NOTES for Joh 6:40-44
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. |
41 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? |
43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. |
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. |
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Continuing His word about salvation and life, the Lord tells us today that the will of God is that everyone who entrusts himself to the Son of God, everyone who, according to the word of the prophet and the apostle, "calls on the name of the Lord," will be saved. And at the end of today's passage the Lord says that the one whom the Father draws can come to Him. Yesterday we heard His word that the Father's will consists in the salvation of all. This is not simply the hope of the world and of humanity. I dare say that these words of Christ are the only hope of the world; everything else is deception. And one cannot help rejoicing in this, because the difficult path to life is still incomparably better than hopelessness.
What do they answer Christ? In essence, the answer of the Jews comes down to a crude formula: "Who are you, anyway?" "Prove that this Jesus of yours is God..." Christians have heard this for centuries. This cannot be proved, if only because He does not belong to us; we belong to Him. But that is not even the main point. Such a protest against Christ's words only means that I am trying to shift onto Him the responsibility for my own distrust. Fortunately, the Gospel gives us an example of the right position, when a person gives Christ not responsibility for the feat of faith, for the act of trust, but asks Him for help in it, saying, "I believe, Lord; help my unbelief."
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Readings for 8 May 2025
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