Bible with you this morning. Please open it up to John chapter 6.
John chapter 6.
We've been working through this chapter for some time now.
We're really digging into the details.
There's a long conversation here between Jesus and a crowd.
We've looked at almost everything that Jesus has said here.
This morning is our last morning in the chapter.
We want to consider a few final statements that Jesus made,
which we've kind of skipped over until now.
Let me just say a word of prayer.
Father in heaven, please help us now in these moments as we read your words,
which you've preserved for us.
Give us insight.
Give us wisdom.
Give us understanding.
Help us to hear what Jesus said and to know exactly how it applies to us.
We ask this in his name.
Amen.
All right.
So let's get our bearings in this conversation one last time.
And we want to keep this whole conversation with the crowd and with Jesus' disciples
and with Peter in mind as much as we can,
because this is the context of the statements that Jesus made that we're going to consider this morning.
We need to look at what Jesus said, but also when and why he said what he said.
And this is the picture that we've seen so far here.
There's Jesus who's speaking to this crowd in the synagogue in Capernaum.
And in Jesus' own words, he is speaking to them words which are spirit and life,
words of truth that have been given to him by his father to say.
And then there's this crowd who is listening.
And on the whole, they do not believe what Jesus is saying,
even though some of them have tasted for themselves the bread that he made just the day before
on the other side of the lake.
And many have seen signs that he has performed.
They have seen, and yet they do not believe, says Jesus.
And Jesus has been very patient, it seems, to take time to speak with them more,
to tell them more truth.
And yet the crowd, it seems, from bad to worse.
They go from holding their unbelief on the inside
to openly and blatantly challenging Jesus and grumbling at him and arguing with him.
And then, after this conversation with the crowd is over,
there's a conversation between Jesus and his disciples in verse 60 and down.
And they too are grumbling, some of them, about the things that Jesus has been saying.
Jesus points out to them that he knows that some of them do not believe.
And then we come to this moment in verse 66 where many of them walk out the door on Jesus
and no longer follow him.
And in the midst of all of this, we saw last Sunday a guy named Peter,
one of the twelve,
declare that he has no intentions of walking away from Jesus
because he believes and knows that Jesus is the Holy One of God.
These are his words.
We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.
So what is going on here?
How is it that Peter sees and believes and knows the truth about Jesus,
but all these others do not?
What is going on here?
Why is the crowd not persuaded by Jesus' words?
Peter was persuaded at some point.
Why him and not the rest?
Is it because Peter is smarter than the others?
Is it because Peter is more gullible than the others?
Is it because Peter doesn't actually know,
but that he's just made up his mind that this is what he believes?
Or is there something else going on here?
Well, we already heard from Jesus that there is something else going on here,
something much bigger.
We heard it for the first time when Jesus said this in John 6, verse 36.
He said,
So the people in the crowd, they're not coming to Jesus because they don't believe in him.
And Jesus tells them that despite the fact that they're not coming,
some will come,
some will come, and not just some, but all of those who the Father gives to him will come to him.
There's this unseen story that we talked about unfolding here between Father and Son.
A story in which God the Father is giving people to his Son.
And Jesus seems to be expressing unshakable confidence that not a single one of those whom the Father intends to give to him
will fail to recognize Jesus and believe in him and come to him.
And from there, Jesus goes on in the conversation.
But then it comes up again.
Jesus says something and it further exposes their unbelief.
And they start grumbling about what he said.
Down in verse 41.
At this, the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said,
I am the bread that came down from heaven.
They said,
Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know?
How can he now say,
I came down from heaven?
Stop grumbling among yourselves.
Jesus answered,
No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me
draws them.
So first it's the statement
that all who the Father gives to Jesus
will come to him.
And now it's this statement
that no one can come to Jesus
unless the Father who sent him
draws them.
So there's more involved with coming to Jesus.
And that more that's involved
is what the Father must first do
to make it possible.
And then the conversation goes on from there.
And eventually we come to the conversation
that he has with his disciples.
And Jesus says almost the same thing again.
Right before a bunch of them leave,
they're grumbling about his words.
And Jesus says this.
He says,
There are some of you who do not believe.
For Jesus had known from the beginning
which of them did not believe
and who would betray him.
He went on to say,
This is why I told you
that no one can come to me
unless the Father
enables them to.
That's the NIV translation.
The more literal translation
that most Bible translations have
is unless it has been granted
to him
by the Father
or given to him
by the Father.
So a third time
we see that Jesus points out
the unbelief of some
who are there.
And then he gives an explanation for it.
He says,
There are some among you
who do not believe.
This is why I told you
that no one can come to me
unless it is granted to him
by the Father.
So here it seems
Jesus is making a parallel statement
to the one he made earlier
in verse 44
about how no one can come to him
unless the Father draws them.
It's the same kind of statement.
And it seems to be given
an explanation
for why some don't believe.
Only here,
the word used
is granted
or given
instead of drawn.
What the Father must
first do
for his part
is grant
that a person
may come to Jesus.
So a little bit
different wording
but a similar meaning.
So three times
in this conversation,
in this chapter,
Jesus speaks about
something that the Father does
which is deeply connected
to people
believing in Jesus
and coming to him.
All those
the Father gives me
will come to me.
No one
can come to me
unless the Father
who sent me
draws them.
And no one
can come to me
unless it is granted to him
by the Father.
So what do
these statements mean?
Let's try to bring them together.
What do they mean?
Well,
these particular
statements of Jesus
have been the subject
of much debate
amongst Christians.
And unfortunately,
it's a very ugly debate.
There are brothers and sisters
on all sides of it
and many of them
are denouncing one another
as heretics
or as false teachers.
In fact,
this debate
is not unlike
the coronavirus debate
that's swirling around us
today.
You've got people over here
saying one thing.
This is how we should read it.
You've got other people
over here saying,
no, you guys are wrong.
You should read it this way.
You've got this third group
saying,
you're both wrong.
I've got it figured out.
This is how it is.
And then you've got
a whole bunch more
of us
throwing our hands up
in the air in the middle
kind of wondering,
well, who do I trust?
We've got scholars
over here
that say this.
We've got scholars
over here.
We've got Greek experts
over here
and Greek experts
over here.
Who do I trust?
Who do I believe?
Which one is right?
And many of them
are pointing their fingers
at the others
and saying,
well,
those guys are taking
this out of context
or those guys
are imposing
their view
or their tradition
upon this passage
or we know
what the Greek words
really mean
here.
And at the end
of the day,
much like with
the coronavirus,
you can almost
just decide for yourself
whatever you want
them to mean
and then go on Google
and you'll be able
to find a whole host
of people
who agree with you
and are saying
the same thing.
It's a little bit
frustrating.
Even this week,
I'll be honest,
as I was studying
into this,
there were a couple
moments where I just
thought,
I just want to skip
this verse.
there are elements
of all sides
that sound reasonable.
But as I worked
through all of this,
it came clear to me
that there are really
two questions here.
The central question
here is,
what did Jesus
mean
by these statements?
The secondary
question here is,
who do these
statements apply to?
Who does the
Father draw
or who does the
Father grant
to come to Jesus?
And it's mostly
that question
which sparks
all the debate.
For this morning,
we really only have
time to look
at the central question.
And so we're going
to kind of skirt
the edges of the
debate as much
as possible.
And if you want
to talk about
the second question
later,
I invite you to
come have that
conversation later
after the service.
So what did
Jesus mean
by these
two similar
statements
that he made?
No one
can come
to me
unless the
Father who
sent me
draws him.
And no one
can come
to me
unless it
is granted
to him
by the
Father.
Perhaps the
first thing
that we notice
is that word
unless.
There's a
condition,
there's a
requirement
in both
of these
statements.
A person
cannot come
to Jesus
unless
Jesus says
that person
is first
drawn
by the
Father.
A person
cannot come
to Jesus
unless
that person
is first
granted
to come
by the
Father.
In both
cases,
something is
required of
the Father
to do
so that a
person may
come to
Jesus.
A second
thing that
we see
here is
the word
can.
Now in
English,
this is a
pretty small
word,
just three
letters,
but in
the original
language,
it's a
full-blown
verb,
and it
basically
means to
have the
ability to
do something.
Can,
to be
able to,
we might
paraphrase
it as
no one
is able
to come
to me.
unless
the Father
does his
part.
So it
seems,
at least
to me,
that Jesus
is talking
about an
inability
that
everyone
has.
No one
can come
unless.
No one
is able
to come
unless the
Father
does his
part.
Drawing
and granting
us to
come.
We have
an inability.
Let's
make it
personal
and really
press these
words into
our hearts
this morning.
Do you
realize,
according to
Jesus,
even to
come to
him,
even to
come to
him,
as he's
been calling
people to
do,
you are
at the
mercy
of God.
God,
Jesus
wants you
to know
that it's
something
you cannot
do on
your own
without
God's
help.
Unless the
Father draws
you,
unless he
grants it
to you
to come,
you cannot.
God.
These are
pretty sobering
words,
aren't they?
I mean,
it's through
Jesus that
we get to
the Father.
No one
comes to
the Father
but by
me.
It's through
Jesus that
we get
this eternal
life and
are raised
up at the
last day,
as Jesus
has been
talking about.
It's through
him that
we are
spared
God's
judgment
at the
end.
These are
all good
things that
Jesus has
been talking
about and
he's told
us that
in order
to receive
them,
we must
believe in
him.
We must
come to
him.
And now
he tells
us that
we cannot
come to
him unless
God
acts
first
to draw
us
and
grants
us
to come
to Jesus.
What
Jesus is
saying is
that we
are totally
at the
mercy
of God.
Not only
for the
way of
salvation,
but also
to be
able to
get to
the way
of
salvation.
Do you
hear that
in these
words?
Do you
see that
in these
words?
Does your
heart feel
the weight
of that
in these
words of
Jesus?
Jesus,
these words
speak of
how lost
I am.
And it's
worse than
it maybe
feels or
perhaps than
I originally
thought.
I have an
inability,
according to
Jesus,
to grab a
hold of the
lifeline that
is Jesus
apart from
the drawing
and granting
of God
the Father.
What this
means to me
is that I
am saved
from start
to finish
by God's
grace as
an unearned
gift of
God.
And not
simply because
I managed
in my own
ability to
get to
Jesus,
to figure
out who
he was,
who's the
Messiah,
to see what
others could
not see.
Now I'm
not sure at
this point
if Peter
understands what
Jesus is
saying.
Let's pull
Peter into
focus here.
He's the
one who
we looked
at last
Sunday.
I wonder
if Peter
perhaps isn't
somewhat
congratulating
himself on
having found
Jesus,
the Messiah.
He said,
we have
come to
believe and
to know
that you
are the
Holy One
of God.
And he
says this
right after
many,
probably the
majority of
Jesus'
disciples just
walked out
the door
on him.
We have
come to
believe and
to know
that you
are the
Holy One
of God.
But I
think if
we're listening
to Jesus
in these
words,
what he
wants Peter
to know
is that he
hasn't figured
this out
all by
himself
without
God's
help.
Peter
makes his
declaration
of faith.
Somehow,
we talked
last Sunday,
he sees the
truth about
Jesus that
many do
not.
And we
might be
tempted,
perhaps Peter
was tempted
to think,
at least I
have made
the right
choice.
He makes
his declaration.
we've come
to believe
and to
know that
you are
the Holy
One of
God.
And maybe
we might
be expecting
Jesus to
say,
well done,
Peter.
You have
chosen well.
But instead,
Jesus says
somewhat
an unexpected
response.
He says,
have I
not chosen
you?
maybe not
what we
were expecting
to hear.
And this
kind of a
moment
happens again,
another time
for Peter.
As Matthew
records in
his gospel,
Matthew
chapter 16,
you're probably
familiar with
it.
Jesus
says to
his disciples,
who do
people say
the Son
of Man
is?
And there's
a conversation
about,
you know,
who is
Jesus?
They give
some of the
answers.
Then Jesus
narrows it
down and
he says,
what about
you to
his disciples?
Who do
you say
that I
am?
And this
is Peter's
response.
You are
the Messiah,
the Son
of the
living God.
Again,
we might
be expecting
Jesus to
congratulate
Peter.
Well done.
You figured
it out.
And again,
Jesus says
this,
similar kind
of a thing.
He says,
blessed
are you,
Simon,
for this
was not
revealed to
you by
flesh and
blood,
but by my
Father in
heaven.
Jesus gives
his Father
the credit
for Peter's
understanding
the truth
of who
Jesus is.
God
is.
It's kind
of a
deflating
moment.
It takes
away from
Peter the
opportunity to
brag or to
boast about
the fact that
I have
figured it
out,
while everybody
else seems to
have missed
it.
It's as though
Jesus is saying,
yes, you have
come to me.
Yes, you have
figured out the
truth about me,
but not on
your own,
not without
the blessing
and the
revealing,
the granting
and the
drawing
of my
Father.
Without that,
you'd be in the
same spot as
the rest.
There is more
going on here
than just the
people and
Jesus.
The Father
is at work
in unseen
ways,
blessing
and revealing,
granting
and drawing
people.
And what
he is doing
factors in
hugely
to what's
going on
here.
No one
can come
to me
unless
the Father
who sent
me
draws him.
No one
can come
to me
unless
it is
granted
to him
by
the
Father.
We might
imagine
that we
are
drowning
in the
ocean
and that
God
throws out
one of
those
life rings
to us.
That's
Jesus.
And the
life ring
is there
in the
water,
right in
front of
us.
Jesus
has come
into our
world,
but we're
unable to
get to
it.
For some
reason,
it's just
out of reach.
we have
this
inability
that Jesus
speaks of.
And there's
all kind of
debate as
to what's
the reason
for this
inability.
What is
this
inability?
Perhaps it's
like the
people of the
crowd,
even some
of the
disciples who
left that
day,
like a
blindness,
where we're
just unable
to see
Jesus as
the special
provision of
God that
he is.
or perhaps
it's a
stubborn
heartedness,
a deeply
rooted
unwillingness
to acknowledge
that Jesus
is the
life ring
that God
has provided.
Whatever it
is,
it seems
clear from
Jesus'
words that
we need
more than
just the
life ring
to be
saved.
We need
help from
God,
the Father,
to come
to the
life ring
so we can
grab a hold
of it.
God must
work first
with his
power in
us,
or else
we will
remain
unable
to come
to Jesus.
And so
we truly
are at
the mercy
of God.
We need
the Father
to draw
us.
We need
the Father
to grant
it to us
that we
come
to Jesus,
or else
we can't.
God
to pray.
Now this
is perhaps
a surprising
and unexpected
thing to
many of
us.
Not for
all of
us.
Some of
us may
remember a
time before
we became
a follower
of Jesus
where we
felt drawn
by God.
You hear
that in
testimonies
from time
to time,
this
unexplainable
pull that
a person
feels to
go to
church or
to an
evangelistic
meeting or
simply to
open their
Bible and
read it,
or to
pray,
when for
years before
that they
didn't want
to do
any of
that.
They
thought it
was a
waste of
time.
But for
others of
us,
maybe we
don't
remember
feeling
drawn.
Maybe it
felt more
like a
careful
investigation
or a
long-thought-out
decision
to follow
Jesus.
Or maybe it
was something
that we
just remember
believing
ever since
we were
a kid.
Every person
has a
different
story and
different
feelings that
went along
with that
story of
how they
first came
to be a
follower of
Jesus.
But however
it happened
for you that
you came to
confess,
like Peter
does,
that Jesus
is the
Holy One
of God,
Jesus wants
you to
know that
you didn't
come to
that all
by yourself.
Whether you
realized it or
felt it or
not,
you had
help,
God the
Father was
acting,
granting,
blessing,
revealing,
and drawing
you.
And so
trusting these
words of
Jesus as
the truth,
we ought
to thank
God that
he has
drawn us,
that he
has granted
it to us
to come
to Jesus
and have
life.
Perhaps
we've taken
this for
granted.
Maybe we've
even been
guilty of
thinking that
God is
obligated to
draw us,
to grant
us to
come.
Maybe even
that he owes
it to us.
But the
very fact that
Jesus says
it like this,
that he brings
it up,
should make it
clear that God
doesn't owe
it to us
at all.
It's a
gift of
grace.
Maybe you're
here this
morning and
you're not
sure where
you stand
with Jesus.
Maybe you're
worried about
whether God
has drawn
you or is
drawing you
or whether
he has
granted you
to come to
Jesus or
whether he
will grant
you to
come.
If that's
you this
morning,
I want to
encourage you.
Jesus himself
seemed quite
content to
leave what
God the
Father does
in the
Father's
capable hands.
And so
should we.
Try as we
may, we
may not be
able to
detect or
to feel the
unseen work
of God
inside of us
or inside of
other people.
But we can
rest assured,
as Jesus did,
that he is
at work in
the hearts of
people.
Granting,
revealing,
blessing,
drawing.
And we
can have
confidence from
many of the
other scriptures,
we're not
going to look
at them this
morning,
that God
is merciful,
he is
gracious,
he is
compassionate,
and he is
loving,
and he
desires to
save people.
And so
at the end
of it all,
we need only
concern
ourselves
with this.
Do I
believe
that Jesus
is the
Holy One
of God?
Do I
believe it?
Will I
follow him
and accept
him as my
Messiah?
God
will
do I
know?
There's a
beautiful promise
of assurance
that Jesus
gives in the
midst of all
this.
Down in
verse
37,
he says,
whoever comes
to me,
I will never
drive away.
God
and so if
you have
not come
to Jesus,
come to
him.
Believe in
him.
Whoever
does,
if you
do,
he will
never
drive you
away or
cast you
out.
That's the
promise of
the Lord
Jesus.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Father in
heaven,
we thank
you for
these words
and we
ask that
you would
press them
into our
hearts.
We say
thank you
to you
for drawing
us and
for granting
to us who
have come
to you
that we
have come,
that we
do see,
as Peter
saw,
what many
did not
and do
not today.
We pray
and ask
that you
would help
us to
keep this
in mind
as we
think of
others
around us
who don't
know you
and who
do not
believe.
Help us
to understand
how we
ought to
reach out
to them
and speak
to them
in light
of these
words.
Give us
wisdom
and help
us to be
salt and
light,
as we've
talked about
earlier this
morning in
Sunday
school,
to our
world,
to our
community,
to our
neighbors.
We thank
you that
you are
a gracious
and merciful
and loving
God.
And we
say this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.