We should start providing verse references for all of our statements. I'll let you provide verses that say what you're saying.
An important issue to take into account with this chapter, is that translators seem to have translated the greek "
hina" meaning "
so that, in order that" as a simple "
that" (Greek hoti: that, because) in several places. This gives the impression that
hina introduces a relative clause, rather than a purpose clause. This is very misleading regarding the sense of the Greek text. When the Greek says, "This is the will of God, so that..." we need to look either before or after the purpose clause for what the will of God referred to is.
I already gave you the text references for Luke 6:13 a and b in the previous post, which is why I referred to it as the Luke 6 text.
"And when it was day, he called to him his disciples, and of them He chose twelve, whom He also named apostles."
Judas was already a disciple, so Judas must have already come to Jesus to hear and see what the Father was giving Jesus to do and say, The Father drew Judas even closer by making him an apostle.
Same comment. Did you consider every verse that uses the word or phrase? Global statements like this should be backed up. Maybe it's esoteric in the sense that it is understood by those who are interested, but really it's just context in GJohn. Here are some observations looking only at an English translation at this point. My search phrase is "
com* to me":
NKJ Jn. 5:40 "But you are not willing to
come to Me that you may have life.
- John sets the context for Jesus' use of the phrase = come to Me for a purpose, which is to have eternal life.
- I'm going to assume you agree that belief in Jesus is needed for eternal life.
- Come to Jesus > Eternal Life
"You are not willing to come to me in order to have life" does not mean coming to me automatically gives you eternal life. If I come to school in order to goof around with my friends, I am not coming to school so that I might learn. If the teacher says, "You are not willing to come to school so that you might learn," s/he is not saying that if you come to school, you will automatically learn. S/he is simply pointing out the inadequacy of my attitude when I am coming to school.
What does your > mean? Are you assuming that "come to Jesus"
implies automatically receiving "eternal life"? What are you reading into the simple rebuke "But you are unwilling to come to me so that you might have life." We see in the very same chapter that many people came to Jesus who did not automatically receive eternal life.
NKJ Jn. 35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who
comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who
believes in Me shall never thirst.
- I've already stated how I see this interrelation of coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus.
- Do these 2 concepts not go together - to never hunger and never thirst - to come to Jesus and/even believe in Jesus for eternal life?
- Come to Jesus / Believe in Jesus > Never hunger never thirst
Jesus had just taken five loaves and two fish and was able to distribute from those enough to ,feed 5000 plus women and children, so that none needed to go away hungry. Now he is declaring Himself the bread of life, spiritual bread that has come down from heaven. Those who come to Jesus [
for spiritual food] will be given spiritual food, His teachings, which if they absorb it and mull over it, will satisfy their hunger for
a standing of righteousness with God. Of course, someone may come to Jesus for something other than His teaching, and may reject His teachings because they are focussed on getting something else from Him. They aren't hungry for righteousness. So, of those who come to Jesus, some don't hunger because His teaching feeds them; and some aren't hungry because that were not hungry when they came.
In John 4:14 Jesus has already said, "But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The one who
believes in Jesus, not the one who merely comes to Jesus, is given the Holy Spirit. Now in John 6:35 Jesus is saying that the one who believes in Him will never thirst. So, believing in Him is a prerequisite to receiving the Holy Spirit to quench their thirst for
the power to do righteousness.
So, there are three different things in mind here.
1. coming to Jesus, that is, drawing near to Jesus for whatever motive, whether to listen to learn, or to listen to argue and accuse, or to get some blessing like healing or alms, or to see a miracle...
2. If coming hungry for a right standing with God, Jesus, the bread of life, will give teaching (fragments distributed from the loaf,) that will meet that need.
3. If coming thirsty for power to do righteousness believes in Jesus,, Jesus in an ongoing conversation based on a relationship, will keep on speaking words that are Spirit and life into the believer that empower him/her both to will and to do what pleases God.
Coming to Jesus is not in this text supposed to be equated to believing in Jesus, because the context makes it clear that many came to Jesus who did not believe in Him.
NKJ Jn. 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will
come to Me, and the one who
comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
- To come to Jesus in the sense in which Jesus is speaking - the Father must give the man to Jesus.
Correct. "All" here is panta (all things) which includes more than just all men (pantas), but it does include all men, so all who come to Jesus, and all who don't come to Jesus, have been given to Jesus. We should be careful to avoid the negative inference fallacy here. Just because John says
a certain group are given to Jesus
does not mean that they are the
only ones given to Jesus. Since
all things have been given to Jesus by the Father, it is a truism that
all men who come to Jesus have been given to Jesus.
All men the Father gives to Jesus > will come to Jesus > Jesus will not them out
More accurately,
everything (panta) the Father gives Jesus will come to Jesus. Jesus has been given every thing, including every person. In real time, the Father is giving Jesus certain things ( heat, cold, toe=redness, travel requirements, interactions with people liable to treat Jesus with abuse, or scorn, or criticism, or kindness...) each day as God wills. Jesus is confessing His need to accept whatever the father allots to him each day, and not to despise reject anyone who comes to Him, because He came to do the Fathers will, so that people might believe in Him.
6:38 Jesus came down to do the Father's will
- 6:39 The Father's will for all men He gives to Jesus / who come to Jesus = Jesus not lose from them (this looks to speak of an individual from the group) but raise him (no one from the group so all the group) up in the last day
- 6:40 Explanation/Elaboration: This is Jesus' Father's will = That all the men who see (come to the understanding of something) the Son and believe into Him have eternal life and/namely Jesus will raise him (the group) in the last day.
- The Father gives men to Jesus > all these men come to Jesus / come to an understanding of Jesus and believe into Jesus > Jesus will not cast out any of them > Jesus will raise them in the last day / they will have eternal life
There are some mistakes here IMO.
- 6:39 The Father's will so that (hina) He should lose nothing of what the Father gave Him but raise it up on the last day,(i.e. so that Jesus be perfectly obedient and qualify for resurrection and Messiahship, so that he can resurrect all men and then raise up all of the universe as a brand new creation) is that Jesus not reject anyone coming to Him (37b-38)
- 6:40 This is Jesus' Father's will (i.e. what was just stated above) so that (hina) all those who are believing in the Son through observing Him during His ministry may have eternal life, and Jesus will raise Hm up on the last day. Again, we should be careful to avoid the negative inference fallacy here too. Jusr because Jesus is going to raise these belivers on the last day does not mean these are the only ones who will be raised up on the last day.
- The Father has given all men to Jesus ; some of these men come to Jesus; of those who come to Jesus, He will not tell any to take a hike; some of these come to an understanding of Jesus and believe into Jesus; they will be given aeonous life; and Jesus will raise them in the last day.
I will stop here. If you still insist that come means believe, there is probably no point in untangling what remains of your post.
Let me know whether you can now see why my point of view makes sense.