John 6:40 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

NIV: For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

NASB: For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.'

CSB: For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

NLT: For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.'

KJV: And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

NKJV: And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Ancient writing styles used repetition to emphasize the truth of a statement. Jesus' comments in this verse are extremely similar to those just made (John 6:39). Jesus has made it clear that eternal life is given to those who believe in the One sent by God (John 6:29). This is the "true bread from heaven" (John 6:32). It is also the real point behind miracles such as manna in the Old Testament (Exodus 16) and Jesus' own feeding of thousands from the previous day (John 6:9–14). Jesus has explicitly stated that eternal life is not the result of a "work," meaning some ritual or action, but only the result of belief in Him. According to Jesus, He is the One sent by God, who will infallibly accept all whom God the Father gives Him (John 6:37), and who will infallibly keep them to see eternal life (John 6:39).

Here, Jesus specifies the necessity of belief for those who seek eternal life. In addition, Christ makes another clear statement on the doctrine of eternal security. Those given to Jesus by God, He absolutely will save. Those He saves absolutely will remain saved, to be "[raised] up on the last day." Once a person is truly saved by Christ, their salvation can never be lost.

John 6:22–40 describes the initial aftermath of Jesus' feeding of thousands the previous day. The crowd's actual desire is for another supernatural spectacle and more free food. In this passage, Christ begins to explain the true meaning behind His miracle and His ministry. This includes the first of seven ''I am'' statements in the gospel of John—moments where Jesus declares His own divinity. Jesus clarifies that physical things such as bread are symbols of a spiritual truth. In the following segment, the crowd will stop seeking and start complaining.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.