With Dale Ratzlaff
John 6:41-51
Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said 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. It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (Jn. 6:41-51).
Somewhere between the beginning of this dialogue and its conclusion at the end of chapter 6, Jesus, and many in the crowd, have moved to the Synagogue in Capernaum. Therefore, the listeners now include Jews. Jesus has just said in John 6:38, covered in the last lesson,
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (Jn. 6:38).
The Jews were grumbling about that statement, and we can certainly see why. On the natural plane, it does not make logical sense. Some in the audience, perhaps many, knew of Joseph and Mary. Most believe that Joseph was no longer alive at this time, but the family history was well known in the area. With this knowledge they ask,
How does He now say, “I have come down out of heaven”?
Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”
That a person cannot be saved without the Father drawing him to Christ is, I believe, undisputed. So long as a man remains, and is content to remain, confident of his own ability, without divine help, to assess experience and the meaning of experience, he cannot “come to” the Lord, he cannot “believe”; only the Father can move him to this step with its incalculable and final results” (Lightfoot, pp. 160–161 as quoted in D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John).
I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the gospel (Martin Luther, as quoted in Lenski, p. 474, 475).
This understanding completely voids all the new age spiritual experiences. There is no communion with the Father outside of God’s grace and drawing.
The question is, how does the Father draw a person to belief? Is it by an arbitrary decree or by the wooing of the Holy Spirit when the gospel is proclaimed? I believe the answer is in the context. Let’s look again at a verse covered in our last lesson. Considering the tenses of the Greek verbs we have the following:
All that the Father continually gives Me will continually come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out (Jn. 6:37).
The way this verse reads in Greek, the Father does not, in a one-time event, give Christ those who will be saved. Rather He continues to give those who continue to respond to the gospel. This would be true throughout the history of salvation, through both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
However, in John 6:39 we have a different viewpoint. Here we see from the perspective of “the last day”, the conclusion of salvation history.
This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me, [perfect tense, once and for all time], I lose nothing, but raise it [all the saved] up on the last day (Jn. 6:39).
From the standpoint of “the last day”, Jesus sees all the saved in one group. Not one person whom the Father has given Him, day by day, throughout history, will be lost.
What are the steps of the “drawing power” of the Father? They are sprinkled in this context as well as in the wider context of John and of all Scripture.
The Father sends Jesus from heaven to earth.
The Word became flesh (Jn. 1:14).
No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man (Jn. 3:13).
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven” (Jn. 3:27).
He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all (Jn. 3:31).
In John 6 alone “heaven” is mentioned nine times.
The Father’s drawing is through the ministry of Jesus.
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world (Jn. 6:33).
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” (Jn. 6:35).
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me (Jn. 6:38).
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (Jn. 12:32).
Jesus’ drawing is through the proclamation of the gospel.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (Jn. 5:24).
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life (Jn. 6:47).
The Holy Spirit is the active agent in the reception of the gospel and transformation of the life.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:3-6).
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (Jn. 6:63).
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (Jn. 7:38-39).
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me (Jn. 15:26).
The reach of the gospel is unlimited.
…Whoever believes (Jn. 3:16).
…He who believes (Jn. 3:18).
…He who believes (Jn. 3:36).
…He who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (Jn. 5:24).
He who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst (Jn. 6:35).
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day (Jn. 6:40).
The power of the gospel is for the whole world. No sinner has fallen so low, no person has wondered so far from Christ, that the power of the gospel is unable to reach him.
Our response to the gospel is critical.
With the above points in mind we come back to the specific context of our lesson in John 6.
It is written in the prophets, “AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh (Jn. 6:41-51).
The crowd had brought up the topic of manna earlier; now Jesus shows the difference between manna and the “living bread”. The giving of manna was a miraculous event just as was the feeding of the 5,000. Both, however, only were a temporary fix.
Here we have another metaphor for the gospel. “Eating” is believing. When Jesus says “the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh”, how are we to understand “flesh”? Earlier in John 1:14 we read that the “Word became flesh”. In that context, we understand “flesh” to be humanity. Here, however, “flesh” must refer to the event of the cross where He gave His life for the world.
The Father was drawing the very Jews in the synagogue that day who were listening to Jesus. However, there does not appear to be a faith response from most of them. Just as they ate the loves and fish which filled their bellies but did not see the sign Jesus presented to them, in the same way they hear about Jesus coming down from heaven inviting them to believe in Him for salvation, but they do not respond by letting the Spirit change their hearts.
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself (Jn. 12:32).
However, not all men respond to the drawing of the gospel. As Jesus entered into Jerusalem during the last days of His ministry we sense the His disappointment that more did not believe.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling (Mt. 23:37).
Application
- Miracles are not sufficient to sustain a lasting faith. Our faith must rest on the word of God.
- Jesus is the only one who has come down from heaven. Therefore, as Hebrews 1:1-3 states, His revelation supersedes all Old Testament revelation and any modern-day prophet.
- We should recognize that Jesus, especially as recorded in John, uses many metaphors for the gospel. We should be very careful in trying to interpret these literally.
- No one can have a saving relationship with God by his own efforts, no matter how good he is.
- Without the Father drawing us to faith, no one could be saved.
- It is the Father’s will that all men come to repentance.
- The father draws people to faith through Christ’s death and resurrection. When the gospel is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit offering us eternal life.
- If we effectually hear the gospel, believe by trusting God’s promise proclaimed in the gospel, we receive eternal life.
- Eternal life is a gift of pure grace.
- All the members of the Trinity are involved in the salvation of mankind.
Prayer
Father, how thankful I am that you want all mankind to repent and believe the gospel. Thank you that you can save anyone, no matter how deep they have gone into sin if they repent and believe the gospel.
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