John 6:36 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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John 6:36

Comments

Why did they not come? Many of them did later on, but still probably only a minority. Why did so many of them never believe in him? They saw his miracles; they heard his words and his glorious promises; they saw his character, his deportment, his lack of interest in riches, in money, in himself, his passion for people, their healing, their salvation. They saw these things, but they did not understand. They were unmoved and, for many of them, their hearts remained hard. They even became bitterly against him, cried out for his execution, hostile, resistant. ‘I do not want to hear anything about my need of forgiveness, my need of new life, my rejection by God unless I repent and trust in Christ. I do not want to hear any more about a new life and eternal life. I believe I am worthy, I am fit as I am.’There is a determination in every human heart to resist God, to be completely self-master: my own life, my own way, the things I want, the people I want, the things I want to do and have and possess. I do not want the standards of God, the direction of God, the leading of God. I do not want this God to rule over me. That is in every heart. There is hostility and resistance and our minds will not be changed. Not even if Christ is present on earth, not even if there are mighty demonstrations of the miraculous and of power. But for the mercy of God every single person ever born would reject Christ and be eternally lost, so set against him are we. How then are people saved? In his amazing mercy, God is determined that a vast host which no man can number shall be saved, in spite of their resistance and indifference to God. In eternity past, by what we call the divine decree, he has given to the Son a vast number of people whose own iron wills and resistance would be overwhelmed by the mercy of God, and their hearts melted down, and they would be made willing to receive him. And they would be able to see their great need of him, and would long for his mercy and forgiveness, and they would be persuaded and turn to him. We can only imagine, how the Father must surely have veiled his face in great, immeasurable grief, as he put upon Christ the Son the eternal punishment that should have been borne by all who would be saved.

Application

If your heart is moved by the Gospel of Christ, by what Christ did in suffering and dying on Calvary’s cross, and the invisible suffering that was heaped upon him by the Father; if we are moved, and if our hearts are opened, and we feel our uncleanness and our need, then God is at work in us. There may be a battle within, there may be a great fight for a time, we may cling on to the things of this world, and our much vaunted, our dreams and hopes and our pride, our wretched pride, but the Father’s power will overwhelm us, and we shall bow the knee to Christ and come to him.

If there is such a work in our hearts and such a melting and such a movement, he will not refuse you. No individual that comes to me with a sincere heart and longing for forgiveness and grace will never be turned away. ‘I will in no wise’, I will under no circumstances. The translation is beautiful. I will – the implication of the Greek is something like this – I will not even under the most extreme circumstances refuse such a person. The modern translators lose it a bit, but not too much, when they translate – ‘I will never cast out.’ That is included. But no matter what, you will never be refused. How do I know Christ will accept me if I come to him? What certainty do I have that God will listen to me, that I shall be received, that my feeble faith will meet with a great blessing of conversion. Well, ‘him that cometh to me I will under no circumstances cast out’, turn away. It applies to your coming to Christ, it applies to your going to heaven. If you are truly converted, if you are truly his, you will never be lost. He will keep you.

Questions

How can Christ say that the ultimate cause of our coming is the Father’s giving us to the Son? Do our desires not play a very real part? Certainly they do. God works through our desires and our sense of need, but we cannot take credit even for this, for our hearts were dead until the Lord awakened us to life and caused us to call on his name for life. To you, it is your desire, it is your longing that brings you to Christ. I need him, I repent. I call upon him to save me and to change me. Yes, you come but you come because he draws you and has provided for you.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

John 6:36 Commentary and Bible Study