Reading for Aug 11: John 6: 26-27

26 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. 27 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."

Comments:

The last couple days have shown us a crowd of people searching for Jesus after He left the gathering where He miraculously fed them. Today, Jesus tells us why they were searching for Him. Before we get to that let's reflect back on what we have seen in chapter 6.

First we saw Jesus take the seemingly impossible situation of providing food for 5000 men plus their families and use that situation as an object lesson on His sovereignty over all things. He was able to feed those people with food left over. He had shown Himself to not only be God, but a God that is able and is willing to provide.

Then we read about Jesus testing the disciples with a storm. He put them out into the Sea of Galilee alone (without Jesus), without detailed information about His plans, and then on top of that sent a storm. During all that the disciple briefly tried to handle things with their own power but quickly realized that they could not. Then, once they had failed on their own, Jesus walks on water to the boat, they enthusiastically invite Him in, and then the water calmed, and instantly they were back to the shore where they needed to be to continue with His ministry.

Finally, we seen that once Jesus left, those that He fed began looking for Him, they noticed that He did not leave with the disciples and He did not take His own boat. When they finally found Him they ask how he had gotten there but Jesus doesn't answer that question. He instead reveals their heart to them. He tells them they are searching for Him because of what Jesus was able to give them not who He is. Leon Morris said it like this: "They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies".

Jesus goes on to make His point; we should not be working for the physical things of this life, because they will all pass away. Instead, we should strive to obtain, and then glorify, "the food which endures to everlasting Life." He says plainly that the way to receive this food is through Him because that is the will of the Father.

It is still a common misconception that one should become a follow of Christ so they will get all of their physical needs taken care. It is true that God will provide what we need if we are in His will, but that is not why we become follows. We should be servants of Christ simply because of who He is, Holy God, Creator of all things, King of the universe.