《Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures – John (Ch. 4~Ch. 8》(Johann P. Lange) 04 Chapter 4

06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-13

II

The Passover Of The Jews, And The Manna Of The Jews. The Passover Of Christ, And Christ The Manna From Heaven. Miracle Of Feeding In The Wilderness. Miracle Of The Flight And Escape Over The Sea, Wherein Christ Withdraws Himself From The Chiliastic Enthusiasm Of Earthly-Minded Admirers, And Hastens To The Help Of His Disciples. Decisive Declaration Of Christ. Offence Of His Galilean Admirers And Many Of His Disciples At His Refusing To Give Them Bread In The Sense Of Their Chiliasm, And Presenting Himself In His Spirit With His Flesh And Blood As The Bread Of Life.

John 6:1-65

( John 6:1-15, Pericope for Lætare Sunday. Parallels: Matthew 14; Mark 6:14-56; Luke 9:7-17; John 6:1-21.)

1.The Miraculous Feeding

1After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw^[FN1] his [the]^[FN2] miracles which he did on them that were diseased 3 And Jesus went up into a [the] mountain, and there he sat with his disciples 4 And the passover, a [the] feast [ἡ ξορτή] of the Jews, was high 5 When Jesus then lifted up his [the] eyes, and saw a great company come [coming] unto him, he saith unto Philippians, Whence shall [are we to]^[FN3] we buy bread 6 that these may eat? And [But] this he said to prove him [proving him, πειράζων αὐτόν]: for he himself knew what he would do [was going to do]. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny-worth [denâries’-worth]^[FN4] of bread is not sufficient for them,that every one of them [each one]^[FN5] may take a little 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9There is a [one]^[FN6] lad here, which [who] 10hath five barley-loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And [omit And]^[FN7] Jesus said, Make the men sit [lie] down. Now there was much 11 grass in the place. So the men sat [lay] down^[FN8] in number about five thousand. And Jesus [therefore]^[FN9] took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed (to the disciples, and the disciples)^[FN10] to them that were set [were lying]down; and likewise [in like manner] of the fishes, as much as they would [desired]. 12When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that 13 remain [over], that nothing [may] be lost. Therefore [So] they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the [omit the] fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

2. The Miraculous Withdrawal Over The Sea

14Then those [the] men, when they had seen [seeing] the miracle [sign] that Jesus [he]^[FN11]did, said, This is of a truth [truly, ἀληθῶς] that [the, ὁ] Prophet that should come [is coming, or, is to come] into the world 15 When Jesus therefore perceived [Jesus therefore, knowing] that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed [withdrew] again^[FN12]into a [the] mountain himself alone.

16And [But]when even was now come [when evening came], his disciples wentdown unto the sea [or, lake]^[FN13] 17and entered into a ship, and went [having entered a ship, they were going] over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark18[darkness had now come on], and Jesus was not [yet]^[FN14] come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew [And as a strong wind was blowing, 19the sea began to rise]. So when [When therefore] they had rowed [in vain] about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see [behold] Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

21Then they willingly received him [they were willing to take him]^[FN15]into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went [were going].

3. Decisive Declaration Of Christ, And Offence Of Many Disciples

22The day following, when [omit when]^[FN16]the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw^[FN17]that there was none [no] other boat there, save that one [but one], whereinto his disciples were entered [omit wherein to his disciples were entered],^[FN18] and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone [went] away alone [so that they for a time supposed that Jesus was still somewhere in their 23 vicinity]; (Howbeit [And though the disciples had been seen to go away without Jesus] there came other boats [among which they might have returned] from Tiberias nigh unto [near] the place where they did eat [ate the] bread, after that [when] theLord had given thanks:)^[FN19]24When the people therefore saw [at last perceived] that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also^[FN20] took shipping [they themselves^[FN21] entered into the boats] and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.

25And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him,Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the [omit the] miracles [signs], but because ye did eat [ate] of the loaves, and were filled.

27Labour not [Work not, Busy not yourselves] for the meat [food] which perisheth, but for that meat [the food] which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give [giveth]^[FN22] unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [for him hath the Father sealed, even God].

28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might [may] work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath [omit hath] sent 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign showest [doest] thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? whatdost thou work? 31Our fathers did eat [ate] manna in the desert [wilderness]; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ [ Psalm 78:24.]

32Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that [the] bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread fromheaven 33 For the bread of God is he [that] which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35And^[FN23]Jesus [therefore] said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me, shall never [not]^[FN24]hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst 36 But I said unto you, That ye also [omit also] have [even] seen me,^[FN25] and believe not 37 All that the Father giveth me, shall [will] come to me; and him that comethto me, I will in no wise cast out 38 For I came down [have, or, am come down, καταβέβηκα] from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me [the will of him that sent me],^[FN26]hat of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up 40 again at the last day. And [For]^[FN27]this is the will of him that sent me [the will of my Father],^[FN28] that every one which seeth [who looketh on] the Song of Solomon, and believeth on [in] him, may [should] have everlasting life: and I will [and that I should] raise him up at the last day.

41The Jews then [therefore] murmured 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 [how then doth this man say],^[FN29] I came [have come] down from heaven? 43Jesus therefore answered 44 and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man [no one] can come to me, except the Father which hath sent [who sent] me draw him: and I will45[shall] raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be all taught of God’ ( Isaiah 54:13). Every man therefore^[FN30] that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father [or, that heareth from the Father and learneth],^[FN31] cometh unto me 46 Not that any man [one] hath seen the Father, save he which is of God [but he who is from God], he hath seen the Father 47 Verily, verily, I sayunto you, He that believeth on me^[FN32] hath everlasting life 48 I am that [the] bread of life 49 Your fathers did eat [ate the] manna in the wilderness, and are dead [died].50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,and not die 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man [one] eat of this [of my] bread,^[FN33]he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give^[FN34] for the life of the world.—

52The Jews therefore strove [contended] among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except [Unless] ye eat the flesh of the Son of Prayer of Manasseh, and drink his 54 blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso [He that] eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will [shall] raise him up at the last day 55 For my flesh is meat indeed [true food, ἀληθὴς βρῶσις],^[FN35]and my blood is drink indeed58[true drink, ἀληθὴς πόσις]. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,dwelleth in me, and I in him 57 As the living Father hath [omit hath] sent me, and I live by [by reason of, or, because of] the Father: [even] so he that eateth me, evenhe shall live by. [by reason of] me 58 This is that [the] bread which came down from heaven: not as your [the] fathers did eat [ate] manna,^[FN36] and are dead [died]: he that eateth of this bread shall [will] live forever.

59These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught [while teaching] in Capernaum.

60Many therefore of his disciples [themselves], when they heard this, said, This is anhard saying [This saying is hard];^[FN37] who can hear it? 61When Jesus knew [But Jesus knowing] in himself that his disciples murmured at it [were murmuring at this],62he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see [What then if ye should behold] the Son of man ascend up [ascending, ἀναβαίνοντα] where he was before? 63It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life]; the flesh profiteth nothing:^[FN38] the words that I speak [have spoken, λελάληκα]^[FN39] unto you, they [omit they] arespirit, and they [omit they] are life 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who65[it was, τίς ἐστιν, that] should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you [For this cause I have told you], that no man can come unto me except it were [be] given unto him of my Father.

1. The Miraculous Feeding

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See the parallels in Matthew,, Mark, and Luke, and the comments in the first two vols.

[The double miracle of the feeding of the multitude, and the stilling of the tempest, is the only miracle which John has in common with all the Synoptists (Luke alone omits the stilling of the tempest). But he relates it chiefly as the occasion and basis of a lengthy discourse of Jesus, which is omitted by the other evangelists, and which brings out the symbolical meaning of the miraculous feeding. He represents Himself here as the Bread of Life, as in the 4 th chap. He exhibits Himself as the Water of Life. Thousands upon thousands in all ages and countries of the world have satisfied their spiritual hunger by feeding on Him, and yet He remains to this day, and will remain to the end of time the same inexhaustible source of supply. The miraculous feeding bears also a striking resemblance to the miracle of the change of water into wine in chap2. The nearness of the typical paschal feast ( John 6:4) gives the discourse a bearing on the great paschal sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the life of the world. Chap4. develops the national unbelief or false belief in the people of Galilee, as chap5 reveals the national unbelief of the leaders in Judea; but both chapters bring out the crisis. Alford says: “In chap5 Christ is the Son of God, testified to by the Father, received by faith, rejected by unblief; here He is the Son of Man, the incarnate Life of the World, and the unbelief of the Jews and His own disciples is set in strong contrast with the feeding on Him as the Bread of Life.” But He is this Bread of Life by virtue of His descent from heaven, as the incarnate Son of God, and by sacrificing His flesh and blood, i.e., His whole human life on earth, in holy obedience and atoning suffering for the life of the world. The discourse of the sixth chap. bears the same relation to the Lord’s Supper as the discourse with Nicodemus (chap, 3) does to baptism, i.e., it expresses the general idea which precedes and underlies the sacramental rite as subsequently instituted. See remarks on John 6:27 and the Excursus at the close of the Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]

The history of the miracle. The time, place, and essential features are those of the first of the two miraculous feedings which Jesus performed ( Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10. See the Comm. on Matt.). The historical connection of it in John is not, as Meyer asserts [p249], different from that in the synoptical Gospels. In John the miracle is preceded by a voyage over the sea to the eastern side from the vicinity of Tiberias, and followed by the miraculous walking upon the sea. In Matthew also Jesus “departed by ship into a desert place,” because Herod had executed John and was curious to see Jesus; and the feeding is followed by the walking on the sea. In Mark it is further specified that the sending out of the twelve, in other words Christ’s setting out towards Jerusalem (to the feast of Purim), had occurred shortly before, and that the apostles had just gathered themselves together again to Jesus. The order is exactly the same in Luke, though Luke gives not the walking on the sea.—The single external difference, therefore, in regard to the cause of the voyage Isaiah, that John gives the attempts to ensnare Jesus in Jerusalem as the cause of His return to Galilee, and the synoptical Evangelists mention the more immediate occasion of His going over the lake, to wit: Herod’s intention to bring Jesus before him. The two motives are manifestly akin, and might easily coexist. See Com. on Matt., chap14.

John 6:1. After these things Jesus went away over the sea of Galilee.—[Με τὰταῦτα, i.e., after the transactions related in chap5. Christ probably returned to Galilee soon after the feast of Purim ( John 5:1), which took place in March, and performed this miracle between the feast of Purim and the next passover, which was celebrated a month later, but which Jesus did not attend for the reason mentioned in John 7:1. He continued in Galilee till the feast of Tabernacles, which occurred in October, and which He attended ( John 7:1-2; John 7:10). This gives us seven consecutive months in Galilee during this year, including the last month of the first and six months of the second (or, third, according to the view taken of the ἑορτή in John 5:1, see remarks there) of our Lord’s public ministry. John relates in chap6 only the most salient events of this period, and takes much for granted and well understood from other sources.—P. S.]

Ἀπῆλθεν is not to be referred, as by Baumgarten and Meyer, to the departure of Jesus from Jerusalem.^[FN40]After the return of Jesus to Galilee, which of course took place very soon after the feast of Purim, since Jesus was no longer safe in Judea, one more circumstance came in, which the synoptical Evangelists record (see Leben Jesu, II:2, p779). Yet Tholuck groundlessly supposes a long intervening ministry in Galilee, because the passover came not long after the feast of Purim, and the passover was now just at hand ( John 6:4).^[FN41] Meyer disputes the view of Brückner and earlier interpreters, that the ἀπῆλθεν must be referred to some place in Galilee, and the view of Paulus, that the genitive,τῆς Τιβερ., indicates that He crossed the sea from Tiberias;^[FN42] following John 5:1, the phrase must amount to: ἀπολιπὼν Ιεροσόυμα ἦλθε πέραν. This is undoubtedly right so far as it represents the crossing of the sea as occasioned by the experiences in Jerusalem; and John also calls the sea of Galilee in John 21:1, θάλασα τῆς Τιβεριάδος, after the manner of the Greeks (λίμνη Τιβερίς, Pausan. v7, 3). But in the verse before us the first designation, τῆς Ταλλαίας, certainly was not necessary in addition to the second; for any one would understand the second, though it differed from the expression of the synoptical Evangelists ( Matthew 4:18). The second designation, therefore, must be taken as an additional specification.^[FN43] Thus large seas often have particular names from particular districts on their coasts; the Bodensee is also the Lake of Constance, and the Vierwaldstätter See, or Lake of the Four Forest Cantons, the Lake of Lucerne. After all is said, the Evangelist of course does not intend to make the Lord embark at Jerusalem. And the interest which Herod Antipas was just now taking in the appearance of Christ, and the Lord’s own rapid escape, as well as the straggling ships from Tiberias mentioned immediately after ( John 6:23), imply that Christ embarked from the part of the coast about Tiberias. Respecting the lake, see note on Matthew 4:18.^[FN44]

We must further consider that if Jesus, returning from Jerusalem, wished to pass as soon as possible over the sea, He must rather sail from the region of Tiberias, than from Capernaum.

Respecting the eastern coast (Matt. chap14) comp. von Raumer’s Palästina, p60,205 sqq. “The ancient Bashan, about the time of Christ, embraced five provinces: Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Batanæa, and Ituræa. Gaulanitis corresponded nearly to the present Tsholan, and lay between the upper Jordan, the sea of Tiberias, and the lower Mandhur.” The eastern shores of the sea (chalk, interspersed with basalt) rise to a height of from eight hundred to a thousand feet, and spread into a table-land cut up with wadys; the western mountains are about half as high. The eastern coast was an asylum for the Lord on account of its solitude, and on account of its being under the jurisdiction of Philippians, a son of Herod the Great, and a mild prince, who after his father’s death had become tetrarch of Batenæa, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, and Paneas. He died childless at Julias, A. D34, and his dominions were attached to the province of Syria (not to be confounded with the Philip whose wife Herodias was married to Herod Antipas; see on Matt. chap14.)

Tiberias.—A city in Galilee, and in the most beautiful part of it, on the western shore of the lake, south of the middle, oil a narrow plain (Joseph. Antiq. xix8, 1; xviii2, 3), a then modern, Herodian city of Palestine, adorned with a royal palace and a race-course, inhabited mostly by heathens, named by Herod Antipas in honor of the emperor Tiberius. Herod seems to have usually resided here; and this, according to Bachiene, was the reason why Jesus never visited this city. From Herod Antipas to the accession of Herod Agrippa II, it was the capital of the province. Fishing and lake transportation were the chief employment of the inhabitants. After the dissolution of the Jewish state, for several centuries, it was the seat of a renowned Jewish school (Lightfoot), and one of the four sacred cities of the Jews. In the vicinity, at the village of Emmaus, were warm baths (sulphur, salt, iron; medicinal). Some, without sufficient reason, identify the place with Cinneroth ( Joshua 19:35, belonging to the tribe of Naphtali), with Hammath (Ibid.), and with Rakkath (Ibid.). Now Tabaria, with about three thousand inhabitants, Jews. An earthquake in the year1837. See Von Schubert III, 233, Robinson III, 500. [Boston ed. of1856, vol. II, 380–394. Robinson describes the present town, called in Arabic Tûbarîyeh, as “the most mean and miserable place” in Palestine, “a picture of disgusting filth and frightful wretchedness.” It suffered much from an earthquake in1837, when about700 persons died out of a population of2500.—P. S.]

John 6:2. And a great multitude followed him.—It seems not to be a multitude which has just now gathered (ἠκολούθει); it possibly consisted in part of the remnants of the Galilean caravan returning from the feast of Purim, but certainly for the most part of the beginnings of the Passover caravan; without doubt Galileans. Many might have attached themselves to the returning disciples, who also wrought miracles. Yet the text implies that new miracles of the Lord, performed on the western shore, were the particular attraction.

John 6:3. Into the mountain.—This standing phrase is accounted for (1) by the character of the Palestinian landscape, affording every where heights on which Christ could withdraw from intercourse with the people in the plain; (2) by the Lord’s habit of retiring upon a mountain; (3) by a symbolical view which has insensibly connected itself with this habit: taking the solitude of a high mountain for the stillness of prayer. The region is more particularly stated by Luke ( John 9:10); it was near the eastern Bethsaida in Gaulanitis.

John 6:4. And the passover, the feast of the Jews, was nigh.—The feast, i.e, the principal feast. The passover of the same year, 782. Lücke groundlessly supposes that Jesus attended this feast. The absence from the principal feasts was nothing inconceivable, as may be inferred from the questions in John 7:11; John 11:56. (Paulus, contrary to the usage of the language, John 2:13; John 12:2., etc., renders: not long past.) [The nearness of the passover accounts for the multitude of people ready for a journey to Jerusalem, and suggested in part the subject of the following discourse on the sacrifice of Christ’s life for the life of the world, which was typically foreshadowed in the Jewish passover.—P. S.]

John 6:5. A great company come unto him.—Meyer: “It was a new company [pilgrims to the festival], not that of John 6:2, which had followed Him on His way to the sea.” The contrary is plainly stated by the synoptical Gospels, Matthew 14:13; Mark 6:33; Luke 9:11. According to Lampe, Bruno Bauer, Baur, and Luthardt [Hengstenberg], the subsequent discourse of Jesus concerning the eating of His blood relates to the passover, and reveals the antitype of that type. Meyer disputes this, because the discourse lacks the slightest hint of it. Some hint, however, lies in the very choice of the striking terms and in the subsequent words of institution.