John 6:35-40

John 6:35-40

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Resurrection is the hope of every man and the promise of the Gospel.  When sin entered the world, death became the destiny of every person.  Since that time, prolonging life has become one of man’s major pursuits.  Food is one of the means to that end.  The people to whom Jesus is speaking are looking for an easy way to find food since Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish to feed the multitude.  They are focused on satisfying their desire to eat and prolonging their life in the easiest way possible.  Jesus has other priorities.  He wants these men to find their ultimate satisfaction in doing the will of God and to gain eternal life by believing on Him.  God wants to change our focus from ourselves to Him and from prolonging life to eternal life.  The only way that will happen is through faith in Jesus.  He came to us on earth so that we might come to Him through faith and thereby come to God in heaven for all eternity.

JESUS PROMISES TO REFRESH TO ALL WHO BELIEVE: The crown has come to Jesus looking for food.  He had just given them an “all you can eat buffet” the day before, but now they are back and looking for more.  No matter how much we eat one day; we will always feel hungry the next day.  Jesus tells the people that those who come to Him and believe on Him will find a permanent solution to their spiritual hunger.  Jesus came to provide our spiritual needs in a permanent way.  He promised that all who come to Him will never hunger or thirst again because He is the Bread of life.  He is not speaking of physical hunger or thirst that promotes prolonged life.  He is speaking of spiritual hunger and thirst that will provide eternal life.  Jesus longs to satisfy or refresh our spiritual hunger.  He does that for all who believe.  The problem that these people had was that they were so focused on physical food that they did not even recognize their need of this “spiritual food.”  Jesus confronts them with the fat that they have seen Him and heard His message but they have not believed on Him.  People continue to seek God for the purpose of finding prosperity.  They follow biblical principles in order to increase their personal comfort.  Jesus wants to grant spiritual refreshment and eternal satisfaction through the salvation He offers to all who believe that He is the Son of God and the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

JESUS PROMISES TO RECEIVE ALL WHO BELIEVE: All who come to Jesus will be received by Jesus.  He does not reject any who come to Him in faith.  Those who come to Jesus have been given to Him by the Father.  The will of the Father is to save men from their sin through faith in Jesus.  The Father has provided salvation for all who believe through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Our only hope of salvation is to come to Jesus.  The Father has given Jesus the hearts of men who belong to Jesus.  All who have been given to Jesus will come to Jesus and Jesus will gladly receive them.  They will be eternally saved because of the gift of the Father through the Son because they are the gift of the Father to the Son.  Salvation starts with God.  The hearts of men have been corrupted by sin.  A large number of people simply reject the gift of salvation because they do not consider themselves to be in need of salvation.  They simply do not recognize their own sinfulness.  Another large number of people recognize that they are sinful but believe that they can make up for their sin through good works or religious rituals.  These people do not come to Jesus.  By God’s grace, some of us recognize our sin and our inability to earn salvation in any way.  We believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to us so that He might die for us and we trust that His death is the only means by which we can be forgiven of and saved from our sin.  We believe because of God’s work in our lives and not because of any merit of our own.  God gives us to the Son.  The Son receives us from the Father and saves us from our sin. 

JESUS PROMISES TO RESURRECT ALL WHO BELIEVE: The promise of salvation is that we will be resurrected on the last day.  That does not mean that we will no die physically.  It means that when God’s mission of saving the nations of the world from their sin is complete and He decides to end the rebellion of Satan and men; Jesus will raise us up from the dead.  He will give us a new life that is eternal and we will live in His presence completely free from sin.  All who see Jesus and believe in Him have this promise of resurrection.  Sin will be gone.  Death will be gone.  We will be reconciled with the Father, and worship Him perfectly forever and ever.  Jesus has promised to give us purpose in this life and perfection in the life to come.  The Father has revealed Jesus to us and has accepted His death on our behalf.  All we must do is trust in Him

APPLICATION: Focus on our spiritual need instead of our physical needs.  Reflect on the reality of our own sin and the hopelessness that sin inflicts on us apart from Christ.  Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has died to pay the price of our sin and set us free from sin.  Come to Him in faith by turning from all other hopes for salvation.  Rejoice in the promise that we, as believers, have in eternal life through the resurrection that Jesus will perform on the last day.