John 6:22-29
Notes
Transcript
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Pray,
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
Recap.
Jesus, went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and withdrew up on a mountain. John the Baptist had been killed.
People have been seeing all these signs and end up following Jesus to the other side of the sea.
During this time we get the question to Philip “how we going to feed all these people?”.
Great teaching of trust in God and not of the things of this world.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Great miracle for several to see, no food, now plenty of food!
Jesus sensing the crowd was going to force Him to be King, withdrew back into the mountain.
After this, night came and the disciples were told to go back to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
Storm comes and the disciples are caught in it, Jesus comes walking on water, calms the storm, comes into the boat with the disciples, they are glad, and immediately on the other side.
This is the context of “the next day”.
John 6:22-25
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
They’re looking/watching for Jesus.
They end up finding Him back on the other side of the sea and say to Him “Rabbi, when did you came here?”.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
Jesus doesn’t answer their question but instead tells them something unexpected.
Not how He got there but the why they were seeking Him
A cut to the chase so to speak, the heart of why your following...
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
Does this matter, this seeking because of “signs seen” verse “eating their fill of the loaves”?
Remember what was said at the start of this chapter.
And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.
What is one, vs the other? Following because of signs over sickness vs filling their bellies?
I think the answer is in the following verse.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
The work the crowd worked for in seeking Jesus the first time in 6:2 was in truth...
What truth? All will come to death and we all seek life.
It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
The great equalizer of man.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
And what does sin deliver?
Romans 6:23a ESV
For the wages of sin is death,
Why death?
Because sin is in opposition to all God is.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Oil and water don’t mix.
Either does light and darkness or Holy and unholiness. They are in great opposition to each other.
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
The work the crowd first did by seeking Jesus, was a good work, seeking truth to life.
Maybe not to the depth of Jesus’ offering of eternal life but to the truth that life taking sickness abounds, our death problem is real and this Jesus may have the answer.
I believe that a lot of us come to Jesus the same way.
I bore my testimony a few weeks ago...
About having a heart attack and seeking truth because I felt death was knocking on my door.
My seeking truth was not necessarily pure and unselfish, in fact it was more of a selfish, unpure act of not caring about God but about not wanting to go to the bad place.
Neither the less I was lead to seek truth and that is not a bad thing.
This time however, the crowd, now being fully fed, worked in seeking Jesus again. But this time scripture tells us it wasn’t because of His signs but because they were comforted in the here and now.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
They were comforted with a temporal need of the food given and wanted more of that than anything else.
They forgot about seeking The Cure and started seeking the temporal pain relievers of the world.
The food that perishes or in other words the temporal pain relievers became the point of seeking Jesus, not food that endures to eternal life or the Cure itself, Jesus.
And in love Jesus, calls them out on it, “you’re only seeking me for more worldly comfort”. This will perish!
It’s one of the most unloving things to do, to pretend all is ok and not call out anything that leads to death.
Stop, and do this!
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
“I didn’t come to provide worldly comfort but real comfort in salvation from death by giving of my body in place of yours and the giving of my blood, so that you may have eternal life with the Father.
This is what you should be seeking! Food that endures.
This is a great and loving teaching!
And the question arises...What food do we work for?
The temporal or eternal?
The same thought arises within them also...
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Do we believe in Him whom He has sent?
Kinda vague right, so many would say yes of course I believe in Jesus.
But what does belief bring in something or someone?
Action, right? A truth that, that belief is real and we act accordingly.
I believe in gravity and therefore stay away from cliffs.
Do we believe in the same way with Jesus?
Do our lives represent that belief?
What do we believe church?
Do we believe that we aren’t good, we are ugly, sinful beings that have sinned and done wrong against a Holy God. Our very creator.
Do we believe that we deserve death and the wrath of God? If you see something that destroys something you love, doesn’t it bring the same response?
Do we believe God is just and our sins had to be accounted for? Justice is the righteous, holy act that must take place. No favors, no injustice over “I like their personality better”. Just truth, all sinners, not one righteous, all deserve the wrath of God.
Do we believe that justice has been served in the works and power of the only Son of God, Jesus?
That Jesus, the promised one of old, was born of a virgin, outside the curse of sinful man, lived a perfect sinless life, fully man, fully God.
But was treated as though He was sinful.
Do we believe Jesus took upon death on a cross. A horrible brutal death that should of been bestowed on us?
Do we believe He truly died and was buried for 3 days?
Do we believe He was resurrected and lives? Showing His ultimate authority over death.
And lastly do we believe that through Him and only Him we have eternal life? Thus when we reread 6:27 we see more of the truth of what we put our belief in.
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
“which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.”
This is what we believe and this and only this is what we put our hope in? Jesus, alone!
Through this belief or faith we care, spend, think, and work more for the eternal than the temporal.
Not because it’s a work of I have to but because it’s a work of gratitude, importance, & belief.
It’s the “I work for the eternal because I’ve been saved” vs the lie “I have to work to be saved”.
The cares of today and it’s comforts are second to fiddle to the cares of the eternal.
All of this made known through the action and righteousness of love.
We love because he first loved us.
