John 6:27. Him hath God the Father sealed.
Burder (Oriental Customs, No. 1120) suggests that there may be an allusion here to the sacrificial death of Christ, and cites from Herodotus an account of the ceremonies accompanying the selection of a victim for sacrifice among the ancient Egyptians. If, after careful search, the animal was found without blemish, the priest bound a label to his horns, applied wax to the label, and sealed it with his ring. This set it apart for sacrifice, and no animal could be offered unless thus sealed. We have no knowledge of any such ceremony among the Jews, though they were careful in selecting their victims; but the sacrificial customs of other nations were doubtless known to them. The meaning of the text may; therefore, be, that Jesus bad been set apart or “sealed” as a sacrifice in order that he might obtain eternal life for those who believe on him.
On the other hand, Lightfoot interprets the passage to mean that God had confirmed Jesus by his seal to be “the great Ruler both of his kingdom and family”; and he refers for illustration to a rabbinical form of instruction which declares the seal of God to be Truth, one of the names which Jesus applies to himself. See John 14:6. Compare also John 3:33.
References to the sealing or setting apart of the people of God are made in 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; Revelation 7:2. For a description of seals and sealing in a literal sense, see notes on 1 Kings 21:8 (#323) and Job 38:14 (#420).