A Study of John's Gospel. Pt. 33 Don't Dismiss the Claims of Jesus Christ.

Good morning to each of you.

As we are discovering, John has given us a very detailed record of the last 6 months of Jesus' earthly ministry. We studied about Jesus feeding the 5,000 and then we began to look at Jesus as the true bread of heaven. 

The Jews did not see the feeding of the 5,000 as the awesome miracle that it was. Instead, they related to Christ in physical, material terms. In other words, they missed a mighty work of Christ that showed without a doubt He was the Son of God.

Jesus is the bread of life.

John 6:35-40  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  

Jesus made it clear that believing on Him meant never hungering or thirsting again. He was clearly targeting their hearts and spiritual realities. When we are born again we will never be hungering and thirsting for all the things that the culture is constantly chasing after. All life's experiences and pleasures this world offers are temporary. 

Endless pursuit of these physical things will still keep us longing for something more.  We who have been born again know the only thing that will truly satisfy the human heart is to

 have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Only through hearing the gospel of Christ, turning to Him in repentant faith and being born again can we address that real emptiness in our soul. He is the bread of life and Jesus alone can satisfy the longing in our heart.

Unbelief due to being spiritually dead. 

John 6:36  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 

Jesus confronted their unbelief by reminding them that they had seen Him feed the 5,000 and they did not believe. Now, that statement that they "believe not" should have been a spiritual wake up call for the Jews. 

Jesus said they were not coming because they heeded not the Father's calling through His Son's ministry. Jesus' words should have caused the Jews to seriously reflect upon their spiritual condition but instead, they became increasingly hostile to Jesus. 

Christ will accept every soul that the Father gives Him.

John 6:37  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

However, all those souls that the Father gave to His Son will come to Christ. All those who do come to Jesus will be accepted. The Apostle Paul addressed this same issue with the Ephesians and reading that text may provide a complimentary view of what Christ was teaching. 

Ephesians 1:5-6  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Paul speaks of those whom the Father gave and is still giving to His Son, Jesus Christ. God's foreknowledge of knowing the beginning and ending of all things is on display. If you are born again, the Father foreknew in eternity past that you would one day hear the gospel of Christ and respond by faith. He did not interfere with your will to accept or reject Christ, but when a decision was reached, the Father predestined you for salvation. 

All the born again became adopted children of God by the good pleasure of God's will. The same moment of our salvation our Father in heaven made us permanently acceptable to Him in Christ. 

Christ came down from heaven because He is the Son of God.

John 6:38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 

Who is Jesus Christ? This text tells us that Jesus came down from heaven, and thus affirms His deity. He came as the only begotten, obedient Son of God to die as the perfect Lamb of God so that all who believe on Him can be born again. He came expressly to do His Father's will to complete the plan of redemption put in motion before the world was created, as we have noted many times (1 Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8).

What is the Father's will? The Father's will is for people to be born again through Christ alone. 

John 6:39-40  39  And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Jesus is going to safely keep each precious soul delivered to Him by His Father. He will raise them up at the time of the first resurrection and all the saints in the graves will hear the voice of Jesus calling them to arise to eternal life with Him (John 5:19-29)!

John 6:41-42  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42  And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 

The Jews were religious but unbelieving in the sense that they consistently rejected the claims of Christ and ultimately, they helped crucify Him (John 1:14). They began to murmur among themselves, complaining about the teaching of Jesus. 

First, they did not like Jesus telling them the truth that they needed to hear and respond to, namely that He was the bread of life. 

Luke 3:23  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Second, they rejected His claim to be One with His Father because they thought that they knew Joseph and Mary His parents. Therefore, they reasoned, how could Jesus have come down from heaven? 

Yet, the genealogy of Jesus Christ as recorded by Luke's gospel includes the note that the Jewish people supposed Jesus to be the son of Joseph. Luke also gave us the most detailed account of Jesus' miraculous birth so that we can read and understand that Christ was virgin born as Isaiah prophesied. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Have you read the miracles of Jesus and dismissed them as myths or fables? Then you are in danger of seeing Jesus as the Jews of that time did. They rejected the claims of Christ due to their unbelief. 

Did you see the comfort and assurance that every person who believes on Jesus regardless of race, status, education, ethnicity or vocation, will be born again and adopted as a child of God? It is time to stop searching for some new thing or experience to bring you satisfaction. True peace and happiness comes when you are rightly related to God through the new birth.

Did you see the deity of Christ on display in these texts? He is the One who came down from heaven to bring mankind the gift of eternal life to all who will believe.

Can you see why Jesus could do for us what is impossible for us to do, namely live according to God's perfect standard of holiness? Each time Christ claimed He came to do His Father's will is a declaration that He would always obey God's law and die in our place as an innocent substitute, God's perfect Lamb. All who believe on the resurrected, ascended Son of God will be born again and heirs of eternal life. 

This section ended with the grumbling and complaining of unbelief. John's gospel was written so that we might see Jesus Christ, the glorious Son of God for who He truly is, and that we might believe. I hope that you are a born again believer in Christ enjoying a new life with a new purpose of loving God and loving others.

Bob