of him that sent me. 39. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day: it is the will of the Father that every thing necessary be done, both for the conversion of those who are disposed by him to believe, and for the preservation of those in the paths of righ teousness who have already believed, that none of them whom he has given me may be lost by me. For they must all be presented before him safe at the last day. John vi. 40. And this (likewise) is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, seeth the character and mission of the Son in the miracles which he worketh, and in the other evidences wherewith his mission is attended, as is evident from ver. 36.—and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is the fixed determination of the Father to bestow everlasting life on all who truly believe in me. Wherefore, in order to that, I will raise them up at the last day. Thus Jesus placed the character of Messiah in a light very different from that in which his hearers had been accustomed to view it, and taught them that instead of the temporal blessings which they expected from him, they were to receive none but spiritual benefits. Hence, as the dispositions of the greatest part of them were carnal, his doctrine offended them, especially his affirming that he was the bread of life, (ver. 35.) and that he came down from heaven, (ver. 33.) 41. The Jerus then mur urmured at 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 know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Was he not born into the world as other men are, and are we not well acquainted with his parents, and know him to be earthborn? How then can he pretend to have come down from heaven? The Jews did not find fault with Jesus for insinuating that Messiah should come down from heaven; that was a point universally believed. (See on Matt. iv. 6. § 17.) But they were displeased, because he said that he had come down from heaven; a thing which they could by no means believe, in regard they were well acquainted with his father and mo

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ther. 43. Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44. * No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day: ye need not object my. birth on earth, and the meanness of my relations, as things inconsistent with my heavenly extraction; for I assure you, that while you believe your teachers who have greatly corrupted divine revelation, and entertain the prejudices wherewith they have filled your minds, and follow the sensual inclinations which have hitherto governed you, you cannot believe on me. No man can believe on me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him, that is, persuade him. Jesus added, ye need not be surprised when I tell you, that no man can believe on Messiah, except the Father draw him. For though you may imagine that all men will flock with great cheerfulness to him, and yield themselves his willing subjects, without any extraordinary means made use of to persuade them, the prophets insinuate the contrary, when they promise that under the dispensation of the Messiah, men shall enjoy the teaching of the Father in a far more eminent manner than under

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* Ver. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw bim ] Le Clerc thinks the metaphor of drawing men to Christ, is taken from the practice of leading cattle about, with cords fastened to their heads or necks. Applied to reasonable agents, the expression does not import any force or constraint, as is plain from Jer. xxxi. 3. where God says to Israel, with loving-kindness have I drawn thee, that is, by the manifold benefits which I have bestowed on thee, and particularly by the evelation of my will committed to thee, I have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus also our Lord uses the expression, John xii 31. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the cross, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will by my word and Spirit persuade many to accompany me into heaven. See also Solom. Song i. 4. Hos. xi. 4. Wherefore, by the Father's drawing men to Christ, we may understand his persuading them to believe on him, by the several proofs wherewith he has supported the mission of his Son. Accordingly, in the following verse, the effect which the Father's drawing hath upon men, is described by their bearing and learning of the Father. And what confirms this interpretation is, that our Lord himself ascribes the whole of the evidences of his mission to the Father; for he calls his doctrine the word which bis Father had given kim, John xvii. 8. and says expressly, that his miracles were done by the Father, John xiv. 10. Nevertheless, in the Father's dracing men to Christ, there is somewhat more included that merely his establishing the mission of his Son by sufficient evidence; for in this sense he as really draws those who do not believe, as those who do believe, contrary to the text, which says that every man who bath heard and learned of the Father, that is, who is dracun by him, cometh to Christ. I think it is plain, therefore, that by the Father's drawing men, we are likewise to understand, his supplying whatever influences of his Spirit and grace are necessary, to impress the evidences of religion on mens minds, in such a manner as to work conviction. To conclude, as conviction supposes teachableness of disposition, and a love of truth, his drawing men to Christ must imply his bestowing on them dispositions and affections which qualify them for being drawn by him. See verse 65.

[Sect. 62. any precedent dispensation, (see Isa. liv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 34 Micah iv. 2.) 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. Before the advent of Christ, the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets; and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonstrated the truth of his mission by the testimony of John, and by voices from heaven declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the same likewise by the doctrines which he inspired Jesus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influences of the Spirit which he impowered him to dispense. Every one therefore that hath heard and understood what the Father has said concerning Messiah, whether by the prophets, or by John Baptist, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine, miracles and Spirit, and has learned thereby to form a just notion of Messiah, will believe on me as the Messiah. 46. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father: when I speak of mens hearing and learning of God, I do not mean that they can see God personally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his master. No man has seen the Father personally, except the Son whom the Father has sent, and whose peculiar privilege it is to have been taught immediately of the Father, the doctrine which he preaches to men. 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48. I am that bread of life: because I have been personally taught of the Father the doctrines which I preach, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life begun in him, and is as sure of being raised to the perfect enjoyment thereof, as if he had it already in his possession.. The reason is, by my doctrine I deliver believers from their sin ful inclinations which are the seeds of corruption, and cherish in them gracious dispositions, which are the principles of eternal life. In respect of my doctrine, therefore, I am undoubtedly that bread of life which I spake to you of before. Thus Jesus explained the nature of the dignity which he had assumed to himself in the foregoing part of his discourse, (ver. 33, 35, 40.) and demonstrated that it really belonged to him. Next, he ran a comparison between himself considered as the bread from heaven, and the manna which Moses provided for their fathers in the desert, and which they admired so greatly. He told them that the manna had not preserved their fathers either from the temporal or eternal death, whereas he was come down bread from heaven to make men immortal. 49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, * and not die.

But

Ver. 50. And not die.] The opposition between xa andavox in verse 49.

and

But because it was a matter of infinite importance to his hearers, that they should form a just notion of his ability to save them, and believe in him as the Saviour of the world, he affirmed the third time, that he was himself the living bread which came down from heaven to make men immortal, and that all who did eat of it should live for ever, because he was about to give them his flesh to eat, by making it an expiation for the sins of the world. 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 (agros in this discourse might be better translated according to the Hebrew idiom, the meat) that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. All the terms made use of by our Lord on this occasion were such as the Jews had been accustomed to interpret figuratively, for, which reason they might easily have understood them. Nevertheless, taking them in a literal sense, they were astonished beyond measure, and fell into keen disputes about the meaning of them. 52. The Jews therefore strove amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ✦ Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of

man,

and un axoturn in this, is elegant, and shews that in the former the spiritual death is meant, as well as the natural.

Ver. 51. Living bread. There is a beautiful gradation observable in our Lord's discourse. The first time that he called himself the bread of life, ver. 35. he assigned the reason of the name somewhat obscurely. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The second time that he called himself the bread of life, verse 4-. he spake to the same purpose as before, but more plainly: He that believeth on me, bath everlasting life; therefore I am the bread of life. And by connecting this with his affirmation, ver. 46. that he was the only teacher of mankind that had ever personally seen and been taught of the Father, he insinuated that he gave life to men by his doctrine, being on that account also the bread of life. The third time he called himself bread, he added to the name the epithet of living, not only because he gives life to men by raising them from the dead, and making them eternally happy, but because he giveth them this life by means of his human nature, which was not an inanimate thing like the manna, but a living substance. For he told them plainly that the bread or meat which he would give them was his flesh, cubich he would give for the life of the world, and spake of men's eating it, in order to its having that effect But the meaning of this expression he had directed them to before, when in calling himself the bread of life, he always joined believing on him, as necessary to mens living by him. Wherefore, to eat, in the remaining part of his discourse, is to believe.

+Ver. 3. Except se eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink bis blood.} The flesh of Christ seems to be put here for the whole of his human nature, (see ver. 51.) as it is elsewhere in scripture, John i. 14. Rom. i. 3. Wherefore, by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, is not meant any corporeal action, but mens receiving with thankfulness those blessings, to confer which our Lord assumed the human nature; and consequently their believing the revelation he came to make concerning the merciful counsels of God: or, as he himself expresses it, ver. 63. the word that he spake to

VOL. II.

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