Prelude
Do I want MY religion or the religion of Jesus? Purpose: Let’s look at the religion that came from heaven. Plan: Let’s discuss the events of John 6:24-35.
The Throng
John 6:24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
This occurred immediately after feeding the 5,000. A throng, mob or crowd in a flotilla of small boats descended on Capernaum searching for Jesus. They asked Him when He got there, because He did not leave with the disciples. Did Jesus answer the question?
John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
News reporters would be angry. Jesus ignored the question, not explaining His walking on the sea to get there, but spoke about motives. Are our motives for physical food or spiritual signs, for that which perishes or that which lasts forever? Do we lust for fleeting pursuits or hunger for eternal relevance?
There are two marks on offer in this world which men carry in their foreheads (thinking) and their hands (deeds). The mark of the beast is a seal that reveals a person’s trust in the kingdoms of this world, which from Daniel to Revelation are described as beasts. The other mark is the seal of God, the law written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, a stamp of heavenly approval. Jesus said plainly that His kingdom is not of this world.
A crowd of people were looking for Jesus in Capernaum, but why? Why do we look for Jesus? The crowd had wanted to make Him a king of this world, but Jesus eluded them. They wanted a leader who would fulfill all their worldly expectations, but Jesus was not going to operate according to this world’s ways.
The Work
John 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
They got the point, and asked how to be involved in God’s eternal work. This is a question that every church should ask itself, when any proposals are brought up. What is God’s work?
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
What a shocking answer! God’s work is, in the original Greek, “to have faith”? Is this a direct challenge to Protestant Reformation theology? Does Jesus actually call faith a work? Is this a work that only God does or do we join Him “that we may work the works of God?” What happened to the Protestant idea of separating faith from work? Maybe the truth is deeper than we thought.
Do we make idols of the perishable things, ignoring the important spiritual food that Jesus brings? Are we control freaks demanding our own way or letting Christ lead? The crowd asks how they too could have the power to do God’s works. But power in the wrong hands is dangerous, causing more harm than good. Instead, Jesus urged them to believe in him instead of their own ideas. Instead of simply listening they argued back, asking what sign he was going to give them. Even though they had already seen many signs such as healing the sick and feeding a large crowd and some had even admitted that he was the prophet who was to come (6:14), they were a demanding and argumentative crowd. Jesus challenges their motives as seeking perishable things when they should be seeking eternal life.
The Bread
John 6:30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
What? They had just witnessed many signs, but now ask for another?
The crowd politely called Jesus “rabbi” because they did not understand any more about him than that. They seem to be a little demanding of him, asking when he got there, obviously unaware that he walked on water to get there. Like so many reporters seeking to control an interview, they may have expected an answer to the question. Jesus often did not answer a question, but addressed the deeper issues. He chided them for seeking only physical bread and not the more important spiritual food that he brought.
John 6:32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
The Manna that temporarily nourished ancient Israel after the Exodus was only a foretaste of the true Manna from heaven, which gives eternal life. Even the unleavened bread of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, was also only a foretaste of that Bread from heaven. Leaven symbolized the “doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6-12) and “hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).
John 6:34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
Does God care only about the temporary hunger of our bellies or is there a more permanent hunger that He can satisfy?
The crowd asked for manna like in the days of Moses. They were living in the past, fixed in past events not the living God who lives to bless us today. Do we live in the past? Are we still focused on old time religion or long past miracles? Did our Christian experience stop with an event long ago? What is God doing in our lives now? Are we blinded to how God wants to operate today or stuck on past ways? Do we look to heroes of the faith such as Moses or a favorite preacher instead of Jesus to provide bread from heaven? Is any minister or tradition or building more important than God and what he is God doing now? Every communion the bread from heaven is again freely given to us? Will we accept God’s gift?
John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Should we be a consumer church? Should the church’s agenda be set by what the crowd wants, to attract new members? Self-centeredness is the agenda of the day. We want a church that satisfies our selfish desires for power or prestige or excitement or music or miracles or friendship, but not a church that teaches us to sacrifice like Jesus did. Since when should the church allow the unchurched to set the agenda? Ought not Jesus be in charge? Are we in the church more like the world than true Christians? Are we just consumers out for what we can get out of church instead of what we can give in service to others? Are we interested in the bread from heaven or the bread from here below? Did Jesus teach us to take up our cross and deny ourselves?
Whose work are we doing?
What is God’s work? Is it to preach the Gospel into all the world, feed the hungry and keep ourselves unspoiled by the corruption of the world? It certainly is, but is there another way of speaking about God’s work that puts perspective on it? Jesus says that the work of God is to believe in the One that God has sent. He said this along with working for food that does not perish and seeking eternal life. They asked, what should we do, but Jesus’ bread is not something that we do anything for. Why turn the gift of God into something that we work for? Why not just receive it? Why do we keep trying to control God’s work? What does Jesus mean by believe in the one sent? In this context it refers to trusting in Jesus.
Outro
Let’s not be control freaks, wanting our religion, the religion of our memories, or our own creation, but the religion of Jesus. Let us allow him to feed us not with bread that perishes, the bread of this world, but with the true manna from heaven.
New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
