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? 

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent

 "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."   The work of God is to believe in Him whom He sent."  So often we forget that faith itself is a choice, a "work" -- there is so much work that must go on within ourselves as our faith is challenged by our lives, our experience, our thoughts and habitual responses, and the earthly life we live.   In this vein of understanding, prayer itself is another kind of "work of God."

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."  Following the parallels to the Exodus noted so far in chapter 6 of John's Gospel, here Jesus declares Himself to be the true food and drink, the true bread that has come down from heaven (see also Exodus 16:1-17:7).

"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 remarks that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills:  the divine will and a human will.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council , held in Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims 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."

Christ speaks so strongly of the link of faith between Himself and those whom He shall raise up at the last day.  He tells us of His link, His closeness with the Father:   "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."   At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, we are given to understand, the existence of both human and divine will in Christ was decided -- and so Christ speaks here not of the divine will which is united within the Trinity, but of His human will, that in His earthly ministry He has chosen to fully align His human will with the divine will of the Father.  This is an example to us, it is something we should wholly and fully desire for ourselves.  Indeed, this is the great goal of all monastic life, and we are also to understand that it is in that divine will of Creator where we truly "find ourselves" -- this process of alignment is, in fact, one of truly becoming ourselves.  If we seek who we truly are, we need to align ourselves to Creator, to have that as our firm aim and direction in our prayer and our efforts to become the persons that Christ asks us to be.  To follow Christ in faith, then, is like a time-based alignment of this will in the sense that Christ sets the example of alignment of will.  We don't "become" God, but we can become "like God."  We simply have a lifetime of work at this work He names, an ongoing process of conversion based on the gift of time that is also given to us as creatures by God.  And once again, what is the work of God?  "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent," Jesus tells the crowds, and us.  Faith itself becomes a work, because it implies so much else that is purely "work."  That is, this kind of faith sets out a lifetime of works, of choices and decisions to follow and to align ourselves with His will -- of allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, and the indwelling also of Father and of Christ, influencing who we are which is known by the works that we do.  Let us reiterate that "works" are not merely things done to be seen by others.  Works are all the choices we make; the decision to pray; the decision to find the will of God and seek it for ourselves; to hand ourselves over to Christ, so to speak -- and faith itself, to "believe in Him whom He sent" is also the work of God, as Jesus states here.  So let us think about these works we do, what kind of fruit we wish to produce, and the results of a lifetime of choices offered and made through time within this discipline and gift of faith.  Let us never forget how it ties us to the gifts of Father, Son, and Spirit themselves working in us and with us -- and how much help we have all along the way, with myriad messengers and saints as a great cloud of witnesses helping us as well.

Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve"

 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,'

and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1-13

Yesterday we read that, as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but he chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.  But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.  When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." 

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.   My study bible says that the exodus of Jesus into the wilderness following His baptism has a dual symbolism.  First, it fulfills the Old Testament type, in which Israel journeyed in the wilderness for forty years after its "baptism" in the Red Sea.  Second, it prefigures our own journey through the fallen world after baptism as we struggle towards the Kingdom.  It's important to understand, from the point of view of emphasis in the Gospels, that Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness for this struggle.   The wilderness is a battleground, an image of the world in the sense that it is both the dwelling place of evil (or demons) and also a source of divine tranquility and victory, the beauty of nature as inspiration to worship Creator.

And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. Jesus is tempted for forty days.  This is a reversal of Israel's falling into temptation in the wilderness.  The Israelites were tested for forty years and were disobedient and disobedient and disloyal.  They were humbled by first being allowed by God to go hungry and then fed with manna to help them learn dependence upon God (Deuteronomy 8:2-5).  Jesus is tempted with hunger for forty days, and yet doesn't sin.  His answers to the devil come from Deuteronomy, and call for loyalty to God.  Christ's forty day fast is the basis for the Church's Lenten fast before Holy Week, and by tradition also before Christmas.  He fasts to overcome temptation, giving us an example of our own capacities and limitations in the face of temptation.  His hunger doesn't control Him.  We, too, have the Holy Spirit with us to help us face our own struggles.

And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"   My study bible notes that the devil challenges Christ's relationship to the Father.  If You are the Son of God calls into question the Father's declaration at Jesus' Baptism (see yesterday's reading, above).  The devil wants Jesus to act independently, detaching Himself from the will of the Father.  In His divine nature, Christ shares one with with the Father and the Holy Spirit; in John 5:30, Jesus says that He can do nothing of Himself apart from the Father.  But as human being, Jesus possesses free will and at all times must choose to remain obedient to the divine will of the Father.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"  Jesus has already rejected an earthly kingdom in the sense that He shows us not to pursue earthly comfort in the "food which perishes" (John 6:27).  In Christ, we have the power to conquer temptation.  Here the temptation extends to earthly power and possessions, a worldly glory rather than the glory of God.  Jesus is asked to choose worldly power over the Kingdom of God, as the devil is the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31), and has also been called "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), because the whole world is in his power (1 John 5:19).  Jesus refuses earthly glory, which would lead Him away from His mission of suffering and death for the redemption of the world.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"  Since so much of Christ's power to deflect temptation comes through Scripture, Satan tries to use Scripture to put God's power of protection to the test (see also 2 Peter 1:19-21).  The devil quotes from Psalm 91:11-12.  Jesus' response teaches us that trials and temptations enough will come on their own.  We should never intentionally expose ourselves to danger in order to prove God's protection.  To do so is to tempt the LORD.

Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  There will be other times of great temptation, particularly during the events of His Passion and Crucifixion (Luke 22:40-46, 23:35; Matthew 16:21-23).

Each of us has our own temptations we encounter in life.  In modern understanding, many temptations can come from psychological formation in childhood.  Father Thomas Keating, one of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement, writes often of our "programs" (that is, impulses within us) that derive from the experience of trauma, which he says form the basis for the "false self."  That is, a false understanding of who we are.    He places them in three categories:  power/control, esteem/affection, and security/survival.  If we look closely at Jesus' three temptations, they would seem to fall into these categories:  the false tempting of God seems to indicate power and control, the temptation of worldly kingdoms and glory falls under esteem and affection, the temptation to use power to turn the stone to bread under security and survival.  Father Keating's understanding is one example of how we might discern what temptations we face in our own lives.  The notion of "false self" is akin to the idea of "ego" in popular language.  We have to dig deeply into our relationship with God, just as Jesus does, to find and follow who we truly are in the image of God, and who we may become as we dwell in Christ.  This leads us "becoming" the person God knows us to be, as only our Creator can know.  The battle for struggle and temptation, when viewed in that modern context, becomes all the more important in a world where we face constant challenges to our sense of ourselves.  Modern social media puts us in an immediate kind of environment that challenges the need for esteem, linked to worldly belonging, security, even survival.  There are all kinds of articles and studies done on the effect of a large number of "likes" on a Facebook post!  Jesus' experience in the wilderness meets the challenge of the distortions of who we are and who we need to be, and it teaches us about our own power to transcend the worldly temptations that may come fast and furious.  A priest's sermon I heard the other day spoke of demonic temptation in the internal voices that seem to tell us that we're all alone, or that we're not loved.  The Gospels testify to the lie in each of those thoughts for every single one of us.  Christ is always present, and God's love for us always steady.  More than that, in Christ we live also in a Kingdom which is alive with a communion of saints, with whom we may also pray and worship.  The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls the Helper (or "Paraclete") in John's Gospel, is always with us.  We have an infinite force of those who are with us, and all form the Church, the Body of Christ -- that great cloud of witnesses by whom we're encompassed.  One can see the need for affection and esteem and its temptations to chase after false idols and a sense of belonging, even pulling at our survival instincts to be one of the pack or tribe or group.  But we're made for something more and something better.  And this is where Christ leads us. This is where His temptation in the wilderness takes us and what it teaches us.  We rely on God, and therein comes our strength to make of our lives something more:  the difference between a good and rich fruitful life, and a barren wilderness.

The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world

 "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 after feeding thousands in the wilderness, 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."  Here is the work:  to have faith, to believe in Him whom He sent.  How can we believe that it's just that easy?  Just that simple?  This is the way that grace works.  God does the rest of the work, even in us.

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."   So powerful is this image of bread from heaven, that those who speak to Jesus cite the Scriptures, in which we can find it referenced three times:  see Exodus 16:4, Nehemiah 9:15, Psalm 78:24.  But Jesus takes them from "earthly" images of being fed in the wilderness, to a true heavenly bread, one which is bound up with the work of faith.  The true bread of heaven is the gift of God to the world, the Son given in order to save.

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."  My study bible has a note here that tells us that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills.  One will is divine and the other human.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople in AD 680-681, proclaims 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."    Again we see that with Jesus, everything comes constantly referenced back to the Father.  All things begin there, with the God who is love and who wishes us to be with Him.

Jesus refers everything back to the Father.  We have repeatedly observed this, especially in John's gospel.  Jesus' identity as Son is derived solely from the Father; without Father there is no Son.  Everything is dependent upon the Father.  And the real bread of heaven, He's telling them (and us) isn't that which came down in the wilderness to feed the Israelites when they were led by Moses, and it wasn't even the sign He performed of feeding thousands in the wilderness, so that these people seek to make Him their king.  No, the real bread of heaven is standing in front of them, and it's been sent --  given, actually, is the real word used in John 3:16 -- it's been given by the Father to the world.   The bread of heaven has been given to the world that through this spiritual food, all might be saved.  Not condemned, but saved.  And what does that really mean?  It means that God who is love desires all of us to be with God eternally, in an eternal state of life, not a temporary one.  It means God wants to free us from death.  It means that all the signs that Jesus performs -- and we remember there are seven in this Gospel of John -- all those signs are here to show us what God wants to give us and what it means to be saved.  Salvation means a kind of addition of life to us that changes everything.  It changes the qualities about us, per St. Paul's references to the gifts or fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  It changes our relationships:   “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother"  (Matthew 12:48-50, NIV).  It changes our relationship to the whole of the world, as in this viewpoint we become stewards of the world, guardians and caretakers of all the good gifts we're given by a gracious God.  This bread of heaven gives everything meaning, because the start of everything is this gracious gift and its inception in the love that we must know as the nature of God and thereby the foundation of everything.  And that's going to rock our entire lives.  This God the Father, who loves us and whose love we can truly sense in the great devotion of this Son, teaches us that love is the foundation of all things:  that we are loved, and if we are to understand what it is to be God-like then we will also have to know what it is to live with love, and to make it the foundation of what we do with our lives.  And that will change everything.  And that's what it means, in my opinion, to be saved.  A selfish perspective on love gives us the image that some people are meant to sacrifice everything, and some people are given everything.  Well, that's not love, in my opinion.  That's a whole different reality.  That's a limited, narrow, self-centered, abuse-prone point of view that is all about manipulation.  The real viewpoint of love is different, because love understands that loving is the same as wanting what is really best for us.  Love isn't just indulgence or granting our fondest wishes as in a fairy tale.  It's different, and it works differently.  Love might teach us to be patient and long-suffering, if we need that.  It might teach us forbearance and kindness to others, because these fruits of the Spirit make us truly good, even perhaps great.  Love might teach us to be less selfish, or that there are some things that we can live without.  Love will give us what is really best for us, the same way a good parent will want a child to be healed of illness even if it means using medicines the child doesn't like taking.  Love also means sharing the best gifts.  That's what God the Father brings us, a life in which we can have eternal life, with Him.  Ultimately, love is about this sort of relationship, in which the best gifts are ours, even if we are not quite prepared to understand what is best.  So let's just start there, with the bread of heaven that wants what is truly best for us, eternal life, a kind of life that adds to our live not just in time but also in the here and now, in the qualities we understand are good, that make us more fully human somehow.  That is, truly human in the sense of the fullness of what we can be, in the potentials built into us by Creator that we might not even be aware of in us.  Love can bring us a joy and peace we can't really understand, and not based on visible external circumstances.  It's in John's gospel that Jesus will also tell us that we are given this bread of heaven so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete (John 15:11), and that He leaves us with His peace which He gives not as the world gives (John 14:27).    All of this is part of this bread from heaven, standing there in Person, the gift of God the Father for the salvation of what it truly means for us to have life.  Can we do the work of that faith?

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:

'He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,'

 "and,

'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "    Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

- Luke 4:1-13

In yesterday's reading, we read that all the people were in expectation of the Messiah, and they reasoned in their hearts whether John the Baptist was He.  But John said, "I indeed baptize you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."  John continued to preach to the people.  But Herod, adding to all of the other things he did, put John in prison for rebuking Herod regarding Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom Herod proposed to marry.  This is a great outrage, as John is widely regarded as a holy man of Israel.  When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.  And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."

 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.  Many church fathers have seen in Jesus' leading into the wilderness by the Spirit a type of exodus paralleling events in Israel's history:  after baptism, it is as the Israelites having crossed the Jordan and entering the wilderness.  It has also been seen as "our new exodus of salvation from darkness to light, though yet in this world," says my study bible.  Here is Jesus' preparation for ministry, after the baptism:  an immediate confrontation with "the ruler of this world."  We note that this is a part of His ministry, as He was led by the Spirit into this confrontation.

And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "  My study bible says, "Satan's attempt here was to exploit the extreme hunger which the Lord experienced in His humanity.  The phrase, if You are the Son of God, shows Satan was seeking to generate self-doubt in Christ concerning His divinity, and to control His actions."  We remember from the temptation in the Garden that the devil is an expert at misrepresentation, especially creating doubt about God's way for us.  So Jesus' quotation here puts it like it is for Him:  we and He live by every word of God.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."   My study bible says that "the devil claims to be the possessor of all worldly power and wealth, and attempts to turn Jesus from His true sonship and ministry."  Later on in Luke's Gospel, Jesus will declare, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven," after the seventy return from their mission.

 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "  Jesus, my study bible points out, doesn't dispute the devil's claim to be possessor of all worldly power and wealth. But there is a strong declaration here of Jesus' power, and what He has come to claim as His own.  And it's also a warning:  "Get behind Me, Satan."  Furthermore it's a statement of His oneness with the Father, even as Jesus refers back to the Father.  This declaration, points out my study bible, is a declaration for all.  There is only one sovereign to be worshiped for any of us.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,' and,  'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "  My study bible declares that this third temptation (it is the second in Matthew's Gospel) "concerns self-aggrandizement and vanity.  Is Jesus to base His ministry on new, spectacular acts designed to get people's attention?"  Satan quotes from Psalm 91:11 and 12.

And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "    Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.  Jesus declares to Satan that one is not to tempt God;  "that is," says my study bible, "to test His providential love and care by thoughtless and vain acts."  Again, it's a more compelling declaration and a bolder one of power and authority than the previous Jesus has made in this confrontation.  Jesus declares His own sovereignty here in telling Satan not to tempt the Lord his God.  We note that none of this changes Satan's mind; "he departed from Him until an opportune time."  He will continue on his same destructive path in opposition to God.

Jesus declares His sovereignty to Satan, the devil, the one called "the ruler of this world" or "the prince of this world."  What is Christ here to do?  What does His Messiahship mean for the world?  The people of God, or Israel, are all over the world, all over this planet where the devil oppresses and tempts.  But Christ is here as liberator for all.  He will displace this kingdom of the strong man, binding him up, so that "the stronger man," Christ, can take His rightful place as sovereign.  What we see unfold in the Gospel, through the missions of the twelve and the seventy, is an unfolding of the power of Christ's kingdom.  And so, mankind is included in this declaration and this kingdom.  Why is Christ's temptation important for us?  Because He sets down the rule.  He goes before us and teaches us what it is to be tempted, and how to deal with it.  The words the Father teaches Him are His commandments, as we read so clearly stated in the Gospel of John.  So we too must hold fast to our faith and trust in God.  The world can manipulate us in many ways, creating not only doubt, but shame, and all the things Christ endured for Himself so that we, too, might understand what this spiritual life, in a battle for hearts and minds, may be all about.  Christ declares His sovereignty to the devil here in today's reading, but really He's setting down a pattern of faith for us, in which we can take an example.  He sticks to the Father's promises for Him.  And so, in the place of prayer and in the place of worship, we can put our faith in the place Christ declares for us in this great economy of salvation.  Jesus has also taught us not to judge by appearances, but to judge by righteous judgment.  Let us seek that place of discernment in all that we do, and hold fast to it.