in the discussion of clear teaching on the doctrines of grace / god's sovereignty .. this is one of a few such passages which goes into the depths of each point of calvinism .. and is justifies in doing so
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. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 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 41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 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’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 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. 45 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.
before we can go into this text we need some back ground on this the chapter just so we can fully understand the flow of the conversation ....
the basis is that after the miraculous feat of Jesus feeding 5000 people .. these people were looking for jesus to see more miracles and even " So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone" ... but not wanting to give up .. needing to have a another moment of him to do some miraculous feat as he had done before .... they found him but this time he had another thought in mind .. through using their selfish desire he drew attention to the fact they are unbelievers seeking nothing more than a sign to keep them sataified, but not looking for the redemption that could set them free from sin .. which is in Christ Jesus ... they were false believers
after stating true believer will come to and be filled ... from him he makes this very vital point "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe" which starts the discorse
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
every word is vital to understand the power of salvation in Jesus .... so we start with this part .. "All that the Father gives Me" .... (father is the subject) ... his action is the precedent and determining factor in this divine act
without the fathers work .. there would be no salvation offered to the believers
how is this work done .. this is a complete action known as regeneration of the holy spirit
"gives Me will come to Me" ... the son is the object of the father love and affection .. and also the object of this divine act ... where a people have been given to the son ... this is both an eternal act in that this was determine in eternity past of how this would play out, and it is also finite as it has to take place in time, and history for it to have full effect
so what part do we have in this .... none we are the present so to speak ... the father gives us and the son recieves us ... this is to protect the believer from ego which leads to boasting .. as paul state in ephesians 2 8 -9
"and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." ... this is the first of several claim of eternal security .... that the one (all) who are given to the son, shall never be cast out ... so the son has a people who are his for all eternity and he will be faithful to us by keeping his promises to us
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me
here is a solo verse which just needs a small amount of time to be understood ... the two points we need to focus one .. which i will do in reverse order are
"not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" .. a consistent message .. but what is the will of the one who senthim .. we have already establish this .. it is to provide security of eternal life to those given to him by the father .. the one who sent him
now for the other point ... "For I have come down from heaven" this salvation is secure based on who christ is and where he comes from ... he is God unique son .. one who is of the same nature as the father ... and that he came from the father ... and is the recipient of the divine rule and kingdom
39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day
to re establish verse 37 -38 .. here jesus goes into show how the will is that of 37 but here he uses a slightly different word sequence ....
"that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day" .. check note on vs 37 ... for more on this point
but raise it up on the last day .. how ever this needs a little attention of its own .... the eternal is so secure that those given are the ones who are recipient of this promise of Jesus' and he does not fail in his task of raising up his own redeemed believers
40 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
now jesus re - emphesis' the point and contrasts the whole point in this is to show the human side of the action ...
in which we see the follow points
* the actions of beholding and believing ... are present tense meaning they are on going and not one time surface level responses .. like you recieve christ one minute and deny him the next ... no this is an ongoing process all most like sanctification
* the ones who behold and believe in the son are the same one spoke of in the previous 3 verses .. who are drawn by the father to the son by the spirit
beyond this i believe there is also a work in this of sanctification .. if one step is being give by the father to the son ... and that is eternal .. then we also need to see the beholding and believer if they are a continiuous action as act of sanctifying grace
Jesus re - establishes a truth to which is undeniable .. in that all who are given, who come to him by the fathers will, are those who will be raised on the last day ... a great promise that Jesus will not only fulfill but fulfill perfectly
41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” 42 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’?” 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’? 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.
at this point the audience begin to grumble and moan about the unique statement Jesus has made in regard to his role in salvation, and just who is it is for -- to which they are believing theat they are the recipients of this blessing from the father ... as they are jews .... jesus makes it a point of stating that it is not for all men .. but for a people who the father has given him
we can make aplication of the fact that jesus says in this chapter that there is a limit .... "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore" vs 66
so we know from there hardeness they were not given but were following him for other reasons other than the true purpose of his mission ... and this can be also seen in vs 40 -43
the questioning of his stated truths .. of who will be raised to eternal life due to the father ging them to the son ... is the course much verbal retailiation in this passage
the limit in christs atonement has been set this early and con not be logically denied since it is his own words that make this the case
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
here in this verse we have transition point from the divine action of the father ... to the underline reason why it is only possible for God to do this work , what we see is not as clear in the english translation .. athough they are very close .. there is a distinction made on the terms of whether man has the ability to come to christ apart from the fathers will in the holy spirt and the giving to the son .. there is a postion made clear in the greek to which we need to see ... to fully respect christs whole pont
No one can come to Me .. this is very focus that needs our full attention the underline word "can come" .. is the positive assertion to which once we add the first word "no one" ... becames a negitive demonstation no one can come ... but the greek to this is more direct, and more straight to the point and this is it "dunamai" ... to which we find this understanding or definition "to be able, to have power" ... so when we come to the verse .. the positive affirmed position become a negive one on mans ability ... "no man is able to come to Jesus" is the most literal rendering
unless the Father who sent Me draws him .... the previous action can not happen unless the father does something to change the persons heart and character ... which is the work of the spirit ... to which the term draw refers ... the literal meaning of the greek word here "helkó" .. means the following ideas .. "I drag, draw, pull, persuade"
in this sense we need to understand that the drawing is not a physical dragging but a spiritual renewal .. a transformation to which we refer regeneration (born again, of the spirit)
then Jesus reaffirms the promise of being lift up on the last .. eternal life (as found in vs 37, 39 -40, and 44 as it is a quintet of a re -affirmation of the reality of such a promise) check previous discussions on above verses
45 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.
this is one the most important elements in the whole gospel that the old testament known as the law and prophets point, even find there end in Christ jesus as far as salvific purposes are concerned .. we get this from "It is written in the prophets, ‘ And they shall all be taught of God" this is not unique to just john but is seen as a truth that all the apostles made clear
but i believe that there is a second element in this point to be seen ... that those who are taught by God ultimately see the truth of the gospel ... now why is ther not the case in all jews and humans .. well they overide presupposition being force from other documents and tradition to whi strains ther focus on the reality of this fact
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. this is such an important facter that he re . emphesis' it by declaring he is the ultimate fulfilment of these promises in the scripture ... and those who learn from the father will come to him as a result
we can also note that those who beholds the son and believes in him are those who hear and learn from the father .. to which the son is the recipient of the divine act of giving
the conclusion
the end result of a thorough examination of this beautiful passage is one of great testamony to the truth of the reformed postision, specifically the five doctrines of grace to which form the basis of Gods soveriegn action as the univeral rule and king of creation
before we demonstate this point, i need to really emphesis that attacks on this passage that are based on scatter gun apprach to throw many passages which speak to man will or seemingly connect to choose is not a refutation but is nothing more than a dishonest move and shows disrespect to the biblical texts as a whole
in verses 37 -40 we have the unconditional election and irristiable grace, in verses 41 -43 and the beginning of 44 we have total depravity, in the tail ends of verses 37,39,40,44 we have perverence of the saints ... and in the fact that we see Jesus has been given a specific people, and shows that other would not be the chosen .. shows us the final one limited atonement
and as much bigger picture we see all these doctrines come together to reveal God soverign rule in creation and salvation as well every day activity of mans life
