God is the first-there was none before him; he is the middle -none mingles with him; and he is the last-there can be none after him. Hieros. Sanhed. fol. 18. See also 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. Verse 28. That we might work the works of God?] That is, divine works, or such as God can approve.

d Exod. 16. 15. Num. 11. 7. Neh. 9. 15. Wisd. 16. 20. 1 Cor. 10. 3.
- Ps. 78. 24, 25.-f See ch. 4. 15.8 ver. 48, 58.- hch. 4. 14. Sc

7.37.

which he spake, and who was typified by the manna in thé
desart.

proves two things: 1. That his doctrine was the true nourish-
To shew that himself was the true bread from heaven, he
session of the blessings promised in it, must come to God by
ment of the soul, and that those who were to be put in pos-
faith. 2. That he would give his body for the life of the

Verse 29. This is the work of God, that ye believe] There is nothing you can be employed in, more acceptable to God, than in yielding to the evidence set before you, and acknow-world: that as bread is the staff that supports the natural life ledging me as your Messiah, and the Saviour of a lost world. Verse 30. What sign] T. onμtor, what miracle; so the word is evidently used John ii. 11, 23. and in many other places.

that, by which the bodies and souls of believers should be
of man; so the salvation procured by his death, should be
preserved unto life eternal.

That we may see, and believe thee] That having seen the miracle, we may believe thee to be the promised Messiah.ing, They had already seen the miracle of the five loaves, and did not believe and it was impossible for them to see any thing more descriptive of unlimited power and goodness. Even miracles themselves, are lost on persons whose hearts are fixed on the perishing things of the world, and whose minds are filled with prejudice against the truth.

Verse 31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desart] Their argument seems to run thus: Thou hast, we grant, fed five thousand men with five loaves and two small fishes; but what is this in comparison of what Moses did in the desart, who for forty years fed more than a million of persons with bread from heaven: do something like this, and then we will believe in thee, as we have believed in Moses.

Verse 34. Lord, evermore give us this bread.] Either mean-
tinue among us for ever:" or, "Let that bread, of which
Let the miracle of the manna be renewed, and con-
thou hast spoken, become our constant nourishment." The
Jews expected, that when the Messiah should come, he would
give them all manner of delicacies, and among the rest man-
na, wine, and spicy oil.
Rab. Mayemon, that the hope of Israel is this, That the Mes-
From the following extract, we may
see where Mohammed
siah shall come and raise the dead; and they shall be gathered
got his Paradise. "Many affirm, says
together in the garden of Eden, and shall eat and drink and
satiate themselves all the days of the world. There the houses
made of silk, and the rivers shall flow with wine and spicy
shall be all builded with precious stones; the beds shall be
oil. He made manna to descend for them, in which was all
palate was chiefly pleased with. If he desired fat in it, he
manner of tastes; and every Israelite found in it, what his
had it. In it, the young man tasted bread, the old man ho-
(i. e. the days of the Messiah.) He shall give Israel peace,
ney, and the children oil. So shall it be in the world to come,
4. That himself is that heavenly nourishment of and they shall sit down in the garden of Eden, and all nations

Verse 32. Moses gave you not that bread from heaven] Our Lord refutes the argument of the Jews, by proving, 1. That it was not Moses, but God who gave the manna. 2. That this bread was not the true bread, but was merely a type of it 3. That God had given them now a bread infinitely more ex

cellent.

He that cometh to me] The person who receives my doc-Jesus. Never did he reject the suit of a penitent, however trine, and believes in me as the great atoning sacrifice, shall be perfectly satisfied, and never more feel misery of mind. || All the guilt of his sins shall be blotted out, and his soul shall be purified unto God; and being enabled to love him with all his heart, he shall rest fully, supremely, and finally happy, in his God.

grievous his crimes might have been. He is come to the house of mercy; he is lying at the threshold: the servants bid him come in-he obeys, and stands trembling, waiting for the ap pearing of the Master; doubtful whether he is to be received or rejected: the Master appears, and not only grants his suit, but receives him into the number of his family: he alledges

Verse 37. All that the Father giveth me] The neuter gen- his unfitness, his unworthiness, his guilt, his crimes, his inder a, is probably used here for the masculine Taş.

gratitude: no matter, all shall be blotted out through the blood of the Lamb, and he be put among the children; and on none of these accounts shall he be put out of the house. The Gentiles shall be as welcome as the Jews; and the invitation to them, be as free, as full, and as hearty: they shall become his ad

O thou God of love! how able and WILLING art thou, to save
the vilest of the vile, who come unto thee! Thou art not the
God of the Jews only; thou art also the God of the Gentiles:
Rejoice, therefore, ye Gentiles, with his people.

Verse 38. Not to do mine own will] I am come, not to act according to human motives, passions, or prejudices; but ac

passions and prejudices would reject publicans and sinners as those alluded to, and shut the gate of heaven against the Gentiles; but God's mercy receives them, and I am come to ma

Shall come to me] All that are drawn by the Father, ver. 44. i. e. all those who are influenced by his Spirit, and yield to those influences; for as many as are LED (not driven or dragged) by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God, Rom. viii. 14. God sent his prophets to proclaim his salva-opted children, and never be cast out, as the Jews have been. tion to this people; and he accompanied their preaching with the influence of his Spirit. Those who yielded were saved: those who did not yield to these drawings, were lost. This Spirit still continued to work and to allure, but the people being uncircumcised both in heart and ears, they always resisted the Holy Ghost; as their fathers did, so did they: Acts vii. 51. And though Christ would have gathered them toge-cording to infinite wisdom, goodness, and mercy. Jewish ther, as a hen would her chickens under her wings, yet they would not. See the note on Matt. xxiii. 37. Those who me at the call of God, he is represented here as giving to Christ, because it is through his blood alone, that they can benifest that mercy to men. saved. God, by his Spirit, convinces of sin, righteousness, Verse 39. I should lose nothing] It is the will of God, that and judgment; those who acknowledge their iniquity, and every soul who believes should continue in the faith, and have their need of salvation, he gives to Christ, i. e. points out a resurrection unto life eternal. But he wills this continuance unto them the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the in salvation, without purposing to force the persons so to con world. Our Lord may here also refer to the calling of the tinue. God may will a thing to be, without willing that it Gentiles; for these, according to the ancient promise, Psal.shall be. Judas was given to Christ by the Father, chap. ii. were given to Christ; and they, on the preaching of the xvii. 12. The Father willed that this Judas should continue gospel, gladly came unto him. See ample proofs of this in the in the faith, and have a resurrection unto life eternal: but Acts of the Apostles. Judas sinned and perished. Now it is evident, that God willed that Judas might be saved, without willing that he must be saved infallibly and unconditionally. When a man is a worker together with the grace of God, he is saved; when he receives that grace of God in vain, he is lost; not through a lack of will or mercy in God, but through lack of his co-ope

I will in no wise cast out.] The words are exceedingly emphatical-ov un Exßaλw ežu, I will by no means thrust out of doors; excellently rendered by Matthew of Erberg in his Italian Bible-Io non cacciaro fuori, I will not chase him out of the house. Our blessed Lord alludes to the case of a per

All must eat of Christ the

A.M. 4052.

A. D. 28. An. Olymp. CCI. 4.

b

47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, || give is my flesh, which I will give for
a He that believeth on me hath ever- the life of the world.
lasting life.

48 I am that bread of life.

с

A.M. 4092.

A. D. 28.

An. Olymp.
CCL. 4

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilder- his flesh to eat? ness, and are dead.

50 This 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 eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will

e

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except 'ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54

k

* Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Ch. 3. 16, 18, 36. ver. 40.

—b ver. 53, 35. ver. 31. ver. 51, 58. e ch. 3. 13. f Hebr. 10. 5, 10.

Ch. 7. 43. & 9. 16. & 10. 19.

ch. 3. 9.- Matt. 26. 26, 28.—* ver. 27, 40, 63. ch. 4. 14.

delay in learning. And 3. That this teaching should be by feeds and nourishes the soul, and preserves from death; the atthe influence of the Holy Ghost upon their minds.

He which is of God] That is, Christ alone: neither Moses nor any of the prophets had ever seen God: Jesus, who lay in the bosom of the Father, HE saw and revealed him, chap. i. 18.

Verse 47. Hath everlasting life.] He is entitled to this, on his believing me to be the Messiah; and trusting in me alone for salvation. Our blessed Lord recapitulates here, what he had said in the preceding discourse. The person who is saved is 1. drawn by the Father: 2. hears his instructions: 3. accepts the salvation offered: 4. is given to Christ Jesus, that he may be justified by faith: 5. is nourished by the bread of life : 6. perseveres in the faith: 7. is not lost, but is raised up at the last day and 8. is made ä partaker of eternal life.

Verse 48. I am that bread of life.] I alone afford by my doctrine and Spirit, that nourishment by which the soul is saved unto life eternal.

Verse 49. Your fathers did eat manna—and are dead.] That bread neither preserved their bodies alive, nor entitled them to life eternal: but those who receive my salvation, shall not only be raised again in the last day, but shall inherit eternal life. It was an opinion of the Jews themselves, that their fathers who perished in the wilderness, should never have a resurrection. Our Lord takes them on their own ground: Ye acknowledge that your fathers who fell in the wilderness, shall never have a resurrection; and yet they ate of the manna: therefore that manna is not the bread that preserves to everlasting life, according even to your own concession.

tention of his hearers was fixed upon his words, which to them appeared inexplicable: and they desired to know what their meaning was. He then told them, that the bread meant his flesh, (his life) which he was about to give up, to save the life of the world. Here our Lord plainly declares, that his death was to be a vicarious sacrifice and atonement for the sin of the world: and that, as no human life could be preserved, unless there was bread (proper nourishment) received; so, no soul could be saved, but by the merit of his death. Reader, remember this: it is one of the weightiest, and one of the truest and most important sayings in the book of God.

Verse 52. How can this man give us his flesh to eat?] Our Lord removes this difficulty, and answers the question, in ver. 63.

Verse 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man] Unless ye be made partakers of the blessings about to be purchased by my blood, passion, and violent death, ye cannot be saved. As a man must eat bread and flesh, in order to be nourished by them; so a man must receive the grace and Spirit of Christ, in order to his salvation. As food in a rich man's store, does not nourish the poor man that needs it, unless it be given him, and he receive it into his stomach: so the wholę fountain of mercy existing in the bosom of God, and uncommunicated, does not save a soul: he who is saved by it, must be made a partaker of it. Our Lord's meaning appears to be, that unless they were made partakers of the grace of that atonement which he was about to make by his death, they could not possibly be saved. Bishop Pearce justly observes that the ideas Verse 50. This is the bread, &c.] I am come for this very of eating and drinking are here borrowed to express partaking purpose, that men may believe in me, and have eternal life. of, and sharing in. Thus spiritual happiness on earth, and even Verse 51. Is my flesh, which I will give, &c.] Our Lord in heaven, is expressed by eating and drinking; instances of explains his meaning more fully in these words, than he had which may be seen, Matt. viii. 11. xxvi. 29. Luke xiv. 15. done before. Having spoken so much of the bread which || xxii. 30. and Rev. ii. 17. Those who were made partakers of