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

 Now 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 with 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 ear 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." 

- John 6:16-27

Yesterday we read that after events of the first Passover at Jerusalem during His ministry, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Now 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 with 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 ear 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.  This is the fifth sign that is given in John's Gospel.  As noted in yesterday's reading, this sixth chapter of John parallels the story of Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in different ways.  This particular event parallels Moses leading the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the middle of the waters (Exodus 14:15-31).  In John's Gospel account, Christ first sends His disciples across the sea, and then He Himself walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  In the Exodus account, those following Moses complain that they were brought out of Egypt simply to die.  But Moses cries to God for help, after which he is told to tell the Israelites to go forward, and instructed what to do so the waters part.  Here the disciples are sent alone, and Christ Himself comes to them on the water.  Interestingly, the people have just tried to make Jesus their king, calling Him the Prophet (foretold by Moses).  But the differences in the scenaria also tell us of the differences between Moses (and the Prophet foretold by Moses), and Christ.

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."    Once again, my study bible expresses the understanding that this chapter of John gives us parallels to the Exodus.  Then, God fed the people manna (Exodus 16:1-17:7).  Here, Christ speaks of the food which endures to everlasting life, which He as Son of Man will give, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

We see the people's desire at conflict with what Christ wishes to give them.  He is the One who has fed the 5,000 men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, for which they have pursued Him to take Him by force and make Him king.  Subsequently He fled from the very crowd He fed, and now they have followed Him by anticipating His arrival across the Sea of Galilee.  It's almost a hilarious picture, if you think about it in a certain way.  But in the meantime, He sent His disciples across the sea by night (the Sea of Galilee is actually a very large lake), and walked to meet them in about the middle of the lake and in the midst of a storm.  Therefore, at that point in this chapter, our understanding of Christ has expanded not only to include mysteriously multiplying and distributing a supply of food (with Eucharistic overtones), but for the disciples, manifestly displaying a command over the physical elements of the world and even of gravity.  We are to understand these are indeed signs that "a greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41), and this "feeds" our perception of what He tries to teach the people who pursue Him to make Him king.  In that framework of revelation through the signs John gives us, Jesus begins to speak to the multitudes about what kind of food He wants to offer them.  He tells them first that the only reason they pursue Him is because they are filled with the loaves with which He fed them in the wilderness.  But then He tells them, "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." Here Jesus ties in themes of work (labor), His identity not merely as Son but as Son of Man, and the Father who has set His seal on Him,  with a food which endures to eternal life.  We are to understand Him as one made Incarnate, come into the world and so fulfilling this title Son of Man -- which He has earlier indicated is linked to the power of judgment, and here links to the Father setting a seal on Him.  He is uniquely qualified to offer the kind of food for which He proposes that they labor.  They seek Him to make Him king so that they will be fed with earthly food.  But here, in a sense, Jesus confronts them and offers them what we might call a much better deal, a far rarer and precious item that no one else could give them, and which He alone is uniquely qualified to offer.  In a sense, this ties in His admonitions in Luke about excess worry and toil and anxiety (Luke 12:22-34) by comparing earthly food to the special kind of food which He alone can offer to them.  He's telling them that it's really far preferable to labor for that special thing He offers, as Son of Man upon whom God the Father has set His seal, than the thing they're working so hard chasing Him down to get a hold of.  And that is where we need to start to approach today's Gospel, because He's talking about what precious thing is worthy of our time and effort, and comparing it to that which we are willing to go to the ends of the earth to seek.  In a sense, He's telling us that if we think if the purely earthly is so much more worthy of our time and labor, then we are selling ourselves short.  So in light of these things, let us consider what we put our best efforts and our time into in life.  Do we really take His offer as seriously as the rare and precious gift Jesus describes would warrant?  Do we take Him at His word, and think about what it means that He is not simply Son, but rather the Son who has come into the world and lived a human life, experienced the Passion and death and Resurrection, so that the Father has set a seal on Him?  Let us consider such treasure and weigh its value in terms of our own work and what it is we choose to labor for.  Think about the world that offers us promises and bills of goods, and then think about this Son of Man, the One so unique that the Father has set His seal upon Him.  From whom would you rather buy?  Who would you rather trust?  What might He offer that the world with all its venues and points of sale could not?  What better offer can you get?