“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
My Notes
What Does John 6:63 Mean?
John 6:63 is Jesus' explanation of everything He's just said about eating His flesh and drinking His blood — and the explanation redirects from the physical to the spiritual. "It is the spirit that quickeneth" — to pneuma estin to zōopoioun. The spirit — pneuma, the Holy Spirit, the animating breath of God — is the one who gives life (zōopoieō — makes alive, generates vitality). Life originates in the Spirit, not in matter.
"The flesh profiteth nothing" — hē sarx ouk ōphelei ouden. The flesh — sarx, the material, the physical, the earthly dimension — profits nothing. Ouden — zero, nothing, not one thing. The statement is absolute. Flesh — human capacity, physical effort, material consumption — produces no spiritual benefit whatsoever. The crowd had been taking Jesus literally about eating flesh (v. 52: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"). Jesus says: you're listening at the wrong frequency. The flesh isn't the channel. The Spirit is.
"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" — ta rhēmata ha egō lelalēka humin pneuma estin kai zōē estin. The words — rhēmata, the specific utterances, the spoken declarations — are themselves spirit and life. Not contain spirit. Are spirit. The words Jesus speaks carry the life-giving power of the Spirit within them. When you receive His words, you're receiving the Spirit's life-giving work. The vehicle is language. The content is life.
The verse resolves the confusion of the chapter: Jesus' teaching about eating His flesh isn't about physical cannibalism. It's about receiving His words — spirit-saturated, life-carrying words — through the Spirit who makes them alive inside you.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where have you been approaching God through the 'flesh' — physical effort, religious mechanics — instead of through the Spirit?
- 2.What does it mean that Jesus' words are spirit and life — not contain life, but are life?
- 3.How does 'the flesh profiteth nothing' challenge your confidence in self-generated spiritual effort?
- 4.When you read Scripture, are you receiving it as dead text or as spirit-and-life words? What makes the difference?
Devotional
The flesh profits nothing. The Spirit gives life. And the words Jesus speaks are both spirit and life.
The crowd was confused — and understandably so. Jesus had just told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood (vv. 53-56). They heard it physically and recoiled. Even the disciples murmured: "this is an hard saying; who can hear it?" (v. 60). And Jesus responds with a sentence that shifts the entire conversation from the material to the spiritual: it's the Spirit that gives life. The flesh doesn't contribute. And My words — the specific things I've been saying to you — are spirit and life.
The flesh profits nothing. Zero. Not some. Nothing. Every attempt to approach God through material means — through physical effort, through bodily discipline, through the mechanics of religion divorced from the Spirit — produces nothing of lasting spiritual value. You can perform every ritual, observe every ceremony, keep every rule, and still profit nothing — because the flesh isn't the life-giving channel. The Spirit is.
But the words. The rhēmata — the specific utterances of Jesus — are spirit and life. Not metaphorically. Actually. The words carry the Spirit's presence. When they enter you — when you hear, receive, and believe what Jesus says — the Spirit's life-giving power activates inside you. The vehicle looks ordinary: words. Language. Sentences spoken by a man standing in a synagogue. But the content is extraordinary: spirit and life. The same power that raised the dead operates through the spoken word of Christ.
The next time you open your Bible, you're not reading dead text. You're receiving words that are spirit and life — if you receive them through the Spirit who makes them alive. The flesh profits nothing. The Spirit quickens. And the words are the delivery system.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And he said, therefore said I unto you,.... Referring to Joh 6:44, where the substance of what is here said, is there…
It is the Spirit that quickeneth - These words have been understood in different ways. The word “Spirit,” here,…
It is the spirit that quickeneth - It is the spiritual sense only of my words that is to be attended to, and through…
We have here an account of the effects of Christ's discourse. Some were offended and others edified by it; some driven…
that quickeneth Literally, that maketh aliveor giveth life. The latter would perhaps be better to bring out the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture