How Do We Come to Jesus? John 6:35-44

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” 41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Jesus begins with an incredible statement about himself. He says, "I am the bread of life". Given the previous statements about the bread which has come down from heaven, it is unmistakeably clear that Jesus is equating himself with God. This the first of the "I am" sayings in the gospel of John. The Greek words for this phrase "ego eimi", are the same words in Hebrew "I am", which is the name God gave for himself to Moses  Importantly, as the disciples feed on him as the bread of life, their ultimate needs will be met including eternal life. 

“Faith in Christ is simply and truly described as coming to him. It is not an acrobatic feat; it is simply a coming to Christ. It is not an exercise of profound mental faculties; it is coming to Christ. A child comes to his mother, a blind man comes to his home, even an animal comes to his master. Coming is a very simple action indeed; it seems to have only two things about it, one is, to come away from something, and the other is, to come to something.” (Spurgeon)

Though Jesus makes this statement about himself, he realizes that some will not accept his statement. Then, he teaches them something very important. In order for his disciples to come to him, the Father must FIRST give them to him.  God the Father is the one who sent Jesus to earth to find us, and He sends us to find him. Because we are given by the Father to the Son, we cannot be taken from Jesus. This is a good argument for "once saved always saved."  If God has the power to bring us TO Jesus, He has the power to keep us IN Jesus. 

As the Jews began to realize exactly what Jesus was saying, they begin to grumble. Their expectation of the Messiah is that he would descend to earth from the clouds in dramatic fashion, not in a humble birth in a manger.

 "Six times in this immediate context Jesus says that he ‘came down from heaven’ (6:33, 38, 41, 50, 51, 58). His claim to heavenly origin is unmistakable.” (Tenney)

Jesus was not surprised that they were grumbling amongst themselves. The natural man cannot see the supernatural nature of Christ.  In their natural state, Jesus was just a man born of Joseph and Mary. So once again the only way the natural man can have supernatural understanding is the work of God, who draws us to Jesus.  

Although we may feel like we made a decision for Christ, God first chose us. It is important to remember this, lest we get to priderful about our own role leading to our salvation. As Paul says, "It is by grace alone that we are saved, not by works lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8

Though you may know that Jesus is the Bread of life intellectually, do you live as if he is? Do you find your nourishment and satisfaction in him alone, or in the things of this world?  Where do you look to the world to satisfy your needs before turning to Jesus to meet those needs? How does the fact that God drew you to Jesus before you could do anything change the way you look at your salvation?