John 6 · a question people ask
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (6:44). Whom does the Father draw?
This question is only about whom the Father draws. Whether someone who knows God can be cast off is asked in Favor's chapter on 1 Chronicles 28, and isn't asked again here. In this chapter Jesus says, "All those whom the Father gives me will come to me" (6:37); "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day" (6:44); and "no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father" (6:65). Later in the book he says, "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (12:32). Christians read these verses in more than one way, and this question picks none. All agree on what Jesus says in this chapter: "He who comes to me I will in no way throw out" (6:37), and "everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life" (6:40). Favor's chapter on Ezra 1 sets 6:44 beside Ezra 1:5 as a reading, and says the same: Christians understand the Father's drawing in more than one way, and it doesn't choose.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Those the Father gives are the ones he draws
Those who hold this view read the three sayings of this chapter together: the ones the Father gives the Son are the ones he draws, and all of them come. They point to "All those whom the Father gives me will come to me" (6:37), "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (6:44), and "no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father" (6:65).
John 6:37 · John 6:44 · John 6:65
The drawing reaches everyone, and can be refused
Those who hold this view read 6:44 beside Jesus's later words, "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (12:32), and hold that the drawing reaches everyone and can be refused. They point to what Jesus says earlier in the book: "Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life" (5:40).
John 6:44 · John 12:32 · John 5:40
The verses
“All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”
“This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.””
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up in the last day.”
“He said, “For this cause I have said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.””