John Calvin Commentary John 6:32

"Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven." — John 6:32 (ASV)

Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses gave you not bread from heaven. Christ appears to contradict what was quoted from the psalm, but he speaks only by comparison. The manna מן is called the bread of heaven, but it is for the nourishment of the body; but the bread which should truly and properly be regarded as heavenly, is that which gives spiritual nourishment to the soul. Christ therefore makes a contrast here between the world and heaven, because we should not seek the incorruptible life except in the kingdom of heaven. In this passage, truth is not contrasted with shadows, as is often done elsewhere; but Christ considers what is the true life of man, or, in other words, what it is that makes him different from animals and distinguished among creatures.

My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. When he adds these words, the meaning is, "The manna which Moses gave to your fathers did not bring heavenly life, but now heavenly life is truly presented to you." Indeed, it is the Father whom he calls the giver of this bread, but he means that it is given by his own hand.

Thus the contrast relates not to Moses and God, but to Moses and Christ. Now, Christ represents his Father rather than himself as the Author of this gift, in order to inspire deeper reverence for himself; as if he had said, "Acknowledge me to be the minister of God, by whose hands he wishes to feed you to eternal life." But, again, this appears to be inconsistent with the doctrine of Paul, who calls the manna—spiritual food, (1 Corinthians 10:3). I reply, Christ speaks according to the capacity of those with whom he is dealing, and this is not uncommon in Scripture.

We see how variously Paul speaks about circumcision. When he writes about the ordinance, he calls it the seal of faith, (Romans 4:11); but when he has to contend with false apostles, he calls it instead a seal of cursing, and that by considering it with the qualities which they ascribed to it and according to their opinion.

Let us consider what the objection made against Christ was: namely, that he did not prove himself to be the Messiah if he did not supply his followers with bodily food. Accordingly, he does not inquire what was prefigured by the manna, but maintains that the bread with which Moses fed their bellies was not true bread.