Rev Hendrik du Plessis
During our recent outreach to Bere, people lined up to receive bibles, which reminded me of the words of our Lord Jesus in John 6:37: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” The word “shall” says it all. They “shall come to me.”, and not they “may come to me” We can especially comprehend this when looking at verse 44. In verse 44 the Lord Jesus says: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” This makes missionary work the most successful profession on earth. There is a 100 percent success rate because all that the Father has given to His Son will come to His Son. This is non-negotiable. It will and must happen wherever one is in the world. This is what the whole book or Gospel of John focuses on. The Father has given a certain number of people to His Son, and they can’t become lost, for no one can snatch them out of His hand or His Father’s hand. In John 10: 27-29 the Lord Jesus says: “27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Unfortunately, some people seek the Lord Jesus for the wrong reasons. These people, however, do not belong to Him. The Lord Jesus speaks with these people in John 6: The previous day, they were silent witnesses of the most moving miracle imaginable when the Lord Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes. They were part of the crowd that wanted to make Him king by all means possible. With such a “bread king” they believed that they will never go hungry again. They only had to follow Him and He would’ve provided them with food. They also never had to work again.
When the disciples sailed to the other side, the crowd could clearly see that the Lord Jesus had not climbed unto the boat with them (verse 22). That night, the Lord Jesus joined his disciples after walking on the sea. When these bums, (referring to those with whom the Lord Jesus speaks here in John 6 from verse 25), did not see Him and His disciples anywhere the next day, they decided to seek Him on the other side. They thought that maybe they would find them there. Once they arrived, they were very happy to see Him again (especially due to being hungry and with intrusive thoughts of the delicious bread of the previous day). One can only imagine how they had mutually agreed to greet Him beforehand. They believed that if they were to greet him kindly, He would not become suspicious. They hoped that he wouldn’t realize why they were truly looking for Him (i.e. those fresh pieces of bread of yesterday). In verse 25, they kindly asked the following: “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” To this hypocrisy, the Lord Jesus immediately responded in verse 26: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” They then started to reason with Him about Moses and the Manna in the wilderness for the conversation to lead them to the bread. Verses 30 and 31: “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” They were hoping that He could conjure up the delicious bread from the previous day for them. The Lord Jesus then explained that it was not Moses, but his Father who gives the true bread. More specifically, He who descends from heaven and gives life to the world. When they realised that they had nothing left to hide anymore, they asked Him for bread without hesitating. Verse 34: ” Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.” What a disappointing answer, however, the Lord Jesus goes on to give them: “35. . . I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” This brings the Lord Jesus to verses 36 and 37: “36But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
In their case, they did come, but for totally and utterly the wrong reasons. According to verse 44, they were not drawn by the Father, but merely through their hunger. Many examples of this take place when doing missionary work. People come to the church or show interest in the Gospel, drawn by their personal motives, but not by the Father. It reminds me of an anecdote I heard that took place somewhere on the coast of Africa. A missionary got his church packed each Sunday because he handed out tobacco to the people after the service. He had bought the tobacco from a ship that passed by early every Sunday morning. One Sunday, for reasons unknown, the ship did not make its appearance. How was he going to pass the bad news on to his congregation? That particular morning the church was packed again as usual, and he decided to announce the bad news before starting with the service: “As you all know the ship did not make its appearance, as usual, this morning. I’m very sorry about that. I could not buy any tobacco.” An old man stood up in the back with a commanding tone and said: “Pastor, no tobacco, no church.”
The Lord Jesus said that even though the people came, they didn’t believe because they were only searching for earthly bread (this also reminds us of the lentil soup of Esau). The hunger pains we are faced with in the here and now should also come to an end (i.e. prosperity gospel). Later on in John 6, most of the Lord Jesus’s disciples decide to leave Him (They were 70 at one stage). In Luke 10:17 we read of them, and in John 6 they are offended after hearing that the flesh of the Lord Jesus should be eaten and his blood should be drunk. In verse 55 the Lord Jesus says: “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” It was just too much for them, and then they say in verse 60: “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” From verse 64 it says: “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe and who will betray him. 65And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it was given unto him of my Father. 66From thereon, many of his disciples went back, and no longer walked with him.”
All the money in the world could not have convinced them to go around with the Lord Jesus again. Why not? The reason being simple: they do not belong to Him. All the reasoning and persuasiveness of even the best of scholars will not be able to make them turn around and follow the Lord Jesus again. Why not? They do not belong to the Lord Jesus because the Father does not draw them and give them to His Son. Imagine how unsuccessful this appeared – almost all of his disciples had left him. However, we now realise that we should rather imagine how successful this was, for all that the Father had given to Him went to Him.
During our recent outreach to Bere, we experienced this once again. People came from all over to get a Bible. The arrangement worked as follows: No one can receive a Bible until the Gospel is briefly preached to them. People showed up early that given morning. We were barely done with one group and then the next group showed up. Everyone listened attentively, and the rest was left for Father, for it remains Him who draws and gives to His Son. They will come to Him, and He will never cast out those who come to Him. It does not always happen equally fast across different cases. One can plant a seed today but the Lord will determine when it germinates. One can also think of the example of the church father Augustine who had led an immoral life for many years. Even though his mother constantly dedicated him in prayer to the Lord, a certain time was determined by the Lord during which he could no longer resist the traction of the Father. We, therefore, urge your earnest intercession; namely that the Lord will give us the strength and zeal to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ everywhere we go, so that those who belong to Him may be drawn by the Father.
Your brother in Christ, Hendrik du Plessis.