Page images
PDF
EPUB

MATTHEW.

MARK.

LUKE.

JOHN.

CHAP. VI.

27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man fhall give unto you: for him hath God the Father fealed.

28 Then faid they unto him, What fhall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29 Jefus anfwered and faid unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath fent.

30 They faid therefore unto him, What fign fhewest thou then, that we may fee, and believe thee? What doft thou work?

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the defert; as it is written, He gave them bread. from heaven to eat.

⚫be, not after the Food which can nourish only for a short time, but after that which will nourish your Souls to all eternity, and which I will beftow upon you (tho I no way feem to differ from any other perfon in my outward appearance) provided you prepare your felves to receive it as becomes you. Neither can you doubt of my having fuch a Power, fince God bears witness to the truth of what I fay by the Miracles you have feen me perform among you, which are as it were fo many Seals for a confirmation of it.

The men ftruck with this anfwer, ask'd him what they were to do to become acceptable to God. Then faid Jefus : Believe on him whom God hath fent unto you, and obey the Doctrine he brings you from God himself. Hereupon, being half angry that he did not fet himfelf up for a King over them, whom they were ready to own and affift as fuch, as if they had quite forgot the Wonders he had perform'd among them, they ask'd him if he could fhew any Miracle in confirmation of what he faid to them, and which might make them give credit to him.

For, faid they, our Ancestors believ'd on Mofes, as you require us to believe on you; but then he fed them with Manna in the Deferts of Arabia, which, as the Scripture speaks, was, as it were, Bread fent down from Heaven to eat, Pí. 78. 24.

[ocr errors]

MATTHEW.

MARK.

LUKE.

JOHN.

C H A P. VI

32 Then Jefus faid unto them, Verily verily, I fay unto you, Mofes gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then faid they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jefus faid unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me, shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst.

36 But I faid unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not.

37 All that the Father giveth me, fhall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out.

Jefus replied, that, properly fpeaking, Mofes could not be faid to have given them Bread from Heaven, but that he would give them heavenly Bread in his Fa 'ther's name, and juftly fo called; that this Bread was truly divine, and fent down from Heaven; and that men were not only nourish'd with it, but received Life from it. They not reaching the true meaning of what Jefus faid, intreated him to give them always this fort of Bread.

Jefus anfwer'd them more openly, but ftill in a figurative Speech, as willing to get rid of thefe men, who thought of nothing but the conveniences of this life, and were ready to raise a Tumult upon his account, and proclaim him King: I am, faid he, that Bread which is the Source of Life: Whoever becomes my Difciple 1hall partake of this Bread, and never hunger or thirft more, as thofe did who fed on the Manna Mofes gave them, and drank of the Water that flowed out of the Rock. Thefe things I have plainly declar'd unto you, and yet you do not believe: The reafon is, because you did not believe in God; for all thofe of the Jews who believ'd my Father, have alfo believ'd me, and are become my Dilciples, nor do I reject any that seriously desire to be my Difciples. I am come from Heaven, not

to

MATTHEW.

MARK,

LUKE.

JOHN.

CHAP. VI.

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that fent me.

39 And this is the Fathers will which hath fent me, that of all which he hath given me, I thould lofe nothing, but fhould raise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that fent me, that every one which feeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life and I will raife him up at the last day.

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

42 And they faid, Is not this Jefus the fon of Jofeph, whofe father and mother we know? how is it then that he faith, I came down from heaven?

43 Jefus therefore answered and faid unto them, Murmur not among your felves.

to do my own Will, but the Orders I am charged with by my heavenly Father; and he has commanded me to take care of thofe who having believ'd in him, are become my Difciples, that at the Refurrection they may be made partakers of eternal Happiness. For it is the good pleasure of God who hath fent me, that whoever fees my Miracles, and believes my Doctrine, fhould inherit everlasting Life, to which I will raife him at the last Day.

The Jews having heard this Reply of Jefus,and not being able to bear with his telling them he was bread come down from Heaven,mutter'd among themfelves, asking one another whether he were not Jefus the Nazarene, the Son of Jofeph and Mary, Perfons very well known in Nazareth; how then, faid they, could he come down from Heaven, as he pretends?

Jefus anfwer'd them in thefe or the like words: Do not murmur among your felves at what I have faid, as if I requir'd you to believe a Lie. I propofe nothing as the Object of your Belief, which is not in it felf moft true; but the reafon why you cannot prevail with your felves to believe me, is, because you were never fo Hh thorowly

[blocks in formation]

JOHN.

СНА Р. VI.

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath fent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the laft day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

46 Not that any man hath feen the Father, fave he which is of God, he hath feen the Father.

47 Verily verily I fay unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

So This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

SI I am the living bread, which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread, he fhall live for ever:

throwly affected as you ought, with the reveal'd Will of my heavenly Father. Now, no one among the Jews can become my Difciple, unless he first believes the Revelation of my Father; and fuch a one will I raife from the Dead at the laft Day, that I may reward him with everlasting Happiness. The Prophets have foretold that All the Jews who will not continue obftinate in their Errors, shall be taught by God himself, Ifa. 54. 13. Jer. 31. 34. and indeed whoever embraces my Doctrine, knows it is his duty fo to do by the Revelation he has receiv'd from my Father: But yet you are not to mistake me fo far as to think these men already acquainted with all that God has determined to reveal by me to men. This you may be affured of, that whoever believes and obeys my Doctrine, fhall partake of eternal Happinels: For I am, as I told you, that Bread, which being fed on, will nourish you to everlasting Life. Your Ancestors, 'tis true, did eat Manna in the Deferts of Arabia, and yet were all mortal; but here you have Bread offer'd, which whoever feeds on, hall never die. 'Tis I who am that Bread come down from Heaven to that very end, that whoever feeds on it, shall be nourish'd to Eter

MATTHEW.

MARK.

LUKE.

JOHN.

CHAP. VI.

and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore ftrove amongst themselves, faying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

[ocr errors]

53 Then Jefus faid unto them, Verily verily I fay unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whofo eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh,' and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath fent me, and I live by the Father: fo, he that eateth me, even he fhall live by me.

nity. Now the Bread I give to all that are willing to receive it, is my Body, which I will fuffer to be deftroy'd, that by its Death I may procure Life for Men.

Upon this, thofe that heard him, difagreed among themfelves concerning the meaning of what he had faid: for none of 'em understood in what fenfe it was he told them he would give his Body to men to feed on. Jefus therefore, that they might not make flight of it, and confequently not endeavour to find out the meaning, told them, That unless they eat his Flesh, and drink his Blood, it was impoffible to obtain everlasting Life. He only, who thus fatisfies his Hunger and Thirst, can juftly hope to obtain that Life which is promis'd on this condition; and fuch a one will I raife from the Dead at the day of Judgment: For my Flesh and my Blood are Meat and Drink indeed, and they are the means for the obtaining of everlasting Life. Whoever thus feeds on me will thereby be fo nearly allied to me, that I will account all that belongs to me and him, as belonging in common to us both.

Like as I have bin fent by my Father, and am here on Earth on purpose to execute his Will; fo alfo whoever shall feed on me, will reckon that he lives for me, that

Hh2.

is,

« PreviousContinue »