Interpreting John 6:38-40: Coming to Christ (IV.)

Christ's mission to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10) would be successful in spite of the fact that many would reject Him. Success is not measured quantitatively but qualitatively, and there is no higher objective qualifier than Christ Jesus Himself. Though the Jewish crowd following Him had not placed their faith in Him (John 6:36), Christ could still insist that He would, indeed, have followers (John 6:35) -- followers He counted as a gift from His Father (John 6:37).

Jesus promised that the individual who comes to Him, He would "certainly not cast out" (John 6:37 NASB, and henceforth). He explains further: "For I have come down from heaven [cf. John 6:33, 38, 41, 50, 51, 58], not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). Note the English word "certainly" (John 6:37): this communicates the Greek word ou, which negates its verb, and is used here for emphasis: i.e., "the one who comes to Me I will in no way whatsoever [ou] send away [ekballo, cast or throw out, send away, expel]" is the sense Jesus was conveying.

The reason why He would not expel someone who came to and believed in Him is hoti (for, because) He had come down from heaven to do the Father's will, and the Father's will was that of all He had given or would give Him, He would lose not one of them (John 6:39). On the contrary, He would raise these ones up on the last day (John 6:39). Moreover, Christ admitted that the will of His Father was that "everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life" (John 6:40). These persons Christ will raise up on the last day (John 6:40).

The words "beholds" (theoron) and "believes" (pisteuon) are present active participles: thus everyone who is beholding (or looking to) the Son and believing in Him will have eternal life. Hence "looking to" and "believing in" Christ Jesus is not a one-time act but a present, continuous reality. Inherent in this statement is a condition to possessing eternal life: Only the person who is looking to the Son and believing in Him will have eternal life.

The authority that Christ had to raise up believers on the last day is inherent by nature. Jesus claimed six times in John 6 to have "come down from heaven" (John 6:33, 38, 41, 50, 51, 58). Robert H. Mounce comments, "By stressing that he 'comes down from heaven,' Jesus clearly establishes heaven as his eternal home. This in turn grants authority to all that he has to say."¹ We know that, "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1), meaning that the Word (i.e., Christ Jesus, cf. John 1:14) already existed. Moreover, "the Word was with God [whose eternal dwelling is heaven], and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Furthermore, we understand that Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (cf. John 5:22; Matt. 28:18). R. C. H. Lenski comments:

While the stress is on the purpose clause, which, therefore, also is expressed both negatively and positively, we must not overlook the main clause, in which Jesus says in so many words: "I (the Father's Son) have come down (perfect tense: and thus am now here) from heaven ([apo], elucidating [ek], "out of" in the previous verses)." And "I have come down from heaven" states in most literal fashion what in [John 6:33] Jesus says of himself as "the Bread of God," that this "comes out of heaven."²

The fact that Jesus had indeed "come down from heaven" convicted the Jewish people's unbelief to be not merely related to Himself and His person but also to His Father: "By thus putting himself back of the Father, Jesus makes plain to these Galileans that their unbelief is really opposition to the Father and to that Father's gracious will which Jesus is carrying out in his work with them. . . ."³ This fact was attested to by Jesus' words, "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself" (John 7:17).

We will note soon enough the reaction of the Jewish people to Christ's brief teaching here (e.g., John 6:41). Meanwhile, let us pay close attention to the following statement made by Christ: "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38). Did Christ Jesus have His own will -- a will separate from that of the Father? I do not believe so.

Christ's meaning is clear. He did not want anyone to think that He had come to push His own agenda, force His own will, but merely to accomplish the task for which His Father had sent Him. Albert Barnes comments that the passage demonstrates Christ Jesus "came for a specific purpose . . . and means that . . . he came to do his Father's will, [and that] he would be faithful to the trust. Though his hearers should reject him, yet the will of God would be accomplished in the salvation of some who should come to him."⁴ Even in Christ's human nature, we should not think that He had a conflicting will from that of the Father, since, He confessed, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34); and, "for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him" (John 8:29). Adam Clarke, speaking from Jesus' perspective in first person, comments:

I am come, not to act according to human motives, passions, or prejudices; but according to infinite wisdom, goodness, and mercy. Jewish passions and prejudices would reject publicans and sinners as those alluded to, and shut the gate of heaven against the Gentiles [cf. Matt. 23:13]; but God's mercy receives them, and I am come to manifest that mercy to men.⁵

We carefully note the Savior's genuine offer of salvation to all people thus far in John 6: "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal" (John 6:27); "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world" (John 6:33); "I am the bread of life, he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (John 6:35); "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" (John 6:40).

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¹ Robert H. Mounce, "John," in The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Luke - Acts, Volume 10, revised edition, eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 445.

² R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel (Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1942), 466.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987), 247.

⁵ Adam Clarke, The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Volume 1. -- Matthew to the Acts (New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1883), 561.