No One Can Come
Pastor Marq Toombs • January 17, 2021
Sermon Overview
JOHN 6:35–48
In this passage we look at Jesus’s claim that no one can come unto him unless the Father draws him. This statement from Jesus displays how both the Father and the Son are engaged in this mission of salvation to reveal the love of God to us in Christ.
Sermon Transcript
Grace and peace be with you from the Lord Jesus Christ.
As you know we have just started a new series. A brief series on something we're calling, No One Can. And we want to clarify each week that when we highlight this in this series, we're simply highlighting words that Jesus used in his own teaching and preaching.
Why did Jesus say no one can? Was he trying to shame people? Was he trying to show people how worthless and useless they are? Not at all.
Our approach in this series is not to shame anyone but to simply highlight what our deepest problems are. And then to move on to show how God answers those problems with His grace. And so we need to see our inabilities, where our failings and weaknesses are, what our limitations are, so we can move on to see what God is able to do for us.
And this is the purpose and the goal of this series. We want people to see the grace and love of God at work in the world, at work in his church, and at work in their lives. And we hope and pray that you will see that in your life.
I was thinking this week about this notion of can and cannot and how throughout the course of my life, and perhaps throughout the course of your life, you have been told something about the power of positive thinking. That if you just believe you can do something then you can do it. And many of us grew up sort of being catechized by the story of the little engine that could. Maybe that's outdated, but some of you seem to remember it. And you know the story. It's how various trains in that story were invited or asked to do something that seemed very difficult. And all of the trains had an excuse. "No, I'm too new" or "I was made for a different purpose" or what have you. And then they come to this little engine, and they load the engine down with all these toys. And the engine is really too small to do the task, but along the way this little engine says what? Going up those, up the steep hill to get to the town with all the toys, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can". Spoiler alert . The little engine did. And on the way down the hill, he praises himself by saying, "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could." And people look to that [story] and say, "Look, we need to have a spirit of optimism, and we need to have positive thinking. And it's in thinking positive thoughts that we can do things that we thought were impossible".
And I will grant that that is true in some areas of life. But that is not what Jesus had in mind when he came to us and said, "No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him". There's no amount of positive thinking, good vibes or feelings or sending light to other people that's going to help you get over that hump. Jesus is highlighting our inability so that he can highlight the Father's ability. And that's what I want us to look at today.
We read a beautiful section of the scripture that will serve as a backdrop for the story, but I'm gonna draw our attention to verses 44 and 45. I want us to see that our inability comes in many shapes and sizes. And we need to keep that in mind. Our inability comes in many shapes and sizes, and I'll address that in just a moment.
So Jesus emphasizes two things here, the total inability of man to save himself and also the total ability and the willingness of God the Father to save as many as he pleases.
Think of what Jesus says here, "No one can come to me". A lot of ink has been spilled about this verse and many people will sort of put a period at the end of that statement, "No one can come to me", as if Jesus is saying everyone "Stay away, get back, what do you think you're doing?" But I think what's happening in the story is this: It's a little bit of an inside joke. I think Jesus actually says this tongue in cheek. And the reason I say that is because if you read the context of John 6, you will see that some 20 plus times, the word "come" or a variation of the word "come" is mentioned in the story.
You've got crowds coming to Jesus from all over the place. And they don't just come to one place, they follow him from place to place. They even come to make him king. In other words, John is highlighting for us that in this story, people from all stages of life and all different areas of that world are coming to Jesus. And then Jesus looks around at these crowds, thousands of people that he has fed, people that have crossed the sea twice to be with him. These are people who want to be with them, they're coming to him, and then he says, "No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him".
And what is he actually saying here? He wants the crowd to understand that the Father is at work in their life, the Father is at work in him, the Father is at work in this community. And why would he be at work this community? Well, these are the people of God. God has sworn covenant promises to them. They bear the sign of the covenant, and God has spoken through His prophets, beautiful and wonderful things about them that are now being fulfilled in the life of Jesus. And God made flesh, God has come down to His people, and He is fulfilling his covenant promises to them.
And so it's Jesus's way of saying, "You couldn't just come to me on your own. You wouldn't have chosen that for yourselves, but with or without your knowledge, God the Father has been at work in your life. He's been at work in this community, and in these crowds and the various villages and towns, and now here we are on the shore of the sea. God is at work and God is always at work." And this is Jesus's sort of subtle way of glorifying the Father, setting people up for a beautiful set of instructions that he's going to give.
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." In my experience over the many years of ministry, I can tell you this phrase, while intended to bring hope and promise to people, has often come upon people -- they've heard it in a very different way. They've heard it like this, "Well if it's up to the Father to draw me to the Son, then he's never going to draw me." And the reason for that is because people tend to have a very low view of the Father and a very high view of the Son.
Have you noticed that in your own life? It's like good cop, bad cop. Jesus is the good cop. He's softer, he's kinder, gentler, kinda let you get away with stuff, but the Father not so much, right? He's strict, he's stern, even selfish. He doesn't want to help you. That's how people hear a passage like this. And so they get afraid. If it's up to the Father to draw me, then I guess I'm toast. I guess there's no hope for me. Well, I wanna change your mind about that. I want you to see that there is absolutely no rivalry or competition between the Father and the Son. It's not like Jesus has to come and persuade the Father and convince him to show you kindness, and to let you in the house. That's not what's going on.
Jesus has just said that the Father is the one who sent him. We just heard it in the reading. Listen again:
"All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me".
And what is the will of the one who sent Jesus? What is the will of the Father?
"This is the will of the one who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 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."
Don't move too quickly away from that last statement. Everyone who looks on the Son. Jesus did not say that everyone who has rock solid systematic theology will be saved and raised up on the last day. That's not what he said. He said, "Everyone who looks on the Son". This is how gracious and loving the Father is. Look to Jesus, look to Jesus, and you will have eternal life, and you will be raised up on the last day. More on that in just a moment.
But what I want you to see here is that the Father and the Son share the same vision and mission for the life of the world. They want the same things and they're working together to accomplish those things, namely the salvation of the world. So again, Jesus doesn't have to convince the Father to love and accept you. The Father sent the Son into the world because He already loved you, and He wants welcome you back home. And so he sends Jesus out to find you and gather you. This is why the Father draws people to His Son, and why the Son delivers people up to the Father — they're working together. So Jesus can go out and say, "I gotta save the people that the Father has given me". And then he brings them to the Father and says, "Look who I found wandering around out there, look who I brought to you, the people you sent me to save".
And so you can see that in the work of the Father and the Son, the saving work of the Father and Son is both attractional and missional. It's attractional in the sense that God becomes flesh and enters into the world, and draws attention to himself through his Son Jesus. It's also missional in the sense that the Son goes out into the world seeking and saving the lost.
And what does it mean that the Father draws people?
I wanna unpack that and define that word for you a little bit because you hear the word draw -- and I'm looking out and I see a few kids who were probably drawing even as we speak. Well this is a different kind of draw. Jesus didn't mean that the Father is going to sketch a caricature of you and give it to you, although that would be totally cool. No, it's a different kind of draw. The word used here means that -- it means simply to drag or to haul or to pull. It's used in those ways in John's gospel. For example, when Peter pulls out a sword to cut off the head of a servant, and misses and only gets his ear, he pulls his sword out, he's drawing his sword. It's also used later when the disciples haul a net full of fish, 153 fish, they're hauling this net up out of the sea. It's the same word that's used, drawing the net out of the sea. And then it's used later as Peter drags the net to shore. Same word is used in all these places.
And that's led some people to say, Oh, well look how forceful God is, look how coercive the Father is. He drags people, kicking and screaming away from the world and to his Son. And he forces people to look upon Jesus, holds their eyes open and says, "Look at him".
And then others have gone the other way and said, "No, no, no, he's more passive in that, although He is assertive and decisive, "No one can come to me unless the Father draws them with kindness and gentleness towards His will".
So, which is it? Which is it? Is it a picture of God the aggressor violently dragging people, kicking and screaming against their will? Or is it a picture of God who is not so aggressive but more passive and gentle, luring people, wooing people? Well, if you know me well enough, you know that I believe the answer is both. And it depends in large part on who you are, and what your condition is, and what your life situation is, and what you're experiencing.
Now let me explain to you what I mean by that. I'm a Father of four children. They're now adult children, and I'm still their Father, and I've dealt with them at various stages of life. And any of you who are parents will understand exactly what I'm about to tell you. It's that there are times in your child's life when you have to drag that child kicking and screaming against their will to do what's right and good for them. And if you don't do it, you don't love your child. There are other times in your life when you would never dare to drag them, kicking and screaming anywhere. It requires you to sit down and listen patiently and counsel and guide and try to persuade. Both things are true with you as parents. How much more true are they for God the Father?
What does the Father do for us? Well yes, sometimes he comes and He drags us kicking and screaming against our will for our own good, our own safety, our own protection. A dragon has been in the world at work, snatching people, a lion is out there seeking those whom he may devour. What does the Father do? He grabs us through his Son Jesus and with the help of the Spirit. And He drags us away from that, pulls us away from that danger. But there are other times when He comes and teaches us and persuades us and guides us and counsels us.
Several years ago, Shannon and I were living in Colorado. And Shannon and the kids, with my mother-in-law, had gone up into a canyon area, a tourist place. There was a nice mountain stream running through. And our son -- that you haven't yet met -- our son got into the water and he fell in, and the river started to carry him away. And there he goes floating on his back, down the river, helpless, unable to do anything to save himself. What did his mother do? Well, she said, "Well, if he wants me to do anything I will wait on him to ask, and when he gives me permission, I will go out, and we can negotiate the terms of his salvation". That's how many professing Christians believe God interacts with the world. No, she rushed into the water, put herself at risk in order to rescue her son. A few years later, fast forward 20 years. He was on a run in Germany and he blacked out, passed out, good as dead. And some fellow soldiers brought him back, they revived him. They didn't wait to ask his permission while he was lying there unable to breathe or get his heart going. They did it for him. That's an example of God dragging us, not in a coercive, mean-spirited, aggressive way, but in a way that is good and right for us because he loves us and cares for us. I've dealt with that same son many times at 2:00 am, debating, sort of arguing, reasoning about questions of faith and science. God the Father deals with us in these two ways.
And so, sometimes in life, you are in trouble and you don't realize how much trouble you're in. And it's in the grace and mercy of God that you're snatched away from it. Other times in life, maybe you do feel the stress and the burden in your own heart. And it takes the patience and the loving kindness of God just to sit with you for a while, and take you where you are in that part of your story.
What Jesus is saying is that "No one can come to him unless the Father who sent him draws him", but then he highlights the fact that the Father is actively seeking and searching. He wants people to come to him. He's actively engaged in the life of the world because he wants people to come. And so what I want you to see here, as we wrap up this little section is this — Calvin has a good way to put it. He says, "As to the kind of drawing, it's not violent so as to compel men by external force, but still it is a powerful impulse of the Holy spirit, which makes men willing, who formerly were unwilling and reluctant".
Each one of us, and people we know outside of this congregation in our own families and our communities, each one of us is experiencing some kind of weakness or inability in our own way. It comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes our inability is simply the condition of being too young, being immature, of being ignorant, and not knowing what we ought to know. And sometimes it is a result of sickness or weakness in life. And sometimes it's even a matter of feeling dead on the inside and wishing you had a pulse or a heartbeat, maybe you feel cold towards God. The Father deals with us in all of those conditions. And as you are about to see, he does so joyfully and gladly because he wants to help and heal his children.
Jesus says that the Father draws sinners, and the million dollar question is, how in the world does the Father draw sinners to Christ? And the very brief answer Jesus gives is He teaches them. He teaches them. He teaches them with words and with deeds, "It's written in the Prophets, they will all be taught by God". But where do the prophets say that? They say it in more places than you can even imagine.
Let's go back to the Prophets and let them speak for themselves, and more importantly, as they speak to us let's hear the Father speaking for himself through the Prophets.
Let's begin with Isaiah 54:13. "All your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children".
Hosea 11:3-4, "It was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love. And I was the one who eased the yoke on their jaws. And I bent down to them and fed them". Long before the word became flesh and dwelt among us, God was at work in the world. The Father is at work with His children and the world prefiguring what He intends to do when Jesus comes. But did you hear this? God's grace does not depend upon your knowledge and understanding of his grace. God's grace does not depend upon your ability to grasp what He's doing in your life. He says, "I healed them and they didn't even know that I healed them". Eventually, they discover that, but that's a part of the grace of God at work, quietly and gently in your life. Why were those crowds gathered around Jesus after he fed the fed the 5,000? Well, because the Father had led them with cords of kindness and with bands of love to look upon his Son and to hear him.
Jeremiah 31:8-10, "Behold I will bring them from the far country, and I will gather them from the farthest parts of the earth". And who is he talking about? What kind of people is he going to bring and gather? Notice, "among them, the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor together, a great company and they shall return there." How will they come? How will they come? "With weeping they shall come. And with pleas for mercy, I will lead them back. I will make them walk by brooks of water in a straight path in which they shall not stumble. For I am a Father to Israel my first born". You see what God promises through the Prophets -- it's not that he will help those who help themselves. God promises the exact opposite. God promises to help those who cannot help themselves. He takes people exactly where they are, in the conditions they're in, whatever they happen to be. So whether it's someone at the beginning of expectation or someone who has lost their expectation and hope. Whether it's someone who is limping around and can barely walk. Or someone who can't even see what God is doing in the world. God is at work in their life because he loves them, and his grace is coming towards them to heal them, and he promises transformation. The lame are going to walk, the blind are going to see, the despairing will now have hope, why? Because God is a Father to his people.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 says, "And this is the covenant that the Father makes with His children". These are not empty promises but promises that are fulfilled even in our day, where the Father says, "I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each one teaches brother saying, 'know the Lord'", why? "For they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest" declares the Lord. And why? Why will we all know him? "For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more". If you don't hear anything else the rest of this day hear this, that God the Father promises to forgive and forget your sins. He doesn't keep records against you, He doesn't have a file cabinet with all of your screw ups, He's not doing that. He forgives and He forgets your sins. This is his covenant promise to you. And while you might be keeping records against yourself, and you might have a journal or a file of everything you've done, and all you can remember or imagine you've done, just know that the Father is more gracious to you than you are to yourself. He's more merciful to you than any other person will be ever. He forgives and forgets. And that's why we sing.
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should draw us to his Son
And show us we are his treasure
They will all be taught by God and everyone who has listened and learned from the Father comes to Jesus. How do we come to Jesus? It is the love of the Father that compels us, that moves us. The truth of his word enables us to come. We love him because he first loved us.
Now how do we listen and learn from the Father? It's not by gazing at our navel. It's not by scrolling social media. It's not even by reading tea leaves. No, we listen and learn from the Father by the ordinary means of grace. And I quickly wanna show you four areas, four areas where God speaks to us, where we listen and learn from Him and He centers us on His son Jesus.
First, we listened and learned from the Father by means of our experience with His mercy and love. The crowds that came to Jesus came because he was able to meet some of their felt needs. He gave them bread and fish, not to show off his power, but because they were hungry. And so he met their needs, and met them where they were. It was this act of love and this act of kindness that drew them closer to him, and encouraged them to listen to him and animated them and caused them to want to follow him around and hear more. The Father was drawing men, women, and children to Jesus through these acts of mercy. And when Jesus fed the crowds what was God in the flesh doing? He was doing what Hosea said he would do. He was bending down to feed His people.
The acts of mercy that this congregation shows to others, draws attention to Jesus. Walking through a neighborhood and praying for your community and inviting them to a meal so they don't have to be alone, those are acts of mercy. Regardless of the result and the effect, acts of mercy. Raising money to buy medicine and food to take care of people on the other side of the world that you likely will never see in your lifetime -- acts of mercy that draw people to the Lord Jesus Christ. God works through that ordinary means.
Secondly, we listen and learn from the Father by means of the reading, the preaching, and the hearing of His word in the Holy Scriptures. I cannot impress upon you enough the importance of engaging the word of God on a daily basis, of attending to the word of God when you gather for worship. Listen to your Father, learn his will for your life, live out the wisdom he sets down for you. And do it because you just need to hear from your Father. What does your Father want you to do with your life?
Thirdly, we listen and learn from the Father by means of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper. It was alluded to last week when we heard that everyone must be born from above by water and the Spirit in order to see and enter the kingdom of God. It is in baptism that God draws near to us and draws us near to his Son. It is in baptism that God sprinkles us clean with water and makes us clean by the washing of water with the word. Everyone must eat Jesus's flesh and drink his blood in order to enjoy everlasting life. Jesus says, "I am the bread of life that came down from heaven". And then he offers himself to that whole crowd in community. "You must eat my flesh and drink my blood. And in this way you can have life in yourselves". God is the one who gives us spiritual food and spiritual drink in order to satisfy our deepest hungers and our driest thirsts. These are means of grace through which God speaks to us and teaches us and draws us near to the Lord Jesus.
But fourthly, and above all, we listen and learn from the Father by means of the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ. In other words, by means of the person and work of Christ, God the Father draws all kinds of people to Himself. And how does he do this? He does it by lifting up his Son on the cross, lifting up his Son from the grave, lifting up his Son to heaven.
As Jesus said, "Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up", why? "So that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." Later Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me". And finally, Jesus said "When I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to myself". He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."
The point of all of this is that God came down and was lifted up in order to draw attention to his mercy and grace and to his love and kindness, his compassion and his desire to save the world, not destroy us but deliver us from evil. So no matter how low you might feel today, no matter how dead inside you might be, no matter how far away you think you are, know that just as Jesus was lifted up, so he promises to lift up everyone who comes to him, so that all will be raised up with him and with his Father in eternal life.
All of that to say this, we listen and learn from our Father by the ordinary means of grace that He provides: acts of love and mercy, the word of God heard in the preaching of His word, seen felt and tasted in the water, the bread and the wine of the sacraments.
We listen and learn from the Father by looking up to his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
And as Jesus concluded this portion of his teaching, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life".
Do you believe?
Let us pray.
