John 6:37

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(37) All that the Father giveth me.—There is something startling in this power of the human will to reject the fullest evidence, and to remain unbelieving, after the proof which it has itself demanded as a foundation for its belief. In that assembly there are representatives of the differing stages of faith and non-faith in Him, which every age of Christianity has seen. Here are men in the pride of human wisdom rejecting Him because He does not fulfil their own idea of what the Messiah should be. Here are men of humble heart finding in Him the satisfaction of the soul’s deepest wants, and believing and knowing that He is the Holy One of God (John 6:69). Here are men of the Nicodemus type, passing from one stage to the other, almost believing, but held back by their will, which willeth not to believe. Here are men, too, of the Judas type (John 6:64; John 6:71), traitors even in the faithful few. For these varying effects there must be a cause, and in the next few verses Jesus dwells upon this. He finds the reason (1) in the eternal will of God, of whose gift it is that man willeth; and (2) in the determination of the will of man, of whose acceptance it is that God giveth. Men have seized now one and now the other of these truths, and have built upon them in separation logical systems of doctrine which are but half-truths. He states them in union. Their reconciliation transcends human reason, but is within the experience of human life. It is, as St. Bernard said, following the words of Jesus, “If there is no free will, there is nothing to save; if there is no free grace, there is nothing wherewith to save; “or, in words more familiar to English ears, “. . . . the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will” (the Tenth Article of Religion).

And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.—It is not easy to improve the English rendering of this verse, and there is a sacredness in the sound of the old, old words; but still, they convey to few readers the full meaning of the original. The word “come” is made to serve, within two or three lines, for three different Greek words. Literally, we should read, All that the Father giveth Me shall arrive at Me, and him that is on the way I will in no wise cast out: for I am come down. . . . The present tense of “giveth” should be noted. The giving is not of an act in the past, but of a ceaseless love ever in the present. The word “all” is the neuter of the collective whole, thought of without reference to individual action. It is repeated, and still with reference to the gift in John 6:39; while in John 6:40, with the thought of each man’s coming, it passes to the masculine, which marks out the separate life and faith of every unit in the mass.

It may be that the words “come” (arrive at) and “cometh” (is on the way), contrasted as they are in this verse, refer to the different positions of those who seek Him—to the ninety and nine in the fold, and the one who in the far distance hears His voice and comes in doubt and fear; but the context seems rather to point out the fulfilment of the Messianic kingdom as the Father’s gift, and the individual difficulties of, and individual help given to, those who strive to enter it, and shall in no wise be cast out. There were men among those who heard Him who in darkness and difficulty were feeling their way: these men were guided and strengthened by an unseen hand until they found it; there were men there who were being cast out but not by Him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:36-46 The discovery of their guilt, danger, and remedy, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, makes men willing and glad to come, and to give up every thing which hinders applying to him for salvation. The Father's will is, that not one of those who were given to the Son, should be rejected or lost by him. No one will come, till Divine grace has subdued, and in part changed his heart; therefore no one who comes will ever be cast out. The gospel finds none willing to be saved in the humbling, holy manner, made known therein; but God draws with his word and the Holy Ghost; and man's duty is to hear and learn; that is to say, to receive the grace offered, and consent to the promise. None had seen the Father but his beloved Son; and the Jews must expect to be taught by his inward power upon their minds, and by his word, and the ministers whom he sent among them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All - The original word is in the neuter gender, but it is used, doubtless, for the masculine, or perhaps refers to his people considered as a mass or body, and means that every individual that the Father had given him should come to him.

The Father giveth me - We here learn that those who come to Christ, and who will be saved, are given to him by God.

1. God promised him that he should see of the travail of his soul - that is, "the fruit of his wearisome toil" (Lowth), and should be satisfied, Isaiah 53:11.

2. All men are sinners, and none have any claim to mercy, and he may therefore bestow salvation on whom he pleases.

3. All people of themselves are disposed to reject the gospel, John 5:40.

4. God enables those who do believe to do it. He draws them to Him by His Word and Spirit; "He opens their hearts to understand the Scriptures Acts 16:14; and He grants to them repentance, Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25.

5. All those who become Christians may therefore be said to be given to Jesus as the reward of his sufferings, for his death was the price by which they were redeemed. Paul says Ephesians 1:4-5 that, "he hath chosen us in him (that is, in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

Shall come to me - This is an expression denoting that they would believe on him. To come to one implies our need of help, our confidence that he can aid us, and our readiness to trust to him. The sinner comes to Jesus feeling that he is poor, and needy, and wretched, and casts himself on his mercy, believing that he alone can save him. This expression also proves that men are not compelled to believe on Christ. Though they who believe are given to him, and though his Spirit works in them faith and repentance, yet they are made willing in the day of his power, Psalm 110:3. No man is compelled to go to heaven against his will, and no man is compelled to go to hell against his will. The Spirit of God inclines the will of one, and he comes freely as a moral agent. The other chooses the way to death; and, though God is constantly using means to save him, yet he prefers the path that leads down to woe.

Him that cometh - Everyone that comes - that is, everyone that comes in a proper mariner, feeling that he is a lost and ruined sinner. This invitation is wide, and full, and free. It shows the unbounded mercy of God; and it shows, also, that the reason, and the only reason, why men are not saved, is that they will not come to Christ. Of any sinner it may be said that if he had been willing to come to Christ he might have come and been saved. As he chooses not to come, he cannot blame God because he saves others who are willing, no matter from what cause, and who thus are made partakers of everlasting life.

In no wise - In no manner, or at no time. The original is simply, "I will not cast out."

Cast out - Reject, or refuse to save. This expression does not refer to the doctrine of perseverance of the saints, but to the fact that Jesus will not reject or refuse any sinner who comes to him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

37-40. All that, &c.—This comprehensive and very grand passage is expressed with a peculiar artistic precision. The opening general statement (Joh 6:37) consists of two members: (1) "All that the Father Giveth me shall come to me"—that is, "Though ye, as I told you, have no faith in Me, My errand into the world shall in no wise be defeated; for all that the Father giveth Me shall infallibly come to Me." Observe, what is given Him by the Father is expressed in the singular number and neuter gender—literally, "everything"; while those who come to Him are put in the masculine gender and singular number—"every one." The whole mass, so to speak, is gifted by the Father to the Son as a unity, which the Son evolves, one by one, in the execution of His trust. So Joh 17:2, "that He should give eternal life to all that which Thou hast given Him" [Bengel]. This "shall" expresses the glorious certainty of it, the Father being pledged to see to it that the gift be no empty mockery. (2) "And him that cometh to me I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT." As the former was the divine, this is just the human side of the same thing. True, the "coming" ones of the second clause are just the "given" ones of the first. But had our Lord merely said, "When those that have been given Me of My Father shall come to Me, I will receive them"—besides being very flat, the impression conveyed would have been quite different, sounding as if there were no other laws in operation, in the movement of sinners to Christ, but such as are wholly divine and inscrutable to us; whereas, though He does speak of it as a sublime certainty which men's refusals cannot frustrate, He speaks of that certainty as taking effect only by men's voluntary advances to Him and acceptance of Him—"Him that cometh to Me," "whosoever will," throwing the door wide open. Only it is not the simply willing, but the actually coming, whom He will not cast out; for the word here employed usually denotes arrival, as distinguished from the ordinary word, which rather expresses the act of coming (see Joh 8:42, Greek), [Webster and Wilkinson]. "In no wise" is an emphatic negative, to meet the fears of the timid (as in Re 21:27, to meet the presumption of the hardened). These, then, being the two members of the general opening statement, what follows is meant to take in both,

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Here ariseth a great question amongst interpreters of various persuasions, what giving of the Father is here meant; whether an eternal designation of persons to eternal life, in order to the obtaining of which the persons so predestinated are given to Christ, as he who was to be the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer of the world; or the infusing the habits of special, saving grace, by which persons are enabled actually to believe. If the former, the words do not only infer an infallible connexion betwixt faith and eternal life and salvation; but also betwixt the decree of election and the collation of special grace, by which men are enabled to believe, and, believing, are saved. That which seemeth to favour the latter opinion is, that the verb is in the present tense; it is not, all that the Father hath given, but

all that the Father giveth; which would incline us to think, that though in other texts the Father’s giving of souls to Christ may signify his eternal election, yet in this text it rather signifieth the donation or giving the habits of special grace. But there are very learned and pious interpreters of another mind, who think by the Father’s giving, is meant the Father’s choosing souls in him, Ephesians 1:4. Certain it is, that there are some chosen to life, and the certain means by which that life is to be obtained, Ephesians 1:4,5. And as certain it is, that persons so chosen in him, shall neither miss of that life, nor yet of that effectual means by which it shall be obtained. Whether that eternal election, or donation, be here intended or no, is not so momentous to determine. For the Jesuits’ argument, that if we understand it of such an eternal gift, our Saviour rather excuses than accuseth them for their unbelief, by telling them they could not believe, because they were not given unto him; it holdeth as strong against special grace as against particular election; so as if that were true, it could be interpreted in neither of those senses: but by their leaves it doth not at all excuse them, unless they did what in them lay to come to Christ: but this question belongs rather to polemical writers than interpreters. Certain it is, that it is such a giving here mentioned, as shall be followed by a coming to Christ; that is, believing in him, and by a true faith receiving of him.

And those that do so, our Lord saith, he

will in no wise cast out. Out of heaven, say some; others understand it of perseverance; but certainly the phrase denotes no more than the freeness and readiness of Christ to receive every one who truly believeth in him, and to preserve him to eternal life and salvation. Who they are that are given to Christ, and that will or shall believe in him, is a secret that is known unto God alone: but this may be known to all, that Christ will not throw off any soul that is willing to receive him as its Saviour, and that no such soul shall perish for ever.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

All that the Father giveth me,.... The "all" design not the apostles only, who were given to Christ as such; for these did not all, in a spiritual manner, come to him, and believe in him; one of them was a devil, and the son of perdition; much less every individual of mankind: these are, in some sense, given to Christ to subserve some ends of his mediatorial kingdom, and are subject to his power and control, but do not come to him, and believe in him: but the whole body of the elect are here meant, who, when they were chosen by God the Father, were given and put into the hands of Christ, as his seed, his spouse, his sheep, his portion, and inheritance, and to be saved by him with an everlasting salvation; which is an instance of love and care on the Father's part, to give them to Christ; and of grace and condescension in him to receive them, and take the care of them; and of distinguishing goodness to them: and though Christ here expresses this act of his Father's in the present tense, "giveth", perhaps to signify the continuance and unchangeableness of it; yet he delivers it in the past tense, in John 6:39, "hath given"; and so all the Oriental versions render it here. And it certainly respects an act of God, antecedent to coming to Christ, and believing in him, which is a fruit and effect of electing love, as is clear from what follows:

shall come unto me; such who are given to Christ in eternal election, and in the everlasting covenant of grace, shall, and do, in time, come to Christ, and believe in him to the saving of their souls; which is not to be ascribed to, any power and will in them, but to the power and grace of God. It is not here said, that such who are given to Christ have a "power" to come to him, or "may" come if they will, but they shall come; efficacious grace will bring them to Christ, as poor perishing sinners, to venture on him for life and salvation:

and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out; such who come to Christ in a spiritual manner, and are brought to believe in him truly and really, he not only receives kindly, but keeps and preserves them by his power, and will not cast them out, or thrust them from him into perdition: the words are very strongly and emphatically expressed in the original, "I will not, not, or never, never, cast out without"; or cast out of doors. Christ will never cast them out of his affections; nor out of his arms; nor out of that family that is named of him; nor out of, and from his church, which is his body, and of which they are members; nor out of a state of justification and salvation; and therefore they shall never perish, but have everlasting life. The three glorious doctrines of grace, of eternal election, efficacious grace in conversion, and the final perseverance of the saints, are clearly contained in these words.

Geneva Study Bible

{8} All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

(8) The gift of faith proceeds from the free election of the Father in Christ, after which everlasting life necessarily follows: therefore faith in Christ Jesus is a sure witness of our election, and therefore of our glorification, which is to come.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

John 6:37 ff. Through this culpable οὐ πιστεύετε, they were quite different from those whom the Father gave Him. How entirely different were all these latter; and how blessed through me, according to the Father’s will, must their lot be!

πᾶν] Neuter, of persons as in John 3:6, John 18:2; 1 Corinthians 1:27. It designates them as a “totam, quasi massam,” Bengel.

ὁ δίδ. μοι ὁ πατ.] viz. by the efficacious influence of His grace (John 6:44-45), whereby He inclines them to come, and draws them to me; οὐ τὸ τυχὸν πρᾶγμα ἡ πίστις ἡ εἰς ἐμέ. ἀλλὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν δεῖται ῥοπῆς, Chrysostom. Moral self-determination (John 5:40, John 7:17; Matthew 23:37) may obey this influence (John 6:40), and may withstand it; he who withstands it is not given Him by the Father, Php 2:13. “There is implied here a humble, simple, hungering and thirsting soul,” Luther. Explanations resting on dogmatic preconceptions are: of the absolute election of grace (Augustine, Beza, and most others[233]), of the natural pietatis studium (Grotius), and others.

πρὸς ἐμέ] afterwards ΠΡΌς ΜΕ. But ἘΜΈ is emphatic. The ἭΞΕΙ is not more (arrivera jusqu’à moi, Godet) than ἐλεύσεται, as John 6:35 already shows; comp. the following Κ. Τ. ἘΡΧΌΜΕΝΟΝ, with which ἭΞΩ is again resumed.

Οὐ ΜῊ ἘΚΒΆΛΩ ἜΞΩ] I certainly will not cast him out, i.e. will not exclude him from my kingdom on its establishment; comp. John 6:39-40; John 15:6; also Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13. The negative expression is a litotes full of love; Nonnus adds: ἀλλὰ νόῳ χαίροντι δεδέξομαι.

John 6:38-39. “How could I cast them out, seeing that I am come only to fulfil the divine will? and this requires of me, not the rejection of any one, but the blessed opposite.”

οὐχ ἵνα, κ.τ.λ.] Comp. John 5:30.

ΤΟῦΤΟ ΔῈ … ΠΈΜΨ. ΜΕ] impressive repetition of the same words.

ΠᾶΝ Ὁ ΔΈΔΩΚΕ, Κ.Τ.Λ.] Nominative absolute, unconnected with the following, and significantly put first. Comp. John 8:38, John 15:2, John 17:2; and see on Matthew 7:24; Matthew 10:14; Matthew 10:32; Matthew 12:36; Buttmann, N. T. Gr. p. 325 [E. T. p. 379]. Here the Perfect δέδωκε, because spoken from the standing-point of the future.

μὴ ἀπολ. ἐξ αὐτοῦ] sc. τι; see Fritzsche, Conject. p. 36. The conception of losing (i.e. of letting fall down to eternal death; see the antithesis ἀλλὰ, etc.) is correlative to that of the ΔΈΔΩΚΈ ΜΟΙ. Comp. John 17:12.

ἈΝΑΣΤΉΣΩ, Κ.Τ.Λ.] of the actual resurrection at the last day (comp. John 5:29, John 11:24, John 12:48), which, as a matter of course, includes the transformation of those still living. The designation of the thing is a potiori. It is the first resurrection that is meant (see on Luke 14:14; Luke 20:34; Php 3:11; 1 Corinthians 15:23), that to the everlasting life of the Messianic kingdom. See on John 5:29. Bengel well says: “hic finis est, ultra quem periculum nullum.” Comp. the recurrence of this blessed refrain, John 6:40; John 6:44; John 6:54, which, in the face of this solemn recurrence, Scholten regards as a gloss.

[233] See, on the contrary, Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 142 ff.—Schleiermacher rationalizes the divine gift and drawing into a divine arrangement of circumstances; see L. J. p. 302 ff. Thus it would be resolved into the general government of the world.—According to Beyschlag, p. 162, there would be in this action of the Father, preparing the way for a cleaving to Christ (comp. vv. 44, 45), an opposition to the light-giving action of the Logos (vv. 4, 5, 9), if the Logos be a personality identical with the Son. But the difference in person between the Father and the Son does not exclude the harmonious action of both for each other. Enlightening is not a monopoly of the Son, excluding the Father; but the Father draws men to the Son, and the Son is the way to the Father. Weiss has rightly rejected as unjohannean (p. 248 f.) the idea of a hidden God, as absolutely raised above the world, who has no immediate connection with the finite.

Expositor's Greek Testament

John 6:37. No; for πᾶν ὃ δίδωσι … ἥξει. “Everything which the Father gives”; the neuter is used as being more universal than the masculine and including everything which the Father determines to save from the world’s wreck, viewed as a totality. Cf. John 6:39. ἀναστήσω αὐτό: and the collective neuter, as in Thucyd., iii. 16, τὸ ἐπιόν for τοὺς ἐπιόντας. Lampe thinks the neuter is used, “quia hae personae spectantur ut reale peculium, haereditas, merces, genus, semen, sacerdotium, sanctuarium Domini”. What is meant by δίδωσι? It is an act on God’s part prior to the “coming” on man’s part; the coming is the result of the giving. Calvinistic interpreters have therefore identified the giving with election. “Donandi verbum perinde valet ac si dixisset Christus, quos elegit Pater, eos regenerat”—Calvin. “Patrem dare filio est eligere”—Melanchthon; and similarly Beza and Lampe. On the other hand, Reynolds represents a number of interpreters when he says, “It is the present activity of the Father’s grace that is meant, not a foregone conclusion”. This identifies the Father’s “giving” with His “drawing,” John 6:44. It would rather seem to be that which determines the drawing, the assigning to Jesus of certain persons who shall form His kingdom. This perhaps involves election but is not identical with it. Cf. John 17:6. Euthymius replies, from a Semi-Pelagian point of view, to the objections which arise from an Augustinian interpretation of the words. The purpose of the verse is to impart assurance that Christ’s work will not fail. καὶ τὸν ἐρχόμενον … ἔξω. Grotius thinks the “casting out” refers to the School of Christ; Lücke thinks the kingdom is referred to. It is scarcely necessary to think of anything more than Christ’s presence or fellowship. This strong asseveration οὐ μὴ ἐκβάλω, and concentrated Gospel which has brought hope to so many, is here grounded on the will of the Father.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

37–40. Digression on the blessedness of those who come to Christ as believers

37. All that the Father giveth … him that cometh] There is a significant change of gender in the Greek which is obscured in the English version: ‘all that’ is neuter, all that which; what is given is treated as impersonal, mankind en masse; what comes, with free will, is masculine. Men are given to Christ without their wills being consulted; but each individual can, if he likes, refuse to come. There is no coercion. Comp. similar changes of gender in John 1:11, John 17:2.

shall come to me, and him that cometh … For I came down] The verb ‘come’ here represents three different Greek verbs, but there is no such great difference between them as to make it worth while to change so familiar a text; yet it would be more literal to translate all that the Father giveth Me, to Me shall come, and him that approacheth Me I will in no wise cast out; for I have descended, &c. The second ‘Me’ is emphatic, the first and third are not.

Bengel's Gnomen

John 6:37. Πᾶν) all. A most weighty word, and, in comparing with it those things which follow, most worthy of consideration; for, in the discourses of Jesus Christ, what the Father hath given to the Son Himself, that is termed, both in the singular number and neuter gender, all [omne]: those who come to the Son Himself, are described in the masculine gender, or even the plural number, every one [omnis], or they [illi]. The Father hath given, as it were, the whole mass, in order that all whom He hath given, may be a unity [unum]: that whole the Son evolves individually [one by one], in the carrying out of the Divine plan. Hence that expression, ch. John 17:2, that ALL which [πᾶν ὅ, omne quod] THOU HAST GIVEN Him, HE SHOULD GIVE THEM [αὐτοῖς, eis] eternal life. In the Greek style of the New Testament, especially of John, wheresoever fastidious minds would say the construction was a solecism, an elegance truly divine, which to the Hebrews never seemed harsh, is usually found to lie beneath. That remark especially holds good of this passage. It is owing to it that this 37th verse has two members, which are presently handled, the same words being repeated; and indeed the former of the two, at John 6:38-39, where the all [πᾶν ὃ δέδωκε, omne, etc.] is mentioned in conjunction with the Father; the second member, at John 6:40, “This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life;” where the every one [πᾶς, omnis] is mentioned in conjunction with the Son. The former, by means of the ὅτι, for [John 6:38], and the latter, by means of the γάρ, for [John 6:40 : δέ is the common reading; but γάρ, [128][129][130][131][132][133][134] Vulg.], are connected with John 6:37.—δίδωσι μοί, giveth Me) by means of that drawing, John 6:44, “No man can come unto Me, except the Father, which hath sent Me, draw him.” The present tense. Afterwards the past, John 6:39, “This is the Father’s will,—that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing,” with reference to their preservation. The Father giveth to the Son: the Son chooseth, i.e. gives as it were to Himself; John 6:70, “Have I not chosen you twelve?” Believers are given; it is given to believers; John 6:32; John 6:65, “My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.—No man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father.”—πρὸς ἐμέ) The emphasis rests on this; in other places it is usually written πρός με.—ἥξει) shall come. It is only that all [which the Father giveth Me] which shall come unto Me. Jesus speaks those things, which [such—as] if the Jews would receive, they would be believers in reality: and, after their unbelief has been brought home to them, He now offers them faith: and what He had before spoken under a figure, He now declares plainly.—οὐ μὴ ἐκβάλω ἔξω, I will not cast out) This signifies not merely the first reception, but the lasting preservation, through all changes and progressive steps in their course, even up to the resurrection—that goal, which takes for granted all things anterior to it; John 6:39-40, “This is the Father’s will, that—I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day;—that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise Him up, etc.;” John 6:44; John 6:54. There is a Litotes [the meaning is stronger than the literal words]: I will not cast him out, but by all means will preserve him; ch. John 10:28, etc., “They shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand:” a passage which closely corresponds to the passage here. Comp. ἔξω, out, ch. John 15:6, “Cast forth as a branch, and is withered;” ἐβλήθη ἔξω.

[128] the Alexandrine MS.: in Brit. Museum: fifth century: publ. by Woide, 1786–1819: O. and N. Test. defective.

[129] Cod. Basilianus (not the B. Vaticanus): Revelation: in the Vatican: edited by Tisch., who assigns it to the beginning of the eighth century.

[130] Ephræmi Rescriptus: Royal libr., Paris: fifth or sixth cent.: publ. by Tisch. 1843: O. and N. T. def.

[131] Bezæ, or Cantabrig.: Univ. libr., Cambridge: fifth cent.: publ. by Kipling, 1793: Gospels, Acts, and some Epp. def.

[132] Vercellensis of the old ‘Itala,’ or Latin Version before Jerome’s, probably made in Africa, in the second century: the Gospels.

[133] Veronensis, do.

[134] Colbertinus, do.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 37-40. -

(b) Episode or, the blessedness of those who "come" to Christ. Verse 37. - Many suppose a time of stillness, a break in the conversation, "a significant asyndeton," from the absence of all connection between this and the previous verse. Vers. 39, 40 would seem to have been addressed more directly to the disciples, the less susceptible hearers retiring from him or engaging in eager conversation (cf. ver. 41). Nevertheless, the Lord takes up the continuous line of his self-revelation, and ver. 37 clearly refers the "non-coming" and "non-believing" in their case to their moral obliquity, and to the apparent inadequacy of sufficient proof to induce the faith which will satisfy spiritual hunger. This spiritual dulness on the part of all suggests some internal and necessary condition, which is, though yet absent, not said to be inaccessible. Seeing ought to issue in believing, but it does not; therefore there is something more than the manifestation of the Christ absolutely necessary. To that Jesus now reverts. All (πᾶν, the neuter is also used of persons in John 3:6 and John 17:2, used concerning the whole body of real believers, the whole mass of those who, when they see, do come - the entire company of believers regarded as a grand unity, and stretching out into the future) all that which the Father giveth me. The subsequent descriptions of the Father's grace (vers. 44, 45) throw light on this. The "drawing of the Father," the "hearing and learning from the Father," are there declared to be conditions of "coming to Christ." All those influences on the soul, all the new-creating and spirit-quickening energies of the Holy Ghost, the new heart and tender conscience, the honest, serious desire for holy things, are broadly described in this passage as God's method and act of giving to the Son of his love. There is no necessity (with Augustine) to suppose that our Lord refers to an absolute predestinating decree. For if God has not yet given these particular men to him, it does not say that he will not and may nut do so yet. The Father's giving to the Son may indeed assume many forms. It may take the character of original constitution, of predisposition and temperamerit, or of special "providential education and training, or of tenderness of conscience, or of a truthful and sincere and unquenched desire. The Father is the Divine Cause. "The giving" implies a present activity of grace, not a foregone conclusion. All that which the Father giveth me shall reach me - all souls touched by the Father in a thousand ways to the point of making a moral surrender to my claims, will reach me - and him that is coming to me - i.e. is on the way to me, is drawing near to me - I for my part will not cast out. Thus authority to refuse is claimed by Christ, and power to exclude from his fellowship and friendship, from his kingdom and glory. (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13). Admission is not the working of some impersonal law, but the individual response of him who has come down to give life. As far as man is concerned, it turns on his voluntary coming, on his bare willingness to be fed with heavenly food. It is impossible, so far as responsibility is concerned, to get back of personal wish and individual will. The process of genuine coming to Christ does show that the Father is therein giving such soul to his Son. Archdeacon Watkins says, "Men have now seized one and now the other of these truths, and have built upon them in separation logical systems of doctrine which are but half truths. He (Jesus) states them in union. Their reconciliation transcends human reason, but is within the experience of human life." The greatness of the self-consciousness of Christ appears in the further proof that he proceeds to supply of this relation to the Father. John 6:37

Vincent's Word Studies

All that (πᾶν ὃ)

The neuter singular of the adjective and pronoun. All believers are regarded as one complete whole. Compare John 17:24, according to the correct reading, "that which Thou hast given me."

Shall come (ἥξει)

Emphasizing the idea of reaching or arriving.

Cometh (ἐρχόμενον)

A different verb, emphasizing the process of coming.