April 21, 2023

Some Stayed and Some Left

“And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’ As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”  John 6:65-66 (NASB)

            One of the hardest things to see is the Gospel truth proclaimed, and people reject it. I know it happens every day. It still breaks my heart though. I hope those who reject it, will accept when God calls again. Today, we see those who, “were not walking with Him anymore.”

          ‘For this reason, I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.’ As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. Two words appear in this passage which are in direct contrast. One is, “come,” the other, “withdrew.” The word “come” is the word, erchomai meaning, to come, or go.[1] Its focus is, “of movement from one point to another, with focus on approach from the narrator’s perspective.”[2] What Jesus tried to relay is each person can only come by God’s sovereign selection to salvation. It is a divine act of the Father. The word, “withdrew,” is aperchomai, meaning to go away, or go after.[3] This word comes from four Greek root words meaning to, go away to renounce, or to directionally go back. Jesus told the hearers they could come if the Father granted. These who heard the message of God’s sovereignty “plainly showed that by the Father’s “drawing” (John 6:44) was meant an internal and efficacious operation, for in recalling the statement here He says, it must be “given to a man to come” to Christ.”[4] These who initially “came” to Jesus, now “withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” This constituted a crisis of faith for those who heard. These who were hungry for food, and miracles, became disillusioned by Jesus. Those who once followed Him, became part of the ones who would join the opponents of Jesus by their “withdrawing.” They later would plot His death.

            What a sad ending for those who once followed Jesus. They heard the words of salvation and yet wasted the opportunity. God was about to do all the work for their salvation. Unfortunately, mankind looked for something more tangible, something for the day’s desire, something for their stomach, not their heart. This story is true today. Many come to hear the Words of God. The Word is heard and rejected in the end by their own wishes and desires which run contrary to God’s. What a sad day for those who “withdraw,” or renounce the truth they have heard. The invitation is open to all to trust Christ as Savior. God sovereignly knows everyone who will receive His forgiveness and those who will not. This is our Omnipotent God (all powerful God). We cannot make those we love accept God’s forgiveness in Christ, but we can live our lives in such a way that they begin to ask the right questions which allows the Holy Spirit to draw them to salvation. We pray they will “come,” not “withdraw” from His invitation.

[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 393.

[3]Ibid.

[4] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 140.