{"id":3975,"date":"2019-12-02T18:58:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T18:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takingeverythoughtcaptivetoobeychrist.wordpress.com\/?p=3975"},"modified":"2019-12-02T18:58:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T18:58:13","slug":"food-that-endures-john-622-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/food-that-endures-john-622-29\/","title":{"rendered":"Food That Endures; John 6:22-29"},"content":{"rendered":"

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22\u00a0<\/sup>On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only\u00a0one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.<\/span>\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup>Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord\u00a0had given thanks.<\/span>\u00a024\u00a0<\/sup>So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and\u00a0went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

25\u00a0<\/sup>When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him,\u00a0\u201cRabbi, when did you come here?\u201d<\/span>\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered them,\u00a0\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you,\u00a0you are seeking me, not because you saw\u00a0signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.<\/span><\/span>\u00a027\u00a0<\/sup>Do not work for the food that perishes, but for\u00a0the food that endures to eternal life, which\u00a0the Son of Man will give to you. For on\u00a0him God the Father has\u00a0set his seal.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a028\u00a0<\/sup>Then they said to him, \u201cWhat must we do, to be doing\u00a0the works of God?\u201d<\/span>\u00a029\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus answered them,\u00a0\u201cThis is the work of God,\u00a0that you believe in him whom\u00a0he has sent.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n

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After Jesus crosses with his disciples to the other side of the sea, the next day, the crowds begin to look for Jesus. They saw that there was only one boat there, and that the disciples got in and left without Jesus, so now the crowds have a mystery on their hands that they are trying to figure out. So they of course get in their boats and cross to the other side to see if they can find Jesus and discover how he got there.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bad Motives, v. 25-26<\/b><\/p>\n

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As the crowds find Jesus on the other side of the sea, we quickly see that they still have their bad motives. They ask Jesus in verse 25 what would seem to be an innocent and obvious question: \u201cRabbi, when did you come here?\u201d That\u2019s probably the same thing we would ask, were we in such a situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Jesus does so often and so well, he does not answer the question of the crowds – an answer of course which would have amazed them to hear that he walked on the water in the midst of the storm – but instead Jesus reveals their motives, being able to perceive the heart of man and what is in it. Jesus knew their bad motives (remember, they had just wanted to make Jesus king in verse 15), and knew that they did need to know of another unthinkable miracle to further the desires of their sinful flesh. So instead of answering their question, Jesus reveals that he knows why they are seeking him, as he says in verse 26, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.\u201d<\/em> Now this is interesting because back in verse 2 we were told that the crowds were following Jesus because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick, and yet Jesus says here that they are seeking him not because they saw signs, but because they ate their fill of the loaves. So how do we understand this? Well, both statements are really saying the same thing, just in different ways. In verse 2 it was clear that they were following Jesus not for the greater truths that the signs were pointing to, but for the immediate results of the signs like the healing of the sick. Likewise, here in verse 26, Jesus is saying that they are only coming to him because of the immediate things that Jesus could do for them, like feeding them with miraculous food – they were not coming to Jesus for the greater reality that the sign pointed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

A sign is something that points to something greater than the sign itself. Jesus is saying that the miracle of the bread and fish was a sign that pointed to something greater, as Jesus will reveal in the John 6 bread of life discussion. The people simply had their bellies filled without seeing the point. Thus they aren\u2019t really there for the sign, but for the bread. They don\u2019t recognize the sign as a sign. They don\u2019t recognize that it is pointing to something greater. They just want free food!<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh how sinister is the human heart! Deceitful above all things! Yes Jesus knows the heart. He knows our hearts better than we do. Since Jesus walked this earth, men and women have come to Jesus with hearts full of sinister motives. This is the prosperity gospel – they want certain material things from God. This is the cultural gospel – some of those who have lived in a Christian society come to Jesus only for the cultural acceptance and prominence. This is the morality gospel – some only come to Jesus so their kids might have a moral restraint and be good kids. We can say without embarrassment that there are certain of these types of blessings that often come with obedience to Jesus, but unless a man has come to Christ, burdened with his sin, desperately seeking mercy, forgiveness of sin, and peace with God, he has not truly come to Christ in faith. Being fed with bread might be a blessing that comes from following Jesus, but unless the crowds seek Jesus because they are seeking the kingdom of heaven and the true bread of heaven, they have not truly come to Christ in faith that pleases God. Where is your heart? If it\u2019s the same old heart you were born with, you can be sure it is a bad one. You can\u2019t change a dead heart. What you need is a new heart. You need your heart of stone ripped out and replaced with a heart of flesh that beats for God. This is what Jesus can do.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bad Food, v. 27a<\/b><\/p>\n

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After Jesus reveals the motives of the crowds, he then tells them in verse 27, \u201cDo 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.\u201d<\/em> So not only do we have bad motives, but we also have bad food here that they are seeking. It is not bad food in the sense that it is sinful or inherently bad, but bad in the sense of its temporal nature. It is food that will go bad. It won\u2019t last. It perishes. It\u2019s merely bread. Bread goes bad, and can go bad quite quickly. Jesus is saying, look, if this is what you\u2019re after, you are going to be disappointed, you are thinking way too short term. It\u2019s just bread. That can\u2019t just be all that you\u2019re working for!<\/span><\/p>\n

For sinful man who has a bad heart, he has a problem for going after bad food. Mere bread cannot satisfy their needs. How often we do this as sinful creatures – we live for the here and now with a temporary mindset, going after that which does not satisfy. The creation is full of good gifts from God that he has given for man to enjoy, yet they were not meant to be our god and savior. But this is what sinful man does – he worships and serves the creation rather than the creator. The good gifts of and in creation were meant to be signs to point us to the giver and creator. They were never meant to satisfy our spiritual longings. This is why the materialism worldview is a let down and a disappointment. It doesn\u2019t connect the bread on our tables with the bread of life. It leaves us empty and longing for something more. But in our sin we don\u2019t really want that something more – the Creator – we want our sin. We just can never be satisfied with it. Is there something in your life other than the Kingdom of God that you are seeking after to satisfy you? Do not be fooled, it will perish. Maybe you have hit a point in your life of emptiness and of being let down by the created things you are seeking to make your savior. Leave them for Christ. Seek that which endures to eternal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When we come to Christ, we can in turn really enjoy the good gifts of creation and enjoy them for being what they are: gifts but not God – gifts that point us to God. The Christian worldview connects us to something far more transcendent and fulfilling beyond ourselves through Christ. Christ gives meaning to this world. Without Christ everything in life is vain and meaningless. I heard someone say once that the Christian worldview, and only the Christian worldview allows me to look a father pushing his son on a swing set and say that that means something. It is the Christian worldview that gives meaning to eating good food and drinking sweet wine. We just celebrated Thanksgiving, and I think Thanksgiving is the most Christian holiday. Apart from Christ and the Christian Worldview, there is no reason to celebrate it. You see Christians should be the biggest feasters, the biggest celebraters, and the biggest laughers, because we know that it means something more, and we have a reason to do those things. And we can do those things without finding our end in those things. That is precisely why we can enjoy those things more than any unbeliever in the world – because we do not find our end in them, but instead they draw us up in to heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Good Food, v. 27b-29<\/b><\/p>\n

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So Jesus tells the crowds not to work for the food that perishes, but for that which endures to eternal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note these two characteristics about the food that we are to work for:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) It Lasts Forever<\/span><\/p>\n

2) It is a Gift<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the food that we are to work for? Ultimately it is Christ, as Jesus is about to launch in to discussion on himself being the bread of life, which he will give to us, his body broken for us. Christ is our bread which does not go bad. He does not grow old or stale, and never perishes, but endures forever. Forever satisfying. Forever fulfilling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus then makes this comment about the Son of Man having the seal of God the Father set upon him. This is one of those things that may seem a bit random or a bit out of place for Jesus to bring up here. But it is not. Jesus is again bringing in the heavenly witness to the Son of Man, and proving or guaranteeing that it is a food that indeed will endure to eternal for God the Father has set his seal upon it to be so – guaranteed in heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of sealing is this: identification, set-apart-ness, keeping, securing. It also carries authority. If a king stamped his seal on a document it carried the kingly authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Father has set his seal upon the Son, so in the Son, in Christ, we are sealed by God. So Ephesians 1:11-14 tells us: “11\u00a0<\/sup>In him we have obtained\u00a0an inheritance,\u00a0having been predestined\u00a0according to the purpose of him who works all things according to\u00a0the counsel of his will,<\/span>\u00a012\u00a0<\/sup>so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be\u00a0to the praise of his glory.<\/span>\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup>In him you also, when you heard\u00a0the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,\u00a0were sealed with the\u00a0promised Holy Spirit,<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>who is\u00a0the guarantee[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0of our\u00a0inheritance until\u00a0we acquire\u00a0possession of it,[b<\/a>]<\/sup> to the praise of his glory.”<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You can be sure that if you spend your life for that which endures and not for the food that perishes, that it will indeed endure to eternal life. It is a guarantee in Christ. If you want to waste your life you can live for the moment and spend your life on things of a temporary nature. But if your life is hid in Christ, and you spend your life on that which endures, forsaking hedonism, sin, and materialism, you will not be disappointed. You will live forever. You will not die. For Christ does not die.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The crowds then ask Jesus in verse 28, \u201cWhat must we do, to be doing the works of God?\u201d<\/em> Jesus then answers in verse 29, \u201cThis is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Verse 29 rightly understood here is saying, \u201cthe work that God requires\u2026\u201d So what is it that God requires? Believe in the one whom he has sent. Faith. What is the difference between believers and unbelievers who celebrate thanksgiving? Faith. Faith in the Son of God the one whom God has sent. How do we get this food that endures to eternal life? Faith in Christ, which is a gift.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Good Motives, v. 27b<\/b><\/p>\n

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When Jesus says in verse 27, \u201cDo not work for the food that perishes,\u201d<\/em> he is not saying to neglect the physical. After all, Jesus turned literal water into literal wine, healed physical sicknesses, and provided physical bread. Jesus was not a gnostic. Jesus did not reject the material, he rejected materialism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christians ought not to fall prey to instant gratification materialism or hyper-spiritual gnosticism, but rather be committed to long term, life-long work that lasts, in light of eternity, done in faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s world is more than just the physical, but its not less. The physical is God\u2019s world just as much as the spiritual. The earth is the Lord\u2019s and the fullness thereof.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a mere loaf of bread perishes and is temporary; so is sin. Spending your life working for brief moments of happiness is foolish, sad, and destructive; but working unto God and doing good works in faith does not perish and is wise, happy, and constructive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes working for that which endures to eternal life is quite physical – there is blood, sweat, tears, and mud involved: parents tending to their children\u2019s needs, feeding the hungry, building a home, planting a garden, etc. There are at times tears, and physical trembling in fear, when someone is being dealt with by God and coming to faith in Christ upon the preaching of the gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n

So we ought to do what we do like we believe in the Son of God. Be a wife, mother, father, worker, sibling, employer, church member, etc., like you believe in the Son of God. How do you change diapers, prepare meals, and mend clothes like you believe on the Son of God? How do you cut the grass, work your job, and raise your children like you believe on the Son of God? How do you do that?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n