Thomas Aquinas 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)

1. After our Lord put an end to the complaining and arguing among the Jews, He now addresses the offense taken by His disciples. We will consider two things:

1. The offense of those disciples who left Him.
2. The devotion of those who remained with Him, beginning at the words, then Jesus said to the twelve.

Concerning the first point, the offense, three aspects are presented:

1. The offense taken by the disciples.
2. The kindly way Christ works to remove it, at but Jesus, knowing that his disciples murmured at this.
3. The stubbornness and unbelief of those who leave Him, at after this many of his disciples departed.

2. We should note, with respect to the first point, that there were many Jews who followed Christ, believed in Him, and accompanied Him. Although they had not left all things as the Twelve did, they were still all called His disciples. It is of these that He says, many—that is, many of the people who believed Him—hearing it, what He had said before, said, this saying is hard. We read of these: they believe for a while, and in the time of testing fall away (Luke 8:13). He says, many, because the number of fools is infinite (Ecclesiastes 1:15), and, many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 20:16).

They said, this saying is hard. A thing is said to be hard when it is difficult to break apart and offers resistance. Accordingly, a saying is hard either because it resists the intellect or because it resists the will; that is, when we cannot understand it with our mind, or when it does not please our will. This saying was hard for them in both ways. It was hard for their intellects because it exceeded their limited understanding; for since they were earthly-minded, they were incapable of understanding what He said, namely, that He would give them His flesh to eat. It was also hard for their wills because He said many things about the power of His divinity; and although they believed Him to be a prophet, they did not believe that He was God. Consequently, it seemed to them that He was making Himself greater than He was. His letters are strong (2 Corinthians 10:10); wisdom is exceedingly unpleasant to the unlearned . And so it continues, Who is able to accept it? They said this as an excuse, for since they had committed themselves to Him, they should have accepted what He said. But because He was not teaching them things that were pleasing, they were waiting for an opportunity to leave Him: a fool does not accept words of wisdom unless You tell him what he desires (Proverbs 18:2).

3. Next, at but Jesus, knowing that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: does this scandalize you?, we see the kindly way Christ dispelled their difficulty. In this, we see three things:

1. He takes notice of and mentions the offense.
2. He removes its cause, at what if you shall see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?
3. He identifies what the cause was, at but there are some of you who do not believe.

4. He had noticed that they were offended because they had said, this saying is hard, although they said it privately so He could not hear. But Christ, who by virtue of His divinity knew what they had said, mentions it. This is what the text says: but Jesus, knowing that his disciples murmured at this—that is, that His disciples were grumbling about this—because he did not need anyone to give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:25); God searches into the hearts and loins of men (Psalms 7:9). He said to them, does this scandalize you? This is as if to say, "You should not be offended by this." Or, it can be understood less strongly, as meaning, "I know that you are offended by this." He will be our sanctification to those who believe in Christ, but a stumbling-stone to the two houses of Israel—that is, to the grumbling disciples and the crowds (Isaiah 8:14).

5. But since teachers should avoid creating difficulties for their listeners, why did our Lord say things that would upset the people and cause them to leave?

I answer that Christ had to say such things because His teaching required it. They had pleaded with Him for material food, when He had come to strengthen their desire for spiritual food; and so He had to make known to them His teaching on spiritual food. Nevertheless, their difficulty was not caused by any defect in what Christ was teaching, but by their own unbelief. If they had not understood what our Lord was saying because of their earthly-mindedness, they could have questioned Him, as the apostles had done in similar circumstances. According to Augustine, however, our Lord purposely permitted this situation to give teachers a reason for consolation and patience with those who belittle what they say, since even the disciples presumed to disparage what Christ said.

6. Then, at what if you shall see the Son of man ascending to where he was before?, He takes away the cause of their offense as it concerns both the person speaking and what He said, as Chrysostom says. We see two parts:

1. He deals with the person who was speaking.
2. He deals with what was said, at it is the spirit that gives life.

7. The cause of their offense was hearing our Lord say divine things about Himself. Because they believed He was the son of Joseph, they were upset at what He said about Himself. God takes away this reason by showing them His divinity more openly, saying: You are upset over the things I have said about myself; what if you should see the Son of man ascending to where he was before? What would you say then? It is as if to say: You can never deny that I came down from heaven, or that I am the one who gives and teaches eternal life.

He did the same thing before with Nathanael. When Nathanael said to Him, you are the King of Israel (John 1:49), our Lord, wanting to lead him to more perfect knowledge, answered him: you shall see greater things than these (John 1:50). Here too, our Lord reveals to them something greater about Himself which would happen in the future, saying, what if you see the Son of man ascending to where he was before? Indeed, He did ascend into heaven in the sight of His disciples (Acts 1:9). If, therefore, He ascends to where He was before, then He was in heaven before: and no man has ascended into heaven, except he who descended from heaven (John 3:13).

8. Let us note that Christ is one person: the person of the Son of God and the person of the Son of man are the same. Still, because of His different natures, something belongs to Christ by reason of His human nature—that is, to ascend—which does not belong to Him by reason of His divine nature. According to His divinity, He does not ascend, since He is eternally at the highest summit of all things, that is, in the Father. It is according to His human nature that it belongs to Him to ascend to where he was before, that is, to heaven, where He had not been in His human nature. This opposes the teaching of Valentinus, who claimed that Christ had assumed a heavenly body. Thus, Christ ascended in the sight of His apostles to where He was before according to His divinity; and He ascended, by His own power, according to His humanity: I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world: again I leave the world, and I go to the Father (John 16:28).

9. Augustine understands this passage differently. He said that the disciples were offended when our Lord said He would give them His flesh to eat because they understood this in a materialistic way, as if they were literally to eat His flesh just like the flesh of an animal. Our Lord rejected this interpretation and said: what if you shall see the Son of man ascending, with His entire body, to where he was before? Would you say that I intended to give you my flesh to eat as you do the flesh of an animal?

10. Then, at it is the spirit that gives life, He settles the offense they took at what He said. As Chrysostom says, He first distinguished two ways in which His words could be understood, and second, He showed which way was appropriate here, at the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

With respect to the first point, we should note that Christ’s words can be understood in two senses: a spiritual way and a material way. Thus He says, it is the spirit that gives life; that is, if you understand these words according to the spirit—their spiritual meaning—they will give life. The flesh profits nothing; that is, if you understand them in a material way, they will be of no benefit to you but will instead be harmful, for if you live according to the flesh you will die (Romans 8:13). What our Lord said about eating His flesh is interpreted in a material way when it is understood in its superficial meaning, as pertaining only to the nature of flesh. This was how the Jews understood it. But our Lord said that He would give Himself to them as spiritual food—not as though the true flesh of Christ is not present in this sacrament of the altar, but because it is eaten in a certain spiritual and divine way. Thus, the correct meaning of these words is spiritual, not material.

So He says, the words that I have spoken to you, about eating My flesh, are spirit and life; that is, they have a spiritual meaning, and understood in this way they give life. It is not surprising that they have a spiritual meaning, because they are from the Holy Spirit: it is the Spirit who tells mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2). Therefore, the mysteries of Christ give life: I will never forget your justifications, because through them you have brought me to life (Psalms 119:93).

11. Augustine explains this passage differently, understanding the statement, flesh profits nothing, as referring to the flesh of Christ. It is obvious that the flesh of Christ, as united to the Word and to the Spirit, does profit very much and in every way; otherwise, the Word would have been made flesh in vain, and the Father would have made Him known in the flesh in vain (1 Timothy 4). And so we should say that it is the flesh of Christ, considered in itself, that profits nothing and does not have any more beneficial effect than other flesh. For if His flesh is considered as separated from the divinity and the Holy Spirit, it does not have a different power than other flesh. But if it is united to the Spirit and the divinity, it profits many, because it makes those who receive it abide in Christ, for a person abides in God through the Spirit of love: we know that we abide in God and God in us, because he has given us his Spirit (1 John 4:13). This is what our Lord says: the effect I promise you, that is, eternal life, should not be attributed to My flesh as such, because understood in this way, flesh profits nothing. But My flesh does offer eternal life as united to the Spirit and to the divinity. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). And so He adds, the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life, that is, they must be understood of the Spirit united to My flesh; and so understood they are life—the life of the soul. For as the body lives its bodily life through a bodily spirit, so the soul lives a spiritual life through the Holy Spirit: send forth your Spirit, and they will be created (Psalms 104:30).

12. Then, at but there are some of you who do not believe, He indicates the reason why they were upset: their unbelief. It is as if to say: The cause of your difficulty is not the hardness of what I have just said, but your own unbelief.

Here we see three things:

1. He mentions their unbelief.
2. He excludes an incorrect interpretation.
3. He gives the reason for their unbelief.

13. Our Lord indicated their unbelief when He said, but there are some of you who do not believe. He did not say, "who do not understand." He did more than this, for He gave the reason why they did not understand: they did not understand because they did not believe. If you do not believe, you will not understand, as we read in another version (Isaiah 7:9). He said, some, in order to exclude His disciples: all do not have faith (2 Thessalonians 3:2); all do not obey the Gospel (Romans 10:16); they did not believe what he said (Psalms 106:24).

14. The Evangelist then rejects an incorrect interpretation when he adds, for Jesus knew. It is as if to say: Jesus did not say, "that there are some of you who do not believe," because He just recently learned it, but because Jesus knew from the beginning of the world those who believed and who would betray him. All things are naked and open to his eyes (Hebrews 4:13); all things were known to the Lord God before they were created .

15. Our Lord next mentioned the cause of their unbelief, which was the withdrawal of attracting grace. Thus He said: I therefore said to you. It is as if to say: Thus it was necessary to tell you what I told you before: that no man can come to me, through faith, unless it is given to him by my Father. It follows from this, according to Augustine, that the act of believing itself is given to us by God.

Why it is not given to everyone we discussed above, where our Lord used almost the same words (John 6:44). They are repeated here for two reasons. First, to show that Christ received them in the faith more for their advantage and benefit than for His own: it has been granted to you to believe in him (Philippians 1:29). It is as if to say: It is good for you to believe. Thus Augustine says: "It is a great thing to believe: rejoice, because you have believed." Second, to show that Christ was not the son of Joseph, as they thought, but of God, for it is God the Father who draws people to the Son, as is clear from what has been said.

16. Then, at after this many of his disciples departed, we see the stubbornness of the disciples. Although our Lord had rebuked them and had taken away the cause of their difficulty as it concerned Himself, they still would not believe. Thus the text says, after this many of his disciples departed. It does not say that they left, but they departed from the faith, which they had held in a virtuous way. Cut off from the body of Christ, they lost life, because perhaps they were not truly in the body, as Augustine says. There are some who turn back in an absolute way, that is, those who follow the devil, to whom our Lord said, go back, satan (Matthew 4:10). We also read of certain women that some turned back after satan (1 Timothy 5:15). But Peter did not turn back in this way; he rather turned after Christ: follow after me, satan (Matthew 16:23). But the others followed after Satan.

Then follows: and did not walk anymore with him, even though we are required to walk with Jesus: I will show you man what is good, and then it continues, to walk attentively with your God (Micah 6:8).

17. Then, at then Jesus said to the twelve: will you also go away? our Lord examined those disciples who remained with Him. We see this in three parts:

1. The question He asked them.
2. Peter’s answer, which shows the devotion of those who remained, at and Simon Peter answered him.
3. Our Lord’s correction of Peter’s answer, at Jesus answered them: have not I chosen you twelve?

18. Our Lord examined the Twelve who remained as to their willingness to stay, and then Jesus said to the Twelve, that is, to the Apostles, will you also go away? He asked them this for two reasons. First, so that they would not take pride in the fact that they stayed while the others left, thinking it was due to their own goodness or that they were doing Christ a favor. He showed that He did not need them by holding them at a distance, while still giving them strength: if you live rightly, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand? (Job 35:7).

Second, it sometimes happens that a person would really prefer to leave another but is kept from doing so by shame or embarrassment. Our Lord did not want them to stay with Him because they were forced to do so out of embarrassment (because to serve unwillingly is not to serve at all). So He took away any embarrassment in their leaving or necessity for their staying, and left it to their own judgment whether they wanted to stay with Him or leave, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

19. Then, from Peter’s answer, we see the devotion of those who did not leave. For Peter—who loved the brethren, guarded his friendships, and had a special affection for Christ—answered for the whole group and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed.

Here he did three things:

1. He extolled the greatness of Christ.
2. He praised His teaching.
3. He professed his faith.

20. He extolled the greatness of Christ when he said, Lord, to whom shall we go? It is as if to say: Are you telling us to leave you? Give us someone better to whom we can go. But then, there is no one like you among the strong, O Lord (Exodus 15:11); who is like God (Psalms 89:6). And so you will not tell us to go. Where can I go that is away from your spirit? (Psalms 139:7). Furthermore, according to Chrysostom, Peter’s words show great friendship, for to him, Christ was more worthy of honor than his father or mother.

21. He praised His teaching when he said, you have the words of eternal life. Now Moses and the prophets also spoke the words of God, but they rarely had the words of eternal life. But You are promising eternal life. What more can we ask? He who believes in me has eternal life (John 6:47); he who believes in the Son has eternal life (John 3:36).

22. He professed his faith when he said, and we have believed and known, that you are the Christ, the Son of God. In our faith, there are two things above all that must be believed: the mystery of the Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation. Peter professed both here. He professed the mystery of the Trinity when he said, you are the Son of God, for in calling Christ the Son of God he mentioned the person of the Father and that of the Son, along with the person of the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and of the Son, and the bond or nexus of both. He professed the mystery of the Incarnation when he said, you are the Christ. In Greek, the word Christ means "anointed," that is, with the invisible oil of the Holy Spirit. He was not anointed according to His divine nature, because one who is anointed by the Holy Spirit is made better by that anointing. But Christ, as God, is not made better. Thus, Christ was anointed as a man.

He said, we have believed and known, because believing comes before knowing. Therefore, if we wanted to know before believing, we would neither know nor be able to believe, as Augustine says, and as in another version of Isaiah: if you do not believe, you will not understand (Isaiah 7:9).

23. Our Lord corrected Peter’s answer when He said, have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? We see two things:

1. The Lord’s reply.
2. The Evangelist’s explanation of it, at and he meant Judas Iscariot.

24. Because Peter was great-hearted and included all in his answer, we have believed and known, that you are the Christ, the Son of God, it seemed that all of them would arrive at eternal life. And so our Lord excluded Judas from this community of believers. This trust was commendable in Peter, who did not suspect any evil in his companions; but we must also admire the wisdom of our Lord, who saw what was hidden. Thus He says, have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil; not by nature, but by imitating the devil’s malice: death came into the world by the envy of the devil; his disciples imitate him . After the morsel, satan entered into him (John 13:27), because Judas became like him in malice.

25. But if Christ chose Judas, who was later to become evil, it seems that our Lord made a mistake in choosing him. We can answer this in several ways.

First, as Chrysostom does, we might say that this choice was not for predestination, but for a specific task, and was made in reference to a condition of present righteousness. Sometimes a person is chosen this way, not in relation to the future, but according to present realities. Being chosen in this way does not destroy one’s free choice or the possibility of sinning; hence we read, let him who thinks that he stands, take heed so he will not fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). And so our Lord did choose Judas, but not as evil at that time; and being so chosen did not take away his possibility of sinning.

Second, we could answer with Augustine, who said that our Lord did choose Judas as evil. Although He knew that Judas was evil, God made good use of this evil by allowing Himself to be betrayed in order to redeem us, because it is characteristic of a good person to use evil for good.

Third, we could say that the choice of the Twelve does not refer here to the persons, but rather to the number; as if to say: I have chosen twelve. This number is fittingly set apart for those who would preach the faith of the Holy Trinity to the four corners of the world. And indeed, this number did not pass away, because Matthias was substituted for the traitor.

Finally, according to Ambrose, Jesus chose Judas as evil so that when we read that our Lord and Master was betrayed by His disciple, we might be consoled if our friends sometimes betray us.

26. We could ask here why the disciples did not say anything after our Lord said, one of you is a devil, for later on, when He says, one of you will betray me (John 13:21), they reply, is it I, Lord? (Matthew 26:22).

I answer that the reason is that our Lord was speaking here in a general way when He said that one of them was a devil. This could mean any kind of malice, and so they were not disturbed. But later, when they heard of such a great crime—that their Master would be betrayed—they could not keep quiet.

Or, we could say that when our Lord said this, each of them had confidence in his own virtue and so none feared for himself. But after He said to Peter, follow after me, satan (Matthew 16:23), they were afraid and realized their own weakness. That is why they asked in that indecisive way, is it I, Lord? (Matthew 26:22).

27. Finally, what our Lord had just said privately is explained by the Evangelist when he says, now he meant Judas Iscariot, as events proved and which will be clear below (John 13).