John 6:35-51

I decided to Post this here as well as on my Xanga blog. Enjoy!

John 6:35-51

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. (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 whoever comes to me I will never 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) 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. (40) 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." (41) So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." (42) 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'?" (43) Jesus answered 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 will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- (46) not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. (47) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

(48) I am the bread of life. (49) Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. (50) This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. (51) 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."

Verse 35:

This verse is one of the heavy “I Am” statements in John. “I Am” of course going back go what God said to Moses through the burning bush when Moses asked God who he should say sent him (Exodus 3:14) He then says that

He is the bread of life; making reference to the bread that fell in the desert that sustained the Israelites wile they traveled through the desert. He will later go on to explain this “bread of life” reference in 6:49 telling the Jews that there ancestors ate the bread in the desert and died, but anyone who eats the bread of life will not die. He says in verse 35 that anyone who eats this bread of life, which is He, will not hunger; then he says that anyone who comes to him will never thirst. Bread is that which sustains so therefore Jesus is the sustainer of spiritual life.

Verse 36-37:

Jesus says that even though they can see him, they do not believe. They have seen his all the wonderful and miraculous things that He had done and yet they do not believe that He is who He says He is. (That is Jesus is God in the Flesh) How can this be? The Jews have repeatedly asked Jesus for a sign and he has certainly given them a sign by feeding the multitudes earlier in this chapter. Jesus has healed many with just a word and yet they do not believe. How can this be? Certainly there is more then enough eviden

ce for them to have faith in Him. Jesus tells us in the very next verse who comes to him. All that the Father gives to the Son will come to the Son, and the one comes Jesus will not cast out. The Greek word for “comes” is ἔρχομαι [erchomai /er·khom·ahee/] which is a present tense. So the literal would be “the one who is coming to me I will not cast out”. The one who is given by the Father to the Son will always be coming to Christ. It is not a one time action but a continuous action. The true believer is always seeking the Son. Always coming to Him. Why does th

e one given to the Son always come to Him? Because he has the bread of life, the Son Himself sustains him. Notice order of action in this verse. It is the Fathers giving that results in the Believer going to Christ. This would be the anti-type of Genesis 1:1-4 (being the type) where God commands that there be light in the darkness. Just as Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the fac

e of Jesus Christ.” God is the active, and Man is the passive. God is the Potter and Man is the Clay (Romans 9:20-21)

Verse 38-40:

Jesus goes on to say why He has come down from heaven. He has come, not for his own agenda, but for the agenda of the Father, the O

ne who sent Him. In verse 39 Jesus tells us what that will is: it is that of all that the Father gave the Son, none would be lost; but that it be raised up on the last day. Jesus goes on to say that all who see the Son and believes in the one who sent Him should have eternal live and will be raised up on the last day; for this is the will of the Father.

Verse 41-42:

Like so many times before, the Jews begin to grumble about Jesus. They ask how can he say that he is “the bread of life” They say that this is Jesus, the son of Joseph. They know Jesus’ earthly mother and father and so they canno

t wrap their minds around the concept that Jesus has come down from heaven. They do not understand the incarnation. Why is this? They have seen the wondrous things that he has done have they not?

Verse 43-47:

Jesus tells us why they do not understand. He tells them to stop grumbling and then He tells that no one can come to Him. No one is able. This is a universal thing because Jesus was talking to the whole crowd. No man can; indicating a disability. No man can…what? Come to Him. No one can come to Him, no one can eat the

bread of life. If this was the end of the verse and Jesus moved on; there would be no hope, but wait, there is more! Unless! The glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel; praise God that there is an “unless”. Once again we see the anti type of Genesis 1:1-4, the activity of God and the passivity of man. “Unless the Father, who sent Me, Draws them.” The Greek word for Draw is ἑλκύω [helkuo, helko /hel·koo·o/]

Which means to drag. It almost seems that, not only is man unable, but unwilling. God the Father must drag a person to the Son.

So what happens to the one who is dragged? The

y are raised up on the last day to eternal life. So what is the implication? Those who are drawn are raised up. It is only the ones drawn because no one can come unless they are drawn. The one drawn are raised up, therefore the only ones raised are the ones drawn; they and they only. Jesus talks more about the ones who are drawn. He quotes the prophets saying that they will all be taught by God. (Isaiah 54:13. A similar sentim

ent is found in Micah 4:1-4 and Jeremiah 31:34) Continuing the idea that there is a people given by the Father to the Son; these people will be taught by God. He says that all taught by God will come to the Son. The idea is continued in verse 46 when Jesus says that no one has seen the Father except He (Jesus) who is from God; he has seen the Father. Jesus then says that all who believe have eternal life. Who can believe? According to verse 44 no one except those drawn by the Father. Those drawn are the same people who are given to the Son. They are raised up at the last day.

Verse 48-51:

Jesus then goes back to the beginning of the message by restating that He is the bread of life. He goes on to explain the original

subject; going back to Exodus when the Israelites were wandering in the desert. Everyday they ate manna which came from heaven; but they still died. Jesus says that whoever eats this bread will not die but the one who eats the bread of life will live forever. He then says that the bread he will give for the life of the world is his own flesh. Signifying that his very own body will pay the price for this life. The life of course is spiritual life for the fathers had at the manna and died, Jesus did not come to give physical life but spiritual life to the world. The world, of course, is not the entire world; for if no one can come to Christ outside of the fathers dragging then Jesus would not provide “life” for those who are unable to come to him. For it is the will of the father that those who believe are raised up. Those who believe receive this life and the ones who can believe are those who

are given to the Son by the Father; those drawn by the Father and raised up by the Son at the last day.

Many object to this consistent and logical interpretation. They claim that Jesus was referring to the 12 Apostles in John 6:37-44 because they were “taught by God”, meaning Jesus dwelt among them and taught them personally, and because in chapter 12 the same word “drawn” is used. In other words, this whole “drawn by the Father” thing doesn't apply to God's elect people, but instead to just the 12 disciples. Well, this simply cannot be for several reasons.

First, it makes no sense that Jesus was addressing the 12 disciples when He was talking to the crowd. If your saying we can only understand John 6:37-44 if we turn to John 12:32, you've got some problems. Because what you've just said is that the crowd Jesus was speaking to also couldn't have understood what Jesus was saying until chapter 12, which would have been days later.

Second, this doesn't help the fact that one of the 12 (Judas) will not be raised up to eternal life. So, you're forced to believe Jesus was wrong when He said the ones drawn will be raised up.

Third, the context of John 12:32 and the “drawing” being talked about has nothing to do with an effective drawing/dragging by the Father to salvation as it does in John 6. The text explains itself, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.' But, He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was going do die.” The whole purpose of this passage isn't to clarify or extend the text of John 6, and entire different issue (the crucifixion) was being addressed.

There is also a very clever parallel/typological connection in this text as well. John 12:32 confirms John 3:14, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” This fits perfectly with what is said in John 6 and the citation from the Old Testament. The ones who saw the serpent on the end of the pole (or “standard”) in Numbers 21:9 were saved - “And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the pole; and it came about that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” So, it is with Christ being lifted up.

• Israelites looking at serpent/believing = life
• People looking towards Christ/believing = life

Those who look to Christ will be saved, but only if they are drawn by the Father! He says this plainly in vs. 36, “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet you do not believe.” Then He continues to explain why they don't believe. It is because in order to have eternal life, you must believe, in order to believe, you must be drawn by the Father. Summary:

• In order to be saved, you must be drawn. (vs. 44)
• The ones saved are the ones drawn. (vs. 39, 40, 44)
• Those who are not drawn, are not saved because they are “unable”. (vs. 44)
• It is the will of God that the Son loses none of those He was given. (vs. 38)
• It is the will of the Father that the ones believing will have eternal life and be raised up by Jesus (vs. 40).

The only people who fit this criteria are the chosen elect people of God (the “elect”, “church”, “sheep”, “people” etc).

In a Nutshell:

• Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven; This is the anti type, the type being the manna that fathers ate in the wilderness; They still died, Jesus brings spiritual life not physical.
• The ones who eat this bread are those who are given to the Son by the Father; it is the will of the father that Jesus looses nothing of that which is given to him, but raises it up at the last day.
• No one can come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father, and the Son raises them up on the last day. So, logically and scripturally, it follows that those who are drawn are the same people who are given to the Son; they are the ones who eat the bread of life.
• Not everyone eats the bread of life, not everyone is given to the Son; not everyone is drawn by the Father because of the simple fact that people go to hell every day; not all are given to the Son; otherwise all would be raised up (Atheists, Muslims, and Mormons included for it is the Fathers will that the Son loose Nothing).
• There are only two possibilities when dealing with this passage. Either the Son succeeds in doing the will of the Father or He does not. To say that the Father gives to the Son and the Son does not raise them all up makes the implication that Jesus has failed to do the will of the Father; which is heretical. Jesus does not fail; it is said that He will save His people from there Sins (Matthew 1:21). He does not attempt, he does not try; He does what he says he will do. A Savior Saves and a Redeemer redeems. Not once does the Bible view or speak of the finished work of Christ as officially making men “savable”, “propitiable” or “redeemable”. Instead it confidently makes the powerful claims as a finished work of God. actually redeeming, purchasing, saving, propitiating and reconciling. There is no “attempt” or “try”.

Jesus, never fails! Jesus, never fails! Heav'n and earth may pass away, but Jesus, never fails!