John 6:65

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(65) No man can come unto me.—Unless the fields had been prepared it was in vain to sow the seed. No effort on the sower’s part could make them receptive. The fact that they believed not, declared that their hearts were not prepared, but did not affect the goodness of the seed. This defection did not surprise Him. He had already used words which anticipated it. (Comp. Note on John 6:37; John 6:44.)

It will be observed that this verse follows in the teaching of Christ immediately on the first clause of John 6:64, the second clause being a statement of the writer.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:60-65 The human nature of Christ had not before been in heaven, but being God and man, that wondrous Person was truly said to have come down from heaven. The Messiah's kingdom was not of this world; and they were to understand by faith, what he had said of a spiritual living upon him, and his fulness. As without the soul of man the flesh is of no value, so without the quickening Spirit of God all forms of religion are dead and worthless. He who made this provision for our souls, alone can teach us these things, and draw us unto Christ, that we may live by faith in him. Let us apply to Christ, thankful that it is declared that every one who is willing to come unto him shall be made welcome.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jesus knew from the beginning ... - As this implied a knowledge of the heart, and of the secret principles and motives of men, it shows that he must have been omniscient.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

65. Therefore said I, &c.—that is, "That was why I spoke to you of the necessity of divine teaching which some of you are strangers to."

except it were given him—plainly showing that by the Father's "drawing" (Joh 6:44) was meant an internal and efficacious operation, for in recalling the statement here He says, it must be "given to a man to come" to Christ.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He said this in John 6:44, See Poole on "John 6:44".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he said, therefore said I unto you,.... Referring to John 6:44, where the substance of what is here said, is there delivered; though the Ethiopic version reads, therefore I say unto you, what follows:

that no man can come to me, except it be given him of my Father; which is the same, as to be drawn by the Father; for faith in Christ is the gift of God, and coming to him, is owing to efficacious grace, and is not the produce of man's power and freewill; See Gill on John 6:44.

Geneva Study Bible

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

John 6:65. See on John 6:37; John 6:44.

διὰ τοῦτο] because many of you believe not, and therefore, though there is in them the outward appearance of discipleship, they lack the inward divine preparation.

ἐκ τοῦ πατρ. μ.] from my Father. See Bernhardy, p. 227 f; comp. Plat. Lys. p. 104 B: τοῦτο δέ μοί πως ἐκ θεοῦ δέδοται. Soph. Philoct. 1301: τὰς μὲν ἐκ θεῶν τύχας δοθείσας. Xen. Anab. i. 1. 6; Hellen. iii. 1. 6.

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 6:65. He therefore points this out, διὰ τοῦτο … πατρός μου. All that brings men to Christ is the Father’s gift.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

65. Therefore] Better, For this cause (John 12:18; John 12:27): see on John 5:16; John 5:18, John 7:22, John 8:47.

said I unto you] John 6:44; comp. John 6:37, and see notes on both.

were given unto him of my Father] Have been given unto him of the Father.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 6:65. Δεδομένον, given) by the drawing of grace.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 65. - And he said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of the Father (μου is omitted by R.T. and Tischendorf (8th edit.); the authorities seem here more equally divided); see notes on vers. 37 and 44. Christ has come completely round to the fundamental principles with which he started. The coming to him, the believing on him, the spiritual apprehension of his Divine humanity, the adoring acceptance of his precious blood, the reception of the spiritual life-giving energy which went forth from him in word, depended on the Father's "drawing" - on those fundamental characteristics of appetite and capacity to receive the grace of Christ which are subjective and are referrible to the Father's good pleasure. Christ does not give the hunger, but the bread. From the beginning he saw the presence of the appetite after that which he came to bestow. Sometimes a morbid absence of all hunger, a moribund cessation of thirst, may be and is transformed into passionate and life-saving eagerness by The sight of food. The Father gives both the hunger and the food, the sense of need and the heavenly supply. The love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, is the drawing of the Father through the Son to himself. The drawing of the Father is the giving of souls to the Son. A fresh thought is here added. This drawing, thus interpreted, is God's gift also to the human soul The question arises - If the Lord knew, why did he choose the traitor, or call Judas into the innermost circle (see ver. 71)? John 6:65