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defcribe the properties of the celestial bread, were greatly ftruck with the thoughts of it, and expreffed an earneft defire to be fed with it always. John vi. 34. Then faid they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35. And Jefus faid 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 fustenance 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 enjoyment of a life free from all the painful appetites and fenfations which accompany mortality, and fhall be made immortal and perfectly happy. Thus he affigned one of the many reafons, why he called himself the bread of life, (fee verfes 47, 48. 51.) The conclufion from this part of his difcourfe was fo evident, that he left his hearers to draw it for themselves. It was this: fince matters are fo, I am evidently greater than Mofes, even in refpect of that for which you extol him moft. He gave your fathers manna, which was a bodily food only, and nourished nothing but the natural life. But I am myfelf the bread of life and food of the foul, making men both immortal and happy.He next turned his discourse to those of his hearers who did not poffefs that goodness of heart which the former had expreffed. 36. But I faid unto you, that ye alfo have feen me and believe not: ye afk me to fhew you a fign, that ye may fee and believe me, (ver. 30.) Why truly I must tell you, that you have feen me, feen my character and miffion in the miracles which I have performed already, that is, you have feen me perform many figns fufficient to convince you that I am the Meffiah. Nevertheless, you do not believe that I am he, but reject me as an impoftor. Therefore your infidelity proceeds, not from want of evidence, as you pretend, (ver. 30.) but from the perverfenefs of your own difpofition, which perhaps in time may be overcome. For, 37All 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 Chrift. I think our Lord himself has determined it by the parallel expreffion, ver. 44. "No man can come to me except the Father draw him." To give men to Chrift, therefore, is to draw men to Chrift. If fo, the fenfe of the paffage is, all that the Father draweth to me (fee on ver. 44.) fhall believe on me, however obftinate they may be for a feason. This was fit matter of comfort to Jefus, under the prefent infidelity of the Jews. By this likewise he encou raged his difciples who had already believed on him. In the mean time he invited those who were difpofed to believe, from the confideration that he would not reject them, however low their çircumftances 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 oppofing him. And him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that fent me: I came not to act according to the bent of human paffions, which lead men to return whatever injuries are done them; and therefore I will not inftantly leave off exhorting thofe who at first reject me, neither will I inflict immediate punishment on them; but I will bear with them, and try all poffible means to bring them to repentance, that they may be faved; for I am come to do the will of him that fent me. 39. And this is the Father's will which bath fent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lofe nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day it is the will of the Father that every thing neceflary be done, both for the converfion of those who are difpofed by him to believe, and for the preservation of those in the paths of righteousness who have already believed, that none of them whom he has given me may be loft by me. For they must all be prefented before him fafe at the last day John vi. 40. And this (likewife) is the will of him that fent me, that every one which feeth the Son, feeth the character and miflion of the Son in the miracles which he worketh, and in the other evidences wherewith his miffion 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 everlafting life on all who truly believe in me. Wherefore, in order to that, I will raise them up at the laft day. Thus Jefus placed the character of Meffiah in a light very different from that in which his hearers had been accuf tomed to view it, and taught them that inftead of the temporal bleffings which they expected from him, they were to receive none but fpiritual benefits, Hence, as the difpofitions of the greateft 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 Jews then murmured at him, because he faid, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they faid, Is not this Fefus the fon of Jofeph, whofe father and mother we know ? How is it then that he faith, 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 Jefus for infinuating that Meffiah fhould come down from heaven; that was a point univerfally believed. (See on Matt. iv. 6. § 17.) But they were displeased, becaufe he faid 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

ther.

*

ther. 43. Jefus therefore answered and faid unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which bath fent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day ye need not object my birth on earth, and the meannefs of my relations, as things inconfiftent with my heavenly extraction; for I affure 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 fenfual 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, perfuade him. Jefus added, ye need not be surprised when I tell you, that no man can believe on Meffiah, 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 fubjects, without any extraordinary means made ufe of to perfuade them, the prophets infinuate the contrary, when they promise that under the difpenfation of the Meffiah, men fhall enjoy the teaching of the Father in a far more eminent manner than under any

*Ver. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which bath fent me, draw bim.] Le Clerc thinks the metaphor of drawing men to Chrift, is taken from the practice of leading cattle about, with cords faftened to their heads or necks. Applied to reasonable agents, the expreffion does not import any force or constraint, as is plain from Jer. xxxi. 3. where God fays to Ifrael, with loving kindness have I drawn thee, that is, by the manifold benefits which I have beftowed on thee, and particularly by the reve lation of my will committed to thee, I have prevailed with thee to obey me. Thus alfo our Lord ufes the expreffion, John xii. 32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me; that is, being put to death on the crofs, and raised from the dead, and exalted into heaven, and preached through the world, I will by my word and fpirit perfuade many to accompany me into heaven. See alfo Solom. Song, i. 4. Hof. xi. 4. Wherefore, by the Father's drawing men to Chrift, we may understand his perfuading them to believe on him, by the feveral proofs wherewith he has fupported the miffion of his Son. Accordingly, in the following verfe, the effect which the Father's drawing hath upon men, is defcribed 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 miffion to the Father; for he calls his doctrine the word which his Father had given bim, John xvii. 8. and fays exprefsly, that his miracles were done by the Father, John xiv. 10. Nevertheless, in the Father's drawing men to Chrift, there is fomewhat more included than merely his eftablishing the miston of his Son by fufficient evidence; for in this fenfe he as really draws thofe who do not believe, as those who do believe, contrary to the text, which fays that every man who bath beard and learned of the Father, that is, who is drawn by him, cometh to Chrift. I think it is plain, therefore, that by the Father's drawing men, we are likewife to understand, his fupplying whatever influences of his fpirit and grace are neceffary, to impress the evidences of religion on mens minds, in fuch a manner as to work conviction. To conclude, as conviction fuppofes teachablenefs of difpofition, and a love of truth, his drawing men to Chrift muft imply his bestowing on them difpofitions and affections which qualify them for being drawn by him. See verse 6j.

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any precedent difpenfation, (fee Ifa. liv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 34Micah iv. 2.) 45. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that bath beard, and bath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Before the advent of Chrift, the Father spake to the world concerning him by the prophets; and when he appeared in the human nature on earth, he demonftrated the truth of his miffion by the teftimony of John, and by voices from heaven declaring him to be his beloved Son, and commanding all men to hear him. He did the fame likewife by the doctrines which he infpired Jefus to preach, by the miracles which he gave him to perform, and by the influen ces of the Spirit which he impowered him to difpenfe. Every one therefore that hath heard and understood what the Father has faid concerning Meffiah, whether by the prophets, or by John Baptift, or by the voices from heaven, or by my doctrine, mira. cles and spirit, and has learned thereby to form a juft notion of Meffiah, will believe on me as the Meffiah. 46. Not that any man bath feen the Father, fave he which is of God, he hath feen the Father: when I speak of mens hearing and learning of God, I do not mean that they can see God perfonally, and be taught of him in the manner that a scholar is taught of his Mafter. No man has seen the Father perfonally, except the Son whom the Father has fent, and whofe peculiar privilege it is to have been taught immediately of the Father, the doctrine which he preaches to men. 47. Verily, verily, I fay unto you, He that believeth on me bath everlasting life. 48. I am that bread of life: because I have been perfonally taught of the Father the doctrines which I preach, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life begun in him, and is as fure of being raised to the perfect enjoyment thereof, as if he had it already in his poffeffion. The reafon is, by my doctrine I deliver believers from their finful inclinations which are the feeds of corruption, and cherish in them gracious, difpofitions which are the principles of eternal life. In refpect of my doctrine, therefore, I am undoubtedly that bread of life which I fpake to you of before. Thus Jefus explained the nature of the dignity which he had affumed to himself in the foregoing part of his discourse, (ver. 33. 35 40.) and demonftrated that it really belonged to him. Next he ran a comparifon between himself confidered as the bread from heaven, and the manna which Mofes provided for their fathers in the defert, and which they admired fo greatly. He told them that the manna had not preferved 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 beaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

*

But

* Ver. 50. And not die.] The oppofition between xai andavov in verse 49.

and

But because it was a matter of infinite importance to his hearers, that they should form a juft notion of his ability to fave 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 fins of the world. 51. I am the * living bread which came down from beaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread ( agros in this difcourfe might be better tranflated according to the Hebrew idiom, the meat) that I will give is my fefb, which I will give for the life of the world. All the terms made ufe of by our Lord on this occafion were fuch as the Jews had been accustomed to interpret figuratively, for which reason they might eafily have understood them. Nevertheless, taking them in a literal fenfe, they were astonished beyond measure, and fell into keen difputes about the meaning of them. 52. The Jews therefore ftrove among themselves, faying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53. Then Jefus faid unto them, Verily verily I fay unto you, † Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of

man,

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

Ver. 51. Living bread.] There is a beautiful gradation obfervable in our Lord's difcourfe. The first time that he called himself the bread of life, ver. 35. he affigned the reafon of the name fomewhat obfcurely. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and be that believeth on me shall never tbirt. The second time that he called himself the bread of life, verse 47he fpake to the fame 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, 46. that he was the only teacher of mankind that had ever perfonally feen and been taught of the Father, he infinuated that he gave life to men by his doctrine, being on that account allo 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 railing 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 flefb, which he would give for the life of the world, and fpake of mens eating it, in order to its having that effect. But the meaning of this expreffion he had directed them to before, when in calling himself the bread of life, he always joined believing on him, as neceflary to mens living by him. Wherefore, to eat, in the remaining part of this difcourfe, is to believe.

Ver. 53. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood] The fefb of Chrift feems to be put here for the whole of his human nature, (fee ver. 1.) as it is elsewhere in feripture, 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 thofe bleffings, to confer which our Lord affumed the human nature; and confequently their believing the revelation he came to make concerning the merciful counfels of God: or, as he himself expreffes it, ver. 63. the word that he spake to VOL. II. them,

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