I am the Bread of Life - Joh..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Number six, from verse 35 through 48. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him shall have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. So the Jews grumbled about him. Because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered them, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets and they will all be taught by God.

Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from God. He has seen the father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

Amen. This is indeed the all-sufficient Word of God. Well, brothers and sisters and friends, we are still working our way through the sixth gospel or the sixth chapter of the gospel of John. And what a glorious chapter it has been thus far. The theme running through this chapter is still the same.

The theme is repeated by our Lord over and over again. And of course, with different nuances, which we will examine this evening. But Jesus Christ is the true bread from heaven. That's the theme running through this whole chapter. That He is the bread of life.

And to believe upon Him you shall have. eternal life. And this theme runs throughout not only this chapter, but the whole of the fourth gospel and the teaching of our Lord, as we've seen over and over again, emphasizes these points. However, as we've progressed through this passage, we've seen how the metaphors as the bread and the metaphor, the bread of heaven and the metaphor of, of hunger or to hunger for that bread is much, much more profound than what the superficial understanding of his audience were able to grasp. Because as we know, they're still hung up on the material bread.

They've been following Jesus, especially since the miracle of multiplication only a day earlier in hope that he'll be able to supply them with their daily fill. But they're thinking bread for the stomach, they wanna fill their stomachs. That's what they desire, food. But as our Lord's teaching on this day progressed, and the explanations deepen and deepen. For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, they were beginning to discern that this bread on offer is infinitely more valuable than all the Mediterranean flatbread in the world.

Because what is on offer? with Christ, with this true bread from heaven, is the gift of eternal life. But as Jesus' teaching becomes clearer and clearer, you would have thought that the Galileans and now the Jews would have grown in their understanding. But the reverse is true. They're no closer to discerning the truth now than when our Lord began this discourse.

And now, as we'll see in our passage this evening, their emotions are starting to surface. Frustration is setting in, and before long, they'll begin to argue among each other, verse 52. This, beloved, is because the things Jesus speaks of are offensive to the flesh. He speaks spiritual words that can only be discerned spiritually and his audience are yet blind in their sins to see the glories of what is being taught by our Savior. So what has been taught?

Well, it's summarized, I think. really well in verse 37 and in fact the rest of the passage is an explanation of this verse and verse 37 reads all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me i will never cast out the father has chosen a people a love gift for his son and in real time those people will come to the son and the son will preserve and guard them till the end that's what we learned previous weeks So what we saw in previous weeks is how the will of God is worked out from both the divine perspective and then from the human perspective. We see in this text the jewel truths of divine and human responsibility that we Christians must hold. We may not understand them fully, but the Bible teaches these truths and therefore as Christians, as believers, as those who trust that this is the inerrant word of God that we hold those truths simultaneously. Brothers and sisters, the bottom line is this.

We are not responsible for what God does, but we will give an account for what we do. So although yes, the father has chosen a people and yes, he will make sure that these people will come to his son. And yes, the son's purpose is to obey the father's will and lose nothing of all who come to him and raise them up on the last day. That is all true, but his divine work does not take away man's responsibility because also true is that he summons all people everywhere to repent and believe in his son. for eternal life see this is clear here and this is clear throughout scripture 1st John 3 23 and this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ Now, some might say, hold on, that's written to the Christians, isn't it?

Well, then we'll take you to the words of the Apostle Paul to answer that question. When he speaks to the Athenians in Acts chapter 17, he'll answer that question. And there he says, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. He commands all people everywhere to repent. So the summons is to repent and believe in Jesus.

And that brings us that brings us to the verses by God's grace that we will be considering this evening to verse 48. And we'll be starting with verse 41. And that reads, so the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. Now, this is the first time in this chapter that John mentions the Jews. Previously, he mentions the crowd and he also mentions people, but now is the first time he mentions the Jews.

Now I've mentioned on occasion as we've been studying through this, this fourth gospel that John's use of the designation Jew is normally reserved for the religious establishment, you know, the Pharisees and the scribes and the Sadducees from down south in Judea. some of their number could have traveled up north to Galilee at this time but it seems that that these Jews were actually locals and I say that because they had an awareness of Jesus's family. Now it's true that Jesus's family were residents of Nazareth also in Galilee but about 30 kilometers to the southwest of Capernaum where they are here right now. But according to the synoptic gospels, the whole family, that's Christ and his whole family made the move to Capernaum sometime in the last two years. So it's most likely that these men referred to as Jews were the leaders of the synagogue of Capernaum.

And as such, it would be fair to say that they held the same ideologies and the same religious beliefs as their counterparts down in the South, in Jerusalem. This is probably why John refers to them as the Jews now having said that we don't know if these Jews in particular those who Jesus is speaking to were on the eastern side of the sea only a day earlier to witness the massive miracle of our Lord we're not sure but irrespective of that we know for sure that in the audience in within an earshot of the the following conversation we will have at least a portion of the crowd who were and they'd followed him over this morning and they all would be aware that their religious leaders, these Jews, were not happy with Jesus. He was saying things that they just did not agree with. And so they began to do what the natural man does when he's not happy. They began to grumble.

They began to murmur among themselves in discontent. Who does this Jesus think he is? You know, one cannot escape the idea that the people of Israel in the wilderness are meant to come to our minds, not only because Moses is mentioned on more than one occasion in chapter six, but the word translated grumble. It's translated grumble and it's used three times in chapter 6 in 41, 43, and 61. It's the same root word in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the grumblings of the people of Israel in the wilderness.

And the reason for murmuring back then in the desert wastelands is exactly the same as the reason the grumbling is happening today here in the synagogue at Capernaum. It's because of unbelief, beloved, a heart that does not trust in God. And even the context is strikingly similar between the two occasions. You see, 1500 years earlier, Israel was complaining from a lack of bread. They were hungry.

Listen, listen to what Exodus chapter 16 from verse two and three say. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses. and Aaron in the wilderness and the people of Israel said to them would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger grumbling murmuring it's incredible is it not all the supernatural miracles they'd witnessed by the mighty hand of God to be freed from the bondage of the land in the land of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the bitter undrinkable water in the place called Mara, which was turned sweet for their consumption. And now, and now after witnessing all these miraculous fates, now when they get a little hungry, they grumble against God in this way. Of course, we know the story.

God hears their grumblings and graciously provides them with manna from heaven, not only to satisfy their hunger that day, but for the entire 40-year duration of their desert wanderings. But is that all it takes? Is a false stomach the solution to bring about the end to their grumblings? Will this manner satisfy their heart and cause them to trust God and quit murmuring? Beloved, even if you don't know the specifics of this story, and I'm sure most of us do, we can all answer that question.

Not because we think ill of the people of Israel, that's not it. but because we all know how fickle and weak we are by nature. We know that even if given the best of food for our bellies, it's only a matter of time before we begin to complain. We need something more filling, more satisfying. We need something that will quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger of our souls.

And the solution is not better food, beloved. And it's not different type of food for the belly. That's not the solution. Back to the Israelites in the wilderness, they were satisfied for a time. But in time, they grumbled more.

They grumbled again. Listen to what Numbers 11 verse 4 and 6 tell us. Now a period of time has lapsed. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, oh, that we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing.

The cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and hear this, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. The manna The manner that was a gracious provision by God is now despised in their eyes. So beloved here in John chapter six, it is a different time and it is a different context. but is the same root attitude.

It is one of discontent rooted in unbelief. This Jesus has already told the crowd, I am the bread of life. He's already told them, I am the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But just like their fathers before them, they were not satisfied with God's provision.

Their hearts were set on something else. They hungered and thirsted for something else. And for these Jews, they were grumbling among themselves. They too could not bring themselves to believe the words of our Lord. That Jesus is indeed the provision of God from heaven.

to satisfy their souls. They couldn't believe that if one did in fact believe upon him, then that would receive the gift of eternal life. But instead they took offense. They took offense to what our Lord was saying. And this is their offense, verse 42.

They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, how does he now say, I have come down from heaven? Jesus, we know of your father, Joseph, we know of your mother, we know your family, and we've seen you among us, Jesus. who do you think we are to say that your origin is from heaven do you really think Jesus that you're able to pull the wall over our eyes in this way to even suggest that you have this sort of nobility to claim that you were in heaven with God well it's just offensive Jesus that's that's their thinking You see, when we read this narrative, however, if you feel like me, you may feel like you can't go too hard on these Jews. Oh yes, on other occasions, we can come down pretty hard on these religious leaders, the religious leaders of the day because of their hypocrisy. It's easy to do that when you see their cruelty and their pride, their loveless treatment of the people that were meant or entrusted to care for.

Our Lord was also quite hard on them on multiple occasions. Just read Matthew 23 and you'll know what I'm talking about. But here, here in John chapter 6, you can sort of see their point, can't you? This man, Jesus, who looks no different to anyone else in the first century. He looked like a regular Middle Eastern man.

We know that. I mean, Isaiah 53 tells us this. He had no pomp. He had no splendor that attracted anyone to him. And yet now, before the Jews and this crowd in the synagogue at Capernaum, he claims to have his origin in heaven, the very heaven that is God's dwelling place.

And now he's calling God his own father and declaring heaven to be his home. Basically, Jesus, what you're doing is you're claiming to be equal with God. Now in their eyes, in the Jews eyes, this is not only blasphemous, but simply not true. We have proof that you are from the earth, Jesus, because we know your earthly family. You can sort of see their point, can't you?

At least to some degree. So how does our Lord respond in this situation? Well, his response is perfect. I love what he says, verse 43. And Jesus answered them, do not grumble among yourselves.

Quit your murmuring. Stop babbling amongst yourself. That's not gonna help you in the slightest. You see, Jesus knows, of course, when these lofty claims that he has made, when they're trying to be analyzed by man in and of himself with their own sinful senses, his own sinful intellect and own reasoning, they won't make any sense to the natural man. metal man's confined to the, his mind is confined to the material world.

But Jesus's claims will sound out of this world. Beloved, it's because they are exactly that. They are out of this world. because that's the case. Jesus doesn't even try to convince them or persuade them of his words with the power of persuasion to believe that he is indeed one who has come down from heaven.

This will only produce more grumbling and more murmuring from an unbelieving heart. If the massive miracle he performed only the day earlier didn't convince the crowd or cause them to believe, then one can safely conclude that it is not possible for any man in and of himself to come to believe in this Jesus, no matter how intelligent he is, no matter how powerful his reason is, no matter how sincere he is. In and of himself, the natural man is unparalleled. able to believe these truths. This, beloved, is called man's inability.

That's why it's offensive. Mankind doesn't want to hear that. They don't want to hear that they're unable to do something. But this is exactly the point Jesus is making. He's saying that man in and of himself, in all his strength, in all his reason, in all his intellect, is able to believe.

So Jesus knowing that if he's going to further reason and to appeal to their material mind without divine intervention, it will be a fruitless act. In fact, an unbelieving heart that is a heart that has not yet been stripped of all self-righteousness. will only produce more sin as was example for us in the people of Israel in the desert wanderings. So now our Lord in verse 44, a verse that we've already addressed to some degree in earlier sermons, he makes it clear that man in and of himself cannot believe these truths that Christ is speaking. That's to say in order to believe he is the true bread from heaven, the fountain of life, it would require the father's involvement.

Verse 44, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. If you remember back in verse 34, you'd remember it speaks of man's involvement in salvation in the positive sense. All that the father gives me will come to me. So the father gives and they will come. That's what's spoken.

If the father is giving a person to the son, that person will definitely come. But in verse 44, it's stated in the negative. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. Now in previous weeks, as I said earlier, we've addressed to some degree this verse, which very much teaches of the inability of man to bring himself to the point of believing Christ in and of himself to be saved. And the divine work of God is absolutely necessary from start to finish.

We've spoken about this in previous weeks. But before we move on from this verse, I really want us to spend a few moments understanding what it means to be drawn by the father. What it means to be drawn by the father as he stated in verse 44. You see, you think that by reading this, it would be straightforward and clear. It sounds like once we read it, this is an indisputable truth.

But unfortunately, just like the doctrine of election, which has much opposition, this one, this verse here, verse 44, a doctrine that speaks to man's inability is one that is also heavily disputed amongst many Christians. Now, It is in this verse that we will learn some incredibly profound truths about salvation and how it is accomplished. Now, at this point, you might say, but you know, brother, most Christians would certainly agree that God has to act in salvation. And I would say, yes, they do. That's not what's disputed.

Of course it is God who acts in salvation, but the dispute happens when some Christians disagree on what exactly he does in bringing forth salvation. At the heart of the difference is the question, is God's involvement in salvation solely a divine effectual work of God? or does he create potential for one to turn from their sins and be saved? In other words, does God work alone to invade the darkness of the inner man whereby he internally overpowers and overcomes the rebellious sinful nature, breathing spiritual life where there is only death, then bringing him or her to Christ and in doing so, guaranteeing the salvation of man or Is it a concerted effort of God with men? Both wills necessary where the Spirit gives sinners just enough grace to remove some of the spiritual blindness in order to enable that person to make a choice.

A choice to either acknowledge sins and pursue Jesus as Savior or to choose to resist the Holy Spirit and remain in darkness. They're the two points. They're the two points of dispution. However, if I simplify it even further, I could say, is salvation entirely an effectual work of God alone? Or is it a concerted effort between God and the will of man?

Now many, I want to say this, many of our dear brothers and sisters throughout the world believe salvation to be a concerted effort. It's called prevenient grace. But beloved brothers and sisters, you know our stance on the subject. As we've taught on many occasions, and I've taught here in John chapter six, we believe the Bible is clear. Sinners are dead in their trespasses and sins.

Dead people cannot respond to the gospel of Christ. If I were to preach at a cemetery, I can guarantee none of the buried will respond to the gospel call. Furthermore, the Bible is clear that the natural man has no, zero desire for God. Even when exposed to the light on his own, he will always, beloved, always run back into the darkness. Why?

Because in John chapter three, our Lord says he loves, he loves his sin. Beloved, that's the default of a natural man. And he is in chains to that default. But one of the clearest verses in scripture that speaks to this truth that salvation is entirely and solely a work of God is indeed before us here this evening verse 44 because here I believe the scripture speaks of the drawing of the father to the son to be undeniably effectual The chain in John chapter six is unbroken. If the father chooses to draw a person to the son, that person will believe upon the son and will be saved.

There is a one to one correlation. The percentage is 100%. In other words, everyone, everyone, every single person he draws will be saved. And that's the word and the word draw Beloved is not a gentle nudge in the right direction. Some have tried to interpret it in that sense.

But there's no escaping that this word connotes an overpowering, irresistible pulling or dragging. So in our common English vocabulary, we may not see the force of this word, but we can get a clearer idea of its intended meaning if we consider how this word, draw, is being used in the rest of scripture. So you see the root word is found eight times, only eight times in the New Testament. So let's consider the examples, some examples where it's being used and we'll consider the context of how it's being used in order to give us a purer understanding of verse 44. Let's start with Acts chapter 16.

Acts chapter 16, the apostle Paul and Silas have freed a young slave girl in Philippi from possession of an evil spirit. However, as I said, she was a slave. And now her owners became outraged because they were making great wealth through her fortune telling. But now that she's become clean, that income is gone. So let's listen to what the text says in Acts chapter 16, verse 19, to see this word draw.

But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them, that's the word draw, dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And of course they were flogged and thrown in prison. Another example is in Acts chapter 19 in Jerusalem, the Jews presumed that the Apostle Paul had come back from his missionary journey and he had taken a Gentile into the temple. Of course, if that was the case, then the religious leaders would be red hot with anger because Gentiles aren't allowed into the inner places of the temple. And so with intent to kill the apostle Paul, we're told in verse 30 of Acts chapter 21, my apologies, then all the city was stirred up and the people ran together.

They seized Paul and dragged him out. That's the same word, drew, dragged him out of the temple. And at once the gates were shut. You see, brothers and sisters, in both of those instances, Paul was seized and dragged to a place he did not desire to go. And it wasn't a gentle nudge, and he wasn't given a choice.

It was a forceful overpowering. One more example I'll give you in the gospel according to John. We need to give you an example from the author himself, the apostle John. When the disciples here in chapter 21 were unsuccessful after a night of fishing, they approached the shore at daybreak. And you may remember there was the risen Lord on the shore and he calls out to them and instructs them to cast out the net on the right side of the boat.

Of course they do and they catch a lot of fish. But the word, the same author of the text here in verse 44 is using The apostle John, the word he uses to describe Peter's action of dragging this full net, the net which is full of fish to shore is the same root word that we have in verse 44. You see, he's forcefully dragging that net of fish, forcefully bringing it to shore. Those fish don't have a choice. They're in that net and they're coming.

To show beloved the work of the father by the spirit that he does in drawing a sinner to Christ is powerful and it's effectual. You know, they may resist at first in the early stages. And we may know that it's not the first time we heard the gospel that maybe we were saved. But beloved, like Paul, Silas, all those fish in the net, when God decides to save a rebel lawbreaker, he powerfully and against the sinful nature of that person, he brings them to Christ. Now this is because the fallen man is totally corrupted by sin.

He has zero interest in Jesus. We've said that before. He has no concern for God. His only concern in his sinful nature is to please himself. Therefore, the natural man will continually resist and reject God.

But God's work in salvation is effectual. This means he gets the desired result guaranteed. And he does this by invading the soul of a man, overpowering the sinful desires of the flesh. Every single one of those chosen for his son, he does this and he drags them to come to his son. That's what the text is saying.

But you may be thinking right now, brothers and sisters, You may be thinking there's gotta be more to the story. This can't be the whole story. I mean, if you remember the day the Lord saved you, I would hazard a guess that you don't recall being dragged to Christ. It's probably the opposite. You ran to him.

You threw yourselves at his feet for mercy. You clung to him with all your strength because you were convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Jesus is the only one who can wash away your sins. So how does the memory of your experience and beloved mine also harmonize with what Jesus is saying here? Well, there is more to the story. And I believe as we continue and consider verse 45, I think it'll all sink in and make sense of our own salvation experiences.

So now, Jesus intentionally takes these Jews to the scripture, as he always does. Basically saying to them, quit your murmuring and now allow the word of God, the word of God. Not your pride, not what or how you interpret it, but let the word of God itself interpret whether what I'm saying is true or not. And then he reads or says what we have in verse 45. It is written in the prophets and they will all be taught by God.

Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Now, do you see what Jesus is doing in this verse? Can you see what he's doing in verse 45? If not, I want you to look at the verses before you and try to compare the statements in verse 44 and 45 to see what our Lord is saying. You see, in verse 44, he's just declared, the only people that can come to him are those the Father draws to him.

The drawn ones are the ones that come. Now in verse 45, he says that the ones that come to him are everyone who have heard and learned from the father. Or as it said in the beginning of the verse, those who are taught by God are the ones who come to Christ. Brenton Burchmore, Ph.D.

: : Did you see the parallels between the two verses in both versus 44 and 45 we see the same purpose for the people, and that is to come, ultimately, that they would come to Christ. Brenton Burchmore, Ph.D.: : And the means or the way they come to Christ, although may seem dissimilar in our text. drawn by the Father on the one hand in 44 and taught by the Father on the other in 45, we need to recognize that one is descriptive of the other.

In other words, the way the Father draws people to Christ is by teaching their souls about Christ. It's to bring illumination to their hearts of the truth of His Word and its fulfillment in His Son. Now that truth that Jesus is conveying is found in a in a number of places in the Old Testament. After all, he's mentioning the prophets. So he's referring to an Old Testament passage and I believe his reference is Isaiah chapter 54 verse 13.

text that is spoken to the people of Israel and reads all your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children. You see Jesus takes here a promise foretold for the restored city of Israel as with many Old Testament passages the historical setting is but an anti-type the greater reality to come, a dual meaning, if you wish, a greater fulfillment to come in the messianic kingdom. And it may have been quoted by our Lord so that these Jews would remember the promises made in scripture of the coming salvation. No doubt, no doubt, two of the clearest prophecies of this truth are found in Ezekiel chapter 36 and Jeremiah chapter 31. And I'm sure your minds are lighting up because I'm sure many of us know these passages.

Because in Ezekiel chapter 36, we're told that a day will come when the heart of the natural man, the heart of stone will be replaced. And in its place, God God himself will place a heart of flesh. And in Jeremiah 31, it speaks of the new covenant being established, and God will teach his people by writing his perfect law upon the hearts of flesh. Let's open our Bibles together. Let's go there.

Let's open our Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 31, and we'll be reading from verse 31 through 34. So that's Jeremiah chapter 31. Let's read from verse 31. through 34. Beginning from verse 31, that's Jeremiah chapter 31, beginning from verse 31.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant they broke though I was a husband or their husband declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sin no more. You see, brothers and sisters, how the father draws his people to Christ. Firstly, with regeneration, a forceful removal of the dead stony heart, a dead heart, which is against the will of God.

It's the sinful will and a new heart is replaced with a new teachable heart of flesh. That's called to be born again, regenerated. now alive with eyes to see and ears to hear. He teaches them by writing his law on their hearts, thereby making the person aware of his own sin and his desperate need for repentance. He empowers them to abandon self-righteousness, to recognize their desperate need of a Savior, and to come empty, without any self-righteousness, to the only Savior, the Bread of Heaven, Jesus Christ.

The sinner who's being taught by God is taught to believe in the words of the Son of God, for He is true. The sinner is drawn to Christ by his spirit. And now he's wholeheartedly embraces Jesus and believes upon him for salvation and eternal life. This Jesus who was once abhorrent in his eyes, his name and his words were purely offensive to his nature. Whenever he heard of him, he would repel from him.

He would withdraw back into darkness. But now, but now because of the father's drawing power, this internal forceful drawing power, the resisting stops, the gospel, the gospel that they may have heard over and over and over again is now wonderful to their ears. And the claims of Christ are now believed 100% to be true. Jesus becomes all beautiful, all glorious. The only bread that truly satisfies the hungry soul.

And now, as those taught by the Father through the Spirit, we are able to confess this Jesus as Lord. As we're reminded in Scripture, no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 12.3. Beloved, the heart is changed.

The mind is turned, the will renewed, no more to prefer darkness, but now one freely and willingly chooses the light. Beloved, this is beyond the material or the intellectual. This is why Jesus didn't continue to reason with these grumbling Jews, because this is a complete spiritual renovation. All in all, it is empowered by God Himself from start to finish. You see, what we experience in our own limited understanding in our experience of our salvation is better explained, beloved, in the Word of God.

Because a supernatural internal spiritual work had to have taken place. It was an invasion of our sinful rebellious nature and overpowering of our wicked desires in order to give us life and faith in Jesus Christ. It may have seemed like we figured it out at the time, but beloved, it was purely a divine work. We may have heard the gospel. We may have read the scripture, but It was the Father through the Spirit who taught us the truths concerning His Son.

And it was Him who taught us to believe. Brothers and sisters, there is no other way to say it other than in the words of Jonah, salvation belongs to the Lord. To Him be all the glory. And now Jesus is telling these Jews that stand before Him, They don't believe because they have not been taught by the Father. For if they had been taught, they would believe in His Son and place their trust in Him.

Yes, they would even believe that He is from heaven, despite knowing full well of His earthly family. Beloved, this salvation is worked out exactly the same for all. There is no exceptions. because we're all fallen sinners in a natural state, rebels against God. We have a beautiful example of how this plays out in the scripture.

An example of how being taught by the Father brings forth salvation, and it is in the disciple Peter. In Matthew chapter 16, in a place called Caesarea Philippi, about 40 kilometers north of where they are now in Capernaum, Jesus asks the 12, you may remember this passage, who people say I am. And their response, that's the 12. Some say you're John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah and others yet say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

But he said to them, but who do you say I am? And then of course, Simon Peter, replies, and he replies with these words, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, and I want you to take note of what Jesus says, blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. Peter was taught by God. Peter was familiar with the scripture, he knew the prophecies, he'd heard the teachings of our Lord, but all of that would have been superficial head knowledge at best if he had was not internally taught by the Father.

We know this for sure because Judas, the one who betrayed Christ, had been apprised to all that Peter was apprised to. He heard the teachings of Christ. He heard Jesus speak the gospel multiple times, but he was not taught by the Father. This is how God reveals the truth of the gospel. It's heard with ears, but it's taught to the heart.

by God. And on that note, Jesus says in verse 46, everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Now 46, not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from God, he has seen the father. You know, I think these were piercing words to the Jews, if they understood them. You see they denied Jesus already.

They rejected the claim that he makes that he's from heaven. They've rejected his testimony that he is indeed the bread of life. But the basis of their denial of Jesus is that they are the people of God. They have the scripture and they understood it so they thought. They figured out what the Messiah would look like.

And when he comes, they believe that surely we would be able to identify him. That's why they were grumbling, because this Jesus did not stack up to the Messiah that they had been looking for. He was standing right in front of them. And they didn't recognize him. They didn't recognize his teachings.

Furthermore, this Messiah is attacking the very essence of their religiosity. He had just declared that if they were indeed taught by God, as they presumed they were, they would have come to Him. But by virtue of the fact they didn't come, the evidence that they were not taught, that was evidence that they were not taught by God. You see, the evidence itself, it proves they were not God's people. And there's no one better to make that assessment than Christ, who knows the Father like no one else.

no one can explain the father like the son explains the father because it's the son alone who has seen the father that's what that verse tells us in 46 and he's perfectly consistent with what we've already read in the gospel according to john in the first chapter in the prologue in verse 18 where john tells us no one has ever seen god the only god who is at the father's side he has made him known You see, Christ is the only one qualified to reveal the Father and to mediate the knowledge of God to man. The very things the Father teaches in drawing His people unto Christ is known in full by Christ, who makes His Father known. In other words, the Father draws people unto Christ by teaching them to believe the words of Christ, because they are His own words. Christ has seen the Father and He explains Him to mankind. You see, if these Jews have rejected Christ, They have rejected the one who reveals the God they so prided themselves of knowing.

Because as Jesus will go on to declare in a few chapters, no one comes to the father except through me. In other words, reject me and you reject the father. There's a perfect union here between father and son. There's a reciprocating work between father and son. The father draws people unto the son.

We saw that in verse 44. And in turn, the son draws people unto the father. And as the revealer of the Father, the one who knows the truth of the Father, Jesus goes on to declare with emphatic truth, in an emphatic truth statement, as he speaks on behalf of God, on behalf of his Father, as God in flesh, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. Well, verse 47, the question is, believes what? Verse 48, I am the bread.

of life. Beloved, brothers and sisters, this is the essence of the whole discourse. Jesus is the bread of life. And if you believe upon him, you have eternal life. This is a also an indictment to these Jews, because they've already rejected Jesus.

And his words, if understood properly, are really piercing to these Jews. Because Jesus is basically saying, don't think for a moment if you reject me that you're okay with the Father. I reveal Him. My work is to do His will. We are united.

We work in concert. He draws people to me and I to Him. and the chain of redemption that begins with Him, that's the Father, choosing a people is unbroken to the end. And now if you refuse to believe what I say, then you're proving yourself to honor God with your lips, but your heart are far from Him, for you do not know Him. For the Father is known through the Son, and the Son is known through the Father.

And so if you do not believe that I am the bread of life come down from heaven you don't know the Father and you do not have life. These are chilling truths not only to the Jews but for every one of us. Because if there is any who is not in Christ, if there are any who have not believed upon him, these words are for you just as much as they are for these Jews. I'll end with this. In this chapter so far, we've been taught the links of the chain of redemption.

And we are taught if we are anywhere on that chain, beloved, then we will experience every part of it. And from a human perspective, we must begin by asking a question because we've seen some profound transcendent truths in this section of the gospel. In the sixth chapter, we've seen things from the mind of God that have been revealed through Jesus Christ. But when we look at it from a human perspective, from our own perspective, then we need to ask ourselves this question. Do I believe?

Do I believe Jesus as the bread of heaven? The one who died on that cross as a substitute on my behalf? Am I believing in him and in him alone for the forgiveness of my sins and the salvation of my soul? Do I believe all he claims to be? Do I believe his words?

Do I believe? You see, that's the only question we can ask from our perspective. And that's why Jesus keeps coming back to the point of believing upon him. But it's no coincidence. The word believe is found nine times in this chapter alone.

It is the essence of what Jesus is saying. Believe on me. I've given you some transcendent truths. I've told you how it works from the mind of the father. I've told you how it works from eternity past when the elect are chosen by the Father and how He draws them spiritual truths that you and I can never ever understand on our own.

I've told you all these things, but it's up to you to believe. And that's why Jesus keeps coming back and says, believe. He's described the divine work of salvation, but He always returns to the command, believe. So if the answer is like the Jews, no, no, I haven't believed in Jesus in this way, then one remains under the judgment of God. And that's a scary place to be.

What must one do if he answers this way? Well, beloved, it's the same thing I said last week and the week before. you throw yourself at the feet of Christ and you cling to Him and you believe upon Him. You believe upon Him, you come to Him for the mercy that He can give and you believe that He's able to wash away the filth of your sins and the wickedness and trust in Him, cast yourselves on Him. But the beauty of this passage, as I said earlier, is if you do answer yes.

If you answer, yes, I do believe. I have come to believe in Jesus in this way. Then rejoice, because every link of that chain is guaranteed, either ready or will come to pass. Because every part of our salvation, beloved, is affected by the mighty hand of God. That is to say, if you have truly believed, you have eternal life.

God has chosen you, God has called you, he's drawn you, he's taught you, and he continues to preserve you, never to lose you, and one day to raise you up on that last day. This is the good news of the gospel. How glorious is it to hear the words of our Lord. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

And to be able to say wholeheartedly, Jesus, I believe. Let's pray.