What are you working for?
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Background: (John 16:1-24)
Jesus had travelled to the far side of the Sea of Galilee to get away with his disciples. However, the crowds had followed.
They found Jesus on the other side of the sea, in a rural, primarily Gentile area where the crowds would not be able to get food.
When the crowds arrived, Jesus tested his disciples, asked them to feed the crowd. They realized the impossibility of feeding so many, but then Jesus did the miracle.
Jesus used one boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two fish to feed 5000 men, plus women and children. When he did this, everyone had their fill, and the disciples even picked up 12 basket-fulls of bread leftover!
This was a sign!
The people saw this miracle of bread and fish and immediately wanted to make him King and break the yoke of Rome (they were subjects in the Roman Empire).
Jesus saw this, and sent his disciples to head home while he dismissed the crowd and took time for prayer.
The disciples head out in their boats, for the short 3 mile journey back across the lake to their own fishing village, Bethsaida, near Capernaum. However, a violent storm came up, and they were struggling through the storm all nigh, until near daybreak.
It was at that time that Jesus saw them struggling, and came to them, walking on the water.
The disciples were frightened, thinking they were seeing ghost.
Jesus called out to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”
Once the disciples received Jesus into the boat, the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
That catches us up to where we are today, and is important context for the interaction Jesus has with the crowd which we see in John 6:22-59. Today, we are just going to focus on the opening of the conversation had with the people back in Capernaum found in verses 22-29.
Let’s read it together.
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.
Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
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.
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.”
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Prayer for Spirit to teach us.
Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Why were they looking for Jesus?
Why were they looking for Jesus?
In the morning, the crowds got up and wondered where Jesus had gone. He didn’t leave with his disciples, but he wasn’t there where they were fed.
Since the disciples headed back to Bethsaida near Capernaum, the crowds headed back there as well.
This is good, right? They were seeking Jesus.
They were seeking Jesus when they walked all the way to Bethsaida at the beginning of this account. John 6:1 tells us that they were seeking him because they saw the signs he performed by healing the sick, like with the royal official’s son whom he healed while the boy was a day’s journey away, by just saying the word.
They were seeking him now because they saw the sign he performed when he fed them all from five loaves and two fish… or, were they...
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
I imagine that since they knew Jesus did not get into the boats with the disciples, they probably assumed Jesus left to go to Capernaum on foot, like they had done to get to where Jesus fed them. Some boats arrived, so they got into the boats and went in search of Jesus, thinking they would beat him to Capernaum. I mean if Jesus left on foot, taking the long road around the lake, and they took the boats across the lake, surely they would beat him there, right?
Thus the question, “When did you get here?” They could not believe he beat them!
At this point, Jesus could have answered their question and told them when he got to Capernaum. But Jesus didn’t tell them about the walking on the water, and then miraculously appearing at the destination. He didn’t relate to them yet another sign. Instead he said this, which we find in verse 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.
They were looking for Jesus because they were fed.
They were looking for Jesus because they were fed.
Why didn’t Jesus tell them how he miraculously got there? Why didn’t he answer their question?
He did not relate to them how he walked on the water, because they did not need another miracle, another sign. They already had a sign when he fed them from the five loaves and two fish!
The saw the sign. But they were not looking for him because they saw the sign. As Jesus said, they were not looking for him because they saw the sign, but because they were fed.
They saw the sign, but they didn’t see it. They saw how he fed them, but they missed the point.
Wait… what does that mean? They were fed. Wasn’t that the point of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish?
Well, to understand this, we need to understand what a sign is. John uses this word more than the other gospel writers.
A sign is a miracle with a message. Or, a sign makes a point.
A sign is a miracle with a message. Or, a sign makes a point.
A sign is given to make a spiritually significant point, not just to give a miraculous result.
In other words, Jesus did not just feed them in the wilderness from 5 barley loaves and two fish so that they would not go hungry. He did it so they would get a point.
This is nothing new. God does the miraculous throughout the Bible to make a point.
So, whenever we encounter a sign, something miraculous that God does, we should ask:
What was the Point?
What was the Point?
As an example, we saw a few weeks ago when we were looking in the earlier part of the chapter that centuries before this, God gave their ancestors manna in the wilderness. He did not only give it then to keep them from being hungry; He gave it to them to make a point.
Remember Deuteronomy 8?
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
He did it to know their hearts
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
He did it so they would know that they need more than bread to live. They need the word of God.
He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
He gave them manna so they would learn that what they have comes from Him, and they need to honor Him.
To sum this up:
God gave manna so they would get the Point:
They have hearts that wander from the Lord
They need to listen to and trust God (just like they need food)
They need to honor God
Now, against that backdrop, Jesus gave them a sign. Jesus fed them in the wilderness. So, we need to ask the question:
What was the Point?
What was the Point?
Against this background, Jesus performs a similar miracle, feeding them miraculously in the wilderness. He did it as a sign.
What was the point of the sign?
We will see as we move into the following verses in John 6 that the point was very similar to what happened with their ancestors.
Just like the manna was to show them that they needed God and His word, so too, Jesus feeding them was to make the point that they needed Him.
The point of the sign was that they needed Jesus for eternal life!
The point of the sign was that they needed Jesus for eternal life!
But isn’t that something a little vague for them to pick up on when he feeds them? How were they supposed to get that from Him feeding them?
Well, Deuteronomy 8 was a passage they should have known. It spells out the same point, doesn’t it? Yes, it does. That should have been enough for them to get the point.
However, there is more! The prophets often spoke of the Messiah coming, and how there would be prosperity and feasting.
Passages like Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 62, and Psalm 22 speak about the prosperity which will come with the Messiah.
Feasting was a part of showing the prosperity. However, the feasting and prosperity was not the point. Feasting and prosperity were the by-products of the main point of the Messiah.
The coming of the Messiah would bring righteousness and a relationship with God. Being righteous and in a relationship with God is true prosperity.
Let’s look at an example together.
Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 62 are speaking of when the promised Messiah comes and restores Israel. (Restores — God made them prosper when He brought them out of Egypt and into the land He promised them. However, because of their rebellion, He allowed other nations to conquer them, and take away that properity. But through it all, He promised to come back and restore them someday.)
This is the passage Jesus started reading one day in a synagogue, and told them that it was fulfilled in their hearing. In other words, this passage was about Him!
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Notice, the end result of His coming is that they would be righteous, and He would receive glory!
The passage goes on to say,
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
They will be prosperous, and feast, but the main idea is that they will be priests of the Lord!
Isaiah 61:10 brings this out further.
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Notice that the main idea is not the eating and getting full bellies. It is about salvation! It is about being righteous! It is about being in relationship with Him, and bringing Him glory!
Isaiah 62 continues this theme, and in it we find:
The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled;
but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.
Because of their rebellion against the Lord, the Israelites were controlled by other nations for many years. Their food went to their enemies. But that would be no more!
They would get their food! They would drink their wine from their grapes!
But notice where they would drink the wine… In the sanctuary of the Lord!
That is why God says pass through the gates! The temple area had gates through which the people would come into His sanctuary, and He wanted them to come, and have fellowship with Him!
The prophecies were clear. The Point was that God would make them righteous, and give them an eternal relationship with Him!
So, when Jesus comes and begins fulfilling the prophecies which they new and looked forward to, they should have gotten the point. It was not a new, hidden agenda. It was a plain, clear agenda from the start.
The Point was Eternal life: righteousness from, and relationship with, God!
The Point was Eternal life: righteousness from, and relationship with, God!
Though these passages spoke of feasting, the point was not that Israel would be prosperous and have full bellies and eat their food. The point was eternal life! Being made righteous, and put into a right relationship with their God!
Unfortunately, too many in Israel missed the point. They really thought it was all about food. They thought it was all about their physical prosperity and satisfaction.
Listen to a quote from Enoch 62:14, a book which shows the mentality of the Jews around the time of Christ:
And the Lord of Spirits will abide over them,
And with that Son of Man shall they eat
And lie down and rise up for ever and ever.
Another passage from Qohelet Rabbah 1:9.1—written later but still showing the Jewish mindset of the day—says, “As the first redeemer was, so shall the latter Redeemer be … As the former redeemer caused manna to descend, as it is stated, Behold, Behold I will cause to rain bread from heaven for you, so will the latter Redeemer cause manna to descend, as it is stated May he be as a rich cornfield in the land” (Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 4, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 169.)
The Jews of the day, I believe, knew the prophets, but they focused on the physical prosperity and feasting. They miss the Point.
They missed the point of the prophecies that God would make them righteous and give them a new relationship with Himself. They missed Eternal life by focusing on this physical life and physical prosperity and food.
That focus is what Jesus condemns when he says:
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.”
What were they working for?
What were they working for?
Working is what we do when we really want something. We work for it.
We use that expression for athletes that want to win—They work for it.
We use that terminology for people who want to be successful in business—They work for it.
We use that terminology for anything we really want to get. We work for it.
These people were working. They were putting in a lot of effort to get what they wanted. They walked for miles to find Jesus to be healed.
Then, they travelled again the next day to find Jesus so they could get free food!
They were giving effort to get what they wanted! They were working, but they were working for the wrong thing!
That is why Jesus said, don’t work for food that spoils, but for food that leads to eternal life!
They were doing all this effort for bread, when they should have seen the sign, and gotten the point, that the Messiah was here to give them righteousness and relationship with God!
They should have been putting this effort into getting Jesus, the one who could give them what they really needed! They should have put the effort into getting what was prophesied: righteousness and a relationship with God! Eternal life!
At first, reading this passage, I would have expected the people to follow and search for Jesus to get more food. I go out of my way for free food from McDonald’s!
At first, reading this passage Jesus’ rebuke seems to come out of nowhere. Why wouldn’t they seek him for food? Wasn’t the food the sign he just gave them?
However, after seeing how the scriptures already laid out that the manna in the wilderness was a lesson in needing God, and how the prophecies of the Messiah coming involved feasting, but that feasting was all because they would be righteous, and in a relationship with God, I now see how the sign was not about being fed, but gaining eternal life—Eternal life being righteous and in a relationship with God!
This passage makes a little more sense.
But now the important part:
What about us? Do we miss the point?
What about us? Do we miss the point?
We have the scriptures, just like they did.
We have seen miracles, just like they did. We have seen God providing for us through Jesus, just like they did.
Do we miss the point, just like they did?
What are we looking for?
What are we looking for?
What are we looking for? Why are we here?
Are we here because we believe Jesus will see us here, and give us some physical or material blessing?
Are we here because we think this will make God favorable toward us, to grant us what we think we need?
Are we here for what we will get? Some feeling? Some encouragement? Some word of wisdom?
We will get things from the Lord. We do all the time, like we talked about last week. God gives us daily deliverance, timely deliverance and ultimate deliverance.
Daily deliverance: we all arrived here safely. We had food and coffee. We have food waiting for us at home—likely, enough food to last weeks if we absolutely could not go shopping. We have clothing—likely dressers and closets full of clothing. We have homes, cars (more than one). Just this morning I looked at how many hats I have, it must be 6 hats!
Just like Jesus gave them enough food that day in the wilderness—and more than enough—God gives us what we need, and more, daily. The problem is we just don’t even think about it.
What is more, Jesus has given us what we too often are not looking for, and what we really need. He has given us righteousness! He has already redeemed us and restored us to the Father! He has given us ultimate deliverance!
What more do we need to look for! We have found what we need in Jesus! Let’s come together to remind each other of that! Let’s come together not to receive, for we already have! Let’s come together to praise Him!
What are we working for?
What are we working for?
These people were expelling a lot of energy, they were working to get what they wanted from Jesus. How many of us would hike for miles just to get free food? Drive yes, hike… well...
We also expel a lot of energy everyday. We work for what we really want. The question is, what are we working for?
Are we working hard to have the home, the family, the cars, the easy life? Are we working hard just to fulfill the cultural expectations, the great American Dream?
Are we working hard just to have the food and clothing we want day in and day out? Why are we doing this rat race?
As Jesus said, don’t work for food that spoils.
I read an interesting quote this week:
Exalting Jesus in John Bread of Life 6:22-60
No matter how good the meal tastes, no matter how much money you spend on it, no matter how amazing it is, at some point in the future, you’ll be hungry.
Exalting Jesus in John Bread of Life 6:22-60
The bread we crave never lasts long enough. All of the physical things we look to for meaning eventually fade.
Have you found this to be true? I know I have. How many things have I worked for and spent my time and energy to get, only to realize that they do not ultimately satisfy. They do not even last.
Things break. Things get broken. Deer run in front of cars, or poles slide in our way when we are driving. Cars, money, events, movies, parties, food will never truly satisfy, and they will never last.
What is the point? Eventually you get to the point where life is a great disappointment as you finally realize that nothing really does last or satisfy.
How many Christians are falling away from the church, falling away from their faith disillusioned and unsatisfied because they have been going about this Christian life all wrong?
We go to church thinking hoping to get something there, some good feeling, something to satisfy us, but we are looking for the wrong kind of satisfaction. We are looking for some emotional or physical blessing. And because we are looking for the wrong thing, we miss the real thing.
We miss the satisfaction that Jesus gives! We miss the freedom of being declared righteous! We miss the satisfaction of seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness! We miss the joy that can come from encouraging others to know and praise Him! We miss the joy of the only thing that will last as this world and the things of this world are left behind. We miss the relationship with our Lord that truly satisfies, and the relationships with those with whom we share Jesus! As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?
What are we working for?
What are we working for?
This week, as we go through the week, lets work. Work is a good part of life. But let’s work not just to get a paycheck to get food, clothing, toys, home, cars… Let’s work for what endures! Let’s work for that relationship with the Lord! Let’s work for His kingdom and others to know His righteousness, peace and joy!
Let’s work for food that endures to eternal life!
Homework:
Read John 6:1-29. Why were the people looking for Jesus? What were they hoping he would do? In what way were they working? For what were they expending their energy? Searching for Jesus seems like a good thing. What made their searching for Jesus something for which he rebuked them? Why do you search for Jesus? For what are you expending your efforts? Would Jesus commend or rebuke your searching for Him? Would Jesus commend or rebuke you for what you expend your effort to gain?
Read Psalm 22. This is a Psalm which prophesies Jesus’ suffering and victory. How does this Psalm relate to what Jesus endured? It speaks of the prosperity to come when in verse 26, the poor will eat and be satisfied. How does what Jesus endured relate to this prosperity? What follows them being satisfied? In Ps. 22:29 there is also feasting and ??? What is the end result of the Psalm (Psalm 22:31)? What is the relationship between what Jesus endured the the second part of the Psalm? How will you worship and proclaim his righteousness today?
Read Romans 14:17. Actually, read all of Romans 14 to get the context, and then consider Romans 14:17. What was so important in the Romans minds that Paul was trying to correct? Was that the correct focus? What does Romans 14:17 tell us about where our focus should be? How will we find those things? (three things: r___, p___, j___) Do you have those? Why? How can you make those your priority?
Read Matthew 6:19-33. Actually, make this passage a focus for a couple days. How much time to we spend working for food and clothing? How much does having food and clothing occupy our minds and time? If Jesus were talking to you right now, would He say you are pursuing the right things? What should be our focus? How can we focus on, and work toward what Jesus says to pursue first?
Read Isaiah 55:1-3. What are some of the things in your life that you wanted so badly, and then once you had them, did not really bring the satisfaction you thought they would? What was the next thing you wanted? What does Isaiah 55:2 mean? What could we eat that is good, and will make us delight in the richest fare? The Spirit is using ‘food’ terminology, but is He really speaking about food? What is it that would give us true satisfaction? What could we eat that is good, and the richest fare? What would give us life, and an everlasting covenant of love? How will you pursue that next week?