John 6:25-34 continues with Jesus
at Passover, offering the preface to the discourse on the Bread of Life. In
Chapter 6, Jesus has just fed the 5000 and walked over the waters. In both
cases, we are to think of Moses leading the people across the Red Sea on dry
land and Moses providing manna in the wilderness. Jesus is kind of like Moses,
but with a difference, of course. Verses 26 and 30 refer to the issue of
“signs,” one that will be at the center of this passage.
Verse 25 suggests the west shore
rather than Tiberias. As is typical in John, the crowd asks a question that one
could read at a physical level and a spiritual level: Where has Jesus come
from? How did he come to be among the
people at that time and that place?
The sudden departure of Jesus prompts
the crowd to follow him. In verse 26, Jesus responds to their question by
saying that they are looking for him, not because they saw signs (of God
working Jesus in a similar way as to God worked in Moses), but rather, they
have full bellies. The crowd is following a trail of breadcrumbs, not the
footsteps of the Messiah. Jesus has confronted them with their motives. They are
looking for an easy hand‑out; a free lunch. They did not truly understand the
sign. Jesus is revealing the nature of his messianic work, but they did not get
it. The crowds are looking for deliverance from physical difficulties (hunger,
disease), but Jesus wants them to see beyond physical need to their spiritual
needs.
Verse 27 becomes a discussion of
what John means by “work.” He encourages them to “work” for the food that
endures (being the essence of the relationship between believers and God) for
eternal life. However, the Son of Man will give (in the Lord’s Supper?) them
this food. They are not to spend their lives in working for the food that
perishes. In this true food, one experiences authentic faith and a fulfilled
life. We learn here of the personal nature
of the gift of divine life and the Lord’s Supper. The verse also introduces a
uniquely Johannine distinction between work and faith. The Johannine use of the term used here for
work, strongly suggests working or laboring, but not at all earning. While people who desire eternal life must
actively seek it, in the end the Son of Man freely gives it. This is
"beyond our grasp" but not "beyond our gain”, nature of eternal
life is further emphasized by John's use of the term "Son of Man."
Verses 28-31 offer the solution of
John to the faith and works question introduced in verse 27. The crowd asks
what they must do to perform the works of God. Jesus responds that the “work”
of God is “believe” in the one God has sent. The crowd then asks what “sign” he
is going to give them, so that they may “see” and “believe” in him. They wonder
what “work” he is performing. Their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness,
remembering that God gave them manna from heaven. In other words, faith is the
supreme work. Faith is the only work that matters in seeking eternal life.
Verses 32-34 show that God has
fulfilled the eschatological expectation. Jesus reminds then that it was not
Moses at all, but God, Father of Jesus, who gave them the true bread from
heaven. The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world. The crowd then asks that Jesus give them this bread always. This request
should remind us of one of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer; “give us this
day our daily bread.” One might note several passages in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy
8:3
He
humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which
neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand
that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the
mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy
16:20
Justice,
and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land
that the LORD your God is giving you.
Nehemiah
9:20
You
gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from
their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst.
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