=34. Lord, evermore give to us this bread.= Comp. ch. 4:15, note. Not spoken ironically (_Calvin_), nor with a definite idea of some miraculous kind of sustenance, a magic food or means of life from heaven (_Alford_, _Meyer_), nor with a serious comprehension of his spiritual meaning and a sincere desire for his spiritual gift (_Maurice_, _Lucke_). The people were shallow and superficial; without comprehending the meaning of Christ’s words, they yet saw in them the offer of something desirable, they knew not what, and asked for it. In the minds of some there may have been a dim sense of the value of the inner life, such as is sometimes borne in upon sensual and superficial natures by the mere power of the presence of a great soul. Comp. Luke 14:15. There, as here, Christ by his teaching rebukes the superficial and ignorant desire for an uncomprehended blessedness; there, by showing parabolically how the spiritual food is declined by those to whom it is offered; here, by interpreting the nature of spiritual food. The rejection of Christ by the people here, illustrates the parable uttered by Christ there. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he[223] that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he[224] that believeth on me shall never thirst. [223] Rev. 7:16. [224] chaps. 4:14; 7:38. 36 But I said unto you, That ye[225] also have seen me, and believe not. [225] verse 64. =35, 36. I am the bread of life.= They say, Give us this bread. His reply is, The bread is already given; it is for you to accept and feed upon it. And this is always the answer of the gospel to every soul that cries out for a Saviour and a salvation. How the soul is to accept this bread he then goes on to say.--=He that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that hath faith in me shall never thirst.= It is clear that the “coming” and “believing in” here are equivalent to the eating and drinking of ver. 54. See notes there. The coming is a continuous coming (present participle with πρός); a coming into Christ’s likeness, and therefore into spiritual unity with him; a coming perfected only by the process of feeding upon him, drinking in his spiritual power so as to be transformed by it. It is the coming which David describes in Psalm 63:8, “My soul followeth hard after thee,” and Paul in Phil. 3:13, 14, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Comp. with the promise here Matt. 5:6; Rev. 7:16. All spiritual hunger and thirst are not ended when Christian experience begins, because in this life we are ever coming toward Christ, we have never come fully into him. This coming is consummated when we are one with Christ as he is one with the Father (John 17:21, 22); the promise of the gospel is then fulfilled in the glorious satisfaction of a