John 6:41
John 6:43
John 6:61
John 8:32
Verse 32. Shall know the truth. Jn 7:17. The truth shall make you free. The truth here means the Christian religion. Comp. Gal 3:1, Col 1:6. The doctrines of the true religion shall make you free--that is, it will free you from the slavery of evil passions, corrupt propensities, and grovelling views. The condition of a sinner is that of a captive or a slave to sin. He is one who serves and obeys the dictates of an evil heart and the promptings of an evil nature, Rom 6:16,17: "Ye were the servants of sin;" Rom 6:19: "Ye have yielded your members servants unto iniquity; Rom 6:20, 7:6,8,11, 8:21, Acts 8:23. "Thou art in the --bond of iniquity;" Gal 4:3,9. The effect of the gospel is to break this hard bondage to sin and to set the sinner free. We learn from this that religion is not slavery or oppression. It is true freedom. "He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves beside." --Cowper. The service of God is freedom from degrading vices and carnal propensities; from the slavery of passion and inordinate desires. It is a cheerful and delightful surrender of ourselves to Him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. (b) "know the truth" Hos 6:3 (c) "the truth" Ps 119:45, Jn 17:17, Rom 6:14,18,22, Jas 1:25, 2:121 Corinthians 10:10
Verse 10. Neither murmur ye. Do not repine at the allotments of Providence, or complain of his dealings. As some of them also murmured. Nu 14:2. The ground of their murmuring was, that they had been disappointed; that they had been brought out of a land of plenty into a wilderness of want; and that instead of being conducted at once to the land of promise, they were left to perish in the desert. They therefore complained of their leaders, and proposed to return again into Egypt. And were destroyed of the destroyer. That is, they were doomed to die in the wilderness without seeing the land of Canaan, Nu 14:29. The "destroyer" here is understood by many to mean the angel of death, so often referred to in the Old Testament, and usually called by the Jews Sammael. The work of death, however, is attributed to an angel in Ex 12:23. Compare Heb 11:28. It was customary for the Hebrews to regard most human events as under the direction of angels. In Heb 2:14, he is described as he "that had the power of death." Comp. the Book of Wisdom, xviii. 22, 25. The simple idea here however is, that they died for their sin, and were not permitted to enter the promised land. (a) "murmured" Nu 14:2,29 (b) "destroyer" 2Sam 24:16
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