John 6:65 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

NIV: He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."

NASB: And He was saying, 'For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'

CSB: He said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father."

NLT: Then he said, 'That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.'

KJV: And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

NKJV: And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Jesus commented that "the flesh is no help at all" (John 6:63). This directly indicates that His teaching on "eating" His flesh and blood were symbolic, not literal. At the same time, the remark illustrates the difference between legitimate belief and mere "interest." Many people who followed Jesus at that time had a shallow, selfish interest in His ministry. Throughout this passage, Jesus has challenged their motivations (John 6:26), their understanding of Scripture (John 6:27–29), and what it really means to have faith in the One God has sent (John 6:37–40). Their behaviors in response to these challenges—their "flesh," so to speak—both discourage and disprove their faith.

This also speaks to the earlier point made by Jesus that only those God has "given" to Him can be saved (John 6:37). This is related to the controversial doctrine of predestination. Other passages of the Bible speak of concepts such as "choice" and "calling," and so forth. The ideas of predestination and election are not meant to be understood by examining only one or two verses. Here, however, the emphasis is clearly on the fact that only God can call a sinner to repentance. The reaction of the crowd in this story proves this idea in direct terms. Interest and action are not what save us: it is submissive faith in Christ, which is fundamentally something we can only credit to God.

John 6:60–71 shows the drastic impact of Jesus' teaching on the crowd: most walk away. When confronted with spiritual needs and a spiritual message, most people will turn it down. What society wants is spectacle, material things, and a political savior. The more Jesus insists on being the means to eternal life, the angrier the crowd becomes, until the vast majority simply abandon Him. The twelve disciples, on the other hand, seem willing to follow Jesus, though they are also struggling to accept His recent claims. Peter's declaration will be the third of John's seven witnesses to Jesus' divinity.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.