John 6:33

Vv. 33 applies this idea of true bread from heaven, to Jesus, but for the moment in obscure words. The difficulty of this verse is that the words descending from heaven, which are the paraphrase of the term bread from heaven, should be logically joined to the subject which is to be defined, and not to the attribute which contains the definition. It seems that it should be: “For the true bread from heaven is that which descends from God, from God Himself.” I formerly tried to resolve this difficulty by applying the participle ὁ καταβαίνων, the descending, not to the bread, but to Jesus himself: “He who descends.” Meyer and Weiss object that in that case ὁ καταβάς, “He who descended,” would be necessary. John 6:50 answers this objection.

Nevertheless, I acknowledge that the ellipsis of ὁ ἄρτος (the bread) is more natural, although the idea of descending applies more easily to a person than to a thing (comp. John 6:38). Weiss himself has recourse to a very far-fetched explanation: it is to make ὁ ἄρτος τοῦ θεοῦ, the bread of God, the predicate of the two following participles: “The bread which descends from heaven and gives life to the world, is that which is the true bread of God.” What seems more simple is to understand with Keil: “For the bread which God Himself gives (John 6:32) is the only bread which truly descends from heaven and can give life.” Jesus thus opposes the true heaven, that is, the glorious life of God, to the local heaven from which, according to the opinion of His hearers, the manna descended. The expression τῷ κόσμῳ, to the world, is opposed to the theocratic particularism which boasted itself especially in the great national miracle that of the manna. The greatness of the heavenly gift, as Jesus presents it here, no longer allows a national and particular destination. In proportion as Jesus sees the people refusing to follow Him in the spiritual sphere into which He wished to elevate them, He is led to turn his eyes towards mankind for whom He has come. The fourth part of the conversation (John 6:34-40) reveals completely the rupture which has just taken place between the thought of the people and that of Jesus.