This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent

 "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 (after the feeding of the five thousand), 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."   The work of God is to believe in Him whom He sent."  So often we forget that faith itself is a choice, a "work" -- there is so much work that must go on within ourselves as our faith is challenged by our lives, our experience, our thoughts and habitual responses, and the earthly life we live.   In this vein of understanding, prayer itself is another kind of "work of God."

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."  Following the parallels to the Exodus noted so far in chapter 6 of John's Gospel, here Jesus declares Himself to be the true food and drink, the true bread that has come down from heaven (see also Exodus 16:1-17:7).

"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."   My study bible remarks that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills:  the divine will and a human will.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council , held in Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims that 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."

Christ speaks so strongly of the link of faith between Himself and those whom He shall raise up at the last day.  He tells us of His link, His closeness with the Father:   "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."   At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, we are given to understand, the existence of both human and divine will in Christ was decided -- and so Christ speaks here not of the divine will which is united within the Trinity, but of His human will, that in His earthly ministry He has chosen to fully align His human will with the divine will of the Father.  This is an example to us, it is something we should wholly and fully desire for ourselves.  Indeed, this is the great goal of all monastic life, and we are also to understand that it is in that divine will of Creator where we truly "find ourselves" -- this process of alignment is, in fact, one of truly becoming ourselves.  If we seek who we truly are, we need to align ourselves to Creator, to have that as our firm aim and direction in our prayer and our efforts to become the persons that Christ asks us to be.  To follow Christ in faith, then, is like a time-based alignment of this will in the sense that Christ sets the example of alignment of will.  We don't "become" God, but we can become "like God."  We simply have a lifetime of work at this work He names, an ongoing process of conversion based on the gift of time that is also given to us as creatures by God.  And once again, what is the work of God?  "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent," Jesus tells the crowds, and us.  Faith itself becomes a work, because it implies so much else that is purely "work."  That is, this kind of faith sets out a lifetime of works, of choices and decisions to follow and to align ourselves with His will -- of allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, and the indwelling also of Father and of Christ, influencing who we are which is known by the works that we do.  Let us reiterate that "works" are not merely things done to be seen by others.  Works are all the choices we make; the decision to pray; the decision to find the will of God and seek it for ourselves; to hand ourselves over to Christ, so to speak -- and faith itself, to "believe in Him whom He sent" is also the work of God, as Jesus states here.  So let us think about these works we do, what kind of fruit we wish to produce, and the results of a lifetime of choices offered and made through time within this discipline and gift of faith.  Let us never forget how it ties us to the gifts of Father, Son, and Spirit themselves working in us and with us -- and how much help we have all along the way, with myriad messengers and saints as a great cloud of witnesses helping us as well.