Cheryl Schatz

Peter, Your case as presented is that in John 6 the term “coming” is a physical coming that means a physical following Jesus so that those people whom Jesus is talking about in John 6:37 must actually see Him and follow Him. It is to these alone that John 6:37 directly applies. To prove your case you bring up words that you believe limit the term “coming” to a physical presence of real people alive at that time that must be able to actually see Jesus. This is an evaluation of your contextual proof. We look at the Greek words translated “come” in John 6:37 to compare them with the context. All that the Father gives me will come – Greek word hēkō …and the one who comes to Me – Greek word erchomai These are two words that Jesus used that are connected. We will have a look at BDAG lexicon to see if these terms are synonymous with “follow” in a bit. Your point is that while Jesus said “come” He also means physically follow. You gave these two as direct context: – verse 2 – “a large crowd kept FOLLOWING him” – verse 5 – “..he looked up and saw a large crowd COMING toward him…” – In verse 2 the term “followed” is the Greek word akoloutheō. It is not a term found in John 6:37. – In verse 5 the term “coming” is erchomai. This one is one of the 2 Greek words used in John 6:37. You also gave this example as direct context: – verse 24 – 25 – “…they themselves got into the boats and WENT to Capernaum LOOKING for Jesus. When they FOUND him…they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you COME here?” – In verse 24 “went” or “came” to Capernaum is the Greek term erchomai. This one again matches one of the terms for “come” found in John 6:37. – In verse 25 the term “found” is the Greek word heuriskō. This is not a term Jesus used in John 6:37. – In verse 25 the term “come” is ginomai. It is not a term that Jesus used in John 6:37. You also used as direct context: – verse 26 – “Jesus answered them, Very truly, I tell you, you are not LOOKING for me (for the purpose of being true disciples)..” (italics mine) – In verse 26 the term “looking” is the Greek word ginomai. It is not a term that Jesus used in John 6:37. I will talk about the verses you quote that are at the end of John 6 shortly. So, in your context that you presented, most of the terms are not the words that Jesus used. We can agree that the crowd was not seeking Jesus because they had faith in Him. They were seeking Him because they wanted a full belly – forever! While the narrative uses different terms than Jesus used, the narrative is helpful for us to understand the mindset of the crowd. But to understand what Jesus meant, we are helped by looking at the context of Jesus’ own words that you missed. Was Jesus telling the crowd that they must physically follow Him? Jesus’ interaction with the crowd shows that His intention was faith: John 6:29–30 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” 30 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Notice that in context, the crowd understood Jesus. They Notice that the crowd, in context, understood that they were being asked to “believe” Jesus. Just before verse 37 Jesus said: John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. Jesus directly connects the term “comes” with “believes” not physically following (following is not a term that Jesus used in verse 37). The Greek term for “comes” in verse 35 is erchomai the same term as Jesus used in verse 37. Verse 35 is a direct context of verse 37 but you didn’t quote it. In verse 35 the direct context of verse 37, Jesus attaches coming with hunger and thirst. Jesus says that very same thing in the next chapter. John 7:37–38 37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Here the direct context of the words of Jesus is that “coming” is connected to “drinking” and believing and “living water”. Coming is not connected to following but to a personal experience with Jesus, something that the crowd did not do. You also did not quote verse 40 which is the direct context and Jesus attaches the term “beholds” with “believes”. John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” The Greek term for “beholds” is theōreō. It means to see with intention. What is the intention? To believe. The direct context around verse 37 is not what the crowd does, but what Jesus says. He defines His terms, and the crowd does not. Jesus gives more context of His own meaning in chapter 5. John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. The Greek word means to hear with intention. Jesus gave a solemn truth saying here that attaches hearing (just like seeing) with believing. He also attaches this believing with eternal life (passed out of death into life). So is it what the crowd DOES in the context, the defining of the meaning of Jesus’ words? You have not proven that the crowd’s actions defines His words. Let’s look at the BDAG meaning of the terms that Jesus used in John 6:37. I will add the screen print here. hēkō means: of the coming of a worshiper to a deity. https://mmoutreach.org/tg/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/John-6-37-coming-to-diety.jpg The other Greek word that Jesus used for “come” is erchomai. This Greek word can mean a natural or sensory phenomena or a transcendent and moral-spiritual phenomena: of spiritual coming of God. https://mmoutreach.org/tg/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/john6-37-spiritual.jpg I will continue in the next comment after I insert the actual screen shots into this comment.