Yohanes 6:44-45

6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, ¹  and I will raise him up at the last day. 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ ²  Everyone who hears and learns from the Father ³  comes to me.

Yohanes 6:60-66

6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ⁴  said, “This is a difficult ⁵  saying! ⁶  Who can understand it?” ⁷  6:61 When Jesus was aware ⁸  that his disciples were complaining ⁹  about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? ¹⁰  6:62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? ¹¹  6:63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! ¹²  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ¹³  6:64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ¹⁴  6:65 So Jesus added, ¹⁵  “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.” ¹⁶ 

Peter’s Confession

6:66 After this many of his disciples quit following him ¹⁷  and did not accompany him ¹⁸  any longer.

[6:44]  ¹ tn Or “attracts him,” or “pulls him.” The word is used of pulling or dragging, often by force. It is even used once of magnetic attraction (A. Oepke, TDNT 2:503).

[6:44]  sn The Father who sent me draws him. The author never specifically explains what this “drawing” consists of. It is evidently some kind of attraction; whether it is binding and irresistible or not is not mentioned. But there does seem to be a parallel with 6:65, where Jesus says that no one is able to come to him unless the Father has allowed it. This apparently parallels the use of Isaiah by John to reflect the spiritual blindness of the Jewish leaders (see the quotations from Isaiah in John 9:41 and 12:39-40).

[6:45]  ² sn A quotation from Isa 54:13.

[6:45]  ³ tn Or “listens to the Father and learns.”

[6:60]  ⁴ tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60]  ⁵ tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60]  ⁶ tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60]  ⁷ tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[6:61]  ⁸ tn Grk “When Jesus knew within himself.”

[6:61]  ⁹ tn Or “were grumbling.”

[6:61]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Does this cause you to no longer believe?” (Grk “cause you to stumble?”)

[6:61]  sn Does this cause you to be offended? It became apparent to some of Jesus’ followers at this point that there would be a cost involved in following him. They had taken offense at some of Jesus’ teaching (perhaps the graphic imagery of “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood,” and Jesus now warned them that if they thought this was a problem, there was an even worse cause for stumbling in store: his upcoming crucifixion (John 6:61b-62). Jesus asked, in effect, “Has what I just taught caused you to stumble? What will you do, then, if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?” This ascent is to be accomplished through the cross; for John, Jesus’ departure from this world and his return to the Father form one continual movement from cross to resurrection to ascension.

[6:62]  ¹¹ tn Or “he was formerly?”

[6:63]  ¹² tn Grk “the flesh counts for nothing.”

[6:63]  ¹³ tn Or “are spirit-giving and life-producing.”

[6:64]  ¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical comment by the author.

[6:65]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And he said”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:65]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “unless it has been permitted to him by the Father.”

[6:66]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “many of his disciples went back to what lay behind.”

[6:66]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “were not walking with him.”