Cheryl Schatz

Peter, in your last comment you said: Here’s an interesting question that might help: In verse 37 Jesus says that “anyone comes to me I will never drive away”. If this applies across time – thereby inferring a future-ness to the meaning of the passage, are you able to envision a scenario whereby Jesus is “driving people away” in our current time? Jesus’ words reflect Matthew 7:23 where in the end times Jesus will command the unbeliever to depart from Him. However in John 6:37, Jesus used the aorist tense which in this instance does not indicate time. Rather, Jesus is talking about an assurance that He emphasizes with the double negative. Jesus said that the one who continues to come to Him, (continues to place his faith in Jesus) will NEVER (NASB certainly not is a double negative) be cast out. Jesus is not referring to the ones who will be cast out but the ones who will never be cast out. There is no view of Jesus casting people out in our time that I can see from John 6. Does this help?