John 6:35-44 (ESV)

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ 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. ⁴⁰ 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.” ⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

After being supernaturally fed, the crowd around Jesus said they wanted the true bread from heaven. Jesus clarified that when he spoke of true bread, he was referring to himself, not physical bread. True bread was the remedy for humanity’s spiritual hunger. The bread that Jesus provided didn’t have to be given again and again. Once one becomes a follower of Jesus, her soul is continually satisfied. And Jesus quenches spiritual thirst too. In the first of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements recorded in John, Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.” Although the crowd saw Jesus, they still didn’t believe. Jesus next declared, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Jesus wasn’t worried that his life and work would be fruitless. Then and now, God has ordained souls who come to him. The focus of Jesus’ life was to do the will of the Father. And the focus of our lives should be to look on and trust in the Son. The Jews present weren’t happy with the statements Jesus made. Wasn’t he the son of Joseph and Mary? They knew his parents! How could he say he “came from heaven”? Jesus told them to stop grumbling. They couldn’t come to him without God’s intervention anyway. They were trapped by their own unbelief.

Jesus stated some fantastic truths in this passage. He said those who are his followers have been given to him by the Father. Wow! Before even time began, God planned to save all sorts of people through Christ’s provision for sin on the cross. And those people are the Father’s gift to the Son. If you are a believer, God has played a bigger part in your redemption than you may ever have realized. Even your faith is not from yourself. God has chosen you to be a part of his eternal family. And Jesus will raise you up on the last day. If you have been born again, your eternity is absolutely secure because it is based on Jesus’ work, not your own. Christian, if you are discouraged about anything right now, lift your head. You are the bride of Jesus, and he will never stop loving you or break his commitment to you. You are in the most secure place in the universe! What a reason for joy today!