It is the spirit that vivifies; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.
the spirit.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
the flesh.
Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Romans 3:1,2 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? …
1 Corinthians 11:27-29 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord…
the words.
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
John 12:49,50 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak…
Deuteronomy 32:47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
the flesh profits nothing.
Here, "the flesh" refers to human effort and natural abilities apart from divine influence. In the cultural context of Jesus' time, reliance on the flesh could mean adherence to the law or traditions without understanding their spiritual significance. Paul echoes this sentiment in Romans 8:8, stating that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. This phrase underscores the futility of trying to achieve spiritual life through human means, highlighting the necessity of divine intervention.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Jesus' words are not merely informative but transformative, carrying the power of the Spirit. In the historical context, Jesus' teachings often challenged the prevailing religious norms, offering a deeper, spiritual understanding of God's kingdom. His words fulfill the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18, where God promises to raise a prophet who will speak His words. The connection to other scripture is evident in Hebrews 4:12, which describes the word of God as living and active. Jesus, as the Word made flesh (John 1:14), embodies the life-giving power of God's message, offering eternal life to those who believe.
Jesus begins with a clear, comforting truth. Only God’s Spirit awakens dead hearts and sustains eternal life (John 3:6–8).
• Life here is not mere existence; it is the vibrant, everlasting life that begins the moment the Spirit regenerates a person (Titus 3:5–6).
• This promise echoes the valley of dry bones, where the breath of God brings the dead to their feet (Ezekiel 37:1–14).
• The same power that raised Christ now dwells in believers, guaranteeing resurrection life (Romans 8:11).
Knowing this, we lean on the Spirit’s work rather than our own power whenever we share the gospel, disciple others, or face trials.
Jesus immediately contrasts Spirit‐wrought life with human effort.
• “Flesh” refers to every merely human resource—heritage, intellect, religious rituals (Philippians 3:3–8).
• No amount of self‐reform can earn righteousness; the law only exposes sin (Romans 7:18, 24).
• Even well‐intended religious crowds had just sought Jesus for bread that perishes (John 6:26–27).
This exposes pride and pushes us to abandon confidence in ourselves, trusting wholly in the finished work of Christ (Galatians 2:20–21).
Jesus ties the life-giving Spirit to His own spoken words.
• His teaching carries the very breath of God, accomplishing what it declares (Isaiah 55:10–11).
• The disciples later recall, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
• The Spirit uses Scripture to convict, correct, and equip (2 Timothy 3:16–17), sharpening like a “double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).
Approaching the Bible, then, is never a dry academic exercise; it is a Spirit-charged encounter with the living Christ.
Christ’s words not only point to life; they impart it.
• Hearing and believing His message moves a person from death to life (John 5:24).
• Daily feeding on His words sustains us, just as Israel lived on manna (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).
• Those who cling to His promises enjoy present assurance and future hope of resurrection glory (John 11:25–26; 1 Peter 1:23).
Scripture, therefore, functions as both the entryway into eternal life and the nourishment that keeps believers growing.
John 6:63 draws a sharp line between Spirit and flesh, highlighting that real life flows only from the Spirit through the words of Christ. Human effort can accomplish nothing in the realm that matters most. By resting in the Spirit’s power, rejecting self-reliance, and treasuring every word Jesus speaks, believers experience the abundant, everlasting life God delights to give.
(63) It is the spirit that quickeneth.--The word "quickeneth," though it has almost passed from everyday use, will probably hold its place in theological use, and convey for the most part the true meaning. If it is retained here, it must, however, be noted that it is a compound of the word rendered "life" at the close of the verse. "It is the spirit that giveth life . . . the words . . . are spirit and are life." These words are immediately connected with the thought of the Ascension, which was to precede the gift of the Spirit. (Comp. John 7:39; John 16:7 et seq.). We are to find in them, therefore, a deeper meaning than the ordinary one that His teaching is to be, not carnally, but spiritually under-stood. They think of a physical eating of His flesh, and this offends them; but what if they, who have thought of bread descending from heaven, see His body ascending into heaven? They will know then that He cannot have meant this. And the Descent of the Spirit will follow the Ascension of the Son, and men full of the Holy Spirit will have brought to their remembrance all these words (John 14:26), and they will then know what the true feeding on Him is, and these very words which He has spoken will carry their lessons to the inmost being, and be realised, not simply in a spiritual sense, but as spirit and as life.Verse 63. - It is the spirit that quickeneth (the τὸ, though omitted by אָ, is retained by all the principal editors); the flesh profiteth nothing; i.e. the "flesh" taken by itself, and apart from the life-giving Spirit which is its principium. The antithesis between "flesh" and "spirit" occurs frequently in the Gospel, and is one of the great points of Pauline doctrine. The Lord does not introduce the pronoun μου to τὸ πνεῦμα or ἡ σάρξ. The statement is generalized, though having special reference to himself, or to the spirit and flesh of the Son of man. "Flesh," in neither St. Paul nor St. John, means the sensuous nature as opposed to the intellectual nature; nor does it mean the "body" as antithetic to the "soul" - the organized material frame, to which the Jews were attributing so much and felt to be the guarantee and seal of his spiritual efficiency (Meyer) - but the "creaturely nature," the "humanity" per se in all its parts. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Christ qua his humanity was fashioned by the Spirit, and the Spirit dwelt upon him with iron measurable potence. "The Logos became flesh," but that flesh itself was so ordered and prepared by the Holy Spirit as that it should sustain this lofty companionship. Christ's own flesh, his nature, his humanity per se, and apart from the fulness of the Spirit, profiteth nothing. The mere human life, however spotless and ideal, could not be "eaten," i.e. could not be assimilated, though to some extent it might be imitated; but imitation is not faith. The "glory" that the apostles saw "of the Only Begotten of the Father, the fulness of grace and truth," in and through that wondrous life of Christ, was the glory given to his humanity by the creative Spirit. Apart from this consideration, a manducation of his flesh, even were it physically possible, was useless. It was not possible to participate in his humanity save through the Holy Spirit which generated him and regenerates us. The sentence doubtless points back to the original constitution of man, the specialty of whose life is that it was inbreathed by the Lord God himself. The use of the saying here was to make it still more clear that he gave his flesh to eat, not through any physical process, not through any sacramental rite, but through the Spirit to our spirit. Mr. Sadler, who takes the strong sacramental view of the entire passage, says, however, wisely and forcibly here, "Even flesh cannot be given to a corpse." We receive the gift, we know the love of God, whether sacramentally or not, through the Spirit. Christ does not deny or retract the statement, "Except ye eat the flesh," etc. He simply shows in what sense he meant the whole mutual indwelling of himself and his people to be understood. The Spirit is the Quickener. The Spirit is the life-fashioning, life-pre-serving Energy. The flesh, the human manifestation, apart from the Spirit which makes that human life the centre of Divine effluence, the focus for its Divine energy, profiteth nothing. Some have taken these words (like Chrysostom) as a contrast between a spiritual and literal interpretation of Christ's words. Luther and many Lutherans have urged the contrast between a right celebration and a merely material use of the sacrament. So more or less Augustine and Olshausen. Canon Westcott seems to limit the original meaning of "flesh" and "spirit," the one to the visible, temporal, corporeal only, and the other to the unseen eternal order of things, and he does not give to "flesh" here the fulness of meaning which it bears in the New Testament; but he says that this utterance is not limited to either of the views just referred to, though it may include them. Archdeacon Watkins remarks, "They think of a physical eating of his flesh, and this offends them; but what if they, who have thought of bread descending from heaven, see his body ascending into heaven? They will know then he cannot have meant this. The descent of the Spirit will follow the ascent of the Son." The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life. The words which I have now uttered, these teachings of mine concerning myself, are (not merely "spiritual" or "life-giving," but) spirit and life, i.e. the way and method in which the Spirit can convey to you the life eternal. The words which I have spoken at all times have been the effulgence of my glory, the effluence of my Spirit. The seed of the kingdom is the Word of God. The contact of the Divine Spirit with the human spirit is not through teeth and palate, but through mental and moral processes. "Thou hast the words of eternal life," said Peter (ver. 68). Christ thus works his way back again to the receptivity of the mind and heart of his disciples. Believing is not only "coming," but, as he has before implied, it is the identical process which he has called "eating his flesh and drinking his blood." Christ's words are the ministry of himself, because the chief method of communicating his life-giving Spirit. In John 15:4, 7 the Lord used both expressions, "I" and "my words," in identical relations: "Abide in me, and I in you;" "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you," etc.