John 6:37-38 The invisible attraction of the Kingdom
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 6:37-38
All… will come
Jesus continues a flow with incredible words. He had just affirmed they had seen him and didn’t believe — meaning, there was enough in what they saw that if their heart was aligned, it would be normal, even natural, as God’s children to believe. Yet, they did not. The conclusion? They did not belong to the Father (yet) and consequently, God could not give them to Jesus. The belonging was their choice. The giving was the Father’s.
Jesus’ statement is supremely confident — the people of the kingdom will know him when they see him, and come to him. Not because of a carefully crafted marketing campaign, great Twitter ads, or because of peer pressure from a big crowd. People will come based on something else. It’s invisible and powerful. It’s an internal compass in the spirit that recognizes who he is and is drawn to him like a magnet. I think of two lovers attracted to each other without any conversation, rather simply a glance and a feeling of incredible pull toward each other. Or when a mother gives birth, there is an invisible and indelible bonding and attachment to that child. She knows her own child and loves, protects, and nurtures him. A bee knows its hive, a deer knows its herd. There is something so fundamental about this type of attraction.
From high born to low, it makes no difference. Jesus, the gatekeeper of the kingdom, will open the door for everyone who comes to him. Why? Because all that belong to the Father, He (God) gives as a gift to the son. Jesus embodies the presence and essence of the kingdom and those that have a kingdome spirit, come. No need to compel. No need to toss in a goodie package or a promotional period. He’s the real deal and worth the cost — my heart and affection.
Before leaving this topic in the hands of a mysterious predetermined fatalistic collection of Jesus People who either have salvation or they don’t, I must add — every person is responsible for the affection or values in their heart. We, and sometimes our families, create the appetite for the meal. It’s not a mystical predestination* of souls. The love of God does not have for a milli-micro-infinitesimal moment such a parsing of worthy, valuable humans. Those whose hearts have been trained by their value choices to honor and love God for who he is, will see Jesus, and recognize him — and will recognize the unmistakable draw.
That is why Jesus does not twist arms and was discreet with the supernatural. He simply is and wanted the attraction based on character. But please note, he’s not tucked away in some monastery on a mountain, or distracted at home with his own carpentry job trying to make ends meet (sorry, bad pun). People didn’t need to search for him like treasure hunting sunken Spanish frigates — although that sort of intensity is admirable (almost another bad pun). Rather, he purposefully stepped into the public eye. He’s a city set on a hill. Light is shines from him. He’s salt and challenging the status quo. Loving the average guy and meeting needs is about as compelling as he could be. But the downside comes when a few value the food above the food giver. The value system is out of whack.
Come down from heaven
Jesus responds to the challenge that “God provided food, why not you?” that these men just posed, based that event Israel’s history of the manna falling in the wilderness. By whatever means that mysterious bread appeared, the Israelites viewed it as coming from “heaven” or God. In the same way, on the day Jesus was baptized, he began a dedicated period of ministry interfacing with the Jews, the nation of Israel. This obscure moment was when he “came down from heaven” and intersected with the earth. He became the intent and expression of his Father, God, to a hungry nation. From that baptismal moment forward he became… our meal. He is the real food.
Not to do My own will
As a Bible College student, I was trained to search the scriptures to see what they say. If I propose a doctrine, I look for support everywhere. It’s easy to pull out little snippets and appear like I have a case — when in reality I don’t. In Jesus’ words where he clearly expresses a subservient and dependent will — I cannot count how many times other men have demanded from pulpits that this to be a requirement of all believers who come. So I will be direct: people were born to be individuals — not to be puppets or slaves fulfilling the desires of others. Jesus is no different. Every human, including Jesus, has desires, dreams, ambitions and a life in front of us waiting for our engagement. This is good, in fact very good! Because of sin and temptation and man’s failure, there is an epic struggle to align our lives with the kingdom. We were born to this struggle and no one escapes it. But every human is still an individual. Glorious individuals! To think that God wants to diminish and dismiss the very essence of me or anyone — is to not understand Him. Once I have laid down my desires and pursuits that have blinded me from the kingdom and realigned my focus on true life in Him, then who I am matters. My person, my pleasure, my talents are all re-ignited in the kingdom of God.
Love, not freely given is not love. It’s manipulation.
Yet the Father asked Jesus (keyword, “asked”) to step into a one of a kind role — that of the Messiah. The Lamb. It was a role that was waiting for him since the beginning with Adam and Eve. At just the right time, he came, and agreed to be this sacrifice. If I was asked the same of God, would I do it? (I know I’m not qualified, but I want to view the choice from Jesus’ sandals.) It would mean that I would have a short ministry, then death. There would be no earthly glory or immediate kingship. That is for a future date. I would be stepping into a battle that was pre-known. You don’t walk into a thief’s house and snatch back what he stole from you without expecting all hell to break loose. I’d be entering into a fight with entities involved that are much bigger, stronger, meaner and have incredible determination. Flesh doesn’t understand the spiritual realm. So to this end, the man Christ Jesus agreed to follow his Papa, the Holy Spirit, carefully. God would lead him. God would show him what to do. A misstep could cost him and us dearly. The bottom line: he’s not winging this, he will do what his Father asks. Why? Because during his ministry, that was what God asked him to do.
The stakes are not as high, nor ever will be the same for Jesus’ followers as they were for Jesus. For him, the issue of “will” was paramount. He conquered the devil — so I wouldn’t need to. I overcome because of the blood of the lamb. For a few brief years, Jesus laid down his natural, even instinctual will for a mission on which the Father sent him. As a result, the Father would reward him greatly —giving Him everything — even the the entire Kingdom. Because he recieved no gain (in the moment) from laying down his will, there was no underlying coercion, manipulation, or ulterior motive (like those confronting him), so Jesus could make this incredible claim. A potential subtext to his words may include: “I’m not here to be fulfilled, pursue sex, a wife, a family, power, or to do my own thing. I’ve given up the joys of this earthly body experience. The eternal God, my Father, asked me to suspend my interests and carefully follow his word and will in this ministry he has given me. Because of this, when I say I do not do my own will — it is significant, particularly contrasted to what you, this small group of zealots is trying to do. What is in your heart is not in my Father’s plan for me.”
The confrontation and words spoken in John 6 were strong and polarizing at the time. Who Jesus is and why he came is still misunderstood and just as polarizing today. Fire separates that which will burn from that which will not. As a believer, my goal is to let his words pierce me and separate me from that which is not valuable — even if it means taking a different position than I was taught in the church ohh so many times. To know him, and love him is my priority — listening carefully to His Spirit.
*If you as a reader have been immersed in the doctrine of predestination — so be it. If that doctrine helps you feel the unlimited grace and mercy of God no matter what, then it is good. But do not use that belief to exclude anyone from the Kingdom (especially yourself.) The doctrine is fundamentally flawed if one can truly believe that the heart and will inside individuals makes zero difference in light of the heavy weight of evidence that it matters supremely. The words of Solomon, Jesus, Paul, and so many others encourage us to make good choices. If it didn’t matter, what is the point? If we’re in, or out what is the purpose of character? Men have a tendency to dehumanize others that they don’t understand — lumping them into a group of “others.” The doctrine of predestination does this — without regard for all the biblical encouragement to choose wisely, the right course, and influence others by your goodness and kind actions.