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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
Yesterday, we read that, after feeding the multitude in the wilderness, when evening came, His 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 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." Jesus teaches them to "work" (labor) for the food which endures to everlasting life. The people's response is to ask Him what this work is. What are the works of God? The work of God is to have faith in the One who's been sent by God.
"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." The first thing they do is ask for a sign! They have followed Him because He gave them bread in the wilderness, but faith seems like a very difficult thing, indeed. Christ goes back to the Father: the true bread of God is the One who has come to the world to give it life.
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." Here is the thing of crucial importance: that Jesus, who is the bread of life, has come into the world to save all the world; those who will believe He will not lose, for He does the will of the Father who sent Him. On Jesus' will ("my own will"), my study bible notes, "Since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- the divine will and a human will. The Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather 'His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will.'"
Jesus affirms Himself to be the bread of life. Once again, John's Gospel takes us from an earthly sort of understanding to a deeper, higher spiritual one. First these multitudes are fed miraculously from a few loaves. They then wish to make Jesus king and seek to do so by force. But instead He teaches them about the bread from heaven, which is even a greater gift than the bread Moses gave in the wilderness. Those who come to Jesus will never hunger, and never thirst. But the key is faith; it's faith that determines who comes to the Son, who is with Him and remains into eternal life. It's an important promise that Jesus states here, that of all that the Father has given Him, He will lose nothing. Everything that is His will be raised, born into an everlasting life that is something beyond what we now know as life. This is the true gift He promises. He is the gift, He is the bread, and as He will teach later on, He is the life -- and what He offers is life in abundance. It's a great mystery being revealed. How can He be bread; or rather, the bread from heaven -- the bread of life? Belief or faith seems to be the whole key to the partaking of this bread, to the resurrection to eternal life. Let us remember what it means to work the works of God, that faith is the key to being held with Him, so that He loses nothing the Father has given into His hand. It's the hand of life beyond what we understand, a life that is added to our lives, a life that raises us up into an abundant kind of life, one that is with us always. Let us remember He is the food we need. His promise is for here and now, and also for the life to come.
