DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

St. John 6:40-44    (5/15)    CHRIST IS RISEN!    Gospel for Thursday of the Myrrhbearers

 

Unless the Father Draw Him: St. John 6:40-44, especially vs. 44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him....”  Most Christians have friends or family members like the people of Capernaum: those who stand off from the Faith and resist the claims of Christ on their lives (vss. 41,42).  We yearn for them to know the joy of our Holy Faith, but they do not “see.”  They do not “believe in” the Lord.  Still, the Lord speaks of others who do see “the Son and believe in Him.” (vs. 40).  Why the difference?  In this passage, the Lord addresses several aspects of the answer to this question: 1) failure to see (vs. 40), 2) failure to believe in Him (vs. 40), and 3) resisting the Father Who draws men to Himself (vs. 44).

Undeniably, God has every power needed to draw men to Christ.  The case of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus is a famous “drawing” (Acts 9:3-8).  Historically, God has created times of widespread willingness to see and believe in Christ.  During such seasons, multitudes of men and women have flocked to the Good Shepherd.  Why then, at present, are so many not coming, so many showing no signs of being drawn?  Recall that God’s gift of freedom includes the freedom to resist Him.  Drawing is not forcing.  Judas Iscariot was drawn to Christ but not forced to honor Him.  Ananias and Sapphira were drawn to God, yet they turned aside (Acts 5:1-10).  God’s love does not fail.  Rather, men freely turn aside, refrain, and hold back from love.  Still there is the miracle: God draws men and women to Himself, and some come home!

The Lord describes the Faithful as someone “who sees the Son” (vs. 40).  Some admit within themselves that Jesus is the Son of God.  We describe such persons as believers.  Those who do not “see” are not among the Faithful.  Such perception is called illumination.  Since seeing is essential, we pray that those who come into the Church may “know that Thou art the only true God with Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.”  About those who do not see, St. Paul observes: “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Cor. 4:4).

The Lord continues describing the Faithful as one who, having seen the Son, “believes in Him” (vs. 40).  A critical step must be taken after agreeing with the idea that Christ might have a claim on one’s life.  To say that “Jesus is God” may be either “an interesting idea,” or perhaps “a ridiculous idea.”  The issue is commitment, and is put before candidates at Baptism: “Dost thou unite thyself unto Christ?”  One who chooses is again challenged: “Dost thou believe in Him?”

One may easily believe that a person like Hitler or Stalin was a great leader.  It was quite another matter to say, “I believe in Hitler,” or “I unite myself to Stalin.”  Wherever the Gospel of Christ has been preached there have been those who have “begged that these words might be preached to them...” (Acts 13:42), and there have been those who “were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming...opposed [to] the things spoken...” (Acts 13:45).  Ultimately, one chooses to submit to Christ as Lord and God, or one does not.  God does not force Himself.

A constant factor that applies to every person who “hears” the Gospel, is the love of God the Father Who draws all men to Himself through Christ.  The Lord says explicitly: “God [the Father] so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).  The Christian knows that “the spirit of error, the spirit of guile, the spirit of idolatry and of every concupiscence” operates at the bidding of Satan to blind men to God the Son.  God’s “drawing” is not forcing, but is active love, stronger than death (SOS 8:6), that reaches out to the deluded, enslaved by illusions of self-realization.

O Master, Lord our God, call to Thy holy Illumination Thy children who see Thee not and who believe Thee not, and grant them great grace to be renewed unto life everlasting.

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