John 6:64-65 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who was the one who would betray him. 65And he said, “On account of this, I told you that no one is able to come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”
Not everyone received the good news Jesus shared. This has been the universal problem throughout time. The message of grace went out from the garden of Eden, but people like Abel and the descendants of Lamech rejected the drawing force of this prevenient grace. Likewise, the Israelites rejected God’s grace multiple times while journeying from Egypt to the promised land. Now at the synagogue in Capernaum, those listening to Jesus were following the same path of not believing the truths he spoke. Verse 64 records the sad note of John’s Gospel: not believing in Jesus as the revelation from God.
John adds the editorial note that adds another confirmation of Jesus’ divinity about him knowing from the beginning who would not believe him and who would betray him. This is the first reference to betrayal. The reader is left wondering what this might mean in the story, but we are told in verse 71 that this was Judas. Knowing who would not believe and who would betray him did not Jesus from sharing the good news with these people. Like the sower who spread seed everywhere (Mark 4), so the message of the gospel goes out to everyone. It is up to that person to make the decision to follow Jesus.
Once again, we see the tension between human free will and divine sovereignty and grace in these verses. In verse 65, Jesus once again emphasizes the aspect of God’s sovereign grace. There are two ways to interpret this verse, representing two branches of Protestantism. On the Calvinistic side, one could argue that only those that the Father grants grace can come to Jesus. Although this reading is possible, on the Arminian side, one could argue that the Bible emphasizes in many places the need to respond to this grace in the freedom of the human will (see verses 37 and 44).
This debate cannot be solved with these verses from John. Rather, we see the tension represented in Jesus’ ministry. God’s grace through Jesus’ teaching and miracles was drawing people to Jesus in what might be called “prevenient grace,” but these people needed to respond in faith. The problem was that their hearts were hardened, not by God but by their own choice to remain stuck in their limited worldviews and traditions. God’s message of grace through Jesus Christ is widely going out to the world today, but people reject it like many others in the past who heard the good news but did not believe it.
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