Reflection on John 6 #2

The previous evening, the crowd had intended to force Jesus to be a king. But their proposal was rejected by Jesus immediately. The morning followed, many of them remembered the delicious taste of the bread and fish freely offered by Jesus awoke eager to see what miraculous work Jesus would do next. They got in boats that had arrived from Tiberias, on the western shore of the lake, to take them to Capernaum on the northeast shore in search for Jesus. When they found Jesus had reached Capernaum before them without a boat, they were mystified and asked Him their first question, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus didn't answer their question by telling them, "I walked on water so I arrived earlier." Jesus began His answer to the crowd with the declaration "I tell you the truth" to claim His divine authority, to call His listeners to pay particular attention to what He was about to say, to ask them to believe His words. He continued with what the only One who knew people's hearts could say, "you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill." The crowd didn't pay attention to the true meaning of the signs. The signs pointed to Jesus who can satisfy their spiritual hunger as well as physical hunger. There was no hint that the crowd longed for spiritual satisfaction. They chose to listen to the call of their stomach. They wanted free food, physical healing and political freedom each and every day. They wanted Jesus to make their dreams come true. Do we also have similar desires?

Next, Jesus gave them two commands to help them realize that they needed to change. The first one was, "Do not work for food that spoils". God gave us bodies and we must work for the physical food we eat to sustain our bodies. However we should not put our whole life's effort on things that can sustain and satisfy only physically. Because God also gave us souls, and we need to take care our souls too. But how can we take care of our souls? Jesus commanded us to "Work...for food that endures to eternal life." This food is not physical food on our table. It is spiritual food "which the Son of Man will give" us. Since the food will be given to us, why do we need to work? To work in this sense means to have healthy spiritual appetite for righteousness, to seek Jesus wholeheartedly for the everlasting "food" of Himself. He is the "food that endures to eternal life" for our souls. "On him God the Father has placed His seal of approval." Our physical food was approved and labeled by a government organization called USDA to guarantee our physical benefit. Our spiritual food Jesus Christ Himself was approved and labeled by God the Father to guarantee our spiritual good gain. God the Father is the Creator and Sustainer of our bodies and souls. He commands us to labor for our food on table, but to receive our spiritual food from "the Son of Man".  Which guarantee do we trust? USDA's or God's?

The crowd asked Jesus their second question, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" The using of the plural "works" revealed a deadly error. They wanted a long list of jobs they could do that would entitle them to eternal life. They missed the point that they could never be able to earn God's provision for the needs of their souls. Jesus corrected them, " The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." There is only one "work" God requires. He asks us to believe in Jesus. Only when we believe in Him, we can have the right spiritual appetite to desire what He offered. God placed physical hunger in human's stomach, but spiritual hunger in human's heart. Only the Lord Jesus can satisfy spiritual hunger generated by human's heart for meaning, purpose and loving fellowship with God and man.

The crowd asked Jesus their third question, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?" Just the day before, they witnessed the sign of bread and fish. What was the reason that they wanted another sign? They explained their intention by giving Jesus a hint, "Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." They implied that Jesus had fed more than 5,000 people just once, but Moses fed the Israelites three meals a day for 40 years. They wanted Jesus to do something bigger than Moses, to give them "bread from heaven to eat" by their mouths into their stomach, like their forefathers ate manna. They expected Jesus to serve them with free food for 40 years or longer. It is always hard to turn focus from food on table to food "endures to eternal life". First Jesus made another correction for them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven." What did the crowd learn from the Scripture? Did they know the manna Giver was not Moses, was God? God the Father gave them manna to meet their stomach's need in wilderness, also gave them Scripture to meet their heart's need. It seemed they only had appetite for manna, but not for the Scripture which reveals "the true bread from heaven". They missed the true blessing, a person. "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." The true bread for our souls to endure to eternal life is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the living bread sent by the Father.

Then the crowd demanded Jesus, "Sir, from now on give us this bread." They obviously didn't recognize "the true bread from heaven" standing right in front of them. They missed the identity of Jesus. Still, they only wanted Jesus to keep them well-fed and prosperous. Jesus' miraculous works and authoritative words were, and remain forever, signs of His divine identity. The crowd kept their focus on their physical need ignored the wealth of evidence God had provided for them to grasp the identity of Jesus.

The Lord Jesus didn't perform on their demand. He never performs on people's demand. The crowd that day, like people today, demanded Jesus for something which usually at the material level. But spiritual life needs spiritual food that only God can provide. Jesus offered them graciously Himself. He told them plainly, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." Jesus used "never go hungry" and "never be thirsty" not to diminish but to cultivate our healthy spiritual appetite. He encourages us to constantly desire Himself as sufficient food for our hungry and thirsty souls. "Come" and "believe" involve a definite action. We need to keep coming to Jesus and to believe more and deeper for Him to nourish us. We don't need travel far in search of Jesus. He lives in us in the form of Holy Spirit. Our Spiritual food and its source is within us if we truly "come" and "believe" in Jesus for once. Sadly, for majority of the people, "come" and "believe" never happened. Just as Jesus pointed out, "I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe." Seeing is not believing. Faith first believes, and then sees. The crowd didn't come to Jesus and believe in Jesus. So they didn't have faith to ask or expect to receive eternal life from Him. Yes, Jesus didn't make them first understand everything He said, but Jesus first asked them to believe. Believers will start to understand everything Jesus said to a degree that satisfies their spiritual desire at the time. Time will never be long enough for our finite mind to know all of God's infinite truth, power, and goodness. We cannot afford to wait to "come" to Jesus and "believe in" Him.

All believers had taken the true action of "come" and "believe". They can take comfort with what Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." Believers are the Father's gift to His Son. There is no doubt all the Father has given to Jesus will come to Him. Some may wonder who the chosen ones are. But no one can use an excuse, "God did not choose me." This argument would not be legitimate. God calls everyone to come to Jesus and believe in Him. The way to know God has chosen us in Jesus Christ is to come to Jesus, walk through the open door with the invitation emblazoned, "Whoever will may come". God includes everyone in "whoever", but not everyone has the "will" to come. For those who have the "will" to come and actually walk through the open door, Jesus will never turn away any of them, regardless their past and present even future failure.

At last, Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. " Jesus emphasized, " For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Jesus expressed His absolute certainty in His Father's plan and absolute confidence to hold and keep His own. He gave all who come to Him a taste of that glorious future. He will raise all believers up with a resurrected body to live forever with Him. He will do this "at the last day".