John 6:14

John 6:14. When therefore the people saw the sign that he did, they said. ‘The people,' i.e., the people of John 6:10, those who had been fed and satisfied. Are we, however, to understand that they saw the ‘wonder,' but saw in it no ‘sign,' as it is said by our Lord below, ‘Ye follow me not because ye saw signs;' or may we suppose that even to this multitude the miracle was a sign, like the miracles of healing which they had witnessed before? (John 6:2). The latter interpretation is nearer to the words of John, and is more probable. If in any sense the cures were ‘signs' to the beholders, the multiplying of the loaves must have been a greater ‘sign. Their own words confirm this, for they receive the miracle as the heaven-appointed token of the mission of Jesus. Still they did not really look beneath the surface; in the depth of meaning which the word has to John, the wonderful work was not apprehended as a ‘sign.' Our Lord's design in this chapter is, as we shall see, to remove their ignorance on this very point.

This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world. To an Israelite a miracle at once suggested the thought of a prophet (Deuteronomy 13:1), as the general name for one who had received a Divine mission. But here it is of the Prophet that they speak, no doubt referring to the promise of Deuteronomy 18:15 (see note on chap. John 1:21). The general expectation which lay in the hearts of men at this time clothed itself in different forms of expression, according to the events which drew it forth. Perhaps the miracle of Elisha (2 Kings 4:43) rose to their thought, or that of Elijah (1 Kings 17:14); and the memory of their ancient prophets drew along with it the promise of the Prophet now to come. More probably it was to the miracle of the manna that their minds recurred, and the work of Moses brought to recollection the promise which Moses left behind him for the last days. The words used by the people leave no doubt that here at least the Prophet is identified with the Messiah, whose most frequent designation seems to have been ‘He that cometh' (Matthew 11:3, etc.), or more fully, ‘He that cometh into the world' (comp. chap. John 1:9).