“But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)”
John 6:43-46 NLT
In John 6:45, Jesus quoted a verse from Isaiah 54, “I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace” (Isaiah 54:13). This verse was in the middle of a prophecy about Jerusalem and its future, a future that we are yet to see, because of its End Times significance. In his prophecy, Isaiah talked about Jerusalem being rebuilt extensively with precious stones, a place where God Himself will teach His children, a place of peace with a secure government, and a place without enemies. A Utopian vision for the hard pressed Jews of that time in Israel’s history. And we can compare this new build Jerusalem with Revelation 21, where we read, “So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:10-11). The Jews were well aware of this eschatological theme so the more Biblically astute amongst them would associate what Jesus was saying with that wonderful time they yearned for, when God lived with His people and taught them all they needed to know.
Jesus told His listeners in our John 6 verses that all those who come to Jesus, believing in Him, will be raised up on the last day. Resurrection was a well known concept to the Jews of Jesus’s day, just as it was to the Old Testament saints like David, who wrote, “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (Psalm 16:10-11). So Jesus’s statement that God will teach His children would have been associated with their expectation of a wonderful eternal life spent with their glorious Father and Teacher, God Himself.
But Jesus, later in His ministry, told His disciples that when He had “gone away”, God would send the Holy Spirit. We read, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). So we can be assured that God is available to teach us even today, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us pilgrims. God’s Spirit quietly whispering His words of truth, teaching us what we need to know, and reminding us of the teachings that are recorded in our New Testament, the words of Jesus Himself.
How are we pilgrims taught by God? Through prayer, through reading the Bible, through the preaching and exposition of God’s Word, and through the Holy Spirit within us. There are no other ways except through Jesus. But back to our verses in John 6. Jesus extended an invitation to all His listeners, to believe in Him, and that invitation is still with us today in this season of God’s grace. John 14:6, “Jesus told [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. There is no other way to eternal life other than through Jesus.
Dear Lord Jesus. You are the only way to the Father, God Himself. You provided a timeless invitation to all, to come to You and follow You. The narrow path before us is long and windy, strewn with obstacles and difficult to navigate. But as we follow You, we are assured that the way You provide will bring us into God’s presence. We are so grateful. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 