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The first verse reveals that each one of us was or is an enemy against
God. The second passage reveals that we were or are still hostile towards
God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 adds that before a person becomes spiritually
alive, that person is blind to spiritual truth. 2 Timothy 2:26 says that
each person is captive or slaves to Satan and consequently we reject
God. Colossians 1:13 says that we were trapped by Satan. 1 Corinthians
2:14 adds that we were powerless to understand. Without God’s help
we cannot respond to spiritual truth. We will reject the plain and clear
teaching of the scripture. We will find reasons to reject truth. People
used to say that the world was flat and most believed it, but it was
not true. So today, when people say that Jesus was not God, that does
not mean they are correct.
Their Problem. Jesus’ message to these religious leaders was very simple. They were spiritually blind and unable to believe Him. The religious leaders could not understand.
The religious leaders could not come to Jesus and understand unless God the Father drew them. Look at Jesus’ statement again! He said, “No one can come to Me, unless
the Father . . . draws . . .” They needed help.
Jesus’ next statement makes this truth even clearer.
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. John 6:45 (NAS95S) Jesus quoted Isaiah 54:13. His message was that God is the one who teaches spiritual truth. Since they were rejecting Jesus, it was clear that God the Father was not teaching
them. Jesus’ words are so very clear and simple. We may not like the implication of Jesus’ words, but the words are very plain.
If we quickly look forward to John 6:65, we discover that no one can come to Jesus, unless God the Father grants them permission or allows them to come. Now that is a strong
statement.
And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” John 6:65 (NAS95S) Jesus says that we need the Father’s permission in order to come to Him. John 6:65 says that God the Father must grant a person permission to come to Jesus. John 6:44
says that no one can come unless the Father draws them, and John 6:37 says that those whom the Father draws will come to Jesus, and Jesus will not reject them. We cannot come
on our own. We are not able to come to God on our own because we are spiritually blind.
Several years ago a well-known author wrote a book in which he claimed that God would not be very loving if each one of us could not choose to come to God on our own. He wrote
an entire book with the goal of proving that we were free to choose or reject God. Unfortunately, he missed the truth that the scriptures teach that a) none
of us can choose to come to God and, yet b) any of us can choose to come to God if we desire. Both are true. We are free to choose God and He is free to choose us. The Bible says that God does
not want anyone to perish,
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Pet 3:9 (NAS95S) The scriptures also teach that God loves everyone,
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NAS95S) If this seems confusing, it isn’t. The truth is that both concepts are true. God chooses men and women to come to Himself, and yet we choose or decide to come or not
come to God. If we try to resolve the apparent contradiction, we will reject one or the other clear teachings of scripture. One cannot resolve the apparent contradiction. We
must be satisfied to accept both truths and wait until we see God face-to-face to discover the complete explanation. For a more complete lesson, please visit the study
called “Predestination and Free Will.”
Jesus’ Claim. Then Jesus explained why He had spiritual insight into God the Father.
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. John 6:46 (NAS95S) Jesus has seen the Father. They hadn’t. Only Jesus had seen the Father. Jesus used to be with the Father in heaven (John 1:1-2) and so He can reveal the Father to us.
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. John 1:18 (NAS95S) Jesus was not just any ordinary person.
The God of the universe was standing before these religious leaders. He had been in heaven. He knew the truth. He could give them eternal life because He was and is the Bread
of Life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. John 6:47-48 (NAS95S) I like bread, especially ciabatta bread. Some bakers make ciabatta bread very flat and others make it longer and taller. No matter what the shape of the loaf, I like ciabatta
bread. I also like multi-grain breads. But the Bread of Life is not ciabatta bread and it is not wheat, white, multi-grain, or rye bread. The Bread of Life is eternal, spiritual
bread. Once you “eat” it, you will never want to eat any other spiritual bread. All of the other “breads” are stale, flat, uninteresting, and lifeless.
Jesus is unlike anything anyone has ever experienced.
Next Jesus reminds them that the bread that God provided the Israelites did not last very long, and God had to constantly provide them fresh manna each day throughout their
forty years of wandering in the Egyptian wilderness (Exodus 16.35). But they eventually died. The manna did not give them immortality.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. John 6:49 (NAS95S) But the Bread of Life - Jesus Himself - fills a person and gives him or her eternal spiritual life.
This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 6:50-51 (NAS95S) Jesus was better than manna. He was and is living bread and He came down out of heaven. He lives forever, and those who partake of the Bread of Life, do too!
Current Misunderstandings. But the religious leaders did not understand and started arguing among themselves.
Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” John 6:52 (NAS95S) They thought that Jesus was talking about someone literally eating His flesh. What a great example of how people respond to divine truth today when they hear the Word of God.
They do not understand because they cannot understand unless the Father is drawing them. They just do not get it. Sometimes the followers of Jesus use books about the Bible
and logic to help people understand the Bible. What people need to do is to read the Bible. Many people have never read the Bible. They do not know what it says. Let God’s
Word speak to them and not some uninspired author.
Wow, what a clueless group. I wonder if they thought about how much flesh was on Jesus’ body and how many people could actually eat some of His flesh? But Jesus ignored
them and continued with His allegory,
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. John 6:53-57 (NAS95S) |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
