John 4:34 BSB — MannaFest

John 4:34

Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work.

KJV

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

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Commentary

1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Jesus saith unto them,.... His disciples: my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. The Ethiopic version reads, "of my Father that sent me", and who is undoubtedly intended. Now as food is pleasant, and delightful, and refreshing to the body of man, so doing the will of God was as delightful and refreshing to the soul of Christ: he took as much pleasure in it, as an hungry man does in eating and drinking.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century5 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

My meat is to do the will of him that sent me - In these words, our blessed Lord teaches a lesson of zeal and earnestness to his apostles, and to all their successors in the Christian ministry. Let the salvation of souls lie nearer your heart than life itself. Let eating and drinking, labor and rest, reading, thinking, study, prayer, and all things, be directed to the accomplishment of this great work. Ministers of Jesus! imitate your Lord!

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)

We have, for one thing, in these verses, an instructive pattern of zeal for the good of others. We read, that our Lord Jesus Christ declares, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work." To do good was not merely duty and pleasure to Him. He counted it as His food and drink. Job, one of the holiest Old Testament saints, could say, that he esteemed God's word "more than his necessary food." (Job 23:12.) The Great Head of the New Testament Church went even further.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1901: “Mysterious Meat” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1886)

THE disciples had gone away into the city to buy meat and for this they cannot be censured. It was necessary that food should be provided and it naturally fell to their lot to perform that duty. Do not say that they were carnal or un-spiritual because of this, for the most spiritual people must eat to live. When they came back from making their purchases, they found their Master sitting by the well, as they had left Him.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 302: “Jesus About His Father's Business” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1860)

IT IS PECULIARLY PLEASING to the Christian to observe the interest which God the Father takes in the work of salvation. In our earlier days of childhood in grace, we conceived the idea that God the Father was only made propitious to us through the atonement of Christ that Jesus was the Savior, and that the Father was rather an austere Judge than a tender friend. But since then, we have learned the Father through the Son: for it was not possible we could come unto the Father except through Jesus Christ.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

My meat is, &c.--"A Servant here to fulfil a prescribed work, to do and to finish, that is 'meat' to Me; and of this, while you were away, I have had My fill." And of what does He speak thus?

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

19 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
λέγει	legei	Says	G3004 →
αὐτοῖς	autois	to them	G846 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
Ἰησοῦς·	Iēsous	Jesus;	G2424 →
ἐμὸν	emon	My own	G1473 →
βρῶμά	brōma	food	G1033 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἵνα	ina	that	G2443 →
ποιήσω	poiēsō	I may do	G4160 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
θέλημα	thelēma	will	G2307 →
τοῦ	tou	of the [One who]	G3588 →
πέμψαντός	pempsantos	having sent	G3992 →
με	me	Me	G3165 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τελειώσω	teleiōsō	may finish	G5048 →
αὐτοῦ	autou	of Him	G846 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
ἔργον.	ergon	work.	G2041 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 5:30
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
leads to
- John 6:38
  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- John 5:19
  So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
- John 14:10
  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father…
Through
John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
leads to
- John 5:30
  I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Through
Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
leads to
- Jeremiah 15:16
  Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
- Psalms 119:11
  I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
- Psalms 119:103
  How sweet are Your words to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth!
Through
Matthew 26:39
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
leads to
- Philippians 2:8
  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

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Jesus and the Woman of Samaria — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain

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Continue: John 4 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About John

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About John