The Drawing

 

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall 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 the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”


Every once in a while, a lover of Scripture will come across a verse or a passage that sets their head spinning because it seems very controversial. We find one such verse in today’s reading. Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me.” Which could mean two things. One, that God draws everyone but only a few come, which means that it is us who decide who is saved. Two, that God draws a few because all don’t come, which means that it is God who is the decider. So, which is it?


Verses that make the head spin don’t make for easy understanding, but I am going to try my best to make this simple. In any case, you might have to watch this (or read this) a few times to get clarity. I might take a paragraph or two more than usual to explain this because I don’t think I can do it in five. Besides, two paragraphs are already over!  Let’s look at context first. 


The Jew are getting increasingly hostile towards Jesus, and there is growing resistance to his teachings. He is telling them that he is from heaven, but to their eyes he is from earth. “Isn’t he Jesus, the carpenter’s son,” they ask. “Then what is he doing saying God is his father? He makes himself equal to God by saying that.” And the more they grumble, the firmer Jesus becomes about who he is and why he is here. “Only those who believe in me will have eternal life,” he says. “But no one can come to me unless drawn by the Father.”


Let us look at the other times he has said something similar. One: “All those the Father gives me will come to me” (John 6:37). Two, and this is very revealing: “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet 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 has enabled them.” (John 6:63-65).


Three: “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God” (John 8:47).  Four: “You do not believe because you are not my sheep” (John 10:26). When you look at this in the light of the previous verses, this becomes clear. Five, and this is also very revealing: Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts” (see John 12:37-40). 


So, it is clear that if we come to Jesus it is God who draws us. And if we don’t come, it is because God has allowed us to remain in rebellion. Doesn’t this negate free will? Doesn’t it imply we don’t have a choice? Did the Jews have a choice? They most certainly did. If they had any sense at all, after listening to Jesus they could have chosen to believe him and appealed to the Father to change their hearts and draw them to salvation. 


We also have the same choice.


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