I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst

"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 when evening came (on the day Jesus fed 5,000 in the wilderness), Jesus' 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 sign, 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."  This is a profound truth, not easy to grasp without the experience of this faith.  Jesus is not denying that both "faith and works" are important to His mission and His followers.  But what is true here is that all things start with faith, with that place of relationship of love.  It is in that relationship that we learn and act in our lives in holy works of faith.  Faith itself can be a kind of work, as is prayer; all else comes from this.

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."   The people now demand a sign, even suggesting the manna eaten in the desert by the Israelites led by Moses.  We note the irony:  these are the same people who wanted to forcefully make Him King because He has fed them with bread in the wilderness.  But with Jesus, all things start with relationship to God, all things begin with this faith -- including His and our identity.  The true bread from heaven isn't what Moses gave, but what God gives.  The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  Do they have eyes to see this? 

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 gets to core of faith:  the relationship to God.  He is the One sent from heaven, the bread of life for all.  He does not do His "own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  My study bible says that 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.  It declares:  "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  Christ speaks of gathering all that is His, and raising it up at the last day.  It is faith that confers the relationship of "all that is His" to Him.

We must think a lot about what it means to "work the works of God."  Jesus answer is that "this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."   What Jesus speaks about is a kind of mysterious work of God that works in us, that happens in us.  How do we have eyes to see the One who is standing before us?  How do these people have eyes to truly see Him, and ears to hear Him?  The Greek perhaps makes a little more sense of "work," in which to "believe" is more akin to "trust in."  The work of God is to trust in the One whom God has sent.  This makes a little more sense as an act, a work, an action.  We put our faith in Christ, we trust in what He says.  That is the first step, the true work of God that leads to all else, all fruit of faith.  It is an act, a choice, to trust His words and teachings and more, to trust in prayer, in an internal place of the heart.  This mysterious reality of faith is really about the heart and where we put our trust, allowing Him in to dwell with us and to change us.  It is from that core that all else flows, including the choices we make in life and all the rest of the "works" we do.  In Revelation 3:21, after proclaiming, "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me," the Lord declares, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."  This is a declaration about the work of faith in us, "overcoming" the reality of this world, the things we learn from the world that are not compatible with what God would teach and how we would live His way.   In today's passage, Christ speaks of raising up at the last day all those who are His by faith, and it is a hint once again at the Cross, upon which He will be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.  So much depends upon how we see that act of overcoming, and understand it as a victory.  Not only do our works depend on this faith, but also our freedom as well as God's power working in us and through us, not as absolutely perfect people but rather as those who trust and love God.  Faith is a profound mystery, but to put trust in Christ is the beginning of all the rest.