The Father’s Choice

Lesson #106

As Jesus reveals more to the crowd before him it does not result in greater clarity for his listeners, but instead produces greater resistance. Without understanding and accepting the virgin birth, what Jesus is saying about himself simply is not possible and in the minds of the people it does not make any sense and is the cause of their grumbling. As Jesus continues to share we will find this resistance to increase to alarming levels. But let us not get ahead of our text and spend some time with verse 44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (ESV).

As we move forward we must keep in mind, and we will see again and again, that this drawing of God is not in conflict with our choosing to come or with our wanting to come, but without this drawing being decisive on the part of God no one would come. What Jesus says in verse 44 is essentially said in five other passages: John 6:37, John 6:63 – 65, John 8:47, John 10:26 – 27, and John 12:37 – 40. We will look at these passages to help give clarity to what Jesus is saying.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37 ESV). The Father gives people to his Son as a gift and everyone given will comes; none drop by the wayside when coming. Each one that comes is accepted by the Son. Jesus accepts us as a gift from the Father and then he gives to us eternal life as a gift. In the process of coming God is preparing our heart to be spiritually ready for being born again. Who are these people the Father gives? They are the ones in verse 44 that the Father draws; the ones chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit” (1 Peter 1:3 NASB). This drawing is the deciding cause that compels us to come to Jesus Christ; it is what opens our eyes to see and our minds to comprehend spiritual things.

What about those who do not believe? What does Jesus say about them? In our next lesson we will look at John 6:63 – 65, our second of five passages, and see what Jesus says.

Prayer

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). Father, this extremely familiar verse tells what you do and it tells what the one who believes has, but it does not say anything about how one comes to believe. We have now learned how one comes to believe; it is the result of the Father drawing and giving to Jesus. Father, thank you for showing me that I am no better than some of my friends who are still unsaved. My salvation is totally from grace as there was nothing that I was able to do to help in my coming. Thank you for your love and grace. Thank you for bringing me to Jesus Christ.

A Verse that Divides Us

Lesson #105

Jesus is making some very strong statements about himself; claiming to be the bread of life that came down from heaven from the Father; claiming to have the responsibility of the eternal security of every believer given to him as a gift from the Father; claiming to have the power to raise up every one the Father gives to him. Considering the fact that Jesus was born of Mary and grew up among them, how do you think the Jews might react to these claims of Jesus?

“So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”” (John 6:41 ESV). The people following and listening to Jesus and watching his signs were getting excited, but now we are beginning to see some negative reaction, especially among the Jewish leaders. They are beginning to grumble because things don’t seem to connect the way should in their minds. They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (John 6:42 ESV). Again we encounter the inability to comprehend the spiritual. Those who grumble are unable to accept or understand the virgin birth that allows Jesus, the Son of God, to become man and live among them as their Messiah. This concept is foreign to them and totally unacceptable. Again and again we witness spiritual concepts to not be understood by the spiritually dead.

Jesus responds to their grumbling by saying to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:43 – 44 ESV). Jesus tells the Jews to stop grumbling and then tells them something that has divided the church to this day and has been hotly argued for the last 200 years without any resolution. I wrestled with this verse for many years before I realized how the two sides actually come together to establish a concept that is extremely important to understand. We will look at this in future lessons. How can this verse mean two different things?

Some say verse 44 means that no one can come to salvation without God drawing them, but they say that God draws everyone, but not everyone comes. This implies that God makes the coming possible, but that something else causes the process of coming to be complete by those who so choose. That something else is the ability of the one coming to understand their sinful condition and see their need met by coming to Jesus and accepting him into their live. It is assumed that God starts everyone and then each has the free choice to finish the process of coming. The mystery to me is where do these people obtain this ability or power to finish coming without God bringing them?

Others say that verse 44 means that no one can come to salvation without God drawing them, but they say the ones God draws he brings all the way, without exception. This means that the Father draws only the ones he gives to his Son as a gift. This also means that the decisive cause of coming to Jesus lies with God not with man.

This lesson is already too long, so we will delay any further comment until our next lesson. In preparation for future lessons you might want to watch the video by John Piper on this subject. It may cause you to do some hard thinking.

Prayer

Father, we have come to a verse that divides us with passionate believers on both sides. I pray that as I study this verse in its context that the Holy Spirit will guide my understanding and open the hearts of my readers to what Jesus meant to convey with his statement. I pray that we can set aside preconceived ideas and focus on what lies before us.

Assurance of Salvation

Lesson #104

As we watch the reaction of the crowd that follows Jesus around it becomes apparent that spiritually dead people are unable to see or understand spiritual things. For many this raises a serious question. What is the chance that no one will have the faith to believe that Jesus accomplished anything by his death on the cross. What if no one responds to the sacrifice God is making? God would have then failed to establish an eternal body of believers to have fellowship with. How can God ensure the salvation of people? He could ensure their salvation by choosing those he wants to give eternal life to. Is it within God’s sovereignty and right to do so? Is that fair to those he doesn’t choose?

Consider what Jesus says next: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37 ESV). Jesus tells the crowd that his Father gives his chosen ones to him. This process of the Father choosing and Jesus receiving is also mentioned in verses 39, 44, 65, which we will be coming to. Those chosen by the Father and given to Jesus will come to him. They will come because God brings them. Bringing them ensures that nothing will happen to the one chosen along the way. Those who are chosen and brought to Jesus will be eternally kept. Jesus does not pick over those given and cast some out. The choosing, giving and bringing is the sovereign work of the Father, and the keeping is the sovereign work of the Son. What assurance this gives to know that the Father loves us so much that he chooses us and brings us as a gift to his Son. Then because of the love and desire of the Son for us, he accepts the gift and promises that he will never set us aside or stop loving us.

Jesus continues by saying, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:38 – 39 ESV). Jesus came to do the Father’s will and that will is that Jesus would not lose any the Father gives him and beyond this assurance is the promise that he will raise up our bodies on the last day.

Jesus adds more by saying, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40 ESV). Those the Father brings to Jesus have been prepared to desire to look on the Son and believe in him and as a result will have eternal life as a gift from the Son and be raised up on the last day.

Consider 1 Peter 1:1 – 3 where we learn that according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, we were chosen and according to the Father’s great mercy, he caused us to be born again to a living hope (NASB). This is how we come to salvation. Someone is sure to raise the question about very small children and maybe a miscarriage or an abortion. That is for another time because it is not part of our text for this lesson, but keep in mind; “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” How might those you are questioning be brought to Jesus by the Father?

Prayer

Father, what a lesson this was for me to prepare. What joy and excitement it gives me to carefully look at the word, meditate on it like eating a great meal and listen to the Holy Spirit give insight as I ingest what I am eating. The Word is Jesus the bread of life we are to come to and partake of and when we faithfully do we are fully satisfied. Thank you that I do experience this as I prepare these lessons.

Unable to Believe

Lesson #103

In the last lesson Jesus told the people that his Father gives them true bread from heaven. Jesus continued by saying, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33 ESV). The bread of God is a person just like in John1:1 and 14, the Word is a person and he was sent by the Father and comes down from heaven. Jesus stands before them to give life to them and to all in the world who would come to him in faith, but those standing before him did not understand. They were like the woman at the well who responded to the offer of living water with, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (John 4:15 ESV). These responded with, “Sir, give us this bread always.” They expected Jesus to be like Moses and daily provide them with bread.

Jesus then makes it very clear to them by saying, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 ESV). This hunger and thirst is not physical, but represents the needs of our soul. It is that which the soul longs for and occurs on a regular basis. Jesus said that by coming to him their soul would not hunger and by believing in him their soul would not thirst. As we spend time with him daily the needs of our soul are met; we are nourished. Whatever longing our soul has it is met in Jesus as he is the all satisfying provider. But like Nicodemus and the woman at the well, these people are blind to the spiritual dimension of what Jesus is presenting because they are spiritually dead.

Jesus continues by saying, “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe” (John 6:36 ESV). These people who have been following Jesus have seen the signs he has performed and heard the words he has spoken, but they still can’t see or understand. Jesus has come to this point of presenting who he is, where he is from, and why he is here, but the people don’t get it. One might be thinking that through Jesus the saving purpose of God has failed because no one seems to truly understand and believe.

These people standing before Jesus are unsaved and as he speaks words of life no one is able, on their own to choose him as their source of eternal life. If you have made a decision how did you come to the point of being able to understand and believe? What made you different than these people that gave you the ability to truly believe? We will begin to look at this in our next section covering John 6:37 – 40.

Prayer

Father, it appears we have come to a place in our study where unsaved, spiritually dead people are unable to understand spiritual things and believe. It appears that a spiritually dead person is unable to come to Jesus by faith on their own. Father, as I look ahead to the next lesson I am thankful there is a solution to this apparent dilemma. Thank you that I have experienced the needed gift of grace in my life.

Trying to Comprehend

Lesson #102

We are currently working through the section defined by John 6:25 – 36. So far we have covered verses 25 – 27. In the last lesson Jesus told the people not to work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life. The people in the crowd responded by saying to Jesus, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28 ESV). What are those works? How does one work for bread that gives eternal life? Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29 ESV). To work for bread that gives eternal life one simple had to believe in Jesus whom the Father had sent to them.

What if you were in the crowd standing before Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, before you had been born again; what do you think your thoughts would be; how do you think you would have responded? Jesus is telling them that he is the treasure they should seek, the Bread of Life, which they needed. They cannot work to obtain that treasure; they must come to him in belief and he will give himself to them. The “work of God” they must do is to believe and see by faith the feast that is before them and come and freely eat and live forever. No amount of work on their part, or yours, will ever accomplish that. It is simply an act of faith.

It is clear that the people in the crowd did not understand; they did not have faith to see what Jesus was laying out before them because they respond with, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” (John 6:30 ESV). These people already saw a great sign when Jesus fed them on the other side of the sea, but it is now a day later and they are hungry again. They want to know if he is going to feed them again. I say this because of their next statement.

 

“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:31 ESV). Every day for forty years God provided manna in the wilderness. If Jesus claims to be the Messiah then how will he meet their continued hunger? They wanted Jesus to keep feeding them as Moses did. But Jesus responds with, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32 ESV). Jesus is now creating a powerful connection. The bread (manna) received in the wilderness was from God. That bread met their physical needs, but Jesus tells them that his Father gives them the true bread from heaven; the bread that endures to eternal life. We will continue this in our next lesson to see that this bread is Jesus.

Prayer

Father, as I study this I see a people who have seen several signs performed by Jesus. As a result they see Jesus with power to meet their physical needs in various ways and as a result they refer to him as Messiah. But I see a people who cannot see the spiritual connection. They cannot grasp who Jesus really is and what he can truly provide. Father, thank you for giving to me the ability to believe, see and accept the gift of eternal life.

Food to Work For

Lesson #101

The crowd that follows Jesus around are drawn to him because of his gifts that he has demonstrated through the signs he has been performing. These gifts all relate to the physical and are all temporary. While helpful, these gifts are not sufficient to meet the real needs of the people. They need to see that Jesus is the treasure they need to seek and at this time that treasure is the living bread from heaven that provides eternal life. As the people ate the loaves and the fishes their hunger was satisfied for a while. Jesus wants the people to see that he is the bread that will satisfy them with life for an eternity. With this in mind we will move ahead in our study and work on just one verse; John 6:27: “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal” (NASB). This verse is packed with so much information; we will consider it phrase by phrase.

“Do not work for the food which perishes.” Taken out of the context it is in you think it is telling us to not work for our physical food. If we don’t work for the food that perishes, we would soon die, so that is not the meaning. We must work to provide for the food we need for living, but we are not to be anxious about obtaining that food; we are not to make obtaining this food the focus of our desire. We need to understand that this food that provides for our physical need, supplies strength for a short time and another meal is needed. It is a process that must be continued if a person is to live.

“. . . but for the food which endures to eternal life.” The food that perishes provides for our body, but the food which endures provides for our soul by nourishing and strengthening it. This food endures to eternal life. Once eaten it provides life that never diminishes and as we continue to eat more our soul is further nourished. This is a need that must be met for anyone desiring eternal life.

“. . . which the Son of Man will give to you.” The only source of this food which endures to eternal life is Jesus the Son of Man. Anyone who comes and surrenders to him will receive this food. As we continue through chapter 6 we will learn much more about Jesus being this food.

“. . . for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” This seal from the Father is his authorization that his Son, as the Son of Man, can give eternal life to whom he will. We will see in future lessons that the Father will select and give to his Son those who he will give eternal life.

Jesus said they were to work for the food which endures to eternal life. The people responded with a question of how they were to do that work. We will cover that in our next lesson.

Prayer

Lord, how thankful I am for the food that provides eternal nourishment; food that is so abundantly available and so nourishing, but I so often don’t stop to take time to enjoy a good meal with you. Forgive me for my neglect and encourage me to take better care of my soul and my relationship with you.

Logistics

Lesson #100

Before we move ahead to the next section defined by John 6:22 – 26, we need to go back to the previous day when Jesus fed the 5,000. Realizing that the people were about to come and take Jesus by force to make him king, Jesus went with the disciples to the shore of the sea and sent then off in a boat to Capernaum (Mark 6:46). Jesus then withdrew to the mountain to be by himself. “On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone” (John 6:22 ESV). The crowd had no idea what happened during the night as the disciples tried to cross the sea during the storm. Since there was only one boat at the shore and the disciples took it, the crowd supposed that Jesus was still there with them.

After the disciples left, “Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks” (John 6:23 ESV). The people searched for Jesus, but “when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus” (John 6:24 ESV). They assumed that Jesus must have used one of those boats and gone to the other side so they went to find him. “When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here”? (John 6:25).” They seemed to be interested in when he crossed the sea, but Jesus does not answer their question. He responds with “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (John 6:26 ESV).

In the past the crowds were seeking him because of the signs Jesus was doing, but now the bar has been raised. Jesus is now providing food to meet a basic need for life. With the power Jesus has and now the ability to feed an army, what a king he would make! They do not yet have a clue about what Jesus is trying to do. They are focused on the physical and they know that Jesus can meet their physical needs. Being spiritually dead they are unable to even imagine anything outside their living experience. Without faith only the physical realm is possible in their understanding.

Because of signs the people who followed Jesus saw they believed he was the Messiah, but they followed him not for who he was, but what he could provide for them. This is being grossly selfish to replace the deserved worship of the Messiah with seeking him to enhance their physical existence on earth. Let’s be honest; do we come to Jesus to lift him up in worship or do we seek him supposing he will add to our earthly happiness or provide escape from suffering? Is our focus on the bread and fishes or is it to honor God and seek the good of his kingdom? Our answer may determine if we are Christian or not.

Prayer

Father, I struggle with how to live in this western culture as an alien or as a stranger. How do I live to glorify you to where I am seen as being different because my life demonstrates something of true value that attracts those with spiritual needs to the Lord Jesus? Believers facing the loss of everything, who stand against their persecutors with love and forgiveness truly demonstrate this value. How should I stand so others see a value in me that draws them to Jesus?