What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?

 

 "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 

 

On Saturday, we read that, after the miraculous feeding of the multitude, when evening came, the 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."  To understand this passage better, we might consider what it means that Jesus says God the Father has set His seal on Him.  A seal is an imprint; it was also a representation of an important person, something that conveyed more than image in a physical sense, but the presence and authority of that person.  In this case, it is the seal of God the Father, meaning that Christ acts for the Father, fully represents the Father to us in all ways (see John 14:9), and therefore gives this food which endures to everlasting life.  Christ speaks of labor, and therefore people as about the works of God they may do for this eternal food.  But to receive this food is something that comes from faith, from following Christ's word and participation in His life, and that faith is the union we seek to grow within all of our lives, for this is the true life of faith.   St. Augustine has a very interesting comment on this passage.  He first quotes from St. Paul:  "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4).  Then he remarks that therefore Christ "did not wish to separate faith from work, but he said that faith itself is a work. For this is the faith that works by love" (Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.12.1-2).

 

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."   Although these are the people who were fed in Christ's fourth sign given in John's Gospel (see Friday's reading), when it comes to Christ's teaching about faith, they demand another sign.  They refer to the manna in the desert, which they say was given by Moses.  But Jesus once again points not to Himself, but to the Father.  The manna in the desert was given by the Father, and now the Father is giving another gift of the true bread from heaven:  Christ Himself.  Jesus describes Himself as the bread of God, 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."  The people still seem to misunderstand Jesus, and it seems that they ask yet again for what they believe in some form of physical food or bread.   By asking to receive this bread always, they even seem to be confusing His earlier statement  about food that perishes and food that endures to everlasting life with a sense in which somehow they may receive this bread always.  But Jesus clarifies.  It is He who is this bread, and it is faith that is the "work" for this bread of life.  Even so, "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."  My study Bible has a note on Jesus' phrase My own will.  It explains that since Christ has two natures (that is, human and divine, which are indivisible and united in His Incarnation), He also has two wills; one divine and one human.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in AD 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 His omnipotent will."  But what we can read here for ourselves is Christ's repeated turning to His relationship with the Father.  Whatever Christ has or will have, whatever He does, all has been given to Him by the Father -- and this includes those who will come to Him in the future.  In fact, it is the Father's will that He should lose nothing that is given.  

In these last few verses, Jesus' words are very interesting.  He speaks of all that is given Him and will be given Him by the Father, and that of all this He should lose nothing.  Earlier, Jesus spoke of Himself as the bread of God, who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  In these statements, it is not specified that the things which are given to Him by the Father are only human beings; nor is the "life of the world" specified to mean only for human beings.  In the Revelation, we're told of the vision of a "new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1).  There is similar language used in the vision of Isaiah, and also in a letter of St. Peter (Isaiah 65:17,Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13).  With so much testimony (and prophecy), we must accept that in the spirit of the language Jesus uses here, He speaks of the renewal of the world and all that it contains, and that His mission as Son of Man, as the One who is sent by the Father, is crucial to the  renewal of all of life, this new heaven and new earth, whatever that entails and means.  The phrase "for the life of the world" uses not the word for the planet earth, but the word that means all of the created order, the whole universe and everything in it; that Greek word is κόσμος/kosmos.  But then Jesus does something very interesting, and speaks again of human beings, and it is again using the connection between faith and work, or perhaps, as in the comments of St. Augustine, faith as work.  Continuing from the connection to all that the Father has given Him, Jesus says, "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."  This promise of everlasting life for human beings -- and we must infer, the new heaven and new earth -- is linked to the life of faith, and faith means so much more than simply an espousal of a particular belief system.  Faith means living out the life Christ offers by participation in all that He offers.  In the Greek, the word for faith is rooted in the word for trust.  To have faith in Christ is to put one's trust in Christ, and thereby to live by His teachings, to live the life He offers, to participate in that life through all the ways we're given to do so, including through worship and sacraments, of which the Eucharist is particularly and expressly significant in this same sense.  For in the Eucharist, Christ becomes our food to nurture us for this eternal day to which He has taught us to look, the food which endures and does not perish.  For the life of the world most surely depends upon our understanding of what it is to live our faith, and thereby faith is inseparable from work -- for to truly live that faith encompasses everything we do, a prayerful life that entrusts to Christ guidance for what we do, safekeeping for our lives, the direction we need, and the particular kind of blessedness that He offers to us.  All of this is inseparable from living faith, a prayerful life in which God becomes closer than our heartbeat, the word of God a sword that pierces between everything and enters deep into the heart (Hebrews 4:12), a sense of self in which soul and spirit and mind and strength become participants in the life He offers.  For faith involves our whole being, and not merely an intellectual reasoning out of what one might call a belief system; it touches us in places we don't know, encompassing so much more than intellect.  We entrust to Him all that we are, including our responses to life, our hurts and pains, our desires, our goals and dreams, our trauma, and even the things we don't yet know.  This is what it is to live faith, and why it is inseparable from whatever "work" we do in life, just as Christ's works are inseparable from His understanding of His closeness to the Father who 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

 

 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 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.  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 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 is the fifth sign of seven recorded in John's Gospel.  My study Bible reminds us that, in Greek, It is I is literally translated "I Am," which is the divine Name of God (Exodus 3:14).  We remember that the text has told us that it is the time of Passover, and that John's chapter 6 parallels the story of Passover and the Exodus in many ways.   My study Bible notes that in the Exodus, Moses leads the people across the Red Sea, walking on 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."  We recall that these were the same people who so desired an earthly Messiah that they declared Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19), after Christ's miraculous feeding in which they were filled with earthly things; when Jesus understood they wanted to make Him king by force, He left for the mountain alone.  Here He begins to urge them regarding His true purpose and origin, of which the miraculous feeding was but a sign, and directs them to the greater things He offers.

Jesus says, "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 sees how strenuously they seek Him, looking for Jesus, having come across the sea to Capernaum (the "headquarters" of His ministry, where Peter has a family home).  They don't know that He has walked on the water, and wonder when He came there.  But Jesus directs their attention not to His fifth miraculous sign in John's Gospel, and away from their motivation at having been fed with food which perishes.  Instead He directs them to His greatest gift, which is the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give them, "because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Clearly, in the miraculous feeding of this multitude, Christ (and therefore God) has acknowledged that human beings need earthly nourishment for our well-being.   But He reminds them that there is a more important reason to seek Him, and that is for the food which feeds an everlasting life, which does not perish, and this must be their primary goal.  It does not mean we cease living our earthly lives or that our very human lives don't matter.  But Christ uses once again this mysterious term for Himself, the Son of Man, which seems to indicate the Incarnation itself:  God who has become human and lived among us.  It implies that this is His very mission, to give the food which endures to everlasting life, and that the most important thing is that we realize that God the Father has set His seal on Him.  Just as the incarnate Son of Man is both human and the divine Son of God, so our lives must follow a purpose and goodness set in heaven which permeates and guides our worldly lives.  Jesus sets down a priority here, and not a separation.  We are, in fact, meant to prioritize this higher good as an overall goal of our earthly lives, and merge the two as does His Incarnation.  In yesterday's commentary, we pondered what it meant to feed ourselves, how we can pick and choose in a discerning way what we choose to consume, to take into our lives and, effectively, make a part of ourselves.  Here, Jesus reinforces the point that there are things we can pursue which nurture that greater potential within us for everlasting life, for life in abundance which can permeate even our earthly life in the here and now.   It seems that if we set our sights on this overarching goal or pattern, it sets the tone for our lives -- and the things we do, and the things we "take in" or consume in our worldly lives then become aimed under that goal, and supportive of that life in abundance which Christ promises, and advises us to seek.  It becomes a question of setting a pattern of goals and priorities, and then our worldly life may be guided to support a blessed life in the here and the now.  Everlasting seems to describe a quality which applies not only to life beyond the worldly, but also intermingled with the here and the now, our earthly life, just as the Incarnate Jesus Christ is both human and divine, indistinguishably and inseparably so.  It is a quality of life that is enduring and eternal, and includes today but is not limited or perishing.  And it is the food of this life that we are asked to seek, and of which we are invited to partake by Christ.  In Greek, the word translated as "eternal" or "everlasting" is αἰώνιος/aionios, meaning of an age.  Strong's Concordance describes it as "partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting."  Christ has come to establish a Kingdom, and He invites us to participate in that Kingdom, even as we live in this world -- and it is the bread of the Kingdom which He teaches us to pursue, and that Kingdom begins today.  He has taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," meaning the today's bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom, which is here with us.