"Goodies, Goals, And Gimmicks” Series

I can imagine some of the thoughts of the crowd: We have the catch of a lifetime here. Jesus could be a great leader. No more hunger. No more work. We could just pack this hillside out everyday. We could expand and have wine tasting booths (I heard that He changed water into the most fantastic vintage EVER!) I would love to have Him as my CEO. What a profit I could make if I had him manage my business. We just ate all the fish sandwiches possible with 5 loaves and 2 fish. With Jesus at the helm, I could open a FISH-FIL-A chain and make a “killing”.

We’re going to skip the next 10 verses: Jesus’ disciples leave in a boat to go across the lake, a storm arises, He walks on water, they get safely to the other side, and so does the crowd. The crowd wonders how Jesus got there, and He doesn’t answer them; Instead He says:

26 Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you SEEK Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 "DO NOT WORK for the food which perishes, but for the food which ENDURES to eternal life, which the Son of Man will GIVE TO YOU, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." 28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we DO, so that we MAY WORK the works of God ?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is THE WORK OF GOD, that you BELIEVE in Him whom He has sent."

30 So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a SIGN, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness ; as it is written, ’HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT." (The people were putting a condition on Jesus.) 32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the TRUE BREAD out of heaven. 33 "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."

34Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." 35 Jesus said to them, "I AM the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of ALL that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and BELIEVES in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

Here is what Jesus had done so far as “signs” and miracles recorded in John (other Gospels actually tell us MORE incidents): Jesus had walked on water, fed 5,000 with two fish and 5 loaves of bread, healed a paralyzed man, healed the son of a certain rich man, had a Mind-reading with a woman who had been married 5 times and was planning on her sixth, met with a Jewish Pharisee at night, turned water into wine at a wedding reception which was the really BIG NEWS, and had a spell-binding power upon some disciples who just quit what they were doing to follow Him…and yet, many, many people rejected Him. Verse 41 says” the Jews were grumbling about Him” and later in verse 61, “that His disciples grumbled at this.”