Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 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. 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.” So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?” Jesus answered 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 will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever 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 that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (john 6 :35 -51)
here we are given a discouse through this whole chapter about the elect of God .. those who come to christ due to the fathers drawing / giving ... before we start on this beautiful truth .. need to mention of the fact that before and after .. we see Jesus reject jews based on the fact they are coming after him through being chosen .. but just for a momentary veiw of his greatness ... christ says "After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him" .... these so called disciples were only interested in one things and that was their own needs
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out
in this opening to jesus speech we are introduced to the title "bread of life" this is something spiritual which fulfill the spiritual minded with true endurence ... .. refering back to those unbelieving jesus he makes the point "But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe" ... these are powerful .word which would have cut at the deepest point
Jesus here starts with what seem to suggest a free coming to him .. a choice but this is not the case as he goes onto redefine his words with this " All that the Father gives me will come to me" .. it is to say that those coming to him are not based on their own will .. but due to the work of the father through the holy spirit in regeneration as we have seen in john 3
so jesus physical and spiritually sustain all those given to him by the father, and he will never cast out .. so here we see the first promise from jesus .. that he will keep thim in him
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. 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.”
now with a mention of one fact in the last section which become vital in this .. is that the "all" in vs 37 ... are those who are called the elect who are drawn to christ by the father, and as we already noted that many jews believed falsely in this chapter .. and christ told them they are not his ... so here we start on this fact to draw this point to a good understanding
Christ perfect accomplishes his work as the saviour for it is the will of the father who sent him that none of those given shall be lost or cast out ... and to have this sentiment in this section twice mean that this very thing was what christ come to do .. give his life for the elect .. and that they may recieve eternal life .. "but raise it up on the last day" .. this is a very important fact
as it shows a very beautiful picture of the saviour who perfectly saves without fail, and accomplishes what he came to do
and this means that there is not distinction in the applied words "all those" and the "everyone " in thises two verses 37 and 40 .. they are speaking of the same group the elect
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?
after a brief but very powerful speech the jews got all ajitated toward what christ has said ... believing him to be a mere man, a prophet at best .. they could not accept the depth of what he had implied ... and dont get this wrong accept does not imply choice in this matter .. they unable to believe based on the fact they were not chosen
Jesus answered 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 will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.
here is Jesus' response to the crowds inquiry ... he firstly re establishes his point .. " No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him"
here the words to which the english translation do not always give the most direct translation too ... "dunamai" this greek word
dýnamai (a primitive verb) – to show ability (power); able (enabled by God), empowered. See the cognate-noun, 1411 /dýnamis ("ability, power").
in its flow it is discribing an ability to do something, but in this case in john 6 :44 .. it is describing the opposite idea .. that no man is able .... its reflecting natural man innability to come to the christ, unless something happens to enable him to do this .. and the father is the one enables the person, not himself
so the "no man can come to me " is correct if understood as a term which signifies an ability .. he is unable to come to me unless .. something happens to him beforehand ... regeneration
those who the fahter draws .. the same ones given in 37 and 40 are those here that will be raised up on the last day
here is the interesting point for those who believe that calvinism has no need for the gospel since God has an elect ... these words in john 6 :44
" It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me" --- here in jesus word he affirm the drawing of the elect and also parallels it with the taught from the God ... how else is this possible ... the only way for this to be considered is that the spirit regenerates the person and then gives them the ability to learn from Gods word to come to a knowledge of christ and the salvation in his blood .... and those who are taught by the father are given to christ
not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. -- this tall end is seen as a couplet with john 1 :18
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever 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 that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh
just like john 1 .... this discorse starts and ends with the same point ... the bread of life .. which gives us the whole point that .. christ is only life for those given to him by the father ... and no one can come to him without the aid of the father in the process
