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 (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."   Here is a fascinating statement:  to believe in Him whom He sent is to work the works of God.   Where do faith and works begin?  They are inseparable, both begin in placing one's trust in Christ.

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."    These are the people who've just been filled at the feeding of the five thousand.  They fail to understand, apparently, the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, but they know that Christ has fed them, for they also sought to forcibly make Him king as a result (see Wednesday's reading).  But now they want proofs for faith.  Jesus points to the true bread from heaven:  the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  Christ Himself is the bread of God.

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."  Here is another parallel to the story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  The people themselves recall and reference the manna in the desert, the bread from heaven, in the verses just above.   That was the food provided by God, together with a miraculous water source (Exodus 16:1 - 17:7).  Here, Christ is declaring Himself to be the true food and drink, the true bread that has come down from heaven.  Together with the other parallels in this chapter (see earlier readings), the Gospel shows that Christ is the fulfillment of the old covenant.  My study bible comments that the breaking of Christ's body and the shedding of His blood, which free humankind from the slavery of sin, fulfill the sacrifice of the Passover lambs (1:29), which brought the people out of slavery into the Promised Land.

"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 speaks of those who are His, who will come to faith, and come to Him.  These are the ones for whom the Father has sent Him, and of whom Christ should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.  My study bible comments on Christ's statement that He has "come down from heaven, not to do My own will . . .."  It says that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills:  the divine will and a human will.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which was held in Constantinople in 680-681, it was proclaimed 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."

Jesus once again emphasizes His tie to the Father; that, in fact, they are inseparable, as He follows the will of His Father in all things.  Once again, Jesus says this after having fulfilled yet another "type" of the Old Covenant.  This time, He says of Himself that He is the bread which came down from heaven, and that He offers Himself as the food which means one will never hunger, and drink which mean one will never thirst.  Here is the power of faith:  that in our connection of faith, we will be held, fed, nurtured as we need to be, and never let go.  He says that He will lose nothing of that which the Father gives Him.  So, the question for each of us becomes how reliant we are on our faith.  That is, to what extent are you nurtured and fed, through faith?  For what do you thirst?  The way that Jesus phrases it in speaking to this crowd that has wanted to force Him to be their king because they were fed with earthly food, Jesus teaches that what He has to offer fills a much greater and deeper need.  It reminds us to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).  How often do we think of putting the Kingdom first when we are in need?  We've often heard the statement that money can't buy happiness, but this is hard to know for people who haven't had that experience of possessing wealth.  We all seem to think that if only we had a little bit more, we could find greater happiness and contentment.  But money cannot nurture as Christ can, and neither can earthly food.  Wealth alone cannot bring us meaning, or even purpose.  But Christ can do that.  Neither can wealth generate love or real belonging, as Christ does.  If all of our worldly needs are met, but not our spiritual needs, do we find contentment or do we still seek what is missing?  For most people in the world, we may not get a chance to test such a theory.  It seems to be part of human psychology to keep desiring the things we think others have that we don't, no matter how impossibly far from real need they might be.  But there is one thing to which many have testified:  that being in deep need, and having just a little, God becomes the greatest source of strength and hope.  Faith becomes the way to keep going, to put one's feet forward in a good path, to set one's bearings straight.  It becomes a question of getting down to what is real -- in any circumstance -- and finding where the bedrock of truth is within us, for a foundation that keeps us upright and standing in a blessed and truly rooted place from which we won't fall.  There are so many things that come into this place of deep nurturing, more than we can count.  When we think of nothing but the worldly, we overlook so much.  What is your deepest need today?