Charles Ellicott Commentary John 6:61

"But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble?" — John 6:61 (ASV)

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured.—The tenses in the original describe the scene in the present: Jesus as knowing, the disciples as murmuring. The knowledge is in Himself, uninformed by them, and His teaching is addressed to the thoughts of their hearts. They were placing themselves in the position of the Jews (John 6:41), and were making the stepping-stone of spiritual knowledge, up which faith would have walked, into a rock of offence over which blindness fell.