John 6:34

John 6:34. They said therefore unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. We cannot see in these words the mere expression of a desire that earthly wants may be satisfied (comp. John 4:15). This would have incurred rebuke (comp. John 6:26), and not led to clearer teaching, such as is found in the coming verses. Jesus, moreover, is not dealing with ‘the Jews' (who meet us at John 6:41), but with the multitude, people who were indeed no more than half enlightened, but whose minds were not shut against the truth. His words in the following verses are altogether such as He was wont to address to men who truly sought the light, though not fully conscious of what they sought.

John 6:35. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, the bread, that is, that contains life in itself, and thus is able to give life unto the world. The Father giveth ‘the true bread' (John 6:32 in giving His Son; the Son of man giveth eternal life (John 6:27) in imparting Himself. To this declaration everything has been leading, the bread of the miracle, the manna, every reproof (John 6:26), every encouragement (John 6:27).

He that is coming to me shall in no wise hunger . The original words are chosen with exquisite delicacy. The figure is not that of one who has achieved a toilsome and lengthened journey (as if the words ran, ‘he that at length has reached me'), but that of one whose resolve is taken, and who sets out in the right way, he that ‘is coming' unto Jesus shall cease to hunger. Other passages may speak of the disciple as one who has come to Jesus; this with equal truth represents him as one who is coming towards Jesus, whose aim and desire and constant thoughts are towards his Lord. The hunger of the spirit ceases, the restless want and search for satisfaction are at an end; the ‘true bread,' that which gives real sustenance, is received.

And he that believeth in me shall in no wise ever thirst. In these words we have an image similar to the last, but not the same. The quenching of thirst is even a stronger figure than the satisfaction of hunger, and thus (as usually in the poetry of the Old Testament) the thought of the second member is an advance upon that of the first. It may seem remarkable that ‘ever' is not joined with both members of the verse; but (as the other words also show) the first simply expresses once for all the cessation of hunger, hunger is at an end; whilst the second suggests the continuous presence of that which banishes thirst. Faith is really set forth in both clauses. The first presents it in the simplicity and power of the act of will, the will turned towards Jesus; the second brings it into prominence as the continuous movement of the soul towards union with Him. It is not right therefore to interpret the ‘coming' as part of the ‘believing,' or to take either as denoting a momentary act belonging to the beginning only of the Christian life. Each figure, with a force peculiarly its own, expresses the abiding relation of the true disciple to his Lord; but only by a combination such as is here given could we have vividly presented to us both the immediate and the continuous satisfaction of spirit which Jesus imparts. There is probably another reason for the introduction of the figure of ‘thirst.' It is not with the manna alone that Jesus is now healing. He had fed the multitudes with bread, but the meal at which He entertained them as His guests was designed to be the symbol of the Paschal feast (see the note on John 6:4). It was natural therefore thus to enlarge the symbols, that his feast may be kept in mind, and the way prepared for the words of later verses (John 6:53-56).