Yesterday, we saw that the Jewish leadership were incredulous that Jesus made the claim He came from heaven. They knew His parents, Jospeh and Mary. Jesus responds to their grumblings and mutterings, doing so by quoting the prophets and making an even bolder claim.
The leadership was upset that Jesus had claimed to be the bread of life and that He had come down from heaven. Jesus then makes a bolder claim that He is God. He also lets them know in no uncertain terms that they can only come to Him if the Father sends them to Him.
We find a portion of today’s passage a bit disturbing. Specifically, the statement that only those the Father sends will come to Jesus. We want to believe everyone has the choice to come to Jesus. The truth is, they do. Don’t misunderstand Jesus’ statement. The Father puts in everyone’s heart the desire to find something more than themselves. We must remember Jesus’ parable of the seeds. Some of those seeds are stolen away by Satan.
Those who accept the seed and allow it to grow will come to Jesus. When Jesus quotes the prophets, He claims to be God in the same way He claimed to come from heaven when He stated He was the bread of life. When He says that those who hear will come to Him, He is talking about those who grasp the message, understanding what He has said.
We would do well to read Jesus’ words carefully and think about them. An interesting exercise to do is read only Jesus’ words in the New Testament. If you have a red letter edition, it will be a little easier to find and read them. Doing so provides a different view of Jesus’ teaching, especially if you put yourself in the frame of mind that Jesus is speaking directly to you. Give it a try. It will take less than two hours. Perhaps read His words in one book at a time.
I pray we all seek to understand Jesus’ words. I pray we take time to think about what Jesus says. I pray each one of us will accept God’s invitation, come to Jesus, and learn from Him. Seek to understand Jesus’ words. Accept God’s invitation. Come to Jesus. Learn from Jesus.
John 6:43-45 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.”
Marty Pressey 