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"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."
- John 6:27-40
In our previous reading, we read that when evening came, the disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 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."
"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." Here is a very powerful statement: the work of God is faith in the One who is sent from God. My study bible says, "The most fundamental work of God is true faith in Christ!" In some sense, it is an implication of the total trust we put in God for our lives: that God's action (in this case, the sending of the Son) is the thing we put our faith in, and this faith is the work asked of us by God. In this sense, faith itself is a work, an act.
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." Again, people look to a sign as a confirmation of what He's telling them. But signs for Christ aren't proofs; rather, they're things that point to a fundamental truth of God, the origin behind the sign. This spiritual reality calls for faith, not proofs. The manna was a sign of God's presence and care, not of Moses' greatness. And the same work as the giving of manna is present in the giving of the Son "who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Let us remember, these are the ones who sought to make Him king because they were fed in the wilderness, and Jesus has been addressing their desire to "labor for bread" (or rather to labor to get Him to take care of their needs). But that need is in His Person, not the signs He performs.
"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." My study bible says of this last verse here, "Since the Son is of one essence with the Father, He shares the one will of God the Father. In His Incarnation, of course, the Son of God gains a human nature and a human will as well. Thus, the council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) teaches that, in the Person of Christ, there are united a complete divine nature and a complete human nature. Similarly, the Third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680-681) proclaims there are two natural wills in Christ, not contrary to one another, although 'His human will follows, not as resisting or reluctant but rather as subject to His Divinity and omnipotent will.'" Our faith links us with the ties of the Son and the Father; by this faith we are united in Him. Those "given by the Father" to Him will be united to the Father, and the life that implies, through Him.
"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." This is the promise of life, a life beyond the life we know, a life that encompasses something far greater than we know. It is ultimately a promise of love: because this faith is a love in which we are all united to the Father in the Son.
What is the work of God? Here, clearly, Jesus tells us that the work of God is to have faith in the One who is sent by God. And He also clearly declares His divine origins. The ties with "bread" and "water" are for the sustenance of life -- but a life that goes far beyond what we understand life to be, beyond the life of the world. While the Gospel tells us of everlasting life (the Greek word is αἰώνιον, meaning something like "of the ages"), its implication here is not just about something in the future, but about something that is outside of time. It implies a quality more than quantity -- the sense that this life is something added into the life we know, above it, more to it, and also is added to us now. It is a quality of life that is given to us in this work of faith. To believe in the One who is sent is admitting into life something much more than meets the eye, a life defined by something outside of the bounds we see and know in a worldly sense. It is to open up to more. Thus, the life that is defined by the bread of God which endures and doesn't perish, the food that assures one of never thirsting and never hungering. And all we need to do is believe, to have faith or trust, and this is the link with this place of everlasting life, this quality of not going thirsty or hungry for the things offered to us in this greater sense of life. This is the life given to the world. I think that faith is something much more than belief; it's a kind of trust that deepens into love. This is the great message of John's Gospel: the love of God that makes a full circle here -- of those given by the Father to Christ, in whom they are all united into this reality of what Jesus calls "everlasting life." It is a life not limited by time, without the bounds we understand, and not just quantitatively, but qualitatively more. Elsewhere, it is called life in abundance, life more abundantly. Let us allow ourselves to be bound in this place of love and experience this promise. That is the work He asks of us.
