I have been stuck on chapter 6 of John for a while now. Jesus walks on water and we are definitely headed in a direction… but the next part keeps pulling me back.
There is this massive crowd, and Jesus is about to make things really real. From verse 26, Jesus proclaims who He is, what He is here to do, and who will be saved (v37 “And all who come to me, I will embrace and will never turn them away”)
But it seems to me that He is also ready to concede that every soul is destined to be saved? Because in verse 43 He gets angry and responds to the crowd:
“Stop your grumbling! The only way people come to me is by the Father who sent me – He pulls on their hearts to embrace me…”
Which is probably why I have been stuck on this short passage for so long. We are in unique time, nothing is as we want it or what we are used to, but like the Jews of the day, we are looking, and waiting for a messiah, a savior, some thinks it is a vaccine, some thinks it is a drug, some hopes it is a change in government. But what is true is that every religion on this planet is having an upsurge… and as a backup plan, gun sales has never been as high as it has been the last month.
Jesus says in verse 26;
“Let me make this very clear, you came looking for me because I fed you by a miracle, not because you believe in me…”
Where am I in all of this? Am I trying to be a good Christian now? So that God can see my works? Hear my prayers, listen to my worship? So that the ‘angel of death’ will pass by my house? So that I will have a job to return to? So that I will be part of the next ‘miracle’?
Jesus asks: “Why would you strive for food that is perishable and not be passionate to seek the food of eternal life, which never spoils?”
(The Aramaic literally translates that last part to ‘why would not search for the food that fastens you to, binds you to, merges you into, eternal life?’)
And just like some of the followers asked on the day, this passage leaves me asking: what can I do? And Jesus answers…
“The work you do for God starts with believing in the the One He has sent”
The miracles God performs are there to open our eyes, it is there to serve as a testimony, not a get-out-of-jail-free card. All over social media and the blogospheres and FaceTime groups and zoom prayer meetings, I see people quoting scriptures and stating that all will be well because God is our banner. But its a statement that all will be going back to how it was? Is that what we want? For everything to be as it was?
I want to be better. I want to serve better. I want to know God more. I want to be a better parent and a better spouse and a better friend. I want to serve God through my calling and live my purpose.
Instead of swimming in a dam of fear, I want to drown in a sea of worship.
John 6:39
“My Father who sent me has determined that I will not lose even one of those He has given to me!”
