St. John Chrysostom,
Homilies on the Gospel of John,
6. 35-39
3. Wednesday after Pasha,
John 6:35-36
I am the bread of life; he that comes to Me shall
never hunger, and he that believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said unto
you, that you also have seen Me, and believe Me not.
2. Thus also John cries, saying
beforehand, He speaks that He knows, and testifies that He has seen,
and no man receives His testimony John 3:32; and again Christ Himself, We speak that We do know, and testify
that We have seen John 3:11, and you believe not. This
He does to prevent them, and to show them that the matter does not
trouble Him, that He desires not honor, that He is not ignorant
of the secrets of their minds, nor of things present, nor of things to
come.
I am the bread
of life. Now
He proceeds to commit unto them mysteries. And first He discourses of His Godhead,
saying, I am the bread of life. For
this is not spoken of His Body, (concerning that He says towards the end, And
the bread which I shall give is My flesh,) but at present it referrs to
HisGodhead. For That, through God the Word, is Bread, as this bread
also, through the Spirit descending on it, is made Heavenly Bread.
Here He uses not witnesses, as in His former address, for He had the miracle of
the loaves to witness to Him, and the Jews themselves for a
while pretending to believe Him; in the former case they opposed and
accused Him. This is the reason why here He declares Himself. But
they, since they expected to enjoy a carnal feast, were not disturbed
until they gave up their hope. Yet not for that was Christ silent,
but uttered many words of reproof. For they, who while they were eating
called Him a Prophet, were here offended, and called Him the carpenter's
son; not so while they ate the loaves, then they said, He is The Prophet, and
desired to make Him a king. Now they seemed to be indignant at His asserting
that He came down from heaven, but in truth it was not
this that caused their indignation, but the thought that they should
not enjoy a material table. Had they been really indignant, they ought to have
asked and enquired how He was the bread of life, how He had come
down from heaven; but now they do not this, but murmur. And that it was
not this which offended them is plain from another circumstance. When He said, My
Father gives you the bread, they exclaimed not, Beseech Him that He
give; but what? Give us that bread; yet He said not, I give, but, My
Father gives; nevertheless, they, from desire of the food, thought Him worthy
to be trusted to for its supply. Now how should they, who deemed Him worthy of
their trust for giving, be afterward offended when they also heard that the
Father gives? What is the reason? It is that when they heard that
they were not to eat, they again disbelieved, and put forth by way of a cloak
for their disbelief, that it was a high saying. Wherefore He says, You have seen Me, and believe not John 5:39; alluding partly to His miracles, partly to
the testimony from the Scriptures; For they, He says, are they which testify of Me c. v. 43, 44; and, I have come in My Father's Name, and you
receive Me not; and, How can you believe which receive honor of men?
John 6:37
All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and
him that comes to Me I will in nowise cast out.
Observe
how He does all things for the sake of them that are saved; therefore He
added this, that He might not seem to be trifling and speaking these things to
no purpose. But what is it that He says, All that the Father gives Me shall come unto Me John 6:37, and I will raise
it up in the last day? John
6:40 Wherefore
speaks He of the common resurrection, in which even the ungodly have a
part, as though it were the peculiar gift of those who believe in
Him? Because He speaks not simply ofresurrection, but of a particular kind of resurrection.
For having first said, I will not
cast him out, I shall lose nothing of it, He then speaks of the resurrection.
Since in the resurrection some are cast out, (Take him, and
cast him into outer darkness, Matthew
22:13) and some are destroyed. (Rather fear Him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.) Matthew 10:28 And the expression, I give eternal life John 10:28, declares this; for they that have done evil shall
go forth to the resurrectionof damnation, and they that have done good to
the resurrection of life. John5:29 This then, the resurrection to good things, is
that which He here designed. But what means He by saying, All that the Father gives Me, shall come to
Me? He touches their unbelief, showing that whosoever believes not
on Him transgresses the will of the Father. And thus He says it not
nakedly, but in a covert manner, and this He does everywhere, wishing to
show that unbelievers are at variance with the Father, not with Him alone. For
if this is His will, and if for this He came, that He might save man,
those who believe not transgress His will. When therefore, He
says, the Father guides any man,
there is nothing that hinders him from coming unto Me; and in another
place, No man can come unto Me,
except the Father draw him. John
6:44 And Paul says,
that He delivers them up unto the Father; When
He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. 1 Corinthians 15:24 Now as the Father when He gives does so without
first depriving Himself, so the Son when He delivers up does so without
excluding Himself. He is said to deliver us up, because through Him we
have access (to the Father).
3.
And the by whom is also applied to the Father, as when the Apostle says, By whom you were called unto the fellowship
of His Son 1 Corinthians 1:9: and, By the will of the Father. And
again; Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you. Matthew 16:17 What He here intimates is something of this kind, that faith in
Me is no ordinary thing, but needs an impulse from above; and this He
establishes throughout His discourse, showing that this faith requires a
noble sort of soul, and one drawn on by God.
But perhaps some one will say, If all
that the Father gives, and whomsoever He shall draw, comes unto You, if none
can come unto You except it be given him from above, then those to whom the
Father gives not are free from any blame or charges. These are mere words
and pretenses. For we require our own deliberate choice also, because whether
we will be taught is a matter of choice, and also whether we will believe.
And in this place, by the which the Father gives Me, He declares
nothing else than that the believing on Me is no ordinary thing,
nor one that comes of human reasonings, but needs a revelation from
above, and a well-ordered soul to receive that revelation.And
the, He that comes to Me shall be saved, means that he shall be
greatly cared for. For on account of these, He says, I came, and
took upon Me the flesh, and entered into the form of a servant. Then
He adds;
John 6:38
I
came down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.
What
sayest Thou? Why, is Your will one, and His another? That none may
suspect this, He explains it by what follows, saying;
