Jesus teaches that all men whom the Father gives to Him will in fact come. He also says that no one can come on his own authority, at his own initiative.
This meal is an “invitation only” event. At the same time, the whole world is invited—Jesus Christ is the bread of God which gives life to the world.
Our Lord is the bread of life. But He is also the invitation to that bread. No one can come in his own name. Anyone in the world can come through the name of Jesus Christ, but no one can come with a counterfeit invitation.
The reason men try to counterfeit the invitation, when the invitation was issued to the entire world, is so that they might come and sit down at this table with their pride and self-respect intact. They want to come on their own terms. But this is the one impossible thing.
The flour that made this bread was ground in all humility, and so This bread and a proud stomach do not go well together . . .. So, come, with your own name, choices, reputation, wisdom, and pride cast far away. Come, sit, at the invitation of Jesus Christ Himself.
So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.
Excerpted from So Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.