The Reaction of The Jews

Howard Hendricks tells how he came from a broken family and was a problem kid. During his first day in fifth grade the teacher said, ’Oh, Howard Hendricks. I’ve heard a lot about you. I understand you are the worst kid in school.’ That year Howard did whatever he could to prov … More

Believe

Jesus then rebukes the crowd for their lack of faith (v.36). They had the great  privilege of seeing Him, and yet they refused to believe. It is evident here that seeing does not necessarily lead to believing. He goes on to explain that salvation involves both divine sovereignty and human responsibility (vv. 37-40). The Jews supposed that by virtue of their national origin and religious works they were assured of a place in the Kingdom. Our Lord revealed their thought that they could manipulate the Messiah into adapting to their conception of the Kingdom. Quite the opposite was true. Entrance into the Kingdom is not ultimately a matter of our choice, but God’s. It is not we who bring God to us, but God Who draws us to Himself (vv. 41-44). He assures them that anyone who comes to Him will never be lost, but will be raised at the last day (v. 39). In fact, those who put their trust in Christ will be resurrected from physical death to everlasting life with God when Christ comes again (v. 40).

The audience suddenly changes. No longer are we dealing with the wandering crowds that pursued Jesus from the site of the feeding miracle. We are now confronted with an audience of hostile ‘murmuring’ Jews. Again John seems insensitive to the fact that all his characters, with the exception of the Roman official, are ‘Jews’. But as we have noted, by ‘Jews’ John means the religious leadership determined to destroy Jesus. By implication they were still causing the original readers of this Gospel difficulties.

Application

The fact I am going to heaven when I die is not because of something I have done but because of Jesus revealing himself to me and drawing me to Him. All I had to do was believe in Him.

John 6:36-44 (English Standard Version)


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