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 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 water of 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."

 

- John 6:16–27 

 

Yesterday we read that 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 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 water of 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.  This event of Christ walking on the water of the sea is the fifth sign of seven recorded by St. John in this Gospel.  The entire chapter parallels the story of Exodus in a number of ways which we have reported in commentary.  Here my study Bible notes that in the Exodus, Moses led the people across the Red Sea, walking on the dry ground in the midst of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, Christ sends His disciples across the sea and then walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  

 

 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 the text tells us how desirous of an earthly Messiah the people are, particularly in Jesus because He has fed them ("because you ate of the loaves and were filled").  So much so, that they got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Him.  

 

There is an interesting contrast between the two stories in our reading for today.  In one story, Jesus walks on the water to His disciples.   The setting is that darkness has already come upon the waters, an echo of the chaos before creation in Genesis, in which the dark waters become life and creation by the word and work of God (Genesis 1:2).  A great wind begins blowing, likely to stir up the sea (the sea arose, the text tells us), and the disciples are already three or four miles out, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  But Jesus walks to them on the water, telling them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  He is once again using the Divine Name of the Lord, the I AM in Greek (Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi), from Exodus 3:14.  And the divine properties of the Lord are immediately evident:  we're told that immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  (If they had departed from Tiberias, as the text seems to teach us, it would seem that they were approximately halfway there when Jesus appeared to them.)   So time and space are in some way suspended here; Christ is outside of both.  When He walks on the water, space as we understand it doesn't apply (and hence therefore gravity also); when they receive Him, they immediately find themselves at their destination.  So time also does not play its role as we know it, presumably because space does not.  These are signs of the divine, capable of suspending or superseding the elements that define our physical world and lives.  But note the contrast with the townspeople who still seek Jesus because He has fed them, and they wanted to make Him king (see yesterday's reading, above).  These people, who don't understand Him or His ministry (or apparently the kind of faith He's seeking) have been scrambling to find Him.  They had no idea where He went, He didn't appear to go with His disciples, and they seek Him in the area He's known to frequent, the place of His ministry "headquarters," in Capernaum.  These people neither know where He was, how He came to Capernaum, the mysterious departure of His disciples without Him, and so must seek Him as best they can through guesswork and hearsay.  Their efforts are "pedestrian" by comparison to the events that surround Jesus, the things which He initiates.  The two stories contrast in the remarkable events which eliminate the limitations of time and space, and evade the people who wish to make Jesus king -- in great contrast to the relative dullness and slowness of the people who think only of the food given them, and cherish that as the thing to be diligently sought in Christ.  If we look at these stories iconically, we see that Christ draws us up to where He is; His influence teaches us a set of values and perspectives that take us to His true kingdom, the place He wants us to know and to pursue instead of chasing our stomachs, so to speak.  The feeding in the wilderness (in yesterday's reading) teaches us that Christ is fully aware of our human needs and physical reality, but His response today teaches us where He wants our minds to go in order to follow Him appropriately and for the right reasons.  Jesus expects us to work, to "labor" but for the right things and in the right perspective.  He tells them, "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." He draws us up to Himself; He has come down from heaven as the Son of Man to offer us this food which endures to everlasting life.  We must follow where He leads, not where we want to take Him.