Spirit and Life

Notes

1. Many of the same company which was fed with "the meat which perisheth" have now been fed with "that meat which endureth unto everlasting life," but the very ones who were then ready to "take Him by force to make Him king," now pronounce His discourse in the synagogue a hard one. His teaching had the evidently intended effect of making a separation among His followers, and of revealing their own motives to those who were seeking Him because of the loaves. The man in the parable regarded his lord as a "hard man" (Matt. 25:24), and did not make a right use of the talents delivered to him; so these selfish followers regard His saying as a hard one, and will not remain with Him longer. "Great crowds are following Him to be healed and to be fed, while the politically inclined have at last made a distinct effort to make Him king, to force Him into a collision with the authorities. His proper work is in danger of being lost sight of. He finds it necessary to sift the crowds who follow Him. And He does so by addressing them in terms which can be acceptable only to truly spiritual men—by plainly assuring them that He was among them, not to give them political privileges and the bread that perisheth, but the bread that endureth. . . . They seek earth, and Heaven is thrust upon them. They turn away disappointed, and many walk no more with Him."

2. "Some may question the wisdom of Jesus in introducing a subject so easily misunderstood as that which turned so many from Him on this occasion. But He had a purpose in view. He saw that a most trying ordeal awaited His disciples in His betrayal, His agony in Gethsemane, and His crucifixion. He knew who among His followers were unbelieving and who were of weak faith. Had no test been given them, Jesus would have had many among His followers who were weak in character, and undecided. When the great trial came, and their Lord was betrayed and condemned in the judgment hall; when He was humiliated, and the multitude, who had hailed Him as their king, hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the cruel, jeering crowd cried, 'Crucify Him!' then these faint-hearted ones would have sunk beneath their fear and disappointment. The apostasy of these professed followers of Christ at such a time would have been more than the twelve could have endured, in addition to their great grief and the ruin of their fondest hopes. . . . But Jesus brought about this crisis while He was still present to comfort and strengthen His chosen, and prepare them for what was to follow."

3. "'It is the Spirit that quickeneth;' in these words and the corresponding ones of Paul, 'The Spirit giveth life,' we have the nearest approach to what may be called a definition of the Spirit . . . as a life-giving principle. ["The Spirit is what gives life."] In contrast to the Spirit our Lord places the flesh. . . . It is the power in which the natural man, or even the believer who does not fully yield to the Spirit, seeks to serve God, or to know and possess divine things. . . . His words are spirit and life; they are not meant for the understanding, but for the life. . . . They have themselves a divine life, working out effectually with a divine energy the truth they express into the experience of those who receive them. . . . Not into the mind only, nor into the feelings, nor even into the will alone, must the word be taken, but through them into the life. . . . It is the Spirit that comes from God, the Spirit that Christ came to bring, becoming our life, that will make them become the truth and power in us. . . . The Holy Spirit has for all ages embodied the thoughts of God in the written word, and lives now for this very purpose in our hearts, there to reveal the power and meaning of that word. . . . The Scriptures, which were spoken by holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, can only be understood by holy men as they are taught by the same Spirit."

4. Enoch walked with God (Gen. 5:22) when God was the invisible One, but when He was manifested in the flesh, those who listened to His gracious words refused to walk with Him, but went "away behind." When, under special tests, many are turning away from Christ and are showing that their professions are an empty form, and "the question comes to us, as in Providence it does, 'Will ye also go away?' we must have our answer ready."

5. "And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God." Verse 69, R. V. Knowledge of Christ as the Holy One is the result of faith in Him.

Suggestions for Further Study.

1. What kind of hearing is referred to in verse 60? Compare Rev. 2:7, etc.

2. Observe that the preëxistence of Christ is taught in verse 62.

3. Christ says, "The words that I speak unto you," rather than "My words." What is the difference? Compare Deut. 18:18; John 17:8, etc.

4. Study the opposite effect of the same teaching and privileges upon Judas and the other disciples. What lesson in this?

5. Since Christ's words are life, may we not expect them to perform the functions of life? Compare Heb. 4:12; Acts 12:24; 19:20, etc.

6. Observe the progress of the change in the feeling of the people toward Christ as shown in this chapter. Verses 15, 41, 52, 60, 66.

7. The word translated "a devil" in verse 70 is translated "slanderers" in 1 Tim. 3:11, and "false accusers" in 2 Tim. 3:3 and Titus 2:3. Satan was the great original slanderer, who slandered both God and Christ. Judas followed in his track. He "misrepresented Christ in telling the priests falsehoods about His teaching."

8. In what ways is "life only in Christ" taught in this lesson?