Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life]. |
Subject: How do we understand these words? |
Bible Note: I do believe you are correct, Angel. It is clear that the disciples who remained had not understood all he said. But they remained, patiently waiting for understanding. There was a blind man who recieved his sight and said, "One thing I know". There was a psalmist who said, "LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child". And the twelve decided to humbly wait. Their wait was rewarded, for in John 16 we hear them saying "Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God". We do not know what the word of God means except by the Spirit of God as he reveals it. We cannot hurry him. We must wait on him. You know, Angel, I started our asking that question, "How can we understand these words?. But as I wrote it seems that more and more was revealed to me. Still there is a question and a challenge in my mind. How do I know that I have the correct understanding? The sponsors of this program may not like my answer, but I think that the New Living Translation had the most accurate rendition. That is because it uses the context to decide on the wording. I am glad for the reference to eternal life, as it presages the succeeding comments. And it seems that Jesus always had the message of salvation in mind. His words are spirit and life, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I will try now to express the entire thought in my own words. I believe that is a good test of comprehension. Maybe you would like to try it as well. There are questions that remain unanswered. Some of Jesus’ words are very deep (See Psalm 92:5) and cannot be understood from a cursory reading. What happens when we do not wait for understanding, but turn away instead? The folks who did were human like us, and we may sometimes do as they did. What happens then? I think we would do well to ponder more. That in itself might teach us to practice patience. But thank you for a kind response. |