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The Jewish people were arguing over Jesus: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?’

Am I clear who Jesus is? Am I clear on who is in charge? Most days I think yes but then sometimes not so much.

Jesus said, “Don’t bicker [murmur and complain] among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me — that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.

This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally — to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me. | John 6:43-46

Our Master’s statement “For I came down from heaven”, disturbed the religious elites, for they knew it was a claim of deity. They thought they knew Jesus, who He was and where He came from. Jesus, of course, was the legal son of Joseph but not his natural son, for He was born of a virgin. The elites identified Jesus with Nazareth in Galilee, not Bethlehem in Judea; and they thought that Joseph was His natural father. Had they investigated the matter, they would have learned who Jesus really is.

Even in the days of Moses, the Jews were known for their murmuring. It is the same with us today. There is a whole of complaining going on.

Perhaps the leaders and some of the crowd had now moved into the synagogue to continue the discussion. The main issue was, “Where did He come from?” Five times Jesus used the phrase “came down from heaven,” but they would not accept it.

Jesus further explained how those who miss God’s goal (aka sinner) can come to God: it is through the truth of the Word. The Father draws the sinner by His Word. Jesus quoted Isaiah 54:13 (or perhaps Jer. 31:33–34) to prove His point:

“And they shall all be taught of God.”

I must be a student, a learner, a disciple. It is through the teaching of the Word that God draws people to the Messiah. The sinner hears, learns, and comes as the Father draws him.

A mystery? Yes! A blessed reality? Yes!

This was basically the same message He gave after He had healed the paralytic. The crowd wanted to see something, but their real need was to learn something. It is by the Word that we “see” God and receive the faith to come to the Messiah and trust Him (Rom. 10:17).