John 6 65

John 6:65 kjv

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

John 6:65 nkjv

And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."

John 6:65 niv

He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."

John 6:65 esv

And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

John 6:65 nlt

Then he said, "That is why I said that people can't come to me unless the Father gives them to me."

John 6 verses

John 6 65 Meaning

John 6:65 states that no individual possesses the inherent ability to come to Jesus, understanding "coming to Jesus" as an act of saving faith, unless this capacity is sovereignly granted by God the Father. This declaration underscores the necessity of divine initiative and enablement for spiritual conversion, asserting that genuine faith is not solely a product of human will but a supernatural gift from above.

John 6 65 Context

John 6:65 is delivered during the challenging "Bread of Life" discourse, which followed the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. After presenting Himself as the true spiritual bread from heaven, Jesus faced increasing resistance from the crowd and even among His disciples. They grumbled about His claim to be the bread that came down from heaven and about the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood (Jn 6:41-42, 6:52-59). Earlier in the discourse, Jesus had already stated similar points about divine initiative (Jn 6:37, 6:44). This verse comes after many disciples had explicitly begun grumbling (Jn 6:60-61), and Jesus' response clarifies the spiritual reason behind their inability to accept His words. It addresses their failure to believe by revealing that genuine coming to Him is predicated on a divine grant, thus differentiating between mere physical presence or intellectual hearing and true spiritual reception. Historically, the Jewish audience was accustomed to the idea of a Messiah, but their expectations were largely political and earthly, making Jesus' spiritual claims, especially regarding His divine origin and the spiritual consumption of His body, highly controversial and difficult to grasp without divine illumination.

John 6 65 Word analysis

• And He was saying (ἔλεγεν, elegene): The imperfect tense indicates a continuous or repeated action, emphasizing that Jesus consistently affirmed this truth, not just as a one-off statement. It highlights the persistent nature of this divine truth amidst human resistance.
• "For this reason (διὰ τοῦτο, dia touto)": This phrase connects Jesus' statement directly to the preceding discussion about the disciples' murmuring and their inability to accept His words (Jn 6:60-61). It serves as an explanation or elaboration of why His teachings are hard and why some cannot believe.
• "I have said to you (εἴρηκα ὑμῖν, eirēka hymin)": The perfect tense here implies that this is an established truth Jesus had previously communicated, referring specifically to earlier verses in this chapter, especially John 6:44 ("No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him"). It signifies an enduring, unchangeable declaration.
• "no one (οὐδεὶς, oudeis)": This is an absolute negation, leaving no room for exceptions. It underscores the universal human inability to come to Christ on their own terms or power. It signifies a radical depravity in spiritual matters, affecting all humanity.
• "can come to Me (δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με, dynatai elthein pros me)":
  • Can (δύναται, dynatai): Refers to capacity, ability, or power. It denotes inherent capability. The emphasis is on the absence of this inherent ability.
  • Come to Me (ἐλθεῖν πρός με, elthein pros me): A key Johannine phrase, metaphorically representing believing in Jesus, trusting Him, receiving Him, or becoming His disciple. It's a spiritual journey involving a transfer of allegiance and a reception of His identity.
• "unless (ἐὰν μὴ, ean mē)": A strong conditional conjunction. It introduces the only condition under which "coming" is possible, marking it as an essential prerequisite or a divine exception to human inability.
• "it has been granted him (ᾖ δεδομένον αὐτῷ, ē dedomenon autō)":
  • Has been granted (δεδομένον, dedomenon): A perfect passive participle of δίδωμι (didomi), meaning "to give" or "to grant." The perfect tense indicates a past action with continuing results—a gift given that now produces an effect. The passive voice ("has been granted") implies the recipient is not the actor, but the receiver of the action, pointing to an external source as the giver. This "granting" is an active, volitional, and specific act by the giver.
  • Him (αὐτῷ, autō): The dative case reinforces that this is given to an individual, highlighting the personal nature of the divine bestowal.
• "from the Father (ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς, ek tou Patros)": Explicitly names the source of this granting. It is God the Father, underscoring divine sovereignty and attributing the enablement for faith directly to the first person of the Trinity. This links back to the concept of the Father drawing people (Jn 6:44).

Words-group analysis:

• "No one can come to Me unless...": This phrase establishes a stark and universal spiritual inability of humanity, which can only be overcome by a singular, divine intervention. It fundamentally challenges any notion of self-generated faith or human ability to initiate spiritual coming.
• "...it has been granted him from the Father": This highlights the exclusive and divine origin of the spiritual ability to believe. It emphasizes the monergistic nature of this crucial enablement—God acts alone to grant the capacity. This isn't merely permission but an active, empowering bestowment.

John 6 65 Bonus section

The doctrine expressed in John 6:65, alongside John 6:37 and 6:44, lays a foundational theological principle known as monergism in salvation, meaning "God working alone" to initiate the enabling grace. This contrasts with synergism, which posits that salvation results from a cooperative effort between God's grace and human will. Jesus' statements here leave no room for human beings to take credit for the initial decision to come to Him, making the Father's active "granting" an absolute necessity. This highlights the radical extent of human spiritual incapacitation due to sin (total inability) and simultaneously elevates God's sovereign grace as the exclusive source of all true spiritual life and faith. The implications extend to prayer, where believers understand they must pray for God to open hearts, not just for people to "choose" God, recognizing that the choice itself is divinely enabled.

John 6 65 Commentary

John 6:65 is a pivotal statement in Jesus' "Bread of Life" discourse, offering a profound insight into the mechanics of salvation. Following the defection of many nominal followers, Jesus clarifies why they cannot believe: not because His message is unclear, but because they lack the spiritual capacity. He explicitly states that human ability to come to Him – that is, to truly believe and embrace Him as the Son of God and the bread of life – is non-existent without a prior, divine bestowal from the Father. This "granting" is not mere intellectual understanding or free choice but a deep spiritual enablement that circumvents natural human inability and hostility toward God. It signifies the Father's sovereign act of drawing, regenerating, and opening one's heart to receive Christ. This verse reinforces the concept of divine election and irresistible grace, not as coercion, but as an essential and effective prerequisite for genuine faith. It does not negate human responsibility to believe (Jn 3:16, 6:29) but rather reveals that the very ability to fulfill that responsibility originates from God. This passage strongly suggests that conversion is fundamentally a divine work in which God empowers a previously unable individual to believe and embrace Christ.