John 6:69 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

NIV: We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

NASB: And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'

CSB: We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

NLT: We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God. '

KJV: And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

NKJV: Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The gospel of John highlights seven moments when Jesus is openly declared to be divine. This is the third of these witnesses. The title "Holy One of God" is also used by a demon in reference to Jesus in Mark 1:24.

After seeing many people abandon Jesus' teachings completely, Peter has made a very practical, rational remark. Rather than choosing what he likes over what is true, Peter rhetorically asks, "where else would we go, since only you have the truth?" This is what separates the "follower" from the "believer." Many people show interest in Christ and approve of aspects of His ministry. And yet, in the end, just because a person has a fondness for Christianity does not mean they are truly a Christian (1 John 2:19).

Peter's use of the term "we" includes all twelve men in Jesus' current inner circle. It's a perfect illustration of Peter's over-enthusiastic personality: he presumes to speak for everyone. We're not sure exactly when or where the other men came to full, deep faith in Christ. What is sure is that one of those twelve will never come to this conclusion; Jesus already knows who this is (John 6:70–71). While the crowd's abandonment of Jesus proved their faith was shallow, the truth about Judas's lack of belief will not be as easy to uncover.

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.