John 6:60-66

⁶⁰On hearing it, many of His disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" ⁶¹Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ⁶²What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him." ⁶⁶From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.

Now, the multitude – here called His disciples (John 2:23-25), having professed to follow Him – illustrate Christ’s difficult teaching that it is impossible for anyone to believe unless the Father grants him faith. By disbelieving His statements and departing His presence offended (v66), they confirm the truth of His statements. In fact, they unwittingly confess as much, asking the rhetorical question, “Who can accept it?” Other translations render the question, “Who is able to hear it?” The answer, which Jesus has repeatedly given and will again give in v65 is, “No one – unless the Father draws Him, enables Him, grants faith to him, bestows faith on him.”

It’s interesting that the disciples secretly say that Jesus’ teaching is hard, when, in fact, it is their hearts that are hard. They still prefer to internally blame Jesus for their condition, rather than submit to His authority. The reality is that Jesus’ word is hard, like a fire or a hammer (Jeremiah 23:29), and thus, only the elect, only the good soil, receives it gladly and bears fruit accordingly. And their question is condemning. “Who can accept it?” Or “who is able to hear it?” They are saying to one another, “This man cannot be trusted. He is unacceptable. His words must not be heard.” And that, of course, is nothing more than rejecting Christ. But there’s more. Jesus, though not privy to the conversation, is plainly aware of their grumbling. His question, “Does this offend you?” might at first sound like a dagger pressing into an open wound. “Hah! This is nothing compared to what’s going to happen!” But I think it’s gentler: “You need not be offended at this teaching, for I will authenticate My words to you by My resurrection from the dead.” Jesus responds to their unbelief that He is the eternal Son of God, who descended from heaven, by predicting that He would ascend to heaven, and thus prove that He first descended from there. But as we know from Luke 16:31, even the resurrection will not do what the Spirit must do to regenerate a man and make him willing and able to believe. Also their secrecy reveals that they don’t want Jesus to correct them. We must turn to Jesus, not away from Him, when we are confused, lack understanding and desire to know more. But we must be willing to submit to what is said. And these grumblers were not willing, as shown by their secrecy.

The first half of v63 has been mutilated been over-analyzing and re-wording over the years. It seems pretty straightforward when we just read it in context. Some say that by saying, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing,” Jesus is merely emphasizing His teaching that the temporal physical signs He provided were not the important thing; rather, it was the spiritual truths they signified that had eternal, life-giving value. It may have been that, but I can’t help but recall Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus from John 3:6. This is practically a repetition. Only the Spirit can grant new life through regeneration, and new life is both willing and able to believe these sayings. With this view of v63, we can clearly see the reason for Jesus to repeat His unpopular observation from v44 in v65, “No one can [is able to] come unto Me unless the Father has enabled him [unless it is granted or given him from the Father].” Jesus repeatedly explains to this large gathering what He had already repeatedly taught Nicodemus One-on-one. The Spirit must work effectively in a man for faith to result. Some say that God does indeed grant everyone enabling grace; but this cannot be. Calvin concludes, “If this grace were bestowed on all without exception, it would have been unseasonable and inappropriate to have mentioned it in this passage; for we must understand that it was Christ’s design to show that not many believe the Gospel; faith proceeds only from the revelation of the Spirit.”

In v63b, Jesus says that the words He has spoken are spirit and life. This word “spirit” is different than the first. The first “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, and this “spirit” simply means “spiritual,” again referring us to the truth of 1 Corinthians 2:14. The flesh counts for nothing; natural man cannot discern spiritual words. It takes the Holy Spirit to quicken us to grasp spiritual words, and the grasping thereof results in faith. And faith leads to everlasting life. Thus salvation is all of grace – by grace, through faith in Jesus. When Jesus says, “There are some of you who do not believe,” He’s rebuking their stubborn and proud depravity. As we saw in Romans, no one can blame God for not regenerating them by His Spirit. We are responsible to believe in Jesus. And furthermore, He knew from the beginning which of the “disciples” were hypocrites. It’s no surprise to Jesus when what is about to happen in v66 takes place. 2 Timothy 2:19 “The Lord knows those who are His.” He doesn’t know about people, foreseeing who will choose to believe in Him; rather, He intimately knows His chosen ones and brings them to Himself.

Finally, the grand result of this discourse, this sermon, for the multitude, is that many of His “disciples” turned back and followed Him no more. They could not accept the hard teaching of the Savior. How true is that for many people we know? Some have said that it would have been better had they never had this conversation, which occasioned the apostasy of so many. But it was necessary that what had been foretold concerning Christ (Isaiah 8:14 – a trap and a stumbling block to the Jews) should be perceived in His message. Calvin concludes: “The Son of God undoubtedly knew well what was useful, and yet we see that He cannot avoid offending many of His disciples. Whatever then may be the dislike entertained by many persons for pure doctrine, still we are not at liberty to suppress it. Only let the teachers of the Church advance boldly amidst all offenses. And if it happen that many apostatize, let us not be disgusted at the word of God, because it is not relished by the reprobate; for they who are so much shaken by the revolt of some that, when those persons fall away, they are immediately discouraged, are too delicate and tender.”