John 6:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.

NIV: "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.

NASB: Jesus answered and said to them, 'Stop complaining among yourselves.

CSB: Jesus answered them, "Stop complaining among yourselves.

NLT: But Jesus replied, 'Stop complaining about what I said.

KJV: Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.

NKJV: Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.

In the Old Testament, Israel demonstrates a bad habit of "grumbling" against God (Exodus 15:24; 17:4; Numbers 14:2). This usually occurs when God's plan or methods differ from Israel's preferences. Here, the issue is fundamentally the same. Jesus has drawn crowds due to His miracles (John 6:2, 9–14), but those people are missing the real message behind them (John 6:26). As Jesus explains that eternal life comes through belief in the Messiah (John 6:27–29), and not through good works, the people resort to the time-honored tradition of complaining.

In the Gospels, many of Christ's "do" or "do not" statements are instructive. They have the gentle character of a teacher or a guide. This is not one of those places. Jesus has performed miracles and clearly explained eternal life to the people, who have responded with outrageous requests (John 6:30), lame excuses (John 6:42), and now they are mumbling under their breath. Christ's comment here does not sound like coaching so much as scolding: "knock it off!"

Jesus will then repeat the idea that He, Himself, is the Bread of Life, and the source of eternal salvation (John 6:44). The ultimate cure for spiritual ignorance is being confronted with the truth. A person can either accept it or reject it, but they cannot later claim they did not know right from wrong.

John 6:41–51 uncovers the true motivation of the crowd following Jesus: selfishness. This passage is part of a long dialogue where Christ clarifies the meaning of His miracles. Jesus has just explained that He, Himself, is the ''Bread of Life'' which people are meant to seek. In response, the people complain amongst themselves. Jesus will give further explanation of what He means by claiming to be the ''Bread of Life.'' This will make the crowd even more agitated, as the people move from seeking, to complaining, to outright argument.

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.