Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon Text

OUTLINE

1.

The Setting (v.22-24)

2. The Blind Seeking Jesus (v.25-34)

3. The Answer (v.35-40)

1.

The Setting (v.22-24)

Verse 22 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.

Verse 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

Verse 24 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.

Prior to our passage, we read about Jesus miraculously feeding the crowds and Him walking on water.

Jesus and His disciples had already crossed the sea to the other side.

And they did so at around 3:00AM to 6:00AM when the walking on water took place.

They did this at this time most likely to get away from the crowds so that they wouldn’t be followed.

The crowds, on the next day, looked for Jesus and saw that there had only been one boat there.

The NASB said it correctly saying that “that there was no other small boat there, except one.”

Capernaum was north from Tiberias.

About 7 miles.

The crowd was where Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding them and from there they decided to look for Jesus in Capernaum.

Capernaum was north from Tiberias.

About 7 miles.

Capernaum was a city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

CAPERNAUM (Καφαρναουμ, Kapharnaoum).

A city on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Gospel writers refer to it as Jesus’ “own city” (Matt 9:1) because after leaving Nazareth, He went to live in Capernaum, for at least a time (Matt 4:13).

Matthew’s account called Capernaum Jesus’ own city in and in it was reported to be His home.

We know that when Jesus left Nazareth He went to live in Galilee.

Capernaum was already familiar to Christ and most likely the crowd knew it was His home.

So, the crowds go to Galilee to seek Him and it begs the question why.

Question: Why did they seek Jesus?

The following verses tell us which brings us to the second part of our passage.

2. The Blind Seeking Jesus (v.25-34)

Verse 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

Notice them calling Him Rabbi in verse 25.

Rabbi which means teacher, was a title of respect given by the Jews to their teachers.

Rabʹbi [teacher], a title of respect given by the Jews to their teachers, and often addressed to our Lord (Matt.

23:7, 8; 26:25, 49; Mark 9:5; 11:21; 14:45; John 1:38, 49; 3:2, 26: 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8).

Another form of the title was rabboni (Mark 10:51; John 20:16).

The title rabbi is not known to have been used before the reign of Herod the Great, and is thought to have taken its rise about the time of the disputes between the rival schools of Hillel and Shammai.

They would have carefully called Him Rabbi for a reason.

I think it was because of what they sought Him for rather than for respect.

We know that the crowds here were not looking for Jesus for who He was.

Jesus clearly reveals this in verse 26.

Read Verse 26 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.

This is a good example of how one does not seek God.

Seeking God from those who only have a desire for this world, prove that they are not seeking God.

This issue was brought up with the seeker friendly movement that sought to make the church relevant at the cost of its identity.

These movements birthed, as an example, people like Rob Bell and Bill Hybels, who wanted to change the church at its core so that unbelievers would want to come to church.

Instead of looking to the Scriptures to see who and what we are as a church, they looked to the culture and conformed to it, making it tolerable and palatable to the world.

This is the same type of people here in our passage.

This is the same type of people here in our passage.

They want Jesus to give them what He had not offered.

The miracle of the loaves and fish was not to fill hungry stomachs.

It was was to reveal Jesus as the Bread from heaven.

Even after the miracle Jesus did and their profession of Him, which we can read in , they sought Him not because they saw signs, but because they ate their fill of the loaves.

They said in ,

This is a clear example of profession of faith without possession of faith.

Which is in a nutshell what we have been seeing in the gospel of John and it is one that we should take heed to.

This is what James addressed in ,

They had the right information about God and they professed it but they never had possession of it.

They had the knowledge that even demons had which is not a belief in Jesus.

Question: What does it mean then for someone to not only profess faith but possess faith?

I believe the following verses answer this.

Read Verse 27 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.”

Read Verse 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

Read Verse 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

The main difference is that the one who possesses faith understands and believes that they cannot do the work of God.

They are what Jesus spoke of in

Jesus said in verse 26,“Truly, truly, I say to you.

Which meant that He wanted them to pay close attention to what He was about to say.

He then addressed their reason as to why they were seeking Him while professing correctly that He was the prophet promised.

The instruction that followed was the answer to their problem.

Which is that they have a profession of faith with no possession of it.

Let’s look at verses 27-29.

Couple of points to look at in verses 27-29.

you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

First, Do not work for the food that perishes.

Question: What is the food that perishes?

Answer: It was the food they were looking for.

Which was loaves and fish.

Which proves that they only sought to satisfy their natural, earthly hunger.

Second, Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Question: What is the food that endures to eternal life?

Answer: We find this in verse 35 of our text.

To us it is no surprise that Jesus was speaking of Himself.

The food that endures to eternal life meaning the food that will remain unto eternal life, food that will not perish is Jesus Christ and faith in Him.

Third, Jesus spoke of 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.

Seals were used throughout history as stamps of approval and authority where one could identify the sender which was one who had authority.

Like a king or a ruler of a region.

Seals were impressed upon with wet clay or hot wax and the images on each seal were unique and reflective of the one sending a message or a command.

The seal would serve to identify the sender’s property and safeguard the message from fraudulent transactions and it would ratify official documentation and rulings that were made from the sender.

, and approval.

The earliest known seals date from the fourth millennium BC.

They often took the form of necklaces or rings and were closely guarded.

The seals were impressed upon wet clay or hot wax.

The images on each seal were unique to their owners and served to identify property, safeguard against fraudulent transactions, and ratify official documents and rulings

In our text, the sender was the Father and Jesus was the message.

And the Father has set His seal on Him.

Jesus Himself was the message and the Father approved Him as the food that would endure to eternal life!