Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life

 

 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 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 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, or 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 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 healing a paralytic and disputing with the religious leaders, 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 own; 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 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.  Here we are given the fifth sign of seven recorded in John's Gospel.  We are in chapter 6 of John's Gospel, in which there are repeated parallels to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  Pertaining to this passage, we recall that Moses led the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the middle of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, my study Bible points out, Christ sends His disciples across the sea, and then He walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  

On the following day, when the people 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, or 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 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, the people seek Jesus, desperate for a type of political Messiah who will rule as king, deliver them from enemies, and one who will in particular provide all their needs.  But this is not the mission of Jesus Christ.  They recognize only that they ate of the loaves and were filled, but Christ's signs point beyond worldly reality, to the presence of God's Kingdom in the Person of Jesus Christ. 

 

In today's reading we witness once again how fervently these people desire for Jesus to be their king.  So much so, they continue to seek Him although they have no idea where He had gone, because He walked on the water toward His disciples rowing in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  Now we might think of many reasons for this, not least of all because it is one of the seven signs given to us in John's Gospel.  As written in commentary above, it parallels another element of the story of the Exodus, when Israel escaped Egypt in the middle of the water.  But if we think of this parallel of escaping Egypt, we might also consider the parallel that applies to Jesus Himself, and the fact that the people wish to make Him king.  Egypt, in the story of Israel, can possibly stand for many things we can think of. But in this case we might recall the Israelites longing for while Egypt while they wandered on their journey following Moses.  Just prior to the Lord's miraculous feeding in the wilderness for the Israelites, they moaned, longing for Egypt again, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (see Exodus 16:3-4).  They longed for the "fleshpots" of Egypt, the material plenty in the midst of an oppressive rule opposed to their faith.  We could possibly view, from an entirely human perspective, what it means that Christ has escaped across the sea in order to evade the people who wish to make Him king.  To become king would surely be something widely desirable in strictly material terms.  One would have all the servants one wanted, all the goods one wanted, all the power one wanted.  In a sense, that collection of things:  material goods, power, servants, parallel Egypt, for when the Israelites left Egypt it was a powerful empire with Pharaohs who ruled absolutely.  But this is not Christ's mission, and it's not the mission for how He is going to lead God's people to the promised land of His new covenant.  The people in today's story would prefer that Jesus were king.  Think what such a Messiah could do with worldly power.   In purely material and earthly terms, this is a great temptation -- to believe that the world can be redeemed with worldly power.  But that is a human delusion, and Jesus will have none of it, for it is not His mission.  He has an entirely different reality to bring to this world, the presence of the Kingdom of God -- and all the material worldly gain He could command is not part of the mission.  That is not how He will bring abundant life into the world.  So let us consider the extraordinary lengths we read Jesus goes through to avoid being forcefully made king.  He walks on the water to assure the disciples that no matter where they are, He is with them.  He does not come to all the people this way, but only a handful of disciples, seemingly powerless, straining at rowing in the middle of the sea in the middle of a great windstorm. But it is that place -- isolated from the world, in the dark, a storm blowing, with these few men who follow Him -- where the Savior of the world chooses to be, where His mission takes its shape to bring life to the world.  This is the place Jesus must be, the place He chooses to be, reassuring His (at that time) tiny flock, telling them,  "It is I; do not be afraid."  Sometimes you and I may also be called upon to make choices to sacrifice the glamor of the world for the love of God and the few who desire that goal with us.  Let us be faithful to our mission as well, as Jesus gives us the mission:  "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."