[The whole of our Lord's discourse to the Jews shews that all were, not only at liberty, but bound, to feed on him ; and we are commanded to invite, yea, to compel, you to come to this glorious feasty. Indeed, to whom else will ye go ? and on what else will ye feed ? Come then, and " eat and drink abundantly, O beloved2;" and rest assured, that they who come hungry, shall never be sent empty away.]
y Isai. xxv. 6. with Luke xiv. 23. z Cant. v. 1.
John vi. 60. Many therefore of his Disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
THE Gospel, to those who have obtained just views of it, is simplicity itself: but to those who are not taught of God, it is utter foolishness. When the prophets taught the people, their hearers, instead of " believing their report*," were ready to exclaim, "Ah! Lord God, doth he not speak parablesb?" In like manner, when our blessed Lord, " who spake as never man spake c," addressed to his followers as rich and instructive a discourse as any that is contained in the sacred volume, they said among themselves, " This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
We shall find it not unprofitable to consider,
I. What was the saying at which they were so greatly offended —
In substance it was, that his people must live by faith in him —
[This he had spoken plainly : " I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth in me shall never thirst." But he had also repre- sented it under a figure which they did not understand. He had been challenged by his hearers to give any proof of his divine mission, equal to that which Moses had given to the Jewish people, in the wilderness, by supplying them with manna from heaven for forty years : and, in answer to that challenge, our Lord drew a parallel between the manna and
a Isai. liii. 1. b Ezek. xx. 49. c John vii. 46.