Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar’
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.”
Ok, I am back to Hebrew idioms. I remember as a child I drew a lot of comfort from this verse. I accepted the Lord as my Savior at the age of nine, but shortly after that I began to doubt my sincerity. I wondered if I had really accepted the Lord. Did I really repent? Did I say the prayer right. Was I really saved? I would start “accepting the Lord” every day. I never felt I was really saved. I would rush home from school and if my parents were not home, I would turn on WMBI. If the station was still on I knew the rapture had not occurred and I was not left behind (it never occurred to me that a program tape might have been left running).
One day I was reading a book by John R. Rice called “Questions and Answers.” There was a question in that book from someone who sounded just like me. Always “accepting the Lord” but not really feeling like she was “saved.” John R. Rice quoted this verse and said something that never made me doubt my salvation since. “God wants you a million times more than you want Him.” Over the years I have found numerous Scriptures and numerous events in my life that have just confirmed this to me. To this day I draw comfort in those simple words which I am constantly finding to be more and more Scripturally sound and from this verse which is still very precious to me.
My confidence in the Heavenly Father is such today that John 6:37 sounds almost ridiculous for Jesus to have to say such a thing. “Casting out” is so harsh. Like many of you I have found the Heavenly Father to be so loving it is almost impossible to imagine that he would “cast out” anyone. Yet, remembering my struggle as I child I still cherish this verse. So do not for a second think I am leaving the parshat, this verse is too sacred to me to muddy it’s waters. Yet, as I grew in my walk with God I am no long fearful of being “cast out,” but there is something else I fear and again this verse comes to my rescue.
The phrase “cast out” is a Hebrew idiom. If Jesus were indeed speaking Hebrew, then “cast out” is a very poor English translation. This is not to suggest that it is not a legitimate translation of the Greek verb used here , but it is not a translation, as it should be, of the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek verb. As was customary, the Greek translator employed the fixed or standard Greek translation of a Hebrew word rather than trying to translate to idiomatic Greek. The Greek word used here is “ekballo,” and its Hebrew equivalent “hotzi,” do not carry the same shades of meaning. The Greek verb means “to cast out” or “throw out,” but the Hebrew verb seldom, if ever, has that meaning. The Hebrew verb is found in a Hiphil form meaning “go out.” It could then be translated as “cause to go out” in the sense of “to make public” or “publish.” This is a Hebrew way of saying “to defame “ or “ to malign.”
Hence, when Jesus says: “I will in no wise cast you out.” He is saying more than just not casting us out, but he is also saying that He will not defame us, slander us, embarrass us or make our sins public. It is a matter between Him and us.
No I no longer fear rejection by Jesus. But I have to admit, I can make some really stupid mistakes and when I come to Him seeking forgiveness, I never need to fear that He will shake His head and say: “Disgusting, I don’t know how I could have created such a stupid bonehead.” He will simply say: “That’s ok, let’s start over and I will make sure you get it right next time.”
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