John 6:35-48

Great. If you were here last week you'll know we're kind of carrying on in John's Gospel but we're doing a little mini series within a series in John's Gospel.

Looking at John chapter 6 and particularly what is known as the bread of life discourse in John 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

You might remember Jesus saying in verse 35 last week at the top of your sheets, he describes himself as bread, the bread of life.

Come to me and get life, he says. And in this section that we've got printed here he's going to unpack that one verse, that little statement a little bit more.

And actually not just the whole verse but one word he's going to unpack from verse 35.

It's the word comes. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger or thirst.

He's going to tell us now what is involved in that coming to Jesus.

Namely people who come to Jesus haven't just come to him actually but they have been sent to him.

They have actually been given to Jesus by the Father.

Just listen to how Jesus describes these people who come to him.

Verse 37.

All that the Father gives to me will come to me.

Verse 39.

I will lose nothing of all that the Father has given to me.

Christian conversion, coming to Jesus.

Christian believers, he says, are not merely a random collection of people who've sort of blindly found their way to Jesus.

Neither are they people who are born in a certain country or family or with a certain ethnicity.

Neither are Christians manufactured by a culture around them.

Jesus says a Christian is someone who is chosen and selected and presented to Jesus for salvation by God the Father.

They are people given to God the Son by him.

Christians are Jesus' precious possessions, gift-wrapped and delivered to Jesus' door for him to keep and to cherish and to save forever.

I don't know how you feel about it.

As we've gone through John, it feels like we're little toddlers, doesn't it?

Paddling through the waters of John's Gospel step by step.

And as we do that, in this passage, I think we suddenly kind of find ourselves dropping into the deep end.

And we're up to our chins in these deep waters.

Because we are entering here some deep theological waters.

There's some really, really challenging content in this passage.

And it's challenging not just intellectually, but experientially and morally.

Jesus is talking here, isn't he, about God's choosing particular people to give to Jesus.

And him not choosing others to give to Jesus.

It's what theologians call election.

The early church leader, Erasmus, said that passages like this should never be preached at all.

He said, some things are of such a kind that even if they were true and might be known,

it would not be proper to, he says, prostitute them before common ears.

Now forgive his political incorrectness there.

But he and many others say that with this subject, we get to passages like this,

and there should be a big red flag.

But the man who wrote these words, John, is clear, isn't he?

At the end of his gospel, in John 20, he says,

These things, this whole gospel is written that you may believe.

There's no little footnote, is there, in John 20,

saying, apart from John chapter 6, verse 35 to 47.

John 6:35–47

John, who writes this, says,

No, the flag is well and truly green.

You've got to preach this.

You've got to hear this.

And Jesus himself says, actually, this subject of God choosing, of election,

is definitely for everyone to hear.

In the context here, do you notice who he is speaking to here?

He's speaking to people he says, verse 36, do not believe.

He is speaking to an audience of some believers and non-believers and non-Christians.

If that's you here this afternoon, Jesus thinks that you need to hear about this.

Oddly, he decides, doesn't he, that what you need to hear is this deep subject

about God's infallible, definite, predetermined plan

to give some people to Jesus and not to others.

Election.

If you're a regular here, many of you are,

how would you feel if we announced that in, I don't know, Easter time

we were going to do a sort of evangelistic series of talks?

Sometimes we do them, don't we?

And it would be a series of talks where you could invite your friends along,

it would be accessible to people that have never heard about Jesus or read the Bible,

and it would be sensitive to them.

But the subject matter was not going to be on the question of,

is there a God?

Or even, why does God allow suffering?

Or, why can we trust the Bible?

Although they're good things to ask, aren't they?

But actually, we're going to do a series on election.

How would you feel?

We're not going to do that, I don't think.

But you never hear that, do you?

You never hear of speech missions, or evangelistic meetings,

or university outreach missions,

that are focused on that subject.

Yet here, Jesus preaches election

in an evangelistic sermon

to believers and unbelievers.

To a mixture of people.

And we wonder, why does he do that?

Well, I think Jesus gives us two reasons.

One is a positive reason, one is a negative reason.

First off, we learn here that those given to Jesus

will come to Jesus.

Those given to Jesus will come to him.

Look at verse 37 again.

All that the Father gives to me

will come to me.

People who are chosen

and given to Jesus Christ

by God the Father

to be rescued and loved

will find themselves

coming to him

and being his forever.

as if they are caught

in a sort of tidal wave

of God's love.

God doesn't send these people to Jesus

like we send and receive gifts

and things to each other.

When we do that,

all sorts of things can go wrong.

You get those red cards

coming through your letterbox

don't you at times?

And at the top it says

attempted delivery.

And the thing that was meant for you

hasn't arrived,

it hasn't come to the right place.

You didn't get what was sent to you.

Maybe you weren't in,

you didn't sign for it

or the fee hasn't been paid.

But those who come to Jesus,

those who arrive at Jesus' door

are never like that.

The giving of his people to Jesus

is infallible.

It is effective.

They are flawlessly delivered

and received by him.

Jesus sees his people,

his disciples and followers,

not just as a kind of

random collection of people.

He doesn't come into the world

and sort of go

eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Which one shall I have?

I'll put all their names in a hat

and I'll pick out a few.

It is not like that.

In one way,

those who come to Jesus

is not up to Jesus on one level.

He says,

no, I've come to do my,

not to do my will

but the will of him who sent me.

Which is not to lose anyone

that the Father has given me.

This is how he sees his people.

He is the good shepherd,

he says in John 10,

whose sheep are those

who he has given to me.

It's my job, John 17,

he prays to God,

to give eternal life

to all you

whom you have given to me.

And the encouraging thing here

in this kind of positive thing

is that this is a mixture of people,

isn't it?

The crowds do not believe

at this moment,

some of them,

but that is not a problem for Jesus.

He's not fazed by that.

It's okay.

It doesn't mean that his church

is going to die out.

Because Jesus knows

that it's not their ability

that is the prime reason

that people come to him.

Nothing about them

actually is the issue.

Since those who God gives to Jesus

will come.

They will.

One way or another.

They will come.

If you are here as a believer,

maybe you've got a great testimony

of how that happened.

Maybe you were in the right place

at the right time.

You were born maybe

into a believing family.

Maybe you had a Christian friend.

You were invited along to church.

I don't know your story.

But let me tell you

what really happened.

What really happened

is that in eternity past,

God the Father

thought of God the Son

and said,

I want to give you a people.

I want to give you this man.

I want to give you this woman.

And so I'm giving you

David Jones.

I'm giving you

Chris Hosier.

I'm giving you

John Mark.

I'm giving you

such and such a person.

And I'm going to

get them

and wrap them up

and give them to you

and deliver them to you,

my son.

For you to have them

and to save them.

When we give gifts

that can go wrong

for all sorts of reasons.

The person might not

even want the gift.

Some parcels

get sent to us,

don't they?

But they get re-gifted.

Some deliveries

get marked

return to sender.

But again,

it's not like that here

with the people

that come to Jesus.

Notice the all

in verse 37.

All that the Father

gives me

will come

and I will not

cast any of them out.

It's not as if

Jesus doesn't want

any of these gifts

or only a few of them.

He doesn't

grin and bear

the gift.

Maybe you think

that's you

if you're a Christian.

You're the one

that became a Christian

but secretly

Jesus thinks

doesn't he,

great,

but actually

they're not what

I had in mind,

Father.

But I suppose

I'll grin and bear it

and I'll receive them

to myself

and be thankful.

It's not like that

because actually

Jesus does have a choice

in who he receives.

He says to his disciples,

I chose you.

You didn't choose me.

And so on another level

it's a mutual thing.

It is like

when a parent

says to the child,

I want to give you

a gift,

son,

and I know

what you want.

And the son says,

yes,

you know

that I'd love

that thing,

Father.

And the father says,

yeah,

I'm going to give you

that thing.

You will have that.

And it's a mutual

decision between

the father

and the son

that Jesus

would receive

his people

and not turn

any away.

And so the father

gives to Jesus

whom he chooses

and Jesus chooses

those whom

the father gives.

It's a really

deep thing,

isn't it?

Hard thing to get

our heads around.

And so these people,

whoever they are,

those who come

to Jesus

are bound

to do that.

They are bound

to Jesus

by this divine,

infallible

gift,

giving.

Whoever they are,

wherever they are,

they will

come.

They will be

delivered to

and signed

for by

and paid

for by

and received

by Jesus.

Notice how

John switches

his description

of Jesus'

audience.

You might remember

early in our passage

he calls them

the crowd,

doesn't he?

The crowd

who

ate bread

and fish.

It's just

a neutral

description

of a group

of people,

isn't it?

The crowd.

But look at

verse 41.

He switches

the title

and he now

talks about

the Jews,

doesn't he?

That is the title

for the people

that we've come

to know

in John's

Gospel

as those

who are

most against

Jesus,

the ones

who frequently

reject him.

But Jesus

isn't fazed

about talking

to them,

is he?

even amongst

those people

who typically

reject him,

if they are

given to him

by the Father,

they will

come to him.

It's not

a question

of if,

but it's a

question of

when for

some of them.

And by

preaching the

Gospel,

that is the

means,

isn't it,

that God

uses,

and through

prayer,

and through

the witness

of his people,

that they

will come.

And what

an encouragement

that is to

us,

isn't it,

as we

seek to

share our

faith,

God's

choice of

people to

give to

Jesus,

doesn't make

us lazy,

it spurs us

on to keep

talking,

and to keep

witnessing,

and to keep

praying,

because in

the end,

those who

are given

to Jesus

will come

inevitably,

and

irresistibly.

I'm sure

that there

are people

in Ealing

right now,

walking around

on the streets,

and maybe in

your workplace,

people that

you know,

who haven't

got the

first idea

about Jesus,

but if

God has

prepared them

to be

delivered to

Jesus,

they will

be delivered

to him,

and they

will come.

It's not

if,

but when.

So that

is the

first thing,

all given

to Jesus

will come.

But then

secondly,

and lastly,

Jesus

says,

another

implication

of this

is that

those

not

given

to

Jesus

will

not

come.

Those

not

given

to

Jesus

will

not

come.

And this

is the

negative

side,

isn't it?

Drop your

eye down

to verse

44

with me.

He says,

no one

can come

to me

unless

the

Father

who sent

me

draws

him.

when we

send things

all kind

of things

can go

wrong.

One thing,

you might

get sent

something to

your door

that actually

wasn't meant

for you

in the

first place.

Maybe it

was meant

for your

next door

neighbour,

or to

someone

living

previously

at your

address.

Some

things can

come through

our door

that we

don't want,

junk mail,

or whatever.

But the

door to

Jesus'

kingdom is

not like

that.

because

nothing

outside of

what the

Father

gives to

Jesus

will come

through

his door

and will

be received

by Jesus.

If the

person is

not sent,

the kind

of stamp

by God

the Father,

and drawn

by the

Father,

they cannot

in any

way,

apart from

that,

slip their

way into

the letter

box of

salvation.

salvation.

And that

is their

problem here,

isn't it?

Jesus says

the negative

thing here

in response

to something

that they

say in

verse 42,

just look

there,

and they

say,

is this

not Jesus,

the son

of Joseph,

whose father

and mother

we know?

How does

he now say

I've come

down from

heaven?

Now,

the kind

of confusion

on that

may be

understandable,

but John

hints at a

problem that

we've seen

before in

the gospel,

it is the

problem of

people's proud

assumption of

Jesus.

It is their

reliance on

faculties of

human deduction

alone,

isn't it?

It's those

words that

we've heard

before,

we know,

we know,

we know

Jesus'

father and

his mother,

we know

where he's

come from,

we know

his mum

and dad,

we know

who he is.

They are

judging him

by human

standards.

And so

because of

that,

they cannot

receive his

gifts.

Doesn't it

highlight the

powerlessness

of the

natural person

to come to

Jesus without

being drawn

by the

father?

Without

God working

in a person

in us and

giving us to

Jesus,

we are

totally unable

to see who

Jesus is

and where

he has

come from

and what

he's come

to do.

It reminds

us,

doesn't it,

that we

can witness

and preach

and take

people to

church and

we can tell

them the

gospel until

we're blue

in the face.

But unless

the father

draws them,

nothing will

happen.

In that

case,

even the

greatest

theologian on

earth will

never come

to Jesus.

And yet

we do

all those

things,

don't we,

knowing that

those he

has given

to Jesus

will come

to him.

Just as we

close now,

it struck me

this week

preparing this,

that Jesus

does tell

people in

John's gospel

to do

things that

he knows

they cannot

do themselves.

Think about

that.

He commands

people to

do stuff

that he

knows full

well they

are incapable

of doing.

He tells

a lame

man to

walk,

doesn't he?

He tells

a dead

man to

get out

of a

tomb.

And maybe

the even

harder thing,

he tells

people to

believe and

come to

him.

Knowing full

well they

can't do

that by

themselves.

And on

one level

it's utterly

ridiculous isn't

it really?

But Jesus

in his

wisdom he

does that

freely and

confidently

knowing that

God uses

the means of

his words to

do the

impossible and

to draw those

who otherwise

would not.

Knowing that

some at

least will

come.

love to

love to

If you're

a bit worried

about this

election thing

this whole

God choosing

people

if you're

sat thinking

have I been

chosen

am I one of

those people

that has been

chosen to

be given

to Jesus

I just want to

say that

actually isn't

the right

question to

ask

but the right question simply is

have I come to Jesus?

am I coming to Jesus?

and if you haven't

then you need to pray for God's help

don't you?

knowing that you can't do that by yourself

you need to pray to the Father

that he might draw you to Jesus

knowing that he's doing that right now

as his word comes to you

and do it and come to him

with his help

but if you have already done that

if you've come to Jesus

and you want to do that

and you're seeking to do that

we're not perfect are we?

but we want to do that

honestly don't be fazed by the rejection of people around you

who refuse to do that

because those given to the Son

by the Father will come

they will come

and if they are given

they will be delivered

and they will be received

and they will be kept by Jesus

so keep doing what you're doing

freely and confidently

as Jesus does

let's pray

thanks

Thank you.