The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 393

1innnusly "-give ue this bread, of which by n rml npprehension of Christ, which you spcnk nn<l 11hirh ns Son of mnn you c,mnot. be Rhnken ont of tb~ soul. Snlisrno- ;,r,, nhlC' '10 hr•sl0w, which will not bo tion or hunger mlty possibly (ns Godet JimilC'd in q,rnntit~·, whfr,h will prove to be snggcsts) point to the supply of strength, the elixir 0r lifC', t.hc food of tho oternnl lifo, and the nppcnsing of thirst to tho supply of nnrl whieh will 1,nt.isfy nll our hunger, peace. 'l'he deeper iiloa Is that tho desire abolish our poverty, make us indifferent to or the soul is satisfied, and it is not II re- dcnth, A grcnt prayer this, which Chl'ist current dcsiro. There are certnin realities showed himself not unwilling to answer in which, if once perceived, can never be his own wav. unknown nf!erwards. There nre oonsola- Yer. 35 ..:,:Bnt, or tl,en 1) J'e3lls said to tions which, if once supplied, absolutely tbem, now dropping nil disguise, and stauch nnd hen! the wounds of tho soul. gnthering up into one burning word nll the Christ, in "coming down from hooven," by previous tC'Rching, which they might have revooling the Divine Sonship in o. Son of fathomed, but clid not. I am the :Bread of man, brings all heo.ven with him, opens all life i or "that which cometh down out of the l<'nlher's heart. To oome to him and to heaven, the veritable life-eternal-giving believe on him is to feed on the com of Bread, which I, as the steward of the heaven and drink of that river of life, clear Dh-ine bounty, nm giving, is my very self, as crystal, which is ever issning from the my Divine humanity." On other ooeasious throne of God and of the Lamb. the Lord said, " I am the Light of the Ver. 36.-But (tlM.a' is here decidedlv ad- world" (eh. viii. 12), "I nm the good versnti ve. It introduces the melancholy Shepherd" (eh. x. 14), "I am the Resurrec- statement, th11t the one thing whioh is requi- tion and the Life" ( eh. xi. 25), "I am the veri- site to the full realization of the gift is that table Yine" (eh. xv. I). He claims here to of which these questioners are ignorant) I be_ giving himself to the world, as the told you-I said unto you-that you have Source of its true life. The mode in which both seen me, and believe me not; or "that any humo.u being can so assimilate this you have seen me, and yet believe not." Bread that it should accomplish its purposes Some difficulty has arisen from our not and transform i,tself into life, is by •• coru- being able to find, in the previous dialogno, iug" or "believing." The two terms are the exact words here quoted. Some have parallel, though in "coming" there id more supposed it to refer to an unrecorded con- emphasis laid on the distinct act of the will versation (Alford, Westcott), or even to some than in "believing." The process is very written sentence which is now e. lost frag- impressively conveyed. He who has started ment of the discourse. Meyer says (without to come, he that is ooming to me, shall by answering the suggestions of Ol'Wlausen, no means hunger; he that is believing on Hengstenberg, Godet, and others), tllM!there me - endeavouring io effect such inward is no such statement in the context, and approval and surrender-shall never thirst proposes to translate •l,rov (as he says it is (tlie 1TrfnroTE responds here to the 1Tav-roTE). not unfrequently found in Greek trage- There is no special significance in the two- dians, as if it were equivalent to dictum foldness or the parallel " Coming" does "elim) "I would have you told;" but there not stand in any more immediate rela- is no such usage in the New Testament, tion to "eating" than to "drinking," to and eh. xi. 42 doe~ not seem o. pa.rallel case. the satisf,lCtion of hnnger than to that of It is not at all probable that Je1JW1 was thirst, nor does " believing" connote ex- referring to the lflllguage of eh. v. 37, words cl n.e:i vely either the one or the other. The which were addressed to a different e.udience parallelism is a strengthening of the same -to" Jews" at Jerusalem, and uttered many idea. Approach to himself, believing sur- months before (Liicke and De Wette). But render to the reality of his word, will satisfy ver. 26 shows that Galillllans had come to the most pressing spiritual need, and do it see him, and had come without belief in the in such a way that the hunger and thirst groat sign of his spiritual nature and claims shall not, shall never, return. There is an which he had already granted. They had invincible and unaltemble assent produced aeen him and his great miracles, it is true; but they simply longed in consequence for 0 1 The oi11 is fonnd in ~, D, r, 13, 83, " more bread " und " more healing," not for and other cursives, and is preserved by himself. In ver. 30 he draws from them a. Tischendorf (8th edit.); Ii~ is read by A, confession that they ho.d not seen enough to t:;., A, and nine other uncials, Byriac, Gothic, believe him. This thought recurs not infre- lEthiopic, end is preferred by Godet and T .R. quently. •• Have I been so long with you, Tregelles, R.T., Tischendorf (6th edit.), and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? " Westcott and Hort, omit the copula, with " Because thou hast seen me, thou hast B, L, T, 113, and 110me versions, Syriac believed" (eh. xx. 29). The setting forth of ( Cnretonian). him.Belf ought to have induced belief apart CD. VI, 1-71.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOUN. 261