Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
No one can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
The people listening to Jesus were grumbling at what He said. His answer goes past their complaint to its root. Nobody comes to Him under their own power. The words raise two questions at once — if the Father must draw, where does that leave the person who wants to come? And why does a saying about coming to Christ end with a promise about resurrection?
Jesus does not argue with the complaint. He points to what unbelief does, and to where the power to come actually comes from.
Unbelief can only destroy and trouble; it cannot give life or comfort. Man under Satan is the source of unbelief, which always leads away from Christ, not to Him. But as the Father sent Christ, so He draws the believer to Christ, who raises him up at the last day. It is not man's worth or work or will, therefore, but the Father's grace, by which one comes to Christ. The whole blessing, in short, is of sovereign mercy.
"Cannot" here does not mean a locked door. God turns nobody away. The problem is the person's own unwillingness — and they are still responsible for it.
Notice that Jesus says, "You will not come." I fully believe that they are responsible for it... Now certainly God does not stop anyone from coming, but the disposition of man's heart is such that he will not. This is why the work of God is necessary, and why it is said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." Perhaps you will say, everyone is drawn. No — the one who is drawn comes, and Jesus will raise him up on the last day: he is saved.
The verse has a matching half. The Father gives people to Christ, and Christ welcomes each one who comes. Commentators warn against holding one half without the other.
This then is the key, and it is twofold; and only in this largeness do we know the truth. If either side is taken to the exclusion of the other, the teaching is imperfect... The theologian who sees only the divine decrees pays little attention to the encouragement the Lord gives to the individual who comes to Him. The advocate of what he calls free will tries to neutralise, if he does not completely ignore, the declaration that all the Father gives to Christ will come to Him.
The drawing does not work like force. From the inside it feels like hunger, and like an honest look at oneself.
No one hungers for the bread of life enough to come to the Saviour unless a sense of urgent need draws him. That sense of need is found only in those whom the Father draws... God deals with the soul in this way. These humbling discoveries of self and sin lead to open confession of total ruin. That is what accounted for anyone coming to Christ.
The drawing is not the Father's work alone.
The Father draws (verse 44); the Son speaks (verse 63); and the Spirit gives life by applying His words in power to the soul.
The verse can sound like a lock on the door. Turn it around, and it becomes evidence: if you have come, the Father drew you.
Notice: if you come to Jesus, it is proof of two things. First, that the Father has given you to Him (v. 37). For "no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (v. 44), and no one comes unless the Father grants it to him (v. 65). Second, it is proof that you are taught of God (v. 45). If you have not come, is it not because you do not believe God?
The promise attached to the drawing reaches past the soul to the body.
Here we learn that the teaching about the Bread from heaven involves the truth of the resurrection of the body. For the body, as well as the soul of the believer, is to share in everlasting life. So four times over in this chapter (6:39-40, 44, 54) the Lord declares, "I will raise him up on the last day."
But when is that day?
The last day is the last day of the present age. It is a general term for the end of that age, not just the final twenty-four hours.
- Cannot — the barrier to Christ is not a shut door but a heart that will not move; God stops nobody, yet nobody starts alone.
- Drawn — the Father's grace brings a person to the Son — not human worth, work, or will. The whole blessing is sovereign mercy.
- Taught — from the inside, the drawing feels like hunger and an honest sight of one's own ruin. Father, Son, and Spirit all work in it.
- Both — hold two truths together — the Father gives, and Christ welcomes everyone who comes. Drop either half and the teaching goes wrong.
- Raised — if you have come, your coming is the evidence that He drew you. And the same verse promises your body's resurrection at the close of this age.
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every one that has heard from the Father [himself], and has learned [of him], comes to me;
Jesus has just told the crowd a hard thing. No one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. Here He backs that up with a line from the prophets. So two questions follow. What is this teaching from God? And how can anyone know they have received it?
The Lord is not inventing a new idea. He is quoting an old one, and its full scope still lies ahead.
The Lord quotes Isaiah 54:13: they will all be taught by God. It is a prophecy of Israel's blessing in the coming thousand-year kingdom, linked with their new faith in the Lord Jesus. Meanwhile it is just as true that everyone whom the Father has taught will come to the Son. But the word "all" cannot be applied today as it will be in that coming kingdom.
The drawing of verse 44 and the teaching of verse 45 are one action, not two. One writer describes what that teaching does inside a person.
The way the Father draws is by divine teaching, as the word says: "they will all be taught by God." The Father gives light to the soul. He convicts it of its need of Christ. He reveals the glory of Christ. So the soul is driven by need and drawn by grace to Christ.
If God is the teacher, then no one can take credit for coming to Christ.
As the Father sent Christ, so He draws the believer to Christ, Who raises him up at the last day. So it is not a person's worth or work or will that brings anyone to Christ. It is the Father's grace. In short, the whole blessing is sovereign mercy, and that is what the prophets wrote. All true teaching comes from God. All are taught by God, Who never forgets what is due to Christ.
What does it look like when someone hears from the Father? One writer points to Nathanael, a man Jesus saw under a fig tree before the two had ever met.
No one hungers for the bread of life and comes to the Saviour unless a sense of urgent need draws him. That need is found only in those whom the Father draws… Everyone in Israel who had heard God's voice within not only came to Jesus, but was overjoyed to do so. Take Nathanael as an example (John 1:49). God dealt with his soul under the fig tree. Those humbling discoveries of self and sin, leading to an honest confession of total ruin, are what accounted for anyone coming to Christ.
The Father's teaching brings a person to Christ. So the coming is evidence — and staying away is evidence too.
Notice this. If you come to Jesus, it proves two things. First, that the Father has given you to Him (v. 37). For "no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (v. 44), and no one comes unless the Father grants it (v. 65). Second, that you are taught by God (v. 45). If you have not come, is it not because you do not believe God?
The verse says "Everyone who has heard," not "the crowd." God teaches one person at a time. That matters for anyone who thinks understanding only comes through other people.
The Holy Spirit remains with us. Among other privileges of the greatest value, He enables the believer to enjoy the whole revelation of God, in the measure of his faith by grace… See that you do not sink below your privileges. Enter into them by faith. This does not rest on your own opinion or on the authority of other men. There is much blessing in the fellowship of God's people, but God's teaching must be individual: "they will all be taught by God."
- Taught long ago. The line comes from Isaiah 54:13. It promises blessing to Israel, and its full "all" belongs to a coming day. The principle holds true now.
- Taught, then drawn. The Father draws by teaching. He shows the soul its need of Christ, and He shows the glory of Christ. Need drives, grace pulls, and both point one way.
- Taught, not earned. Coming to Christ rests on the Father's grace. It does not rest on a person's worth, work or will. The whole blessing is sovereign mercy.
- Taught inwardly. Hearing God's voice humbles a person. It uncovers self and sin and leads to honest confession — as it did with Nathanael under the fig tree.
- Taught personally. God teaches each person, not just the crowd. So coming to Jesus is the proof of it, and staying away means not believing God.