John 6:24-35
The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
What if I could live the rest of my life never having to worry about being hungry or thirsty ever again? That would really solve some problems for me, or anyone really. But I have a feeling that Jesus is not talking about actual food. I don’t think he is talking about bread we eat with our mouths or drink that we drink with our lips. He is not talking about hungering and thirsting that goes on in our stomachs. He is talking about the hungering and thirsting that we feel in our souls. Why did He say he was the “bread of life”? Why bread? He is referring to an event in Israel’s history when they were wandering in the desert and found manna to eat. It appeared everyday and had a one day shelf life. Miraculously it lasted through the second day only on the Sabbath allowing the Jews to honor the Sabbath as a day of rest. Jesus is telling his followers that He has come to be that bread of life for us. He has appeared miraculously and feeds our souls. The hunger and thirst we feel in our hearts will be satisfied when we come to him. Just as the Jews gathered manna in the desert each morning and it lasted them till the days end, satisfying their hunger, so we can come to Jesus daily and be satisfied till the next day. I think it looks different for us today than it did to the people whose ears these words fell upon. We don’t physically have Jesus here with us today. But we have his teachings. When Jesus said these words to his followers, all they had was his physical presence. They didn’t have bibles and scrolls. There was no printing press. What we believe to be the word of God was only available in limited form and most agree that the literacy rate among Jews at the time was probably around 3%. It is possible that Jesus learned to read as most young Jewish boys did, in the synagogue. We know that in the gospel of Luke, Jesus read from Isaiah in the synagogue. But Jesus is clearly telling his followers that He is their daily bread. He is their drink. He satisfies their hunger and thirst. So how were they to come to him? How are we to come to him? What did people do to come to him for the thousands of years that bibles were not as prolific as they are today? Prayer. Jesus told his followers that He was sending the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we can pray and come to Jesus when we do. What a powerful thing and yet I almost never do it! When I compare the amount of time I spend doing other things with the amount of time I spend praying to God, coming to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and I don’t mean anything weird by that, there is really no comparison. If I add up all the time I spend satisfying my physical hunger, just that alone dwarfs the amount of time I spend praying. Why?! Why do I not take advantage of this amazing conduit to the creator of all that is seen and unseen and all that is good and loving?! And yet I try to work it all out myself. I really need to change that.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
Working for food that perishes. That which provides temporary sustenance. What satisfies us right now. Rather that which sustains us eternally. What feeds and nourishes our soul our inner desire, our appetite for eternal things. We have to work for it but then it is given to us. This is connected to The Lord’s Prayer: Give us today our daily bread
We ask God to give us the food that endures to eternal life. We ask and trust God to give us what we need.
Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
These questions are sincere. They are the questions that anyone who has encountered Jesus and can tell that he is the real deal would have. Despite not having it all figured out yet, they are asking questions trying to figure things out. They are the voice of all who sincerely want to follow Christ but don’t know how. Jesus exposes their motives, (they were following him for more food) but yet they weren’t deterred. They just keep on wanting to know how to get it right.
So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then,
so that we may see it and believe you?
Jesus just performed a miracle. Why are they asking him for a sign? They are following him because of his teachings and they witnessed a miracle so why are they asking for a sign?
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
They are trying to fit Jesus into their preconceived notion of what the Messiah would look like. Moses led the people out of slavery and trough the desert for 40 years. Jesus did a small miracle by comparison. the messiah should be doing greater things. Jesus is trying to help them understand that they are focused on the wrong things. In Matthew 4:4 Jesus is speaking to the devil and that is exactly who he is speaking to here. The crowds are believing the lie and Jesus is trying to get them to see through it.