John 6:57

6:52-59 The flesh and blood of the Son of man, denote the Redeemer in the nature of man; Christ and him crucified, and the redemption wrought out by him, with all the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. These are called the flesh and blood of Christ, because they are purchased by the breaking his body, and the shedding of his blood. Also, because they are meat and drink to our souls. Eating this flesh and drinking this blood mean believing in Christ. We partake of Christ and his benefits by faith. The soul that rightly knows its state and wants, finds whatever can calm the conscience, and promote true holiness, in the redeemer, God manifest in the flesh. Meditating upon the cross of Christ gives life to our repentance, love, and gratitude. We live by him, as our bodies live by our food. We live by him, as the members by the head, the branches by the root: because he lives we shall live also.

As the living Father hath sent me,.... Into the world, to be the Saviour of it; not by local motion, but by assumption of human nature; and not against his will, or as having superiority over him; but by joint consent and agreement: the first person in the Godhead is here styled, "the living Father"; not because he is the Father of spirits, of angels, and the souls of men; and the Father of all men by creation, and of saints by adoption; and the Father, or author of all mercies, spiritual and temporal; but because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this character is peculiar to him: he is indeed the living God, and has life in himself, and is the fountain of life to others; but not in distinction from, and to the exclusion of the Son, or Spirit; but then none but he is the living Father, who ever did, and ever will, live as the Father of Christ: and I live by the Father; which is to be understood of Christ, not as God, but as Mediator, and as man. As Mediator he was set up by his Father, as the head of life to the elect; and was intrusted by him with a fulness of life for them; and was sent to open the way of life unto them, and bestow it on them. As man, he had his human life from God, and was preserved and upheld in it by him; and he laid it down at his command, and at his death committed his soul or spirit to him; and which was restored unto him, and is continued with him.

As {t} the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the {u} Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (t) In that Christ is man, he receives that power which quickens and gives life to those that are his, from his Father: and he adds this word the to make a distinction between his Father and all other fathers. (u) Christ means that although he is man, yet his flesh can give life, not by its own nature, but because his flesh lives by the Father, that is to say, sucks and draws out of the Father that power which it has to give life.

57. As the living Father hath sent me—to communicate His own life. and I live by the Father—literally, "because of the Father"; My life and His being one, but Mine that of a Son, whose it is to be "of the Father." (See Joh 1:18; 5:26). he that eateth me, … shall live by me—literally, "because of Me." So that though one spiritual life with Him, "the Head of every man is Christ, as the head of Christ is God" (1Co 11:3; 3:23).

God is often in holy writ called the living God, not only because he hath life in himself, but because he is the fountain of life to all his creatures. Christ here declareth his Father to be the living Father upon the latter account, as he is the author and fountain of all life. And I live by the Father, saith he. Some translate it for the Father; as indeed the preposition dia, joined with an accusative case, (as it is here), doth most ordinarily signify; but not always, either in profane authors, or in the dialect of Scripture, as Mark 2:4 Mark 12:24 John 4:41,42 . It seemeth here (as in those texts) to denote not so much the final as the efficient cause; and so better translated by, than for the Father: for Christ in this text seems to be giving his hearers an account how he came to be living bread; and to be in a capacity of giving life to the world. Saith he, I live by the Father, who by an eternal generation hath communicated to me all that life which is in him; and hath also communicated to me a quickening power, as I am Mediator, and sent by the Father into the world, to give life unto the world. Now look, as I have life in myself from him who is the fountain of life, so, according to the Father’s ordination, he that eateth me, that is, by a true faith receives and closes with me, as Mediator, he shall live by me both spiritually and eternally.

57 . Not a mere repetition of the previous statement but an enlargement of it. The result of this close union is perfect life, proceeding as from the Father to the Son, so in like manner from the Son to all believers. the living Father ] The absolutely Living One, the Fount of all life, in whom is no element of death. The expression occurs nowhere else. Comp. Matthew 16:16 ; 2 Corinthians 6:16 ; Hebrews 7:25 . For ‘hath sent’ read sent . By the Father ] Better because of the Father , i.e. because the Father is the Living One. Similarly, ‘by Me’ should be because of Me , i.e. because he thus derives life from Me. he that eateth me ] Instead of the Flesh and Blood we have Christ Himself; the two modes of partaking are merged in one, the more appropriate of the two being retained. even he ] Or, he also .

John 6:57 . Ἀπέστειλέ με , hath sent Me ) To this is to be referred the [corresponding clause in the Apodosis] καὶ ὁ τρώγων με , so also he who eateth Me , through faith. The meat of Jesus was to do the will of Him by whom He was sent, ch. John 4:34 ; the meat of the believer is, to eat Christ, and to feed on Him, by the will of the Father.— κἀγώ , and I ) The as has its Apodosis in that clause, so also He who eateth Me .— διὰ τὸν Πατέρα , on account of the Father [Engl. Vers. ‘ by ,’ not so correctly]) For I am in the Father.— καί ) So also .— ὁ τρώγων με ) He who eateth Me , who live [ ζῶ ]; [this he does] through faith: John 6:29 , “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent;” 35, “He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me,” etc.; 40, 64. In this point of view, inasmuch as the Father hath sent His Son, we eat His flesh and believe in Him.

(57) I live by the Father . . . he shall live by me. —The preposition “by” here is ambiguous, and it is better, therefore, to render the words, I live by reason of the Father . . . he shall live by reason of Me. For the thought of the Father as the original source of life, and as giving this principle of life to the Son, comp. Note on John 5:26 . He that taketh the Son into his own being, in like manner receives this principle of life from Him.

Verse 57. - Here is the grandest assertion of all. Christ began by speaking of himself as the Bread of God, as the life-giving Bread, as the living Bread of human souls. He made it then clear that he was this by reason of his Divine humanity given for the life of the world. He added to this that he was specially to be appropriated and accepted as a sacrifice, as the death sacrifice, involved in his giving his flesh for the life of the world. The power conferred by his death in life and life in death for man, enabled him to institute eternal life-giving relations between himself and those who entirely accept and make their own this central reality. And now, to meet the nascent objection as to the unique grandeur of his position, he adds: As the living Father sent me. The phrase, "living Father," occurs nowhere else (cf. "righteous Father," John 17:25 ; "holy Father," John 17:11 ; "the living God," Matthew 16:16 ; 2 Corinthians 6:16 ; Hebrews 10:31 ; and above all, ch. 5:26, "As the Father hath life in himself, so he gave also to the Son to have life in himself"). Christ is speaking of the human position he assumed before them as sent by the Father who has life in himself, who is more than all his laws or all his works. Not merely as the Word, but as the Word of the living Father made flesh, he stands before them.

And I live because of the Father. "Because he lives, I live; my life is guaranteed by his." This is the premiss, the platform on which he now stands ( διὰ τὸν Πατέρα must not be confounded with per Patrem , or διὰ τοῦ Πάτρος , as M"Leod Campbell, who, in his interesting discussion on "Christ the Bread of Life," made this expression equivalent to the means and condition of the Saviour's life). From this premiss the Lord argues a corresponding relation of the believer to himself: So he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. The points of comparison are: (1) The Father's life-imparting relation to Christ, and Christ's life-imparting relation to the believer. In both cases the life of one is the guarantee of the life of the other. (2) The sending of Christ by the Father, correlated with the eating of Christ by the believer. (3) The peculiar relation of the believer to Christ. "He that eateth me" gathers up and really comprehends all that has gone before. It is, then, possible for the believer not only to share in the Divine humanity by his faith, and also in the fulness and significance of iris (blood) death, but to have full possession of his Divine personality . "He that eateth me shall live because of me" (cf. "Because I live, ye shall live also," John 14:19 ). This is the vindication of the previous verse, and the climax of the argument. John 6:57