The crowds who followed Jesus were happy to witness miracles, but when he proclaimed, I am the bread that came down from heaven, many opposed him and turned away in anger and confusion. We still see similar responses when the Bible is taught, so how do people go from doubting and disputing Jesus' claims to eventually believing in him? That's Alastair Begg's focus to day on Truth for Life. John chapter six And verse forty-one.
So the Jews grumbled about him because he said. I am the bread that came down from heaven. 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. Jesus answered them, Do not grumble among yourselves.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets. and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven.
so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever. and the bread that I will give for the life of the world. is my flesh.
Amen. In nineteen seventy-seven The BBC presented a documentary series. I don't know if ever it made it across the Atlantic Ocean. But it was a series of thirteen episodes concerning the religious quest of man. And it covered not only Christianity in its various forms, but it went through various comparative religions throughout a period of thirteen weeks.
And it was called the Long Search. The underlying notion that gave rise to it was the idea. that somehow or another men and women are looking for God. And nobody knows where he is. and God can't be found.
And that underlying presupposition Lingers far beyond 1977. Indeed, we might say that it is the prevailing notion. That when you talk to people today, they think along those lines. That somehow or another, if there is a God, He must be somewhere. I suppose I should be looking for him, but I tried once before and I couldn't find him, that kind of thing.
At a far more mundane level, when you play hide-and-seek, and it's been a while since I played, but when you used to love it. But when you play hide and seek, when you teach your grandchildren how to play hide and seek, it is vitally important that everybody knows who's hiding and who's seeking. Because When you try and explain to them that I am going to close my eyes, I'm going to count to 25, and you're going to go and hide. You got that? Yes.
And so you count to 25, and somebody says, I'm over here, I'm over here. Said, no, no, that's not the way it goes. You're hiding, I'm seeking. Let's try that again.
Well The Bible makes it really, really clear. In fact, the underlying notion is completely jettisoned by simply reading the Bible. You remember the scene in the Garden of Eden, the man and his wife. Hid themselves. Hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.
and among the trees in the garden. But the LORD God called out to them, Where are you? And the man said, I was afraid. And I hid myself. That is the story.
The story of a seeking God. and men and women hiding from his searching gaze. It's the story of a God who takes the initiative. He reveals himself in the world. In word.
And indeed And in person.
So that when you read the Bible all the way from the Old Testament and on, you realize that all these mighty acts of God, all these amazing things that are unfolding in history, Are all pointing forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So that when Jesus comes, as he does even in this passage here, as we'll see later on, he's able to say to the people, you know, if you read your Bibles, you would understand what's going on. The prophets actually spoke about this.
Now, we're picking up in 41 because we finished at 40 last time. And we noted in that section between 35 and 40 what Jesus says there in verse 38. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him. Who sent me And we in weeks gone by, when we consider the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, we realize then what he had to say, no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And then he takes them back to the Old Testament and he says, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, encouraging people to look and live, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
And so in the Section from last time. We have seen these things. Verse 40, 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. But what do we discover? Instead of this producing in the ears and hearts of his hearers, Instead of it producing gratitude, it actually results in grumbling.
Verse forty-one, so the Jews grumbled about him. Immediately, he's in conflict with them. The word that I wrote down in my notes was just the word opposition. I actually have three words, opposition, explanation, application. But first of all, opposition.
And you will notice the issue on the part of these people. Incidentally, there is a possibility here at verse 41, just the way it unfolds, that there is almost a change in the group. That he's encountering. We can't argue strongly for it. But you'll notice, verse 59: Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum.
We have, I think, up until this point, been thinking very much about the crowd and the context and so on. And it would seem that perhaps these people now, the Jews that are grumbling here, may even be the leaders in the synagogue. We didn't get hung up on that, but it's just a note in passing. And the issue is not with what these people have seen or what they have had reported. No.
The earlier reaction, The confused reaction on the part of the crowd who were stirred in their political ambitions and who were anxious to have their appetites satisfied, that kind of confusion has now transmuted into opposition. And why the opposition? Because he said Because of what he said. What did he say? I am the bread.
that came down From heaven. It's a staggering statement. and one that they were not happy. to respond to at least positively. Why is this?
It's because the words of Jesus collided with their own presuppositions. The words that Jesus spoke did not fit the categories of their own reasonings.
Now I don't want to delay on this, but that is a reality whenever we speak to about Jesus in the words of Jesus. When we tell people about Jesus, they come to the words of Jesus, not in the way a believer does, but they may well come distrusting or mistrusting or just frankly opposing. Because it doesn't fit the category. It doesn't fit their minds. And it certainly didn't fit the minds of these people.
They were so confident in what they knew that they were unable or unwilling to to learn what Jesus was saying. They had been listening. but not learning. In in the sound of silence, it is Uh people Hearing without listening. But this is the reverse.
This is people listening. Without hearing. You see, the way in which we listen to the word of God really, really matters. How we listen. Whether we listen, if you like, with all the ears of our hearts, It's possible for us to listen critically.
That our perspective is, I think I can probably disprove this or oppose this, to listen critically or to listen resentfully. or to listen indifferently. or to listen hungrily. Uh did you Did you pray along with me? Is this your prayer?
Make the book live to me. Then put your name in there. To me. or lore it. My name's Alistair.
I want you to illumine this page to me. I want the Holy Spirit to pick the words off the pages of this book. and bring them home to my heart. I'm not here to listen critically. I'm not here indifferently.
I'm here hungrily. Peter In the letter that we just uh mentioned in passing earlier, talks about receiving the pure milk of the world like newborn babies. James writes, Humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. But look at what they said. Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother?
We know. They're looking at each other, and they're essentially saying, we know his parents. We know what street he lived on, if you like. We knew these people. Where does he get this from?
How does he now say I have come down. From heaven.
Now what is it that angers them? What angers them is that he is clearly expressing his divinity. They're not angered by the fact that he's able to feed the 5,000. They're not even really concerned remotely about whether he walked on the water or whether he didn't. They are angered.
By the notion That they are being encountered by the living God. And again, when you speak to people, I find that people are not remotely concerned about whether Jesus was a good teacher or whether he lived or whatever he did. They'll talk about that until the cows come home. What they do not want to deal with. is the possibility that he actually is who he says he is.
That he is the bread. That came Down from heaven. I think they must have just said to one another, look at him, you wouldn't pick him out in the crowd, would you? This is the son of Joseph, his father and mother we know. How does he say this staff?
I now come down. from heaven.
Well Six hundred years at least before Jesus. The prophet Isaiah looks forward to the appearing of the Son of Man. the Prince of Peace, Jesus And remember what he says about him. He had no form or majesty. That we should look at him.
And no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised. and rejected By man. John 1, he came to his own. and his own despised.
and rejected him.
So Jesus says to them, well I suggest that you stop your grumbling. Stop your grambling. This is cue for my song. Come leave your house in Grumble Street and move to Sunshine Square. For that's the place where Jesus lives, and you'll be happy there.
That's how we learned it as children. This is terrible, these children references this. It must be about age. I don't know what it is. But anyway, yeah, but that's what he's saying.
He said, don't grumble among yourselves. That's not going to prove anything at all. I know you can't naturally understand what I'm saying. That's what he's saying. I know you don't naturally understand this.
It's perfectly natural for you to respond in this way. Perfectly natural.
So maybe you're here this morning and came with a friend or something. And even now you're saying, goodness gracious, do these people actually believe this stuff? Because you're saying I don't even have the the slightest inclination in this way. That's the opportunity for me to bring Luther out again. Luther, incidentally, Luther has grown over the years, as you can see.
And uh One of my colleagues who saw the tiny little Luther that I had felt sorry for me. And in an act of great generosity, he gave me a real, almost life-size Luther. And for those of you who wrote to me on Reformation Sunday and said, where was Luther?
Well, he was up the stairs, but I thought I'd bring him now because I want to read to you just a brief section from Luther's Bondage of the Will. We're talking about the fight. That it is perfectly natural. That you don't get the fact that I am the bread that came down from heaven.
So it gives a lie to the idea that if you just tell people, you know, Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven, they're going to go, oh, yeah, that makes sense. No, they don't. Why is that? This is Luther. Nobody Nobody who has not the Spirit of God, Sees a jot of what is in the scriptures.
All men and women have their hearts darkened.
So that even when they can discuss and quote All that is in Scripture. They do not understand or really know any of it. They do not believe in God. Nor do they believe that they are God's creatures. nor anything else.
The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. The spirit is needed for the spirit. for the understanding of the Scripture. and every part. of scripture.
That takes us to the explanation. The opposition is understandable and the explanation is necessary. Look at verse forty-four. Having told them, don't grumble among yourselves. Incidentally, that's what their forefathers did.
The whole manna thing in the wilderness, you remember, for 40 years. And they grumbled in the wilderness. They got fed up with it, they disdained the bread that God had sent to them. And now he's looking at these people and he's going, you're doing it again. Here, I'm offering you the bread that comes from heaven, and you're not interested in it either.
So let me explain to you, verse 44. No one can come to me. unless the Father who sent me draws him. In other words. Our stubborn will The heart, our resistant heart.
has to be overcome. By the love of God. which is displayed fully in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the love of God which comes to overwhelm the human heart. Presenting to his Jesus not as simply someone who existed or did amazing things.
But as someone I need, Just like I need my breakfast. How is that ever going to happen?
Well, only, he says, As the Father. draws us. After a lifetime of preaching, J. C. Ryle, the bishop of Liverpool, wrote this.
The longer I live, The more it is apparent. that there is something to be done in every heart, which neither preaching nor arguing, exhorting, nor means of grace, can do. Preaching, preaching, preaching. Opening up the scriptures. Sharing in the sacraments.
And he says, as I look at it all, and as I survey it, I realize. that there is something else. In it, through it, beyond it. The hymn writer puts it, I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing man of sin. Revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith.
In him. It's a mystery, isn't it? I mean, if we were all to have an opportunity, those of us who believe, to tell the story, some of us say, I don't understand how it is that I actually listened to anything in that Sunday school class. Because I was the most unruly character in this Sunday school class. How did anything actually not just penetrate my ears, but penetrated my heart?
Why did I even care to ask about what it means to be a Christian? How old you have to be to be a Christian?
Someone else says, Well, I went most of my life without any consideration of that at all. I was actually very happy. happy. I used to come around. I listened.
I never sang any of the songs. I thought they were no good. I didn't understand very much about them, but it was a pleasant time. You know, there's a lot of stress in life, and I could just sit here quietly and often nod off when you were speaking, Alistair. And it was a wonderful thing.
It was like a mild anesthetic. And then And then, but I want to tell you, I don't know what happened, but suddenly your preaching got better. Suddenly the songs got better. And I said, oh no, maybe. Maybe the preaching was the same, maybe the songs were the same.
Maybe I changed. Maybe God changed me.
Now, I alluded to this last week, but I went and looked for the quote because I shouldn't have alluded to it without the quote. But this is the quote from C.S. Lewis. And surprised by joy. after breakfast on September the twenty eighth, nineteen thirty one.
When we say out, I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. But when we reached the zoo I did. I have not exactly spent the journey in thought. nor in great emotion. Emotional.
Is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, still lying motionless on the bed, becomes aware That he's now awake. from death to life. from darkness to light, The fog had lifted. And the sun was now shining bright.
I know not how. But I know this. says Jesus, then no one can come. Unless the Father draws him. I say to you again: the secret disinclination of the human heart.
needs to be overwhelmed. And when it is overwhelmed, it is not against our wills. But it is in the inclining of our wills. It is such a reality that even the person is surprised by it in themselves. If not in the moment, certainly in looking back.
You look back and you say, But if I had never done that, if I had never been there, if she had never given me the book, if they hadn't invited me to that study, whatever it is, trace it all the way down. And you'll find yourself here in verse 44 of John chapter 6. The Father drew me. He created a real desire in me. desire that I'd never had before.
A desire to trust Jesus, a desire to know Jesus, a desire to come to Jesus. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We'll hear more about how we come to saving faith tomorrow. If you've listened to Alistair for any length of time, you might know that he has a deep love and appreciation for the preaching of Charles Spurgeon. And we want to recommend to you Spurgeon's classic devotional book titled Morning and Evening.
It's a book that features two daily readings for a full year. For more than a century many believers around the world have used this devotional to begin and end each day contemplating God's Word. This particular hardcover edition is unique because Spurgeon's original text has been updated and revised by Alistair, making it more understandable to the modern reader. All of the reflections expound on a verse of Scripture and contain deep, biblically rich insights that you've come to expect from both Spurgeon and Alastair. In the introduction to the book, Alastair writes My prayer is that another generation will emerge, thankful to God for the work of Spurgeon, whose memory we revere and whose example of godly devotion we seek to follow.
Ask for your copy of the Morning and Evening Devotional today when you donate to support the Bible Teaching Ministry of Truth for Life online at truthforlife. org slash donate or call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four. If you'd prefer to mail your donation along with your request for the book, Write to Truth for Life at P.O. Box 398000 Cleveland, Ohio. four four one.
three nine By the way, Spurgeon's Devotional makes an excellent Christmas gift that'll keep on giving throughout the year. This is a substantial hardcover book that sells for more than $20. You can purchase extra copies today from Truth for Life for only $5. These low prices are made possible because of the generous giving from your fellow listeners.
So if you purchase extra for gifts and you're able, please add a donation at checkout. Look for the devotional morning and evening while supplies last at truthforlife.org/slash gifts. Thanks for studying God's Word with us today. When we understand who Jesus is and what He's done, it should be reflected in how we live. Tomorrow we'll consider the changes we ought to see.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Bit of bird. Where the Learning is for Living.
