John 6:25-42
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” [1]
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Why do I follow after Jesus? Why do I worship Him? Is it because of who He is or is it because of what He can provide for me?
What caught my attention in today’s passage is Jesus statement on 6:26 regarding the motives of those who were looking for Him. This dialogue (which will continue with tomorrow’s passage) focuses on Jesus’ identity, in particular His identity as the bread of life. But right from the start, Jesus rebukes those who are looking for Him, because they are more interested in “bread” than “life.”
God is the source of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). We are to see God as such, worship Him as such, and trust in Him as the giver of all good things. But today’s passage also warns against the danger of viewing God as some kind of divine vending machine. In other words, following God as a means to an end, and the end is the receiving of good things.
It’s true that what attracts people to following Jesus initially is the benefit of doing so – salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, answer prayers, etc. Jesus is calling us in this passage to a more mature faith, a faith that is focused on the giver, not just the gift. In the passage, the gift is bread and having your fill. But it might just as easily have been forgiveness, or eternal life, or healing, or peace.
There’s a fine line here, and I hope I’m communicating it well. Yes, we are thankful for the gifts. And we trust in God to provide. But my prayer today is that the Lord continue to refine and mature my faith, that my heart is drawn to Him because of who He is, the Lord of all, the one whose essence is love, the source of truth, the wellspring of all hope. I pray that the Lord lift my eyes beyond the gifts He so graciously provides, that I might trust in Him above all at all times.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 6:25–42). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
