John 6:69

We ... are sure. The Greek verb may be translated, “we have found out,” implying that they had already learned the truth here, and still believed it to be true in spite of the many who now rejected Jesus. Peter, speaking for the Twelve, declared that not only had they had faith that Jesus was the Messiah, but also, because of the miracles they had seen and the words they had heard, they now could say that they knew He was the Son of God. The uncomprehending Jews had seen the same miracles and heard the same words. But they lacked faith, and as a result had turned away in disbelief. The disciples, accepting the words and works of Jesus by faith, had reached the opposite conclusion, and were now convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. In matters of the spirit, faith leads to knowledge.

That Christ. Textual evidence indicates that in ancient times there was considerable difference among manuscripts as to the reading of the last part of this verse. Thus Tertullian’s text reads simply, “the Christ,” while others have “the Christ the Holy One of God,” “the son of God,” and “the Christ the son of God.” However, the evidence seems to favor (cf. p. 146) the reading “the Holy One of God.”

This title, “the Holy One,” occurs repeatedly in Jewish literature produced in the intertestamental period as a title for God (see Ecclesiasticus 4:14; 23:9; 43:10; Baruch 4:22, 37; 5:5). In this sense it was probably familiar to the disciples, and so Peter’s use of it here for Christ would seem to constitute a recognition of His divinity.