We have here in relation to Jesus -

I. A MANIFESTATION OF AN OUTWARDLY PROPER AND HOPEFUL CONDUCT. These people sought Jesus, and in doing so:

1. They strove to find the right Object - Jesus. Many seek unworthy, worthless, and injurious objects - objects unworthy of them and their efforts - the very thought of which is most debasing and morally dangerous; but these people seek the most worthy, valuable, and soul-benefiting Object it was possible for them to seek.

2. It was most important for them and for all to find him. So important it was, that Christ, at the expense of the greatest condescension and self-sacrifice, placed himself in their way so that they may know and truly find him. And to find him is to find "a Pearl of great price" - an eternal fortune which will make the soul really rich forever.

3. They strove to find him in the right way. They sought him. Christ, as well as all the blessings of his redemption, is to be found by seeking. "Seek, and ye shall find," is as applicable to him as to all the spiritual blessings of his kingdom.

4. In their seeking there is much that is commendable and worthy of imitation.

(1) There is much enthusiasm.

(2) Intelligent observation. They observed his movements and those of his disciples.

(3) Diligent search. They spared no trouble nor effort.

(4) Determined perseverance. While others had given up in despair, they persevered in spite of the conduct of others, of disappointment and difficulties. When they were convinced that he was on the other side, and that the sea was between them, this they bravely crossed.

(5) Ultimate success. They found him, their efforts were rewarded with success - they found him.

II. A REVELATION OF WRONG MOTIVES. "Ye seek me, not," etc. This revelation shows:

1. That Christ is perfectly acquainted with the real character of men. He not merely knows the outward actions, but also their inward springs, motives, and inspiration. He knew the character of these men better than they themselves. He cannot be deceived by any amount of outward show and profession; the inward man is open to him.

2. That much outward interest is often manifested in Christ from wrong and improper motives. "Ye seek me, not," etc. It was so in the case of these people.

(1) Their motives were utterly selfish. They sought him, not for his sake, but for their own; not on account of what he was in himself, as manifested in his mighty works, but on account of what he might be to them as experienced in the loaves. They sought not Jesus at all, but their own self-interest in the results of his miracles.

(2) Their motives were lamentably low. They were not merely selfish, but they were such as pertained to their lowest self. "Because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled." They sought him, not even from intellectual curiosity, but from selfish gratification; their inspiration in seeking him came not from the higher region of the heart and soul, but from the lower region of the appetites. They seem to have partly lost the national idea of the Messiah's kingship which they entertained on the previous day; they now wish to crown him as the King of human food.

(3) Their motives reveal the complete ascendancy of the animal and the dormancy of the spiritual in them. They seemed to have been entirely under the reign of their physical nature; the spiritual seems fast asleep. The body was all alive and loud in its demands and satisfaction, but the immortal soul uttered not a word about her existence, wants, and misery - not even in the presence of Jesus.

3. That much of the interest manifested in Jesus is inspired by wrong motives, although the greatest advantages are enjoyed to possess the right ones.

(1) These people had seen the mighty works of Jesus. They had seen the signs - not one, but many; they were performed before their very eyes. They had enjoyed their temporal benefits, and they possessed the required capacities to comprehend their meaning and mission.

(2) These signs were eminently adapted to furnish them with right motives in seeking Jesus. They most eloquently and convincingly proclaimed him to be a Divine Person; their Messiah, the Son of God, come on a special mission, not to feed their bodies but to save their souls; not to deliver from the Roman yoke, but from the yoke of sensuality and vice and spiritual death.

(3) But in spite of all this he is sought from low and wrong motives. "Ye seek me, not," etc. The fight and natural motives are ignored, and wrong and unworthy ones are adopted. The loaves are more valued than the Divine power which multiplied them; the streams are more valued than the fountain - the means than the end. The Divine miracles of Jesus are prostituted to gratify the lowest appetites; the powers of the world to come are prostituted to serve the low ends of this, and an attempt is made to make the King of souls the slave of human bodies.

4. That any amount of interest in Jesus, in the absence of right and proper motives, is quite worthless. A right motive alone can make an action morally and spiritually right, valuable, and acceptable. As such:

(1) It is worthless to the man himself. "Though I speak with," etc.

(2) It is worthless to Jesus. Nothing is valued by him but what proceeds from right motives and worthy considerations - considerations of our spiritual wants, and his willingness and power to satisfy them. Motives with Christ are the final test of character and attachment to him.

5. That Jesus reveals the wrong motives of men in relation to him in order to improve them. In some cases he seems to do this for the improvement of others; but in this ease, as well as generally, for the improvement of those he addressed.

(1) The revelation is made directly to them. "I say unto you," etc. Not to some one else. Christ was honest and straightforward, and told people their faults to their faces. He holds the looking glass of truth before the man, so that he may see his moral image. And it is a great help to improve a man to let him see himself.

(2) The revelation is made with solemn emphasis. "Verily, verily," etc. Indicating the absolute truth of the charge, and its paramount importance with regard to their destiny.

(3) The revelation is in a reforming spirit. It is firm and condemnatory, still is moderate - a simple and plain statement of facts; and its evident intention was to benefit, correct, and improve them, elevate their tastes and motives, raise them from the material to the spiritual, from body to the soul, and from the temporal to the eternal. "Ye seek me, not because ye saw the signs," etc. There you lost it. You must retrace your steps and look at me through the miracles, and not through your own low self-interest; through your spiritual nature, and not through your physical appetites. Then you will see that the spiritual wants of your souls are infinitely more important than those of your bodies, and that I am divinely sent to feed and save you.

LESSONS.

1. That Jesus could not be deceived by popular demonstrations in his favour. And what would cheer religious teachers generally rather saddened him, for he could see the inward motives as well as the outward movements; he judged from within, and what a man was inwardly he was really to him. He found this wanting often, even when the outward was promising.

2. That Jesus, with regard to his followers, went in for quality rather than quantity. He invited all, and would welcome all with equal readiness and joy. But only the genuine he would receive and encourage; the ungenuine he would reject and reprove. He preferred a few real followers to a multitude of "loafers."

3. On the great day of revelation it will be found that the religion of many was based upon selfish and worldly considerations, and not upon genuine faith and love, and warm attachment to the Saviour.

4. Inasmuch as purity and spirituality of motives and intentions are so essential in relation to Christ and the salvation of our souls, we cannot be too careful in this direction, especially when we consider that worldliness and selfishness are our most besetting and insidious sins. They clandestinely entwine around our most sacred devotions and services, and appear often innocent and agreeable; but nothing can so efficiently separate from Christ. Hence the necessity of the prayer, Create in me a clean heart, etc. - B.T.

I. OUR LORD'S AVOWAL OF HIS DIVINE NATURE AND HIS HEAVENLY ERRAND. More than thirty times in this one discourse does He use the personal pronouns "Me" and "I," in such connections as that it would be blasphemy if He were anything less than really God. The Jews saw this (vers. 41, 42), the disciples also (ver. 66).

II. THE SPECIAL DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL WHICH ALWAYS SEARCHES THE HEARTS OF MEN. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is what universally tests pride the most severely. In this discourse our Lord intentionally sifts His hearers. He avows with startling suddenness the most extreme views of human helplessness without vicarious redemption. Then He puts the plaintive question, "Will ye also go away?"

III. THE PARAMOUNT NECESSITY OF AN ATONEMENT FOR HUMAN SINS. "Without shedding of blood is no remission." So striking are these utterances of Christ, that there can be no mistaking them. They cannot possibly be discharged of their meaning by any notion of mere pattern-setting on His part. Bread is not example, and blood is not conduct, and eating is not imitation.

IV. LET US BE SATISFIED WITH THE EXPLANATION FURNISHED US HERE OF THAT SENSE OF CRAVING AND RESTLESSNESS WHICH MANY FEEL UNDER THE APPEALS OF THE GOSPEL. The soul hungers after Christ. The sound of feeding awakes deeper pangs. Every living thing must eat or die.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

I. THE SELFISHNESS OF MEN REGARDING JESUS CHRIST (vers. 22-24). The people before us, having "come to Capernaum seeking Jesus," desired Him only for a temporal benefit. This is like many in our day. They go to church, pretend to be religious, make a show of piety, because it is fashionable, profitable for trade, or a convenient method of getting "bread" without toil. The pious fraud is a more dangerous enemy to Christianity than outspoken infidelity.

II. MEN'S SELFISHNESS IN RELIGION REBUKED (vers. 25-27).

1. By having the shallowness of their pretensions exposed (ver. 26). How keen-cutting these words are! And so it is everywhere in the Bible — hypocrisy is condemned with severity. Any one who would speak for Jesus must not be afraid to rebuke the pretender.

2. Presentation of the true motive (ver 27). We must be sincere in seeking Christ as the Saviour of the soul — i.e., "everlasting life" must be with us a deeper consideration than the life of the body. To give this eternal life, or righteousness, unto the world was the purpose of Jesus' coming here: "For Him hath God the Father sealed" — i.e., set apart and given authority to perform the high office of imparting to all believers the Bread of Life. To secure this, salvation must be our only motive.

III. BELIEF IN CHRIST MAN'S SUPREME WORK (vers. 28, 29). It is in the human heart to think of salvation as a matter of "works" (ver. 28). The Scriptures everywhere declare that to be saved — i.e., "to work the works of God," we must believe on the Son of God (ver. 29). Man's good works exclude this belief. But true belief or faith, includes good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:26). Both Jesus and Paul declare that faith saves the soul. James explains the kind of faith that saves.

IV. MAN'S UNWILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT JESUS (vers. 30, 31). From the miracle of the loaves, the multitude would gladly have received Him as a king; but, being informed that they must believe on Him as a Saviour, they demanded more evidence (vers. 30, 31), intimating that Moses, in giving the manna for long years, was greater than Jesus, who only furnished one meal. So men are always willing to exalt Christ as a great personage, but are reluctant to receive Him as their Redeemer. Yet He must be this or nothing.

V. JESUS URGES THIS HIGH CLAIM (vers. 32, 33). He admits of no comparison. Moses did not give the manna (ver. 32); manna did not secure life (ver. 49); Jesus was the Bread from heaven which conferred eternal life (vers. 35, 41, 48, 50, 51). His atonement secured the Holy Spirit, who works regeneration, to experience which is to enter into life. This is what Christ means in verse 51.

VI. THE CONDITIONS OF OUR SECURING JESUS AS OUR LIFE (vers. 34-36).

1. The Divine condition. The Holy Spirit must convict, enlighten, draw (vers. 37, 45).

2. The human condition. Man must come of His own free will (vers. 35, 36, 53).

VII. JESUS THE EXECUTOR OF THE FATHER'S WILL (vers. 37-40). This will was to secure eternal life to all believers. Those who do not take Jesus as the source of their life perish through unbelief. All who do are kept in perfect safety. This is God's will, and Christ is able to execute it.

(A. H. Moment.)

I. A TRUE MIRACLE MAY FAIL TO PRODUCE ANY RELIGION, in which case it fails of its chief purpose. This one simply stimulated an appetite for loaves and fishes, without stimulating gratitude for those already given.

II. THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN GREAT MANIFESTATIONS OF POWER IS TO TURN ATTENTION TO THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST (chap. John 5:36). The works of God in creation and government have no greater end than this. We do not please God by admiring His work in nature, in being awed by miracles; but in being led by the gift of daily bread to faith in Him who is the Bread of Life.

III. A WONDERFUL PYRAMID OF PROMISES POINTS THE SINNER TO A PERSONAL SAVIOUR (vers. 35, 37).

IV. THE PERSONAL FAITH IN CHRIST DETERMINES THE CHARACTER OF OUR PERSONAL RESURRECTION. Four times in this chapter Christ repeats this, or a similar refrain: "I will raise him up at the last day." Whether we share the resurrection of shame and everlasting contempt spoken of by Daniel, or that which causes us to shine as the brightness of the firmament, will depend on our faith in Christ now.

(Monday Club.).

I. CHRIST'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE HUMAN HEART is seen in exposing the false motives of those who followed Him. So now He reads all secret thoughts (1 Samuel 16:7). The folly of hypocrisy is as great as its sinfulness. It is not hard to deceive the wisest of men; but it is impossible to deceive Christ (Revelation 1:14; John 21:17).

II. WHAT CHRIST FORBIDS. Labour for the meat that perisheth.

1. Our Lord did not mean to encourage idleness. Labour was the lot of Adam in his innocence, and of Christ Himself.

2. Our Lord rebuked excessive attention to the body to the neglect of the soul. One thing is needful (Matthew 6:33).

III. WHAT CHRIST ADVISES. Labour for this meat that endureth.

1. How are we to labour? In the use of the appointed means. Bible study, prayer, struggling against sin, etc.

2. Labour like this is uncommon. In prose. outing it we shall have little encouragement from men, but much from Christ (Matthew 11:12).

IV. WHAT A PROMISE CHRIST HOLDS OUT (ver. 27). Whatever we need, Christ is willing to bestow. He has been sent for the very purpose.

(Bishop Ryle.)

A city of Galilee, in the most beautiful part of it, on the western shore of the lake. It was named by Herod Antipas, in honour of the Emperor Tiberius. It was the capital of the province, from its origin until the reign of Herod Agrippa

II. Many of its inhabitants were Greeks and Romans, and hence foreign customs prevailed. Our Lord, who spent much of His time in Galilee, appears never to have visited this city — probably because Herod, the murderer of John the Baptist, chiefly resided in it. After the dissolution of the State, it was for several centuries the seat of a renowned Jewish school, and one of the four sacred cities, Here the Mishna was compiled ( A.D. 190) by the Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh, and the Masorah originated in a great measure at Tiberius. Coins of the city are still extant of the times of Tiberius, Trajan, and Hadrian. The ancient name has survived in that of the modern Tubarieh, which occupies the original site. Near it are the warm baths, which the Roman writers reckoned among the greatest curiosities in the world. The population at present is between 8,000 and 4,000, and the town is the most mean and miserable in all Palestine — a picture of disgusting filth and frightful wretchedness.

(W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

Andrew, Jesus, Joseph, Judas, Peter, Philip, SimonCapernaum, Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, TiberiasAte, Boats, Bread, Eat, Eaten, Howbeit, However, Landed, Neighbourhood, Nigh, Praise, Ships, Thanks, Tiberias, Tiber'i-as, Yet1. Jesus feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes.
15. Thereupon the people would have made him king;
16. but withdrawing himself, he walks on the sea to his disciples;
26. reproves the people flocking after him, and all the fleshly hearers of his word;
32. declares himself to be the bread of life to believers.
66. Many disciples depart from him.
68. Peter confesses him.
70. Judas is a devil.

John 6:23

     4418   bread
     8676   thanksgiving

John 6:22-24

     2369   Christ, responses to

May 9 Evening
It is I; be not afraid.--JOHN 6:20. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.--I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Woe is me! for I am undone; . . . mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 22 Morning
Your work of faith.--I THES. 1:3. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.--Faith worketh by love.--He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.--We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.--Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

August 8 Evening
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.--ROM. 10:13. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.--Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.--What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. If ye . . . being …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 21 Morning
Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.--JOHN 6:37. It shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.--I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.--I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 29 Morning
His commandments are not grievous.--I JOHN 5:3. This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.--Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.--If ye love me, keep my commandments.--He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 14 Evening
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.--JOHN 6:63. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.--The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Christ . . . loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

October 23 Evening
It is the spirit that quickeneth.--JOHN 6:63. The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.--That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.--Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 17 Morning
Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.--PSA. 80:18. It is the Spirit that quickeneth.--The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.--Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

October 29 Evening
David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.--I SAM. 30:6. Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.--I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

October 14 Evening
Give us this day our daily bread.--MATT. 6:11. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.--His bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.--The ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.--Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 8. "He that Eateth Me, Even He Shall Live by Me" (John vi. 57).
"He that eateth Me, even He shall live by Me" (John vi. 57). What the children of God need is not merely a lot of teaching, but the Living Bread. The best wheat is not good food. It needs to be ground and baked before it can be digested and assimilated so as to nourish the system. The purest and the highest truth cannot sanctify or satisfy a living soul. He breathes the New Testament message from His mouth with a kiss of love and a breath of quickening power. It is as we abide in Him, lying upon …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

June 22. "This is that Bread which came Down from Heaven" (John vi. 58).
"This is that bread which came down from heaven" (John vi. 58). We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead; who delivereth us from so great a death, who doth deliver; in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. This was the supernatural secret of Paul's life; he drew continually in his body from the strength of Christ, his Risen Head. The body which rose from Joseph's tomb was to him a physical reality and the inexhaustible …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Fourth Miracle in John's Gospel
And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.'--JOHN vi. 11. This narrative of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand is introduced into John's Gospel with singular abruptness. We read in the first verse of the chapter: 'After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee,' i.e. from the western to the eastern side. But the Evangelist does not tell …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Fragments' or 'Broken Pieces'
'When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.'--JOHN vi. 12. The Revised Version correctly makes a very slight, but a very significant change in the words of this verse. Instead of 'fragments' it reads 'broken pieces.' The change seems very small, but the effect of it is considerable. It helps our picture of the scene by correcting a very common misapprehension as to what it was which the Apostles are bid to gather up. The general notion, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Fifth Miracle in John's Gospel
'So when they had rowed about five-and-twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20. But He said unto them, It is I; be not afraid.'--JOHN vi. 19,20. There are none of our Lord's parables recorded in this Gospel, but all the miracles which it narrates are parables. Moral and religious truth is communicated by the outward event, as in the parable it is communicated by the story. The mere visible fact becomes more than semi-transparent. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How to Work the Work of God
'Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye, believe on Him whom He hath sent.'--JOHN vi. 28, 29. The feeding of the five thousand was the most 'popular' of Christ's miracles. The Evangelist tells us, with something between a smile and a sigh, that 'when the people saw it, they said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world,' and they were so delighted with Him and with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Manna
'I am that bread of life. 49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.'--JOHN vi. 48-50. 'This is of a truth that Prophet,' said the Jews, when Christ had fed the five thousand on the five barley loaves and the two small fishes. That was the kind of Teacher for them; they were quite unaffected by the wisdom of His words and the beauty of His deeds, but a miracle that found food precisely …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Redemption (Continued)
"He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath life eternal."--JOHN VI. 54. We were made for holiness, union with God, eternal life. These are but different expressions for one and the same thing. For holiness is the realisation of our manhood, of that Divine Image which is the true self, expressing itself and acting, as it does in us, through the highest of animal forms. That perfect self-realisation is not merely dependent upon, but is union with God, at its beginning, throughout its …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

The Study of the Bible Recommended; and a Method of Studying it Described.
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal Life. IT was probably in that synagogue which the faithful Centurion built at Capernaum [243] that our Saviour had been discoursing. At the end of his discourse, it is related that "many of His Disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." Thereupon, He asked the Twelve, "Will ye also go away?" the very form of His inquiry (Me kai humeis) implying the answer which the Divine Speaker expected and desired. And to this challenge of Love …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

The Attractive Power of God
THE ATTRACTIVE POWER OF GOD St John vi. 44.--"No one can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." Our Lord Jesus Christ hath in the Gospel spoken with His own blessed lips these words, which signify, "No man can come to Me unless My Father draw him." In another place He says, "I am in the Father and the Father in Me." Therefore whoever cometh to the Son cometh to the Father. Further, He saith, "I and the Father are One. Therefore whomsoever the Father draweth, the Son draweth …
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Care of the Soul Urged as the one Thing Needful
Luke 10:42 -- "But one thing is needful." It was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that "he went about doing good," this great motive, which animated all his actions, brought him to the house of his friend Lazarus, at Bethany, and directed his behavior there. Though it was a season of recess from public labor, our Lord brought the sentiments and the pious cares of a preacher of righteousness into the parlor of a friend; and there his doctrine dropped as the rain, and distilled as the …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

On the Words of the Gospel, John vi. 53, "Except Ye Eat the Flesh," Etc. , and on the Words of the Apostles. And the Psalms. Against
Delivered at the Table of the Martyr St. Cyprian, the 9th of the Calends of October,--23 Sept., on the Lord's day. 1. We have heard the True Master, the Divine Redeemer, the human Saviour, commending to us our Ransom, His Blood. For He spake to us of His Body and Blood; He called His Body Meat, His Blood Drink. The faithful recognise the Sacrament of the faithful. But the hearers what else do they but hear? When therefore commending such Meat and such Drink He said, "Except ye shall eat My Flesh …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

On the Words of the Gospel, John vi. 55,"For My Flesh is Meat Indeed, and My Blood is Drink Indeed. He that Eateth My Flesh," Etc.
1. As we heard when the Holy Gospel was being read, the Lord Jesus Christ exhorted us by the promise of eternal life to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. Ye that heard these words, have not all as yet understood them. For those of you who have been baptized and the faithful do know what He meant. But those among you who are yet called Catechumens, or Hearers, could be hearers, when it was being read, could they be understanders too? Accordingly our discourse is directed to both. Let them who already …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

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