John 6:22-40 The Bread from Heaven
“On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Therefore, they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus has just done a miracle, feeding 5,000 men, plus approximately another 5,000 women and children by multiplying 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. When the crowd begins to murmur about making Jesus king, Jesus immediately hikes on up the mountain and out of sight. The crowd disperses and the disciples set off in their boat. Jesus comes to the disciples, walking on the water in the midst of a terrible storm, the wind and waves die down, and the boat suddenly arrives at Capernaum. But the crowd is entranced by the idea of free food, so as soon as they can get transport across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, they follow Jesus and the disciples.
“Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Jesus has no illusions about the crowd’s reasons for following him. “Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Therefore, they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Now we’re getting to the truth. These folks are still hoping for more free food and attempting to disguise their real purposes by sounding religious.
“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus has done a miracle out of compassion for those listening to him; however, he refuses to be swayed from the fundamental reason for which he has come. While the crowds are concentrating on physical needs, Jesus is speaking of spiritual needs. These verses from John 6 are some of the most comforting things Jesus says, for they assure us that everyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life and that nobody who believes in Jesus will be refused or discarded.
What can we learn from the fashion in which Jesus handles the crowds? Jesus loves these people, but he has eternity in view while those listening are generally thinking only of earthly things. When we live for Jesus, we must always live with eternity in view, “keeping the main thing the main thing.” It is incredibly easy to get sidetracked. One friend of ours with a call to village ministry has become involved with running a Christian orphanage. While orphanages generally are very necessary and quite a good ministry, this was never our friend’s calling. Now decades have gone and he is still running an orphanage while fighting the uncomfortable feeling that he should be doing something else.
May God help us, so that as we go through this year, we follow His leading and not settle for something that is good but that is not God’s perfect will for our lives.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us not to become distracted or diverted from Your Will and Calling for our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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