John 6:60

6:60-65 The human nature of Christ had not before been in heaven, but being God and man, that wondrous Person was truly said to have come down from heaven. The Messiah's kingdom was not of this world; and they were to understand by faith, what he had said of a spiritual living upon him, and his fulness. As without the soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are dead and worthless. He who made this provision for our souls, alone can teach us these things, and draw us unto Christ, that we may live by faith in him. Let us apply to Christ, thankful that it is declared that every one who is willing to come unto him shall be made welcome.

John 6:60 . Many of his disciples — That is, of those who followed him as such; when they had heard this — Had heard the above discourse; said, This is a hard saying — A strange discourse, a doctrine difficult to be believed. Hard indeed it must have appeared, as it does still appear, to the children of the world, but sweet to the children of God. Scarce ever did our Lord speak more sublimely even to the apostles in private. Who can hear it — Who can understand, believe, and obey it? “Most of the metaphors in this discourse (and particularly that of food, to signify doctrine, and of eating and drinking, to signify believing) were abundantly easy, and might have been understood at the very first by the Jews, being found in their Scriptures, and used in their schools. Only, not being able to comprehend what he meant by his flesh, they took the whole literally, and were so offended at the thought of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, a thing not only prohibited by Moses, but repugnant to the customs of all civilized nations, that many of them who were his disciples, when they heard it, said it was absurd.”

Hard (σκληρός) See on Matthew 25:24; see on Jde 1:14. According to the Greek order, hard is this saying. Hear it (αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν) Αὐτοῦ may be rendered Him, but this is not probable. Hear means a docile hearing, with a view to receiving what is heard. Compare John 10:3, John 10:16, John 10:27; John 12:47; John 18:37.

His disciples; his followers, not those that were his disciples indeed, but in name; for many followed him that did not believe in him; and many (in a sense) believed, to whom he did not commit himself, John 2:23,24 . Now, many of these disciples, having heard these sayings, and being no way able to comprehend so great mysteries, nor having their eyes opened by the Spirit of illumination, said within themselves, These are sayings hard, or impossible, to be understood; who is able to hear or to understand them? or who is able to bear them?

60–71 . Opposite Results of the Discourse 60 . Many therefore of his disciples ] Including many more than the Apostles. This is a hard saying ] Or, Hard is this speech . Not hard to understand, but hard to accept. The word for ‘hard’ means originally ‘dry,’ and so ‘rough;’ and then in a moral sense, ‘rough, harsh, offensive.’ Nabal the churl has this epithet, 1 Samuel 25:3 ; and the slothful servant in the parable of the Talents calls his master a ‘ hard man,’ Matthew 25:24 . Here the meaning is: ‘This is a repulsive speech; who can listen to it?’ It was the notion of eating flesh and drinking blood that specially scandalized them. See on John 5:47 .

John 6:60 . Σκληρός , hard ) There are no doubt many things which the carnal nature cannot but shrink from in this discourse, which is, if considered by itself, a most delightful one. His discourse is difficult, not hard [harsh]: whereby the evil are deterred; but genuine disciples are proved, disciplined, and established. Hardly anywhere can you see a passage where the Lord spake more sublimely, even when apart from the multitude with His apostles. Let us receive it with pious admiration!— τὶς δύναται , who can ) Very differently Peter thought, John 6:68 , “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”— αὐτοῦ , Him [Engl. Vers. it ]) They seem to mean this: who can hear Jesus? Comp. ch. John 10:20 , “He hath a devil, and is mad. Why hear ye Him?” This is the head and crowning point of their misery, to refuse to hear.

(60) Many therefore of his disciples —i.e., of the disciples in the wider sense; those who more or less fully were accepting His teaching, and were regarded as His followers. From John 6:64 , the Apostles would seem to be included in the more general designation. In John 6:67 they are separately addressed. This is an hard saying; who can hear it?—i.e., not hard to be understood, but hard to hear, a stumbling-block in the way of their faith. For the word itself, comp. Matthew 25:24. His meaning was, indeed, not read by them, but the literal meaning was painfully clear, and one to which they will not listen. (Comp. John 10:20.) They do not raise any formal objection to Him, but friends and companions who had talked together of the Teacher and His teaching before, talk again now, and many of them who have followed Him up to this point can follow Him no more.

Many of his disciples - The word "disciple" means "learner." It was applied to the followers of Christ because they were taught by him. It does not imply, of necessity, that those to whom it was given were real Christians, but simply that they were under his teaching, and were professed learners in his school. See Matthew 17:16 ; Mark 2:18 ; John 9:28 ; Matthew 10:24 . It is doubtless used in this sense here. It is, however, often applied to those who are real Christians. This is an hard saying - The word "hard" here means "offensive, disagreeable" - that which they could not bear. Some have understood it to mean "difficult to be understood," but this meaning does not suit the connection. The doctrine which he delivered was opposed to their prejudices; it seemed to be absurd, and they therefore rejected it. Saying - Rather doctrine or speech - Greek, λόγος logos. It does not refer to any particular part of the discourse, but includes the whole. Who can hear it? - That is, who can hear it patiently - who can stay and listen to such doctrine or believe it. The effect of this is stated in John 6:66. The doctrines which Jesus taught that were so offensive appear to have been: 1. that he was superior to Moses. 2. that God would save all that he had chosen and those only. 3. that he said he was the bread that came from heaven. 4. that it was necessary to partake of that; that it was necessary that an atonement should be made, and that they should be saved by that.