The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 392

of God. Obs<'IT<', not " wNke," but "work" consider w•hcther it will be safo to boliove -the c,no "·,,rk which is the gl'l'm e.nd the in, to cntrmt ourselves to, theo}" It he.a comunrn,ntion of nil the pnrtinl workin"'B been the peculinrity of the ,Jewish miud in which o.rc often n1Rde substitutes for it. nil ages to scrk nfter n sign, to desiro somo Tb<'r<' is "one work" which God would hnvo irresistiblo rrnson for invincible foith. In nrnn do. ,Tcsus e.dmits thnt thore is some- certain stnges of immaturity and sto.tee of thing to do (,ro .. w)-there is n labour an unrest we 1mssionntely nsk for signs even effort of tho will needed to do wllllt God now-for something more than silent words, requires; e.nd this is evident enOlwh as soon for more thnn po.at memories, for some voice ns this great work is described, n~. The.t ye out ofheo.vcn, some gleams of glory, tho.t"we l•elkve on him whom ho (the Fnthor) sent; may see and believe." These frnmee of or, hath sent. •1va ,..,.,..,..t\17n,1 here preferred mind nrc no whit more reprehensible tho.n by the RT. to .,,.,uutl,r,;n (see eh. xiii. tho Greek demnnd for uuo.nswernble o.rgu- 19), mni·ks the simple foct o.nd continuous mcnt, for logico.l harmony, or for sure demon- net of believing with the effort tending to strati011. 'l'hey said to him, What dost thou such result; w·hile the aorist would have work t How wilt thou vindicate thy de- pointed to one definite act of faith (see mnnd for such implicit trust? This very W estcotl ). To " believe on him," to ho.bitu- question has been me.do into a. reo.son for nlly entrust one's self to the power and grace breaking o.11 historic connection between the of Christ, t-0 make o. fu 11 moral surrender of miracle of the feeding o.nd the dialogue and the soul to the Lord, inclndes in itself nil discourse before ns (Grotius, Kuinoel, B. othor work, [\nd is in itself the great work Bauer, Weisse, and Schenkel). It is, how- of God. " It is the Christian answer to the ever, cleo.r that they were still revolving the Jcw;sh question" (Thoma). "Faith is the work of the p:i.st do.y, which Jeans had de- life of works, works the necessity of fo.ith" precfotcd per se, o.nd which, o.pe.rt from the (Westcott). "Faith is the highest kind of higher lesson it might have conveyed to work, for by it man gives himself to God, them, and apnrt from the wrong conclusion and a free being can do nothing greater they ho.d been drawing from it, grievously than give himself. St. Jo.mes opposes work perplexed them, o.nd seemed insufficient to to a fo.ith which would be nothing but in- establish the new clnim of Jesus. They, tcllectunl belief. St. Paul opposes faith, too, b<>gin to depreciate it in compe.rison nctive faith, to works of mere observance. with n corresponding sign which Moses ho.d The 'faith' of St. Paul is re.o..lly the •work' wrought for their fathers. Verily if Moses of St. Jo.mes, according to this sovereign for- ho.d been the mediator of the portentous mula of Jesus, • This is the work of God, sign of the manna, if Moses be.d been its thnt ye believe'" (Godet). Luther says, real author, it wo.s a much greo.ter sign than "To depend on God's Word, so that the whe.t they witnessed o.t Bethae.ida. For heart is not terrified by sin nnd death, but forty years the miro.culoua bread had been trusts nnd believes in God, is a much severer le.vished upon them. Doily and weekly it nnd more difficult thing than the Ce.rthu- proved its supernatural charo.eter. In quan- sians or all orders cf monks demand." tity, quality, prolongation, and renewo.l do.y Schleiermo.chcr says, " This is the most by de.y, and in its cessntion when they ate significant declaration, that all eternal life the fresh corn of Can110.n, they not un- proceeds from nothing else than faith in naturo.lly saw something immeasurably Christ.'' more vast o.nd imposing than the offer of e. Ver. 30.-They said therefore to him, single menl to a little company of five thou- What then doest thou 88 a sign that we may sand men. Christ had wrought a. .,.[pas, o.n see and believe thee t There is a kind of fnov, but they ho.d not seen the real ,r17µ,i,011 irony in the inquiry, "Whnt doest thou f" invoh-ed in it. He himself suggested tho.t There is nt least some ironical mystification something entirely different from tho.t meal, of the words of Jesus, "If we have not e.nd different from their conclusions concern- Ileen, 88 thou sayest, the sign, which we ing it wna tho true "sign." Let him work thought sufficient to indnce us to hail thee the so.me adequate sign. Thoy nre not re- Ii.II our Prophet-King, what sign wilt thou pudiating o.11 knowledge of the feeding of give us now? If we are to believe on thee, the five thousand, nor reveo.ling their ignor- what sign art thou ready to show now that e.nee of it. They ure thrown back on their we may sea it, and bclieve thee, i.e. take ingrained passion for supemo.turnl proof, thy word as trUBtworthy, and so begin to not as yet satisfied by what Christ ho.d done. Ver. 31.-0ur fathers, they continued, 1 n,.,..,..li'l7.,.• rests on the authority of~, A, ate the manna in the wilderness ; even as it B, L, T, 1, 33, and other cursives, and is pre- has been written, He gave them bread out of ferred by Tischendorf (8th edit.) and B.T.; heaven to eat. If Moses did this, the ... ,nru<r'l'Jn (aorist) rests on many uncials Ch1·ist should do more, seeing he mo.kes and several quotations from Fathen. this exhell6tive claim upon our faith. The  ·nm GOSPEL ACCOilDING TO ST. JOIIN. OB. VI, 1-71,] 259 ----------------------------·-- -- mnnno. (eoe Exocl. xvi.: Numb. xi.) ap- interval, it rcmo.ins for over, The EJon o pearecl liko the horn-frost out of hea'l"en. mo.n is entrusted with power to b(sto·.v it.. It 'IHLB gifted with numoroue qualitios- He is sealecl and so.nctifiecl o.nd sent ;nt, the perisho.blo if not imruccliately need, re- worlcl for this purpose. This bread i.q speoting in myeterioue wny the eabbath vcrito.bly from hea.ven. Moses did not even snnolHy, nttencling the Iernelitcs through give, nor was he the almoner even or, the their forty yenrs' wandering, terminating manna. All the giving then wo.e God's when no longer wanted, utterly unlike, in work, but ho whom Goel has sent, on whom quo.ntity ancl qunlity, to whnt is the Oriental you have to believe, is o. veritable Giver of mo.nna of commorce (Smith's 'Dictionary this true bread from heaven. of the Dible,' art." Manno."). The psalmists Ver. 33.-For the bread of God is that spoke of it (Ps. lxxviii. 2!; cv. 40) os virtually which cometh down out of heaven, and coming down out of heaven, as " corn of giveth life to the world. It is debo.ted heaven," o.s "angels' food." The Torgum of whether the rl l(a.-ra.{Ja.ivwv is "he who Jonutho.u, Dent. xx.xiv. 6, so.ye," Goel ea.usedcemelh clown," or "that (bread) which bread to descend from heaven upon the was cometh," etc.-w hether in this verse the Lord of Israel," and o. rabbinico.l commentary on passes at once to the iclenlification of Ecclesio.stes, quoted by Lightfoot o.ncl Wett- himself with the bread, or for a. moment stein: "Reclemptor prior descendere fecit longer is delaying the announcement, and pro i.is manna : sic et Reclemptor posterior brondly asserting the qualities of that descendere fo.ciet manna." Consequently, "bread of God," viz. that whoever ancl they make the challenge, not os though whatever it is, IT comes from heaven, ancl Jesus had done no sign, but o.s though he gives life, not merely to the theocratic had not clone enough to put himself on an people,.bnt to the whole world. (The latter equality with Moses. is the view of Hengstenbcrg, Lange, Meyer, Ver. 32.-Jesus therefore said to them, Westcott, Moulton; the former translation with the tones of special emphasis, Verily, is partially urged by Godet, who thinks ·our verily, I say Ullto you, It was not Moses, of Lord here spoke e.mphibologically, meaning whom you o.re reo.sonably thinking with both idea.a, but by the form of the expres- due reverence, who gave I you the bread out sion reserving the solution of the problem.) of heaven. There are two o.sse1·tions hero. It certainly does not follow that, if he was There is also an implication, which the speaking of himself, the expression rl /Ca.Ta• hearers of Jesus were called on to make, (1) /3d.s would have been used. because, in ve:r. It was not Moses who gave to your fathers the 50, after he has removed all ambiguity, he breacl out of heaven, such os the historians, still uses the present tense, cl K'1Ta.{Jalvwv. psaJmi~_tJ!, and expositors speak of; for such The present tense is that of quality rather o.s it wl!S,-a needed food for the body rained than of time. These choro.cteristics of the on you out of hcaven,-it was the gift of God, veritable bread of God must hold good. It not of Moses, (2) Moreover, the mo.nna must have a. heavenly origin, life-giving wo.s not the veritable "bread of henven." power, nod nniverse.lity of application to 'rhere is o. richer and more nomishing food human need. Ch. iii. 16 is here repeo.ted. than that, which alone deserves to be called The whole world is the object of the Divine Breo.d from heaven. The "corn of hea.ven," grace nnd love. The bre:J.d of God must be though God's gift, WI\S not thnt of which I a Diviue gift, mysterious ancl heavenly in spea.k, nay, it wo.s only the sho.dow and type its origin, and must o.t once demonstrate of that. But my Father is giving you, even its vitality, its Source, and its Giver. now,· the veritablo bread out of heaven Ver. 34.-They said therefore to him, (aA718111d11); thnt which fully answers tbe Lord ! His hclll'ers have clearly been more description of the term-food for your impressed than ever with the e::i:traordinary spiritual sustenance, bread which will so.ve claims of the speaker. They ha.-ve risen your souls alive, which, if o.ssimilatecl by from the "Rabbi" of ver. 26 to "Kyrie," you, will convey the consciousness and which implies, as the "Kyrie," or " Sir," or reality of eternal blessedness. The kind "Lord" of eh. iv. 15, some adv!lllce in their of strength which will arise within you tone of deferonce. The request tho.t follows when once approprio.ted, is nn eterno.l is neither irouicnl nor sarcnstic, nor need possession, nn o.biding odvo.ntage; the it be as co.:rnal in its spirit o.s the similar sntisfaction is not exho.usted by a short lo.ngunge of the womlln of Samo.rio (eh. iv. 15). They have some dim notion of" doing 1 The reading (/l,.,l(ev, with B, D, L, is the works of God," and of some heavenly adopted by Westcott and Ho1-t, Alford, nnd satisfaction given to their earthly wnnts. Tregellos, though Goclet rejects it on in- It mny be that they imagine soma ma.terial ternal grounds ; Westoott and Hort place thing coming down out of heaven, more ll•/l"'I('" in mlll'gin; 'riechendorf adopts it potent ond lasting than the historic mo.nna. with t( 1 A 1 .6, A. Lord, i;ivermor«t--"a~ all times," "oon•  THE GOSI'EL ACCORDING TO ST. JOIIN. [orr. VI. 1-71.