John 6:25-34

²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, "Rabbi, when didYou get here?" ²⁶Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval." ²⁸Then they asked Him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" ²⁹Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent." ³⁰So they asked Him, "What miraculous sign then will You give that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? ³¹Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" ³²Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." ³⁴"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

After Jesus fed them, this crowd of people spent the night on the sea waiting for more miracles and provision. They were looking for Him the next day and found Him “on the other side of the lake.” Rather than 180 degrees from where they were, this phrase means across the bay of the sea between Bethsaida and Capernaum – explaining their mode of transportation from v24. (From Tiberias, it made sense to stop at Bethsaida on the way to Capernaum.) They found Him in the synagogue in Capernaum (v59). Jesus, rather than answer their question regarding His arrival time, begins v26 with a harkening – “I tell you the truth.” He’s saying, “Listen!” He immediately brings to light the root of their problem, saying that their following Him involved a merely natural desire for material benefits – namely physical nourishment to aid them in their temporal life. They had failed to see the reality to which the sign-miracles pointed about who Jesus is.

Then in v27, He exhorts them not to seek first the bread that spoils; instead, they are to labor for the food that truly matters – spiritual nourishment that leads to eternal life, which He gives just as miraculously as the physical bread they had enjoyed the day before. Jesus could have simply commanded the crowd to seek incorruptible food; but He told them what not to seek as well – food that spoils – because He knew that we are grossly prone to earthly or worldly things in our sinful nature. Jesus presents His address in a metaphor and gives the name “food” to everything that belongs to newness of life. The gospel feeds our souls; all that nourishes and promotes faith, the life of the soul, is compared to food. Also of interest here, Jesus commands us to work for that which the Son of Man will give. Calvin says, “There is undoubtedly some appearance of contradiction in these words; but we may easily reconcile these two statements, that the spiritual food of the soul is the free gift of Christ, and that we must strive with all the affections of our heart to become partakers of so great a blessing.” Notice also in v27 the Father has placed His seal of approval on the Son of Man. The question for us might be this: Are we passionately and primarily seeking things that really matter? Are we seeking first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)? These people were not, and Jesus told them so.

In v28, we can look at the crowd’s next question from two perspectives. Favorably for them, perhaps they genuinely want to know how they can partake in this food that leads to eternal life; they are trying to follow Christ’s leading. But negatively, it may appear that they are asking how they can earn this bread, what they can do to work for it; thus they have no grasp of God’s grace. They should have learned both from the previous day’s miracle and from Jesus’ explanation that “the Son of Man will give” it that Christ gives bread freely, not in payment for any work! Either way, Jesus answers straightforwardly in v29 by declaring that faith in Christ is all one needs to gain a right relationship with God the Father. But for now, we can say that there is nothing one can DO to gain eternal life; it is DONE. Faith is not a meritorious work, though believing is something we do. Why we do it, why we believe, how we come to faith, will be addressed shortly. In the meantime, consider faith to be the channel through which we receive the gracious gift of God.

After Jesus explains what should have been known already, that eternal life is given to believers in Christ, the crowd is arrogant enough to ask of Him a sign (Matthew 12:39). We see that as soon as Jesus does not grant their every request, He is no longer their king. The sign they demand to prove that He truly does have the ability to give life is on the basis – they claim – that Moses, who, sent to the people by God, provided bread in the wilderness for 2 million people for 40 years. It is very revealing to consider that the Jews knew the Messiah would be known by His miracles of greater proportion that those of Moses, but they overlooked them when they occurred. They reveal their desire for a Messiah who fills their bellies, yet they do it cleverly, recalling Jesus’ mention of bread that leads to eternal life and referring to manna, the heavenly bread (Exodus 16:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 78:24-25; 1 Corinthians 10:3). We might tend to struggle with discerning their true state here; on one hand it appears that they are genuinely trying to follow along and apply Jesus’ words – even to the point of recognizing His words from the Scriptures. But on the other hand, they can appear to be trying to provoke Him out of sinful truth suppression, denying the clear reality to which His metaphorical statements point.

It is staggering that this demand takes place on the day after this same crowd had tried to make Him king by force, the day after Jesus had miraculously provided bread in a more powerful way than Moses. It seems as if they are just proving Jesus’ point that they are seeking a way to get more physical bread, and do not have any care for the meaning of the miraculous sign. The reality is that, as we saw with Nicodemus, they are spiritually dead. They cannot discern spiritual things until God makes them alive (1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13). Jesus therefore rebukes their ongoing hardness with the observation that it was not Moses who gave bread, but God. God Himself sent it down from heaven. Furthermore, the manna was bread from heaven as in physical nourishment from the sky; but the true “bread of heaven,” which Jesus rephrases as the “bread of God” is not manna. The same God who gave manna is the One who sends the true (everlasting) Bread down from heaven, and this Bread is the One who descended from heaven to give eternal life to the world. He is near (Deuteronomy 30:12; Romans 10:6-8).

Whether or not they get what Jesus is saying is made clear from their response in v34 by asking for this bread from now on. They’re still seeking physical bread – and Calvin says, “There is no doubt that they speak ironically, to accuse Christ of vain boasting, when He said that He was able to give the bread of life.” Picture them saying, “Well Jesus, if You’re so privileged and powerful, then You ought to be giving us this bread from now on. After all, You’re boasting of being capable. Let’s see it!” And for us, we need to be on guard. We must strive to seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to us. Every decision must be made by first asking, “How will this or that affect my relationship with God?” And if the answer is not positive, that’s a clue that I’m not seeking first His Kingdom. When the things of my world come crashing down, I must not be devastated. My peace should remain, because my joy is not circumstance-based (Philippians 4:11-12). God never changes.