John 6:64 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

NIV: Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.

NASB: But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.

CSB: But there are some among you who don’t believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.)

NLT: But some of you do not believe me.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.)

KJV: But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

NKJV: But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.

Sadly, not all people who "follow" Jesus actually "believe in" Jesus. The story told in this chapter vividly illustrates this unfortunate truth. Crowds gathered around Him due to His miracles (John 6:2). They were so impressed by His feeding of thousands that they were ready to make Him a king (John 6:15). And yet, when Jesus explains that entertainment and free food are not His real ministry, they are unimpressed (John 6:41). The more He insists on a spiritual, personal meaning behind His miracles, the angrier they become (John 6:52). Eventually (John 6:65–66), many of these shallow "followers" will leave, proving they are not "believers."

There is a profound difference between being attracted to aspects of Christianity versus being a born-again Christian. Actions not grounded in legitimate spirituality are pointless. Typically, the difference emerges when a Christian message conflicts with a person's preferences. Nearly all those who turn away from Jesus after following Him do so in response to some disappointment, frustration, or limitation. In this case, most of the people hearing Jesus' message don't like it. That causes them to abandon Him. As Jesus said in the prior verse, "the flesh is no help at all."

Peter, on the other hand, expresses the attitude of an actual "believer" in Christ. Whether he likes what he hears or not, he knows that Jesus is the Truth (John 6:68–69). Instead of rejecting Jesus because Jesus challenges his thinking, Peter submits to a higher truth than his own.

Here, Jesus is speaking to His "disciples" in a broad sense. In context, this term refers to all the people who have been tagging along and listening to His teaching. The core group of twelve men, on the other hand, will be specifically addressed after many of these other "disciples" turn and walk away.

John 6:60–71 shows the drastic impact of Jesus' teaching on the crowd: most walk away. When confronted with spiritual needs and a spiritual message, most people will turn it down. What society wants is spectacle, material things, and a political savior. The more Jesus insists on being the means to eternal life, the angrier the crowd becomes, until the vast majority simply abandon Him. The twelve disciples, on the other hand, seem willing to follow Jesus, though they are also struggling to accept His recent claims. Peter's declaration will be the third of John's seven witnesses to Jesus' divinity.

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.