In the sixth chapter of the gospel of John we’re introduced to the fourth sign (or miracle) – out of a total of seven – the author gives us in his account of the life and works of Jesus. He narrates the story of 5000 people, who had followed Him because of the signs He had already done on the sick, being miraculously fed by The Lord from five barley loaves and two fish on the East Bank of the Sea of Galilee.
When the people realised what had just happened and what Jesus had just done, their immediate thoughts were to crown Jesus king. John 6:14 – When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
They were totally oblivious of and without any regard for His mission or agenda. They wanted to hijack His agenda, take over His life, to serve theirs. Jesus had to then withdraw from beyond their reach for they were about to wreck His entire mission. That was something He was not prepared to allow anyone to do – not even Himself.
The following day a section of the crowd who had remained on the east bank of the Sea determined to find Jesus. They put in effort into locating Him. They engaged in some serious detective work to identify The Lord’s whereabouts consisting of a detailed and deductive analysis of His and His disciples’ movements in order to locate Him.
They persevered in their efforts. They worked hard. They were tenacious and refused to give up their pursuit until they finally found Him. They worked out Jesus’ movements, tracked him down and even crossed the sea on hired boats until they eventually located The Lord after all the hard work and effort they put into it – So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. (John 6:24)
Seeking Jesus is praiseworthy and noble. But is that all there is to it? When they finally find Him, the Lord had a different take and a surprising response to their intense efforts and investment in seeking Him.
In the first place, they seemed surprised to find Him where they did. They were even intrigued He made it to the other side under their radar, without them noticing, as if He slipped away from them unnoticed – When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” (John 6:25)
And what is The Lord’s comeback to their tenacious efforts in seeking Him? – Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:25)
They were startled – if not shocked – by His response. The Lord did not commend them for seeking Him but chastised them for doing it for the wrong reasons. Jesus exposed the intentions of their hearts like no one else did. They were on a mass crusade to locate Jesus but for entirely wrong reasons.
Their hearts were fixated on the temporal and physical provision and sought after it missing the bigger picture and the plot altogether. They went to great lengths to find Jesus because they identified a “cash cow” – an effortless provider for their base needs. The incredible multiplication of the loaves was not only intended to satisfy the crowd’s pressing need for food but, more importantly, to serve as a sign pointing to Jesus’ identity.
The reason why Jesus withdrew from these people in the first place was because they were about to wreck His mission, His agenda, with their plans – Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. (John 6:15)
Now that they’ve come all the way and found Him, the Lord engages them in some deep conversation. He acknowledges their hard work but is forthright and direct about how misguided and misdirected it is. So The Lord begins to challenge and correct them exposing their hearts’ motives urging them to think and see beyond the temporal satisfaction received and invest their resources and effort into the more lasting and eternal bread of life. He now seeks to channel their efforts in the right direction – “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:27)
But their question to Him in response to His redirection was, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28). If we don’t work for the food that perishes – for that which everyone else, the entire world works for and needs for their survival – what in the world then do you expect us to work for?
What are you saying are “the works of God?“
What is it that God wants us to labour on, to invest our efforts in?
This, was the million-dollar question.
What is it that God requires of us in order to inherit His life?
Go on then, tell us!
Sounds like a familiar question that Jesus gets asked – “And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18)
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29)
Final answer: The number one work, the only work, that God requires from every man and woman, from the entire human race is this – “that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
grace unbound 