(47) He that believeth.--This thought gives a new force to what He has said in John 6:40. He there declared the Father's will, that every one seeing the Son and believing on Him may have eternal life. No man had ever seen the Father, but the Son was then standing in human form before them, and this will was being accomplished, and for the believer eternal life was not only of the future but of the actual present, "He hath eternal life." (Comp. John 3:15; John 5:24.)
Verse 47. - Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth [onme] hath eternal life. He has here given a new turn to the conversation, and repeated what had been the substance of several discourses (John 3:16, 18, 36; John 5:24), and formed, indeed, the starting place of this (vers. 27, 35, 36). The full acceptance of Christ provides "living water" for the thirsty, "living bread," "bread from heaven," for the hungry - an inward refreshment, a Divine nourishment, an inexhaustible supply. "He that believeth on me" (whether the εἰς ἐμὲ were in the original text or not, they are involved in the sense)has entered on the possession of an eternal blessedness of being, superior to death, transcending time and sense - he "hath eternal life."
6:47-51 The advantage of the manna was small, it only referred to this life; but the living Bread is so excellent, that the man who feedeth on it shall never die. This bread is Christ's human nature, which he took to present to the Father, as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; to purchase all things pertaining to life and godliness, for sinners of every nation, who repent and believe in him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you,.... This is a certain truth, and to be depended on:
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life; not only he may have it, as in John 6:40, and shall have it, but he has it; he has it in Christ, his head and representative; he has it in the covenant of grace; he has it in faith and hope; he has a right unto it, and a meetness for it; he has the earnest of it, the grace and Spirit of God; and he has the beginning and foretastes of it in his soul, and shall certainly enjoy it.
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life; not only he may have it, as in John 6:40, and shall have it, but he has it; he has it in Christ, his head and representative; he has it in the covenant of grace; he has it in faith and hope; he has a right unto it, and a meetness for it; he has the earnest of it, the grace and Spirit of God; and he has the beginning and foretastes of it in his soul, and shall certainly enjoy it.