“The Jews then murmured against Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ And they said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, “I have come down from heaven”?’” John 6:41-42.
The heart of this crowd now becomes apparent, they murmured, that is to say they grumbled.
According to the dictionary, a murmur can be low distinct sounds, as the sounds of many voices, indicating that this was still quite a large crowd all talking at once.
The problem though is that they were asking cynical questions of each other rather than Jesus as to what His words meant. “Lord, how could you have come down when we know your parents, this does not make sense?”
One thing becomes clear when studying the Lord’s life is that if a person came to Him with a sincere question, even a rather blunt one, He would answer it. But the hypocrites were called out.
In a similar manner, in this case, the Lord’s words are made more difficult to understand by this insincere crowd. A like incident had occurred much earlier when Jesus taught in a synagogue in Nazareth.
“And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?’ and they were offended at Him.” Mark 6:2-3.
Offended? You see and hear and yet you are offended?
“Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Mark 6:5.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.
“Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.’” John 6:43-44.
Scripture says the following about God.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
Why does He not draw this crowd to Jesus? Hopefully the answer should become apparent after the next verse.
“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” John 6:45.
If every person is taught by God, and the Scripture confirms it:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” Romans 1:18-20.
Speaking of Jesus as the Light of the world, it says.
“That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.” John 1:9.
Why do they not all come to Jesus? The answer comes in the phrase, “who has heard and learned” John 6:45. All may hear, but not learn, because they are concerned with the things of this world.
Those who do hear do not learn because Jesus was not saying what they wanted to hear. This crowd might have heard but not learned from the Father; therefore He had not drawn them to Jesus.
These folks had knowledge of God, but an imperfect one. This was not just their fault, but the fault of the religious leaders of the day who were responsible for teaching the nation.
Just as it is the responsibility of todays Christian leaders to teach this nation about Christ, a task many have abandoned, and will answer to God for.
On Judgment Day, no one will be able to say that it was another person’s fault that they did not receive Christ. It is up to each one of us to decide on our own to accept or reject Christ.
So how does God teach a person? If no one has ever seen a missionary or even heard of Christ, how can God teach them? The answer is given in Romans 1:18-20 quoted earlier and in Psalm 19:1-6 below.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” Psalm 19:1-6.
People will be judged by what they did with the light that they had; God is not unjust and will not condemn the innocent with the guilty.
But what about the rest of the world where there are, Christians, missionaries, evangelists, preachers, pastors and access to the Bible? Scripture tells us this.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.
The order of events goes like this; “everyone who has heard and learned from the Father” John 6:45b; a person hears God when they are given Scriptures, the word of God.
Scripture is the starting point, but it is possible to hear without hearing or learning, as shown earlier.
But for the person who is teachable, who is really interested in the things of God; they will not only hear, they will learn. That is what is meant in the first phrase of Romans 10:17 above.
Hearing means they learned from what they heard. Having listened to God and learned from Him, they gain the faith to come to Christ as their savior. As Jesus said earlier in this chapter:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37.
As with the crowd that Jesus is speaking to, there are many who appear to be sincere in their desire for God but the desire is a selfish one for they want a god who fits in with their own needs.
While we cannot read a person’s heart, there are many who use God and Jesus words whose actions speak louder than words. And sometimes the words themselves will betray their lack of sincerity.
George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” is a very beautiful song as seen by its popularity when it came out; however, when you examine the words, a different picture emerges.
The words, “I really want to see you, my sweet Lord, Hallelujah, I really want to know you, Hallelujah” sung repeatedly give the impression of a seeking heart.
After numerous repetitions with Hallelujah though, the tone changes when the word Hallelujah is replaced by the repetition of Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, gurur Brahma (Hindu god of creation), gurur Vishnu (another Hindu god), and parar Brahma, it becomes clear that he is not seeking the God of the Christians and the Jews.
Mister Harrison was a fantastic musician, and probably a really nice person; unfortunately he did not have a true heart for God, which does not mean that he could not have been saved at some point in his life, which is my hope.
For your own peace of mind, please do not think that a deceased friend or relative is in hell. There is no way of knowing if they had accepted Christ in a Sunday school class when they were six years old, and then for some reason lost their way.
You must always give the deceased the benefit of the doubt. And never assume someone you like is going to heaven just because you like them.
Tell the living about salvation in Christ or pray for them if you cannot talk to them, but never stop praying, never.
As we have seen the word of God is the key to salvation in Christ.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12.
Herein we see the operation of the Holy Spirit, for these are just God’s words on a page, it is the Spirit that brings them alive, God’s words, to teach us and to, “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” John 16:8b.
To sum up, the unsaved person who hears the word of God, really listening to it with a desire to learn, learns of God and God sends all who learn of Him to Jesus.
These teachable hearts then hear of salvation in Jesus and believe.
“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” Romans 10:9-10.
Notice that the emphasis is on believing in your heart, many believe that Jesus saves but they have never truly applied it to themselves.
Then by confessing that Jesus is their Lord, the Christian tells others of the salvation which has taken place in their heart.
“Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” John 6:46-47.
After telling us that everyone is taught by God, Jesus tells us that no one has seen God except Christ Himself, again directing the crowd to the fact that Jesus came down from heaven. Thus reinforcing His authority to say things which no man or prophet can legitimately claim.
No one has seen God. Yet there are those who will tell you, “If there is a God let Him show me.” It is really a lie to say such things because most of these people have no intention of believing in God.
This is seen in the life of Christ, in spite of all the marvelous teaching, the attesting miracles, even to feeding a multitude with a few loaves and fish, or raising the dead; yet the nation rejected Him and crucified a person who proved Himself beyond a doubt to be God incarnate.
No, do not fall for the “if there is a God show me” routine nor for the “there are many ways to God” litany, it is all smoke and mirrors put up by unbelievers who are not interested in learning of God.
Not that it is impossible for these people or the ones in the crowd who forsook Jesus after listening to Him, to become open to the gospel of Christ later.
Living changes folks and God does not just give up on someone because they were closed to Christ the first time they heard of Him. Yet God still pleads with us.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2.
“For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.” Ecclesiastes 9:12.
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Taught by God, John 6:41-47 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 10-8-12, updated on 9-1-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.