John 6:35-45

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.  All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day.  For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

At this the Jews there began to grumble about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me.”

Did you see what is buried in this that Jesus said?

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them” and “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me.”

Think about that.

• No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them.
• They will all be taught by God.
• Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Jesus.

If the Father draws you (and He draws everyone, IF they are willing to respond), He will teach you. If you learn from the Father you will come to Jesus.

Most (but not all) of the Jewish scholars refused to believe in Jesus. Yet they were the ones with the most extensive knowledge of God’s Word.  In the previous chapter Jesus accused them, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.” – John 5:39-40

What does this tell us? This is profound:  It is possible for a person to know the word of God – to know the Bible in the way one knows calculus or thermodynamics or nuclear physics – but not know God Himself.  You can study enough to expertly twist the Scriptures, making them say whatever you want them to say, but this will not give you life.  You can teach yourself, or someone else can teach you, but if God has not taught you it won’t make one bit of difference in your life or your eternity.  For if you are taught by God, if you have heard the Father and learned from Him, you will come to Jesus … and you will have life.

So what is your lifelong goal? Is it to memorize the Bible?  Is it to be able to win any Bible argument and silence all your critics?  Or is it to know the author of the Bible and the creator of your being: to know the look of His smiling face … to know the sound of His voice as He sings over you … to know the power of His Holy Spirit guiding and strengthening you … to know the touch of His hand in your life … to know the love of His Son in your heart overflowing to your friends, to strangers, even to your enemies?

Knowledge in the head of words on a page will not give you life. Intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh … knowledge borne in a heart that loves Him and follows Him and confesses Him and obeys Him and is being conformed to His image … that will give you life!