Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 6:35-51 (Ep. 17)

Episode Date: April 21, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 6:35-51 where we see the first of the seven “I Am” statements in Johns gospel.Jesus proclaims that He is the bread of life and He offers Himself to all those who come and who the Father draws.We see God’s divine sovereignty in predestination, yet Jesus command for them to “come” to Him.Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial In. We are in the middle of a sermon that Jesus is giving and his words here have eternal significance for you and I. Our passage today is John chapter 6 verses 35 through 51. Let's dial in. John chapter 6 verses 35 through 51. from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. So the Jews grumbled about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

How does he say I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered them, do not grumble amongst yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me.

Not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Now imagine this. Chapter six starts off with Jesus feeding the multitudes. They want him to be their king. And then Jesus withdraws from the crowd and he ends up crossing the sea partly on foot. But we see in verse 21 that he arrives at the boat of the disciples, and then they were immediately, in verse 21, at the land. So he presumably just zooms them to the shore. This is amazing, and it's just a quick note in John's gospel. Now the multitudes that have been with him on the other side of the sea wake up the next morning, and they start to look for Jesus. They realize that he is not there,

so they go to the other side of the sea to find him. They do so, and in verse 25, Jesus tells them, you guys aren't following me because you believe in who I am. You guys just want breakfast. And he tells them to stop laboring for the food that perishes, and then I will give you bread and food that will last forever. They respond in verse 34 of chapter 6, Lord, give us this bread. And we pick up in verse 35 with Jesus' reply. He tells them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Jesus tells them, I am the bread of life.

That's his claim in verse 32 and in verse 33 and in verse 48. This is the first of the seven I am statements in the gospel of John. In these I am statements such as I am the good shepherd or I am the vine, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I am the resurrection and the life. All of these I am statements that Jesus is making are obvious proclamations about who he is, that he is God. The Jews around him know exactly who he is claiming to be. He is saying that he is equal with Yahweh. And he presents this powerful claim that he is God and that he has come down from heaven. Jesus repeats this throughout the sermon for clarity so that no one is confused about where he claims to come from.

Verse 32, my father in heaven. Verse 38, I have come down from heaven. Verse 41, the Jews grumbled because he said he came down from heaven. Verse 42, I have come out of heaven. Verse 50, down from heaven. Verse 51, down from heaven. Verse 42, I have come out of heaven. Verse 50, down from heaven. Verse 51, down from heaven. Again and again, Jesus is affirming that he comes down from heaven and he speaks of his own pre-existence, that he was with the father in all of eternity past. We talked about this when we were studying the first chapter of John, but Jesus wasn't just born on Christmas Day 2,000 years ago. He was with the Father for all of eternity, and he, Jesus,

created the universe, and he wants these Jews to understand this. We will see this again in John 17, verse 5, when Jesus is praying out loud to God the Father and says, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world began. Jesus always existed as God the Son, and he came with a purpose from God the Father. But back to Jesus' statement, he says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger and will never thirst. To the woman at the well, he says he is the living water. And here Jesus says he is the bread of life. Jesus is telling this crowd that he is what they most need. He is what their souls were made for. And whoever comes to him shall not hunger or thirst again. I like what John Piper says.

He says, This doesn't mean that our souls will not hunger and thirst ever again. It means now we know what it's for. Now we know where to turn. Now we know what to drink and what to eat. We come to Jesus. This is what we were made for. All of our other treasures and all of our other pleasures

point to him. He is the bread of life. He is the end of all seeking and he is the all-satisfying end of every single longing that you and I have. Jesus tells this crowd, find satisfaction in me. Turn away from the pigpen of the world and come to me. Find fulfillment here. Find satisfaction here. And only those who come to him will find out and experience that he is more desirable than the world, more beautiful than a fleeting image, and more precious than all riches. And he gives this bread away. And the question is, to who? We see our answer in verse 37. He says, to those whom the Father has given me. Jesus gives his bread of life to those whom the Father has given the Son. Now what does this mean? All theological battles over predestination

vanish and evaporate in the heat of Jesus' words right here. Verse 37, And in verse 44, Jesus says, Think about this real quick. This is a universal negative proposition. He says no man, meaning that there are zero exceptions to what he's about to say. What is a universal negative? What is it that no man, meaning that there are zero exceptions to what he's about to say. What is a universal negative? What is it that no man does? He says, no man can come to the father unless, so there's a necessary condition there. The father draws him. No one comes to the father

unless the father draws him. The word here is more accurately compelled. This is exactly what we see Jesus telling Nicodemus in John 3. You can't even understand the kingdom of God unless the Father draws you to the Son, unless you are born again. And if you are a Christian, that is exactly what God did to you. He brought you to the Son. Don't ever take credit for what God has done for you. You are not the one that removed the blinders from your eyes or the wax from your ears. God the Father did. And

if you are in Christ, God the Father has given you to his one and only son, and he knew that he would do so in Ephesians 1 before the foundation of the world. Think about that. God transformed your disposition towards his son from hostility, resentment, and doubt to intimacy, affection, and faith. And the Son is the one who grants us life. And those who are given to the Son, in verse 37, Jesus says, I will never cast out. They are mine forever. We'll see this over and over again throughout the Gospels. But John 17, verse 2, verse 6, verse 9, verse 24, over and over again, those whom the Father draws, the Son will keep. Now, who is this spread for? It's for those whom the Father draws.

It's those that are chosen. But then you might be thinking, how do I know if I'm one of the chosen? How do I know if I'm one of the chosen? How do I know if I'm one of the elect? The answer is simple, and it's back in verse 35. Jesus says, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me. You know that you are of the Son if you come to the Son. So come and eat, Jesus says. Come and drink. Come unto me. It is for all those

who come, and it is for all those who believe. And we've talked about this before, but we see it all throughout the gospel. John 3.15, whoever believes. John 3.16, whoever believes. John 3.18, whoever believes. John 3.36, whoever believes. John 5.24, whoever hears my word and believes, John 6, 35, whoever believes in me shall never thirst, John 6, 37, whoever comes to me I will never cast out, John 6, 47, whoever believes has eternal life, John 6, 58, whoever feeds on this bread will live forever, John 7, 38, whoever believes in me, John 12, 46, whoever believes in me will not remain in darkness. It is for those who believe. And that is the clear answer of the scripture. Now the final question is what do those who come to the son receive from the father? And we see that in verse 40. For this is the will of my Father, Jesus says,

that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. Those whom the Father draws to the Son, the Son will keep, and the gift is eternal life for those who come and partake of his living bread. Jesus is the only one that can satisfy your soul, and he's also the only one that can cleanse it. Jesus bids you to come to him, partake in the eternal life that he alone can provide, and if you come to him, he says in verse 37, he will never lose you. Stay dialed in.